McCade's Wish (The McCade Family Series Book 2) (13 page)

He tried to sweep her hair back from her face as he continued to slam into her. His fingers tangled, yanking her head back and she moaned in pleasure.

“God, yes.”

Tugging her head back by her hair, he slammed desperately into her hot body until he roared in release, jerking over her in spasms that twisted his muscles in knots. Shudders wracked him as he slumped over her, his chest heaving.

“Sweet Jesus, baby,” he panted.

She laughed, still fighting to catch her breath. He gathered her close and eased back to sprawl on the couch, stroking her hair when she snuggled to his chest.

“You are amazing, cowboy,” she purred, splayed hands flexing into his chest.

For some reason, Cole felt his cheeks warm at the compliment. “I follow directions well,” he said with a sheepish grin.

“That you do,” she agreed, still stroking his chest. “I’m glad, and more than willing to do the same. We need to communicate what makes us happy and not just assume the other one will know if we want this to work.”

He picked the afghan up off the floor and flicked it over them before answering. “Does it bother you?”

She rose up on her elbow to look down at him. “Does it bother you that I’ve had other partners?”

“I can’t say I like thinking of you with other men. It makes me jealous, but that’s in the past.” He gave her a crooked grin. “I’m man enough to admit I like what you’re teaching me.”

She smiled then bowed her head to kiss his chest. “A lot of experience or not, you’re an amazing lover. Maybe you’re just a natural.” 

“Maybe you just inspire me.”

“That goes both ways. I love your body,” she murmured, caressing him with both hands and lips.

Cole closed his eyes, enjoying her touch. “I love you.” His eyes opened when her lips touched his in a soft kiss.

“I can’t believe that I got so lucky,” she whispered. “A Greek god body, a romantic heart, means, manners, and morals, you’re the complete package, Cole McCade.”

“And all yours,” he added, pulling her in for another kiss. “I can’t wait to make you Mrs. Cole McCade. When can we get married?”

“I don’t have any family to worry about, so whenever works for your side.” 

“The only people I need there are you, Trey and Gen. Nate, if he pulls his head out of his ass. How big and fancy does my bride wish to get?”

“I’m fine with an intimate family wedding.”

“I don’t want you to be
fine
with our wedding. I want it to be the day you always dreamed of.”

“Like I said earlier, I’ve been thinking about that a lot. When you’re a little girl, your dreams are like fairytales. They’re fun but not practical. Marriage isn’t about days filled with shopping trips, ladies luncheons, and dinner parties. When I think about you and being your wife, the one thing that always pops to mind is meeting you at the kitchen door after a long day with hugs, kisses, and hot or cold drink in hand. I know I have a long way to go to be the wife Genevieve is, but I want what they have, that love and dependence.”

Cole cupped her face, his thumb brushing over her cheek. “I can’t wait to come home to you, and you’re going to be the perfect wife for me. I want everyone to know how much I love you. If you want the fairytale wedding, we’ll have it.”

“I honestly don’t care about a big fancy wedding. I love that you want me to feel special on our wedding day, but I will as long as I’m marrying you.” He started to talk and she clamped a hand over his mouth. “Listen. I’ve lived a life based on money and things and I wasn’t happy. One of the things I love most about you is that when you pay me a compliment or say something sweet and romantic, it’s from the heart. I’ve heard all the lines. You make me
feel
your words and no one has ever done that for me.” Her hand lifted and she traced his lips with her thumb. “All I want is you.”

Cole had to swallow the lump before he could speak. He opened his mouth and his voice still failed him. Clearing his throat, he tried again. “I’m not going anywhere, baby. You’ve got me,” he promised.  

The letter shook in Adrienne’s fingers. Her grip tightened, crumpling the expensive stationary as she reread the words scrawled in Clark’s bold hand. Fury swelled up in her. She could hear every pompous word in her head like he stood before her making the grand gesture. He’d actually told her in the letter how generous he was. Did he really think she was just licking her wounds waiting for a chance to crawl back to his feet? How in the hell had he gotten the McCade’s address?

