Loving Cara (28 page)

“I know how to cook a damn good steak,” Ty announces.

“Actually, I’m going to let you guys fight over the steaks and go freshen up a bit.” I tug on Josh’s hand, pulling him down so I can kiss him quickly, but he passes the steaks off to Ty and folds me into his arms, bending me back and kissing the living hell out of me in front of his entire family.

“Wow,” I mutter, breathless, when he lets me back up. “What was that for?”

“I just love you.” He winks and smacks my ass as I turn to walk back to his bedroom.

“Love you back. I’ll just be a minute.”

“No hurry,” he assures me happily as I saunter down the hallway, pulling my suitcase behind me.

I plop the heavy case on the bed and unzip it, pulling my toiletries out so I can brush my teeth and my hair and reapply deodorant.

Feeling marginally better, I grab a few things that need to be hung and move to the closet, coming to an abrupt halt at the open doorway.

There in the closet are all of my clothes from home, hanging side by side with Josh’s things.

I’m struck speechless. I can’t move. A dress falls from my hands to the floor and my hand covers my mouth.

“I called in a favor,” Josh says from behind me. I can’t make myself turn around to look at him.

“What does that mean?” I whisper.

“You already agreed to move in here,” he reminds me, and comes up behind me, wraps his arms around my waist, and kisses my cheek. “So while I was gone, I had Ty bring your clothes and personal things over. We can move the rest later.”

“Kind of presumptuous, aren’t you?” I ask dryly.

“Maybe.” He turns me in his arms and tilts my chin back to look me in the eye. “I need to wake up next to you every morning, Carolina, starting now. Tell me this is okay.”

“Are you gonna start wearing cowboy hats and belt buckles?” I ask with a half smile.

“I hadn’t planned on it, no.” He chuckles and nuzzles my nose with his, tucking my hair behind my ear.

“Maybe I’ll start wearing cowboy hats,” I giggle, and kiss him playfully.

“You can wear anything you like, sweetheart, as long as you do it while living here with me.” He’s grinning, but his eyes are watching me closely.

I sigh and drag my fingertips down his cheek. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be, my love.”

Epilogue

— TWO MONTHS LATER —

“Wake up, my love.”

“Hmph.” I bury my face in the pillow.

I hear Josh chuckle as he sweeps my hair off my back to plant a kiss between my shoulder blades. “Carolina.”

“I mope mom poo.”

“What?” He laughs and pulls me over onto my back. “English, please.”

“I don’t want to,” I pout. “Time is it?”

He brushes my hair off my face and cups my face in his hand, running his thumb over my bottom lip. “Just before five.”

“I’m going to kill you.” I don’t open my eyes. Instead, I stay still, enjoying Josh’s hands roaming over my naked body. “After you make love to me one last time.”

“God, you’re sexy,” he whispers, and kisses my cheek. “Open those gorgeous eyes.”

I comply and glare at him. “Why am I awake?”

“Why are your eyes so green?” He glides his hand from my face to my breast.

“Because you’re touching me and I’m naked.”

“Well, we can’t stay in bed.”

“We can do it in the shower.” I smile when he tosses his head back and lets out his big belly laugh.

“Later. We have something to do first.”

“You’re right.” I nod and settle down into the covers. “We need a couple more hours’ sleep.”

“No.” He stands and yanks the covers off me.

“It’s cold!” I squeal.

“So get up and get dressed.” He winks and crosses his arms over his chest and I notice for the first time that he’s already dressed.

“What’s in it for me?” I ask suspiciously.

“Just do it, Carolina.” He shakes his head and chuckles.

“Fine,” I grumble, and stalk to the bathroom to pee, then past him to the closet to pull on my underwear, jeans, and a T-shirt. “Is it cold out this morning?” I call out to him.

“Don’t worry about it, I have it covered.”

As I pull on socks and shoes, I continue to grumble about the downside of living with a morning person and then follow him out of the bedroom and out to the barn.

“Good morning.” Louie smiles widely at me, earning a small grin from me.

“Mornin’.”

“Thanks, Louie.” Josh lifts me up onto Magic and does that sexy leap-up thing behind me, then accepts a thermos from Louie. “We’ll see you in a while.”

“Have fun.” Louie waves us off as Magic walks out of the barn and through the pasture, heading toward the special sunrise spot with the large maple tree.

