Her Unbridled Cowboy (Harland County Series) (17 page)

Not because of her secret career,
but because she’d never told him, not to mention he later found out she didn’t
plan on quitting once they were married.

Yeah, he fucking hated this part of
the party. He was about to leave the room again when Kevin popped the movie in and
images of young Jordan and Cole filled the screen.

His brother gasped in delighted
surprise. “Where did this come from?”

Kevin frowned. “I don’t know. This
wasn’t the one I rented,” he grumbled, riffling through a stack of nearby
DVD’s.  

Images of the happy couple growing
up in both video and print flashed before them. Starting from childhood right to
present day, the tape had images of Jordan and some of Kerri that they’d never
seen. Connor’s gut tightened at the carefree, bright eyed Kerri in a graduation
cap and gown…and then a wedding gown. Shit. His jaw cracked from teeth he
hadn’t realized he’d clenched.

“Ease up there, buddy,” Kade said
quietly. “You might crack a molar.”

When the hell had he returned?
Damn ninja.

Connor grunted and the tightness
eased from his jaw when the video moved on to shots from both 40
^th
anniversary parties from last year. Cole and Jordan were singing for his
parents, but that wasn’t what caught his attention. No. It was the dark-haired
beauty in his arms, moving with a sensual grace as they danced around the
floor. She was smiling up at him in one of those unguarded moments when it
actually reached her eyes.

“Damn, Connor, the two of you move
like one,” Kade remarked, tone serious. “You gonna do something about that?”

Connor grunted. Cripes. Now his
mind was jumping onto the
move like
one train
, supplying images
of him and Kerri doing a naked tango. Damn. He didn’t need this, or want this.
But his body did. Hell yeah. His body immediately remembered how she’d felt in
his hands while he’d explored her curves in her bathroom. All soft and warm and
responsive.

He chugged the rest of his beer and
set the empty bottle on the bar behind him. Dangerous territory, and that train
needed derailing. Fast.

“So…” He looked sideways at his
friend. “Did you give a donation to Charity?”

Kade smiled. “Nice try changing the
subject. But you still didn’t answer my question.”

“No, I didn’t,” he said. “And you
didn’t answer mine.”

“No. I didn’t.”

Connor smiled. Neither one said any
more. Instead, they turned their attention back to the television and watched
the rest of the movie. A movie he was increasingly convinced was there courtesy
of his future sister-in-law. Exactly the kind of move that woman would make.

When it ended with Jordan sitting
on a chair at the girl’s new restaurant, acoustic guitar in her hands, he was
certain. Yeah, Kevin could kiss that porno good-bye. She’d replaced it with
this tape.
Thank God
. She said a few sweet words for his smiling
brother, and Connor’s chest tightened at the love he could see on her face and
hear in her voice which continued as she sang a special song for Cole.

And Connor had to admit, for the
most part, this was one bachelor party he’d actually enjoyed.

V
alentine’s Day dawned
with a bright, cloudless blue sky, ready for Jordan and Cole to profess their love
and their lives to each other in front of a handful of family and friends and
one very happy dog.

A gazebo was erected on their land
overlooking the ocean where their house would soon reside.

Connor felt like he took a hoof to
his ribs when he glanced past Jen and Megan, Jordan’s  west coast friend he’d
meet last September, and saw Kerri walking toward him in cloud of red sin. Darn
woman was the prettiest, sexiest thing he’d ever seen. And he’d seen plenty.

Cripes. The gown clung to her upper
torso with some kind of fancy detailing across the top, cupping her breasts,
while the bottom had layers of thin, red, gauzy material he wanted to peel off
her luscious hips. One by one.

With his teeth.

Watching in anticipation, Connor’s heart
stopped for a beat then slammed into his trampled ribs when her gaze finally
found his. She looked at him with such longing his groin instantly tightened. Damn.
His body clearly remembered how incredible those curves had felt. How exquisite
her skin had tasted when he’d kissed her neck in that master bathroom.