A low growl rumbled in her throat. She’d never forgive the pompous ass for the way he’d broken the news to her. Sprawled in her bed, still slick with sweat, he’d mentioned it off hand. For a sick moment, she’d thought that she’d misunderstood him and then he’d continued, detailing how he might be forced to move her into a smaller apartment now that he’d have a wife to support. All of his empty promises had come flooding back and she’d snapped. The bastard had had the nerve to look surprised, and even offended, that she was upset over his engagement to another woman.

She dropped the letter in her lap and rubbed her temples. Hearing Genevieve’s footfalls on the stairs, she hastily folded up the letter and stuffed it in the dresser drawer. Taking a deep breath, she plastered a smile on as Gen knocked lightly. Handing over clean laundry, Genevieve nodded to the envelope still in her hand.

“Good news I hope?”

“Actually it is,” she said brightly, praying Gen hadn’t noticed she’d received two letters. “I tasked a friend with selling some artwork and jewelry for me and he sent me the proceeds. That takes care of the last tie to New York City. I’m trading in the bright lights for a handsome country boy and starry nights.”

“I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear that,” Gen said, sweeping her into a hug.

“I think the fact that I can’t breathe gives me an idea,” she gasped with a giggle.

Letting her go, Gen blushed. “Sorry. I’m just so excited.”

“I am too, little sister. It looks like Father Patrick’s match making is going to work out twofold,” she said, smiling as she put away the clothes Gen had brought up. 

“Have you and Cole talked about a wedding date?”

“We’re thinking the week between Christmas and New Years.”

“That doesn’t give us much time,” Gen said with a frown.

“I just want a simple family ceremony. No fuss, no muss. As long as you can stand up with me, it will be perfect,” she said, waving off her friend’s concerns.

Gen’s frown deepened. Picking at the basket’s handle, she worried her bottom lip with her teeth. “I thought that you would want something a little fancier. If you wait until spring it would be beautiful to get married in the orchard. I could make you a cake…”

“One of your gorgeous cakes sounds perfect, but there’s no point in having a big wedding. They’re not in fashion at the moment anyway and, to be honest, even if they were, I don’t have anyone to sit on my side of the church,” she said with a small shrug. “I don’t know anyone here. There’s no one I’m close enough to that I’d expect to come all the way from New York City. Really, I’d rather keep it simple and just have the people I actually care about there.”

“If you’re sure,” Gen said, still not sounding very sure herself.

“Besides, I don’t want to wait!” she said with a naughty grin. “I’m anxious to have your handsome brother-in-law all to myself, and he doesn’t want to move next door until we’re married. Like we haven’t already thrown convention out the window.”

Gen laughed. “Maybe Trey’s old-fashioned streak is bleeding over to Cole.”

“Either that or he’s not looking forward to my attempts at cooking,” Adri said, still grinning.

“If you’re bound and determined to set your own table instead of joining us, then we should take advantage of the time that we do have to sharpen your cooking skills.”

“I think your hulking husband is more than ready to have his table, house, and wife all to himself. From what you said, you were barely married before his uncle and family landed on your doorstep. You no sooner got rid of them and I showed up to turn his life upside down, and now he has his spoiled little brother to deal with. I’m sure Trey’s looking forward to more than a night or two of alone time.”

“It doesn’t seem to slow him down any,” Gen said, rubbing her belly with a giggle.

“You make me laugh every time you do that. You
do
realize that no one would even guess that you’re with child yet, right?”

Gen just smiled and shrugged. “Maybe not, but I know.”

The glow on her face was beatific. 

“You’re going to be such a wonderful mother. You can see the love already.”

“Aww, thank you! I really hope so. I wish that I’d had the opportunity to meet Trey’s mom. Heather sounds like she was perfect. All that my mother supplied was a list of things not to do, or to do better.”

“Trust me. You’re going to be great.”

Gen rubbed her concave belly for another dreamy moment and then pulled herself out of it with a shake of her head and a light blush. “Come on. I need to bake some bread. If you’re going to learn to feed your husband, you can start with the basics.”