“Here,” Josh murmurs, and reaches down into a saddlebag, pulls out a thick down blanket, and wraps it around us to ward off the early-morning chill that has settled in the air.

Fall is approaching.

“Summer never lasts long enough,” I complain.

“Not in Montana. I can already feel fall in the air.”

“Me too.”

“Do you want coffee?”

“Sure.” I smile back at him.

“Okay, take the reins.” He slips the leather straps into my hands and pours us one large cup of coffee to share, slips the thermos into a saddlebag, and comes back out with a red-and-white-checkered linen napkin wrapped around something that smells amazing.

He takes the reins from me after handing me the mug of coffee.

“What’s in there?”

“Huckleberry muffins,” he responds casually, knowing that the sweet treats are my favorite.

“Did your mom make these?”

“Yep.”

“God, I love you.” I open the fabric and pull out a muffin, still warm from the oven. “Oh, sweet Moses,” I moan, and chew the muffin.

“Can I have a bite?” He chuckles as I hold the muffin up for him to bite. “Mmm . . . good.”

“They are.” I settle my back against his chest. “You’re sure spoiling me this morning. A girl could get used to this.”

“I hope so,” he whispers, and kisses my head. “You deserve to be spoiled.”

“You’re sweet.” I lean my head back and kiss his chin.

“Has Jill settled into your old place?” Josh takes a sip of our coffee.

“Yep, she’s all settled. She got her Montana real estate license, so she’s getting back to work and into the swing of things.”

“Good. It’s good having her home.”

“It is.” I take a deep breath. “It smells good out here.”

We settle into comfortable silence as Magic takes us to our special place. Twilight begins to spread through the sky, casting the trees and mountains around us into gray shadow.

“Look,” Josh whispers, and points to our right.

“Oh, wow!”

Five deer are grazing in the field and stop, their heads rising in the air and ears perking up at the sight of us.

“They’re so beautiful. I never get tired of them.”

“You’re going to have to be extra careful this winter when you drive in to work every day,” he reminds me. “I don’t want you to hit a deer and have an accident.”

“I’ll be careful,” I whisper, still watching the majestic animals.

We finally arrive at the big maple tree, just as the sun is about to rise over the mountain peaks ahead.

“So, could you maybe show me a sunset or two, rather than pull me out of bed at the butt crack of dawn?” I ask sarcastically, secretly relishing the warmth of Josh’s arms around me, his solid chest against my back, and the treat of coffee and muffins on our way out here.

“I could”—he nods and tugs on a piece of my hair—“but then we’d miss out on this.”

The very top of the sun peeks over the mountain and I sigh. “It’s beautiful.”

“You’re beautiful.” He kisses my neck and then my cheek before resting his lips on my head, breathing me in.

“You’re sweet.”

“Are you waking up?”

“I think so.” I yawn and then giggle. “Maybe.”

“Hmm.”

“I want to see the tree again.”

I feel him stiffen behind me.
Did I say something wrong?

“Okay,” he whispers, and guides Magic over to the tall, thick-trunked maple. The leaves are just beginning to turn orange.

I gaze lazily at the initials carved in the trunk, then my heart stops in my chest.

“Um, baby?”

“Yes.”

“Am I still half-asleep and dreaming?”

He chuckles and kisses my hair. “I don’t think so.”

There in the tree is a new, fresh carving. In the center of a large heart are the initials
C.D. + J.K
.

I whip my head around and gaze up at Josh with wide eyes. He’s smiling gently down at me, his brown gaze soft and happy.

“This tree”—he looks up into the thick branches—“has been a part of this land for a few hundred years. It has deep roots here, just like my family does.”

His gaze finds mine again and he brushes the backs of his knuckles down my cheek. “Are you still with me?”

I nod numbly and watch him carefully.

“These couples”—he points at the tree and I follow his gaze, taking in each set of initials separately—“all had a deep love for one another and this ranch. They made their homes here, raised their children here, and loved each other here.”

He tips my chin up with his fingers and smiles as he holds up a ring, gripped between his finger and thumb.

No box.

I swallow hard, feeling tears flood my eyes, and listen.

“This belonged to my grandmother. The one who always brought me here.”

The ring is gorgeous. The center stone is a large blue sapphire, and round diamonds surround it.