Ah hell.
He was standing in
front of friends and relatives, next to his brother
at his brother’s
friggin’ wedding
wearing the biggest damn hard-on of his life. Thank
goodness for his monkey suit. The jacket concealed the fact he brandished
equipment hard enough to pound a horseshoe straight.

He was a glutton for punishment. An
idiot. A foolish risk-taker. He knew he should tear his gaze away and calm
himself down, but she was taking him on a wild ride, and Lord help him, he was
not ready to stop.

Never had a woman brought him to
this state of desire with just a look, and he had to hold back a groan at the
thought of what would happen if they did more than just kiss.

If the ride was this wild already,
what would happen if he took her down to the beach, peeled the material off her
tempting curves and sank into her on the sand?

They’d be arrested for indecent
exposure.

Christ.

He needed to get a grip. Fast.
Down
boy
, he silently admonished.
This is Cole’s wedding.

But still, he watched her. He
couldn’t help it. She was addicting. He felt alive. He felt…
everything
when she looked at him.
Which was not necessarily a good thing
, his mind
reminded.

But he didn’t have to worry about
looking away because the desire in her eyes turned to sadness and what he
thought looked like uncertainty before Kerri pulled her gaze from his and never
glanced his way for the rest of the ceremony.

The pulse eventually slowed through
his veins, and he brought his attention to the happy couple as they exchanged
the vows they wrote.

“Jordan,” Cole began as he faced
his bride and held both of her hands. “I love you. And I know you slipped
through my hands not once, not twice but three times.”

That startled a few people,
including Connor who made a mental note to ask his little brother for
clarification later.

Smiling down into Jordan’s face, Cole continued, “But I have you now, and I swear to you I will never,
ever
let
you go again. I will always love you even through death. And I promise here and
now in front of God and our families that I will use this second chance to make
you happy, and to love you and our children for the rest of my life.”

Connor watched Cole use his thumb
to gently brush the tears from Jordan’s face. His chest tightened at the magnitude
of love his brother had for his bride.

“Cole, first of all I want to say”
—
Jordan grabbed his hands and a mischievous grin crossed her
face
—
“I told you so.” 

Laughter bubbled up Connor’s throat
and his chuckle mixed with others.

“A long time ago I told you we were
going to do this, and as you can see, I meant every word. Just like when I say
I’ve always,
always
loved you and always will. You are my life and I
want to have your children.” A tear ran down her cheek and, Cole wiped it away
as she continued, “And I promise here and now, in front of God and our families
that I will love you forever, even in death…as you will see when I come back to
haunt you.” She winked and touched his brother’s smiling face. “And lastly, I
promise you this Cole McCall, I will spend the rest of my life making you happy
that the chase is finally over. And I won.”

Jordan kissed Cole’s hand as his
brother touched her lips and said, “Me, too.”

She looked up at her soon to be
husband with such intense love that pain gripped Connor’s heart, and he
wondered what that must feel like. 

All three times he’d been engaged,
the ladies had professed their love for him. But he now realized they had never
said it with their eyes. How would it feel to have a woman as faithful and
fabulous as Jordan look at him that way?  How would it feel to experience the
complete joy his brother must be feeling right now?

Connor’s gaze was inexplicably
pulled to the brunette in red.

T
he head table at the
reception being held at the McCall Ranch had Jordan and Cole in the middle with
Connor, Kevin and Kade next to the groom. Kerri sat with the corresponding bridesmaids,
Megan and Jen to her sister’s right.

“I’d like to propose a toast,” Connor
said, rising to his feet.

God, he’s gorgeous.

Heart fluttering, Kerri watched the
Best Man pause as he lifted his champagne filled glass and waited until
everyone was standing with flutes raised.

“To Jordan and Cole, health and
happiness, and may you always be as joyful as you are at this moment.” He turned
to look at her sister. “To, Jordan, my beautiful new sister-in-law, for never
giving up on my brother, and for waiting for the stubborn SOB even though he
made it tough on you at times.” The cowboy’s gaze shifted to his brother. “And
to Cole, for helping fate to accomplish its mission by allowing Jordan to finally catch you after twenty-eight years.”