“Shake your ass, boy. We don’t have all day,” Trey growled from the chicken coop’s doorway.

Nate grimaced and poked his hand under another hen. He cursed when the bird pecked at him. “How did Mama make this look so easy? And why in God’s name would you choose to come back and do this for a living after growing up here?”

“So city people like you can eat,” Trey shot back.

The agitated chicken came off her nest, making Nate throw his arms up to protect his face from her flapping wings and sharp talons.

“You actually make your wife do this when I’m not here?”

“I don’t make my wife do it, she chooses to.”

“Is this anything like I chose to be out here this morning?” he grumbled.

“Nope. I made you. She likes to help.”

“No one likes to do this. Mama was crazy, and Cole and Genevieve do it so they don’t have to listen to you bitch.”

“They do it because they like to eat.”

“If you quote Daddy’s ‘If you don’t work, you don’t eat,’ here I’m going to throw an egg at you.”

“Why are you here, Nate?”

He looked up in surprise and then hissed as another hen got his hand. “What do you mean?” he asked, shaking the assaulted appendage.

“You showed up unannounced and you haven’t once mentioned why.”

“I can’t just want to see my family for the holidays? I have a right to a third of this farm if I want it. I don’t think I need an invitation to come home.”

“You have a right to a third of this farm anytime you wish to come home and
work
it. Get that right.”

“If I’m not welcome in your house, I’ll stay at Mama’s and Daddy’s.”

“I didn’t say you weren’t welcome and that house is Cole’s now. After the way you worked him over, I wouldn’t be too damn sure of your welcome there.”

“You two sure stick together,” he said petulantly.

“It’s what brothers do and something you seem to have forgotten.”

“Do you think I have any shot with Josie after what happened?”

The sudden change in conversation startled Trey. Frowning, he mulled the question over. His heavy shoulders rolled.

“Is that what you want?”

“I don’t know,” Nate admitted, running an uncertain hand over his jaw. “Seeing her today just brought all the old feelings up again. It was like tearing a scab off.”

“I’d be sure you’re serious this time. That girl doesn’t deserve to be hurt again.”

“I know. I’ve been thinking about it since I got here. I saw Hank when I was sitting at the station. Obviously, he didn’t see me. Josie’s face popped to mind, and this dark cloud of loneliness just descended on me.”

“Is that when you and Martin decided it was a good idea to venture out in a blizzard?”

“Pretty much,” Nate said with a chuckle.

“Makes sense. Men do crazy things when women have their minds all messed up.”

“Lord knows Gen has you in a constant state of confusion. Just seeing the way she wraps you around her little finger was worth coming home for.”

Trey rolled his shoulders again.

“And you love it. Watching you with Catherine was pathetic. You did anything that woman wanted, but looked miserable seventy-five percent of the time.”

“I think your numbers are low,” Trey grumbled.

“The truth is, the closer to the holidays it got, the lonelier the city seemed. Brick and shoulder-to-shoulder bodies just don’t compare with snow covered pines and rolling pastures for Christmas.”

Trey looked over his shoulder at the landscape his brother was referring to. He’d enjoyed living in Texas, but there was something about these mountains and blue pines that had always soothed his soul. He hadn’t thought Nate would miss it. He’d seemed at home in Philadelphia in a way he’d never been here on the farm. Frowning, he stroked his goatee, unsure if he was reading the youngest right.

“You know there’s more to Virginia than farming,” he offered slowly.

Nate hesitated, taking an inordinate amount of care putting an egg in the basket.

“I’m not getting the feeling I’d be welcomed home as eagerly as you were after Texas.”

“You’ll always have a place here, Nate. I just don’t think farming is for you. The town could always use a lawyer they could trust.”

“You’d be okay with that?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You haven’t exactly turned out the welcome mat.”

“I might not have rolled out the red carpet, boy, but I haven’t been inhospitable,” Trey said, prickling a bit.

“You’ve been on my ass since I got here.”

“You almost got yourself killed,” Trey said in disgust. “I can live with your fancy clothes and city views on what I consider an honest day’s work, but I can’t abide stupidity.”

