The Airman's E-Mail Order Bride (Heroes of Chance Creek Book 5) (13 page)

“I wish someone would take this seriously.”

“I am taking it seriously, and I think the next step is for you to spend more time with him. Time in close quarters.”

Heather sighed. “Close quarters, huh? How do I do that?”

“You could ask Mason or Regan if you could move into the Hall.”

Heather thought about it. “That’s not a bad idea. Do you think they’d let me? Ella might not like it. She’s friendly, but she always keeps her distance, you know?”

“I think that’s mostly in your head. She’s busy, that’s all. She’s trying to start a business, too, you know.”

Heather nodded. “Equine therapy. Regan told me about it.”

“She wants to work with children, but without a degree she can only teach them to ride horses, she can’t qualify as a therapist herself—she’d have to go back to school for too many years. I heard she’s been trying to find someone who would sign on to work with her, but the therapist she had lined up backed out at the last minute. That has to be frustrating.”

“I guess I heard that too.” She hadn’t taken that into consideration. Maybe Ella was simply too stressed out to be friendly. Heather knew how that felt.

“Anyway, I heard she’s found someone new now, so give her another chance.” Camila shrugged. “Might be better to know what you’re up against now rather than later, too.”

“You’re right.” Heather pulled out her phone. “I’ll call Regan and ask her what she thinks.”

“Good-night,” Colt
said when Richard leaned into his bedroom to say he was heading to bed. They’d established a basic routine over the last couple of days and Richard had relaxed around him somewhat. It helped he already knew Mason, Austin and Zane so well, although sometimes Colt resented that they’d gotten to spend so much more time with his son than he had.

Each morning he woke Richard up when it was time for chores. He’d expected his son to grumble about that but Richard was used to it from previous visits to the ranch, and he seemed to enjoy being treated like one of the men. He wolfed down as much breakfast as Colt did when they returned to the house and spent the rest of the time following Colt like a shadow. At first it had unnerved Colt the way his son watched his every move. He’d wondered if Richard was looking for things to criticize, but then he’d realized that wasn’t it at all. Heather might not think him fit to be a father, but Richard couldn’t get enough of him. In just a few days his son had started to walk like him, talk like him and even dress like him as much as he could. The boy had obviously longed for a father. How could Heather have kept them apart?

In quiet moments he was forced to consider his own part in the matter. He tried to put himself in Heather’s shoes as she waited for word as his family had packed to leave. In this small town, she would have heard about the rift between Zeke and his mother. Had she kept close to the phone, wondering why he didn’t call? And what had it felt like when she’d heard he was gone and knew he’d never come back?

He couldn’t imagine how it had been to be seventeen and read the positive pregnancy test several weeks later. Audrey must have been furious. Some of her friends would have stuck by Heather, but others would have ditched her. There’d have been gossip and cruel remarks. If she’d felt like he’d abandoned her because he didn’t care, she must have felt truly alone.

Would everything have been different if he’d only said good-bye before he left town? If so, he wished he could turn back time.

“I’m going home tomorrow, right?”

“That’s right.” Colt tried not to bristle at the question. It was only normal for Richard to miss his mom, but he couldn’t bear the thought of how empty the Hall would feel without Richard.

“See you in the morning.”

“Come here.”

Richard made a face and crossed the room, but when Colt gave him an awkward hug, Richard hugged him back. “Night.” He slipped back out the door. Colt heard his footsteps pace down the hall and climb to the third floor room he used when he stayed at the ranch overnight.

Alone again, Colt sat on his bed and pulled out his laptop. Running a cursory glance over his new e-mail messages he spotted one of Melanie’s lower on the list. He’d only thought about her in passing over the last couple of days and he knew he needed to get in touch with her right away. He pulled up their thread of messages and read over it again, hit reply and began to type.

Melanie,

There’s been a change of plans and I’ll need to cancel our agreement. I realize this is last minute and I will compensate you for any inconvenience. Just tell me where to send the money.

Colt.