“No measure of time with you will ever be long enough, Cara. I need you with me to make a home, raise our children, and love me. I want us to be part of this legacy.”

He cradles my face in his hand and stares deeply into my eyes. “Marry me, Carolina. I promise you, I will spend every day making you happy.”

Tears run unchecked down my face, and I’m shocked to see tears in his eyes. I glance back at the tree, the initials there, and take in the land around me.

He’s offering me so much more than I ever dreamed possible.

“You do make me happy,” I whisper, and smile up at him.

“You’re killing me,” he whispers, and leans his forehead on mine.

“Of course I’ll marry you.” I grip his face in my hand and wipe a tear with my thumb.

He takes my hand, kisses my knuckles, and then slips the ring on my finger. Light dances in the stones in the early-morning sunshine.

“I love you so much.” He kisses my lips softly and wraps his arms around me, pulling me against him tightly.

“I love you too,” I whisper.

Cupping my face in his hands, he says with a grin, “Welcome to the family.”

Want more steamy romance on the Montana plains?

Read on for a sneak peek of Kristen Proby’s

SEDUCING LAUREN

Book Two in the Love Under the Big Sky Series

Coming soon from Pocket Books

“Hey, Lauren.”

“Hi, Jacob, what can I do for you?” I ask with a smile, opening my front door wider for the friendly county sheriff deputy.

“Well, I’m serving you.” He offers me an embarrassed smile and hands me a large envelope, then backs away. “Have a good day.”

Without moving back inside or shutting the door, I stare down at the envelope in surprise.

Served?

I rip open the envelope and see bright, flaming, inferno red as I read the court document.

“The fucker is
suing me
?” I exclaim to an empty room and read the letter clutched in my now trembling hands for the third time. “Hell no!”

I grab my handbag and slide my feet into flip-flops, barely managing not to fall down the porch steps as I tear out of my house to my Mercedes and pull out of my circular driveway.

I live at the edge of Cunningham Falls, Montana. The small town was named after my great-grandfather, Albert Cunningham. Ours is a tourist town that boasts a five-star ski resort and a plethora of outdoor activities for any season. Thankfully, summer tourist season is over and ski season is still a few months away, so traffic into town is light.

I zoom past the post office and into the heart of downtown, where my lawyer’s office is. Without paying any attention to the yellow curb, I park quickly and march into the old building.

The receptionist’s head jerks up in surprise as I approach her and slam the letter still clutched in my hand on her desk.

“
This
,” I say between clenched teeth, “isn’t going to happen.”

“Ms. Cunningham, do you have an appointment with Mr. Turner?”

“No, I don’t have an appointment, but someone in this firm had better find time to see me.” I am seething, my breath coming in harsh pants.

“Lauren.” My head whips up at the sound of my name and I see Ty Sullivan frowning at me from his office doorway. “I can see you. Come in.”

I turn my narrowed eyes on Ty and follow him into his office. I am too agitated to sit while I wait for him to shut the door and walk behind his desk.

“What’s going on?”

“I need a new lawyer.”

“What’s going on?” He asks again and leans back against the windowsill behind his desk. He crosses his arms over his chest. The sleeves of his white button-down are rolled up, giving me a great view of the sleeve tattoo on his right arm.

“This is what’s going on.” I walk to his desk and thrust the letter at him. “Jack is trying to sue me for half of a trust fund that he has no right to.”

Ty’s handsome face frowns as he skims the letter. “You came into the trust while you were still married?”

“Yes,” I confirm warily.

“And you didn’t tell him about it?” he asks with raised brows.

“I didn’t even know the damn thing existed until after my parents died, Ty. Until
after
I kicked Jack out.” I pace furious circles in front of his desk, breathing deeply, trying to calm down. “He doesn’t deserve a dime of my inheritance. This isn’t about money, it’s about principle.”

“I agree.” Ty shrugs. “Have you talked with Cary?”

“I was just served with the letter,” I mumble and sink into the leather chair in defeat. “Cary’s a nice guy, but I just don’t think he’s the right lawyer for this job.” I glance up at Ty and my heart skips a beat as I take him in now that I’m calming down. He’s tall—much taller than me, which is saying something given that I stand higher than five foot eight. He has broad shoulders and lean hips, and holy hell, the things this man does to a suit should be illegal in all fifty states.