Chaste (McCullough Mountain) (51 page)

“At
my expense.”

Green
eyes turned on her. “I’m sorry. Please don’t hate me. For the record, Kelly was
against the whole thing.”

Ashlynn
sucked in a breath. That was such a relief to hear, even though Kelly claimed
the same. “Why did you do it?”

Sheilagh
made a sad smile and came to sit on the bed. “I don’t know. Sometimes I do
things without thinking. Josh is a nice guy and he’s been around for a while.
He’s only a year older than me, he’s
straight
, he’s not sleeping with
one of my relatives, and he’s handsome. Maybe I was jealous of you.”

This
shocked Ashlynn. “Of me?”

“Yeah,
you. You’re so…you. I mean you don’t let anyone tell you how to be and you
don’t pretend to ever be something you’re not. I was a little surprised when
Kelly called me tonight and said you were upset you didn’t own any dresses.
Since when do you dress up? You know Kelly loves you just the way you are.”

“We’re
supposed to go to a nice restaurant. I only own men’s clothing.”

Sheilagh
smiled softly. “The bet was a stupid thing and if I’d known you better I never
would’ve done it. I think it’s cool you really waited all this time to have
sex. I wish I did.”

She
didn’t want to intrude on Sheilagh’s personal business. “Well, it wasn’t always
easy. Especially when I really got to know your brother.”

Her
sister-in-law winced and crinkled her nose. “
Ew
. I’ve
heard enough about Kelly’s
sexcapades
. Let’s keep the
details of your newly found sex life to yourself.”

Ashlynn
giggled. “Okay.”

They
sat for a few seconds in silence. “You’re thinking about my brother naked right
now, aren’t you?”

“Sorry.”
Ashlynn shook the images in her head away. That fast, her body heated at the
vivid memories. “Did you really bring me girl clothes?”

Sheilagh
nudged her shoulder. “Of course. That’s what sisters are for.”

Kelly’s
sister brought six dresses and several boots. As she spread them across the
bed, Ashlynn examined the boots. “I can’t wear these. I’ll break my neck.”

“That’s
why I brought these.
Tah
-dah!” She lifted out a pair
of paisley cowboy boots stitched with lavender and brown thread. The heels were
small and not as frightening as the pointy-toed boots on the bed.

“Are
they in style?”

“I
spent two hundred bucks on these suckers. They’re in style. Try them on with
this dress.”

Ashlynn
took the brown wrap dress and boots and went to the bathroom to try them on.
Even though Sheilagh was built a bit curvier than her, the dress fit because of
the adjustable tie at the waist.

“You
look fabulous!” Sheilagh squealed as she entered the bedroom. “Now for your
makeup.”

“I
don’t want too much.”

“You
don’t need much. You’re skin’s flawless. We’ll just put some mascara on your
lashes to accent your eyes and some gloss on your lips. That should do the
trick.”

Ashlynn
sat on the bed and removed her glasses. It was difficult not to blink when
Sheilagh put the mascara wand near her lashes. They giggled and a pleasant,
unfamiliar warmth spread in Ashlynn’s chest. She never did this kind of stuff with
Roy, of course, and her mom passed away before she was old enough to wear
makeup.

“Thank
you for doing this, Sheilagh.”

She
smiled. “You’re welcome. Part your lips like this.”

She
did as she was told and Sheilagh slathered fruity stuff over her mouth.

“Now
blot.”

She
pressed her lips to the tissue offered. Sheilagh held up a small mirror and
Ashlynn put on her glasses. It was subtle, but pretty. She liked it.

Her
fingers fluffed her hair and she frowned. Sheilagh dug in the box and produced
a thin headband with an ivory flower on the side. “Here. Try this.” Kelly’s
sister fluffed her hair to one side and fit the band behind her ears. “You look
great.”

When
Ashlynn stood in front of the full-length mirror her throat tightened. She
looked like herself, but pretty. She turned and hugged Sheilagh. “Thank you!”

Kelly’s
sister laughed. “You’re welcome. Let’s go show Kelly.”

“Wait.”
The other woman looked back at her. “There’s a man. He works for my dad. His
name’s Brad and he’s new in town. You should call him.”

Sheilagh
smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Thanks, but I’ll pass.”

“But
I thought…”

“It
isn’t that simple. See… Did you know we all knew you had a crush on Kelly since
high school? All of us but Kelly, that is. Most of the time he’s an idiot.”

Her
face heated. “No. I didn’t think I was that obvious.”

Sheilagh
nodded, but Ashlynn didn’t see any judgment in her eyes. “I know what that
feels like,” she whispered. “I’ve been in love with the same guy for almost
five years.”

“Then
why don’t you go after him?”

She
shook her head. “Because he’s in love with someone else. It’s complicated. The
worst part is, I can’t tell anyone about it, so please don’t say anything. I’m
sure Brad’s a nice guy, but I’m not there yet. Maybe someday I will be.”

Ashlynn
nodded. This was this first big girl secret she’d ever been told. This was a
major milestone. “I promise I won’t say anything.”

Sheilagh
beamed. “Thanks for thinking of me, though.”

“If
you change your mind, just say the word and I’ll introduce you.”

They
packed up her things. Sheilagh insisted she leave the dresses, the lip-gloss,
and mascara. They went to find her husband. Kelly was watching TV in the den.
He looked up and did a double take.

Standing,
he went to her and grinned. “Wow. Beautiful, but I already knew that.”

Ashlynn
dropped her gaze to the floor. “It was all Sheilagh. I think she should move in
with us and dress me every day.”

Kelly’s
smile dropped to a frown. “No.”

“So
unappreciated,” Sheilagh sighed. “Okay, lovebirds, my work here is done. Enjoy
your evening. I’m going back to my parents’ house to contemplate my desolate
dating life and think up names for all the cats I’ll someday own.”