A soft knock sounded at his door, startling him. He looked at the clock. That wouldn’t be Richard up again; the boy pounded when he wanted entry anywhere. Colt shut his laptop, stood up and crossed the room. It must be Mason or Zane or…

“Heather?”

She carried a suitcase in each hand and a pillow under one arm.

“Hi. I’m moving in.”

For a swift moment, Colt wondered if he’d fallen asleep and was dreaming this scenario, but when Heather brushed past him into his bedroom he realized it was real. “What do you mean you’re moving in?” God, she looked good. She must have changed after work because she wore poured-on jeans and a soft, silky top that had no shape of its own but somehow managed to accentuate her every curve.

“Do you want me here with you or should I take a room upstairs next to Richard?” The look in her eye dared him to send her packing, but he saw vulnerability, too.

“You didn’t even ask—”

“The others took a vote and it was unanimous. They want me here.” Heather stood her ground.

“Maybe I’m not ready to have you here.” He was, of course. Already his body was responding to her presence here in his bedroom, and lascivious thoughts insinuated themselves into his brain. His bed was only a couple of feet away…

“Then it’s seven against one. I’ll find a room upstairs.” She turned to go.

“Heather.”

“What?”

“Get over here,” he growled. Leaning forward, he pulled the suitcases from her hands. Her pillow dropped to the floor and he kicked it away.

Her protests cut off when he covered her mouth with his. Heather was far too tempting to let escape. No matter what had happened, if she was going to sleep in Crescent Hall then she was going to sleep with him.

He buried his hands in her hair and kissed her until she stopped fighting him. When he finally pulled back she said, “What was that for?”

“Because you’re here. Because I can’t help myself.”

“Does that mean you’ve forgiven me?”

“It means you’re driving me insane.”

“I’m driving
you
insane?” She untangled herself. “Maybe I’d better sleep upstairs after all.”

He caught her hand. “You can’t expect me to figure all this out in a couple of days.”

She searched his gaze a long time before looking away and he had the feeling that what she’d seen didn’t satisfy her. “I guess so.”

He tugged her closer more slowly, giving her time to put up a fight. She let him pull her in and this time when he bent to kiss her, she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Just tell me the truth,” he murmured into her hair. “Did you think I wasn’t fit to be Richard’s father?”

She stiffened and tilted her head back. “I didn’t think you wanted me.”

It was his turn to pull back. “Of course I wanted you.”

“You left.”

His arms tightened around her. “I was scared.”

“So was I.” He felt the dampness of her tears against his neck. “I was afraid you and Austin would fight. I thought your family would fall apart if they knew. I wasn’t sure… what you’d say if I told you. I couldn’t bear to be rejected again.”

Every word she spoke was a blow to his heart.

“I shouldn’t have left you. This is all my fault.”

“No—it was—”

He kissed the rest of her words away. He’d had no idea how good it would feel to finally man up and shoulder the blame. Now he could cross the gulf between them. They’d been so young. So unprepared for what life could throw at them. They’d both done their best but it hadn’t been good enough. Now they could give each other another chance. He bent to kiss her, and she met him eagerly. Heather’s kisses inflamed him just as much as they always had. He couldn’t get enough, and soon his need to be with her—to be inside her—outweighed everything else. When he led her to the bed, she needed no more persuasion to join him there.

She unzipped her jacket and laid it on the easy chair tucked in one corner of the room. Then she began to undress, piece by piece, until Colt couldn’t stand it anymore and moved to help her. Heather batted his hands away. “Just sit down and watch the show.”

He did what he was told, but it soon became a kind of sensual torture to watch her without joining in. He unbuttoned his own shirt and shrugged out of it, then shucked off his jeans, socks and boxer-briefs, too. Heather wasn’t the only one who could get naked, although she exhibited a certain style about it that he didn’t seem capable of. She unhooked her bra and laid it on top of the other items of clothing she’d already discarded and when she bent to slip down her barely-there panties, her breasts hung heavy and all-too-tempting in front of his face.