Once the laughter and clapping
quieted down, Connor added with a mischievous gleam, “Now, you two need to work
on giving me some nieces and nephews.”

Kerri almost choked on her
champagne as laughter and hooting roared throughout the room. 

“Okay,” Cole said, pulling Jordan to her feet.

“Yeah, no problem.” Her sister
smiled and the laughter raised a pitch, then turned to more hooting as the
couple shared a passionate embrace.  

Twenty minutes later, Kerri was
concentrating on the food in front of her when the tinkling of silverware onto
glasses brought her attention back to her sister and new husband. The tradition
was calling for the couple to kiss again, so she glanced at them with a ready grin,
expecting them to willingly comply.

Oh shoot
. The grin slowly
fell from her face as the couple smiled expectantly at her, instead.

“Your turn, sis,” Jordan said, knowing smile on her darn smug face.

Note to self, punch sister upon
return from her honeymoon.

Kerri had been hoping to be spared
this part of the tradition when the couples standing up for the bride and groom
had to kiss as well. No such luck. Not that she minded kissing Connor. No.
Quite the opposite. She liked it too much. But…
dang
, not in front of
everyone.

Maybe he’ll let her get away with a
peck on his cheek. Yeah. She felt comfortable doing that in public. Not as much
chance of getting carried away with a quick kiss to his cheek. Right?

Wrong.

Glancing at Connor, she could see
amusement lighting his eyes and tugging that dang delectable mouth into a grin.
Yeah, she could kiss that cheek peck good-bye.

Not wanting to repeat the mistletoe
incident...or New Years Eve incident…or master bathroom incident...Kerri rose
to her feet and met the tall, gorgeous, grinning cowboy behind the happy
couple.

“Yeah, Kerri, it’s your turn,” he
said, gaze full of pulse-pounding heat dropping to her lips then back to her
eyes.

Her heart slammed into her ribs.
Shoot. If she even tried to just aim for his cheek, she just knew he was going
to turn into the kiss. Bugger.

Reaching out, he gently cupped her
face and immediately brought his lips down to hers. Prepared to weather the
passionate storm he always had brewing, Kerri was taken by surprise as they
shared the sweetest kiss of her life. 

Her pulse fluttered along with her
eyelashes as the tenderness in the embrace brought a flush to her face and a
severe longing for that type of relationship straight to her heart.  

As catcalls filled the room, she slowly
pulled away and made the mistake of glancing up into his eyes. The amusement
and teasing she expected to see were not there. The cowboy’s face was as
flushed and confused as hers. 

How Kerri made it back to her seat
was a mystery, and she was only vaguely aware of Megan kissing Kevin’s cheek,
followed by Jen kissing Kade’s during their respective turns.

With her appetite for food gone, Kerri
reached for her champagne and took several small sips as her heartbeats
returned to normal. Okay, something just happened, but what?

She wasn’t supposed to share tender
kisses with Connor. Hot, wild, heart-pounding ones,
yeah…hell yeah,
even,
but not tender ones. No. They were connected to emotions
—
and
emotions were dangerous. Way too dangerous. Emotions needed to stay out of it.

Connor was on a totally different
plane. Very different. Completely different. Heck, he traveled
the
plains
and she traveled
on
planes. Yeah, their lives were just too different.

Right. So, try telling that to her still
tingling lips.

E
mma shut the drawing
room door and nodded. “Okay. All the guests are gone. Kerri’s washing out pans
in the kitchen and I saw Connor go upstairs.”

“Good,” Hannah said, glancing at her
husband and friends. “What’s our next move?”

“Well, now that one of my sons has
shown good sense and married one of your daughters, we can concentrate all our
efforts on my thick headed oldest boy.” Alex let out a determined sigh.

Nate slapped him on the shoulder
and smiled. “Not to worry my old friend. We had our work cut out for us with
Jordan and Cole, but we prevailed. Right? This match can’t be any harder.”

“Oh, I think you are wrong there,
my dear,” Hannah said. “You’re forgetting about fate and the bond that has
always been there between Jordan and Cole. That made our job
much
easier. This time we’re working on our own.”