“Would you’ve been that hard on Cole?”

“Absolutely,” Trey said without hesitation.

Nate scuffed his boot in the loose straw littering the floor.

“You do realize that it doesn’t all fall on you? We’re men now too. We’re responsible for our own actions.”

“You’re always going to be my baby brothers,” Trey said with a dismissive shrug.

Nate rolled his eyes. “Would you’ve really stepped in if Hank had tried to continue the fight yesterday?”

“It didn’t look like much of a fight.” Trey said with a chuckle. “But, yeah. He had the one free shot. I was serious about that.”

Nate just shook his head in bemusement. “I guess I should thank you for stepping in then. It would’ve just upset Josie further to see her brother and I go at it.”

Trey nodded.

“And I slipped Brutus some extra scraps, but I don’t think I actually thanked you for what you did for me. All McCade bravado aside, I was exhausted. I don’t think that I would’ve made it.”

“Your big mouth came in handy for once. I’m glad I heard you.”

Nate laughed at the backhanded compliment. “Me too.”

Silence hung between them for a moment, but Nate made no move for the door. “I know you can’t speak for Cole, but how would you feel if I did decide to come back, maybe set up an office and house in town?”

“I’d be glad to have you home, Nate. If that’s what you decide to do, I’ll do everything I can to help you.”

“I appreciate that. It means a lot.”

“What’re brothers for?”

“And here I thought it was making my life hell.”

“Nah, that’s just a bonus,” Trey said with a grin. “Now come on. I’m starving.”

“When aren’t you?”

Trey cupped the back of his neck when Nate tried to slip by with the basket. Giving him a shake, he shoved him toward the house.

“You have a retort to absolutely anything. I bet you’re a good lawyer.”

“I’m much better in a courtroom than a chicken coop.”

“If you want a chance with Josie, I hope you’re much better with females of your own species than those of the fowl variety.”

“Foul is right, nasty tempered little biddies,” Nate muttered shaking his hand again.

“You just have to have the right touch and pick your battles.”

“I’ve heard that a couple of times. When did
pick your battles
become the new McCade battle cry?”

“I don’t know that it’s a new one. I think Daddy said it more than a few times. Get married and, all of a sudden, it makes a lot more sense.

“It works with chickens and women, huh?”

“I think it’s a safe bet with females in general.”

“I appreciate the advice, but I’d suggest you leave that thought on the porch. I don’t think that would be one of those that earn you those cute
awws
from the ladies.”

“Good call,” Trey said, clapping his brother on the back with a chuckle.

Threading his fingers through Adrienne’s black hair, Cole watched the chess match unfold in front of the fireplace. Nate was a student of the game. He enjoyed exploring different strategies. Trey played on instincts. They were unlikely competitors, but both enjoyed it. Adri turned her face into his chest and smothered a yawn.

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

“Tired, beautiful?”

“I shouldn’t be. It’s early.”

Kissing the top of her head, he continued to run his fingers through her hair.

“Mmm. That feels good,” she sighed and then laughed through another yawn. “Between you petting me, and the heat rolling off you, it’s going to knock me out.”

“Relax. If you fall asleep, I’ll carry you up.”

She rubbed her cheek against his chest, her response nothing more than a happy murmur. At the other end of the couch Gen shifted the lamp closer and studied the small, neat stitches in the cuff of the shirt she was making. Watching her, with her head bent over her sewing and the light playing over her red hair, reminded him of Mama. Nate said Trey’s name twice. Catching his older brother’s eye, Cole was sure Trey had been watching Gen and thinking the same thing.

Tilting his head, he peeked at the woman on his chest. Adrienne’s eyes were closed, her breathing even. Gen must have worn her out. Earlier in the day, he’d found his bride-to-be covered in flour and learning the art of baking bread. He smiled; remembering the delight on her face when she’d popped the first loaf out and fed him a hot slice slathered in butter. It had been delicious, but he hadn’t dared tell her that he didn’t care if she ever learned to bake. It was her he wanted.