Ashlynn
hugged her again. “I could give you Josh’s number,” she whispered.

“Nah,
still not who I want.”

When
Sheilagh’s SUV pulled away she turned to Kelly who was already holding her
coat. “Shall we go, my beautiful wife?”

She
grinned. “We shall.”

At
dinner Kelly was a complete gentleman. He held her chair, helped her with her
coat, and spoon fed her bites of his tiramisu, which was much better than the
scoop of vanilla ice cream she’d ordered.

After
the restaurant, they stopped at a coffee house in town. Kelly remembered she
took her coffee with cream and she noted he drank his black.

“Tell
me about your mom,” he said as they sat in a cozy booth by the window.

Snow
had started to flurry and it was quite scenic under the streetlight. “Her name
was Bethany and she always smelled like cookies. I remember she made the most
amazing oatmeal cookies. The trick is the nuts.”

He
smiled. His arm rested over her shoulder, fingers making slow swirls on her
arm. “I love oatmeal cookies.”

“I’ll
have to make them for you. I have all her recipes. That’s how I learned to
cook.”

“It’s
nice you shared that passion with her.”

“She
sewed too. My mom could make anything. She made her own wedding gown and the
quilt on our bed.”

“Your
wedding gown.”

She
nodded. “Yes, mine.”

As
the long minutes passed they talked about all sorts of things, Kelly’s parents,
his siblings, even some of the women he dated.

“The
other night,” he said as the waiter dropped off their tab. “You said you loved
me for a long time. How long?”

She
examined the curve of her coffee cup. “A while.”

“Since
when?”

She
slowly met his eyes. “I remember the first time I saw you. You’d just come from
the gym and you were laughing. I stopped right in my tracks. You were so…alive.
It had been a few years since my mom passed and I remember watching you and
thinking I wanted to feel that alive.”

“I
remember the first time I heard your voice,” he surprised her by saying.

“You
do?”

He
nodded. “We were in Trig and I dropped my pencil. I thought you had the sexiest
voice I’d ever heard.”

She
laughed. “No, you didn’t.”

“I
swear.”

She
held up her fingers in the
shockabra
formation. “Scout’s honor?”

His
fingers mimicked hers. “Scout’s honor.”

She
looked around at the empty shop. “I think they want us to go.”

He
tossed another twenty on the table. “When did you realize you loved me?”

She
licked her lips nervously. “I—there are varying levels of love. I think I loved
you the moment I saw you. I fell in lust the moment you kissed me. When you
rescued me, I fell hard—major hero worship. Then that night you held me as I
cried. I know you thought I was crying about what Evan did, but I was really
crying because I knew I was hopelessly in love with you and couldn’t have you.
But it wasn’t until you called Italian Mary to fix my mom’s dress that I fell
irrevocably in love with you.”

“You
already agreed to marry me by then.”

“I
know. I knew you’d be a good husband.” He smiled and she said, “I also really,
really
wanted to see if all the rumors were true.”

He
gasped. “You wanted to get in my pants!”

She
laughed. “A little.”

His
shoulder nudged hers. “I wanted to get in yours too. As a matter a fact, why
don’t we get out of here and go take our pants off somewhere.”

“I’m
not wearing pants.”

“Even
better.”

When
they reached the house Kelly got her door. “Watch your step.” They hung up
their coats and Kelly kissed her softly. “Thank you, Ashlynn.”

“For?”

“Believing
I would be a good husband and telling me when I wasn’t doing such a good job at
it.”

“You
can tell me too, Kelly. I’m new at this too.”

“I
love you.”

Warmth
spread in her chest. God, she adored him. She squeezed his hand. “We’re a
partnership, Kelly. We have to believe in each other.”

His
lips pressed to hers as he backed her toward the stairs. “Can we please have
make up sex now? I’ve been dying to get you out of this dress since my sister
left.”

“I
don’t know what make up sex is, but okay.”

He
lifted her in his arms and took the stairs two at a time. “Well, first it’s
slow and deep, where we whisper all kinds of sweet things to one another and
then once that’s taken care of and we’ve each gotten the edge off, we do very
naughty things.”

“We
always do naughty things.”

He
tossed her on the bed and gave her a cheeky smile. “I know. That’s what
confession’s for.”

He
stripped off his shirt and pulled off her boots. As he fell on top of her they
laughed and kissed and there was nowhere else she wanted to be other than in
his arms.

He
filled her in one hard thrust and Ashlynn arched into him, her fingers digging
into his strong shoulders. As he rocked over her, his eyes remained focused on
hers. “Love me always, Ashlynn. No matter what. I know we’ll face rough times
and I won’t always be the best husband, but I need to know you’ll always be
here.”

Head
tipping back, she moaned as he pressed deep. “Yes, Kelly. I’ll never stop
loving you. You’re my husband and I want you forever.”

They
made love as though the night was endless, their own personal secret in time.
When they finished, they talked softly, lips lingering on curves and fingers
caressing slowly.

Ashlynn
was in awe of the man lying beside her. She’d never expected him to come to her
in such a way, raw and wanting, needing her as much as she needed him.

The
sun was coming up over the snowy fields when they finally fell asleep holding
one another. She knew then, with a conviction she hadn’t felt before, that
Kelly McCullough was a man of his word and he would never stop loving her, his
wife.

Chapter Twenty

Ashlynn
waited in the paper gown the nurse had provided, her nerves bouncing with
excitement. Yes, she’d spotted, but her period was late and light. After
reading numerous parenting magazines, she knew that could be a sign of
pregnancy. Her breasts were tender and she was certain this was it.

The
door opened and the doctor stepped in. “Hello, Ashlynn. How are we feeling
today?”