Colt couldn’t restrain himself anymore. When she was naked, he set his hands on her slim waist and lifted her onto his lap before palming her breasts and covering one nipple with his mouth. Heather moaned, and shifted herself closer, wrapping her legs around his waist. When he moved from one breast to the other and back again, she closed her eyes and tilted her head back, giving him easier access.

Sliding a hand down her back and over her bottom, he didn’t know why she felt so good—so much better than any other woman he’d known. Was it something about her body that made her just right for him, or was it their souls that matched up? Whatever it was made her irresistible, no matter what had happened in the past.

Maybe this feeling told him everything he needed to know about her actions, too. Maybe she had done her best to make a good decision.

Maybe there hadn’t been any good decision to make.

All he knew was that pressed against her like this, she was all he could think about—all he wanted. He longed to be inside of her. As if she’d heard his thoughts, Heather wrapped her arms around his neck, lifted herself up and lowered herself down. Colt moaned as her hot, slick folds slid around him. Working solely on instinct, he began to move and she clung to him, murmuring phrases of encouragement into his ear as his pace increased. It turned him on to know she still wanted to give herself to him so freely, and the fact that she’d given him control over their lovemaking—and was so obviously blissed out by every move he made—set him on fire even more.

As she leaned back to fully enjoy the ride, her breasts lifted and Colt was swept away by the view. Heather was beautiful, sensuous, made for him, and he couldn’t help but love her no matter what she did.

He gave himself fully to the experience, thrusting into her until she came with a cry that he hoped wouldn’t wake the rest of the house. He came, too, a wave of love for the woman in his arms washing over him as he spilled into her. Heather belonged with him. Belonged to him. He wasn’t going to let her go again.

Spent, exhausted and energized all at the same time, Colt fell back, drawing Heather down on top of him. He kissed her, and only then noticed that Heather had suddenly gone rigid in his arms.

“What’s wrong?” Fear made him gruff. If she said this was a mistake he didn’t know what he’d do.

“Condom. We forgot the condom. Colt, I’m not on the Pill.”

She had never,
ever made this kind of mistake since the first time she and Colt had unprotected sex in the back seat of her mother’s Impala. In fact, she had prided herself on being a modern, capable woman who regularly stocked her bathroom cupboard with a fresh box of condoms even when months went by without a single date, let alone a passionate liaison. On the few occasions when her infrequent relationships had made it that far, she’d spoken up loud and clear about the need to use protection. Why had she forgotten all of that now with Colt, for God’s sake? She tried to sit up and untangle herself from him but he caught her up in his arms.

“Wait.”

“Wait for what? I can’t believe we didn’t—”

“It’s all right.” He leaned back and began to laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“Us! Don’t you see? Here we are in the same position we were back when we were teenagers. Driving each other wild. Making love without protection. Guilty as shit about being together. Worried about what everyone else is going to say.”

Heather buried her face against his chest. “What are they going to say?”

“They’re going to say we love each other.” He sat up, moving her with him. “They’re going to say we should have saved everyone a lot of heartache and married each other back then. We were obviously meant to be together.”

“I can’t be with you if you think I ever wanted to hurt you, Colt.”

“I know you didn’t. I guess I wanted to be angry at you so I didn’t have to be angry at myself.” He lifted her hand and pressed a kiss into her palm. “I was stupid to leave without saying good-bye. Every time I think about it I want to say, ‘But I was only a teenager.’ Trouble is, if I use that as my excuse, I have to admit it’s your excuse, too. We were so young.”

“We really were. We don’t have that excuse now, though.”

“Who cares? We’re in love, we’re going to get married. We’re allowed to have more children if we want.”

“Shouldn’t we at least make it through twenty-four hours without an argument first?”

“Do you have any more deep, dark secrets to reveal?”

“No. How about you?”

“Not a single one. So how about this: we’ll start over. We’ll rewind to the night we made love in your mother’s car and pretend the rest of it never happened. Come here.” He rolled her over onto the bed and began another thorough exploration of her body with his mouth. At first she held back, feeling like there was more to say, but soon his kisses inflamed her senses again and before she knew it, he was pushing into her.