The Airman's E-Mail Order Bride (Heroes of Chance Creek Book 5) (14 page)

“Colt.” She looked up at him, wishing she could read his mind. Was he forgetting again? “Protection?”

“Do you want to use it?”

“Are you saying you want… a baby?”

He leaned down to kiss her. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. Come on, Heather, let’s forget our past mistakes. Let’s make this real. Let’s make a family with our eyes open.”

“Are you sure?” She couldn’t stand it if he changed his mind again.

“I’m sure. Are you?”

Was she? Reason told her they were rushing this, but looking into the oh-so-handsome face of the man she’d loved since she was seventeen, Heather knew reason didn’t come into it at all. She wanted to take this leap with Colt and believe in their future together like he did. If he could see past the fact she’d hid Richard from him, and glimpse a future in which they’d be one big happy family, who was she to say no?

Heather didn’t answer in words. She slid her hands down his back and urged him inside of her. He obliged with a strong stroke that made her moan aloud. The thought of Colt making her pregnant because he wanted to—because he was in love with her—turned her on more than she could say. She closed her eyes and feathered kisses along the edge of his jaw. He laced his fingers in hers, lifted her arms over her head and moved purposefully within her.

With each stroke her fears dissipated and her heart filled with a blissful knowledge that Colt was right; they did belong together. With his hands braced against the mattress, every muscle in his arms was defined. He was so strong, so handsome and every bit as reckless as she was. He was the man she’d always loved and that would never change. As he increased his pace, she let go of everything else and let him carry her up and over the edge of ecstasy. He muffled her cries with kisses and when they were done, she found that her cheeks were wet.

“Why are you crying?” He wiped his cheek across hers to dry her tears.

“Because I want you so bad.”

“You’ve got me.”

“I’m afraid I’ll lose you again.”

“You won’t. I swear to God, Heather. Nothing’s going to break us apart again.”

Wrapped in his arms, pinned by his weight, Heather let go of the last of her fears. Colt had come back to her, and together they would add another baby to their family.

Colt pushed up on his elbows and looked down at her belly. “I’m not sure you’re pregnant yet.”

She laughed and scrubbed the rest of her tears away with her hand. “You’re right; we might need to try again.”

“I thought you’d never ask.” Colt rolled over and pulled her up on top. “Your turn to do the hard work.” He closed his eyes and flopped his arms out to the sides, but straddling him, she felt the truth of the matter; he was ready to go again.

She dipped down to brush her nipples across his chest as she pressed a kiss to his mouth.

She was ready, too.

‡

“T
wo weeks is
nowhere near enough time to plan a wedding,” Zane said at breakfast the next morning when Colt announced the date to his brothers. He and Heather had already broken the news to Richard together. Richard played it cool but he’d had a hard time hiding his happiness. It warmed Colt’s heart to know how important he already was to his son. Especially since Richard already meant the world to him.

It was a cold, windy day, which meant morning chores hadn’t been pleasant, but Colt couldn’t remember feeling the nip of the stiff breeze when he’d been outside. Richard had worked alongside him as diligently as if he’d ranched all his life, and Colt was still buzzing with the after effects of making love to Heather the night before—and the idea that even now Heather could be pregnant again. Every time he thought about it, he grew half-hard. He was sure before the day was out they’d find a few more opportunities to try again. Good thing it was a school day. His brothers would respect a locked door, but Colt wasn’t sure Richard would, and their bedroom door would definitely be locked.

The first thing he’d done this morning was find the draft of the e-mail he’d written to cancel his deal with Melanie and send it. With that chore out of the way, he could dedicate himself wholeheartedly to his future with Heather and Richard.

“I don’t see why not. What’s there to do? I’ll talk to the minister today.” Colt dug into the big breakfast the women had prepared. He’d missed food like this and he was making up for lost time.

“There’s a lot more to it than that,” Regan said.

“You have to hire a caterer, get music together, decorate the Hall. You can’t do it half-assed, either; this is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing,” Zane said.

“Don’t forget the wedding dress and the bridesmaids’ dresses. Even if they buy off the rack, they have to be tailored to fit. It’s intricate work and it takes time,” Mason said.

“Then there’s the flowers for the church and reception hall, and Heather will need a bouquet,” Austin added.

Colt looked from one to the next of them and shook his head. “Are you sure you’re my brothers? They used to have at least one cock between them.”

Dan guffawed and the women chuckled. His brothers didn’t find it funny.

“Three weddings.” Mason held up a corresponding number of fingers. “We’ve pulled off three weddings in the last nine months. We know what we’re talking about.”

“They really do,” Ella said.

Storm nodded. “You’ll be impressed.”

“That’d be a first. Hey!” Colt scowled when Zane flicked water on him from his glass, but his heart lifted when he saw Zane’s smile and he knew the attack had been good-natured. He’d missed this kind of camaraderie with his brothers. “I still intend to marry Heather two weeks from Sunday.”

“Then you’ll have to work fast. Start with the minister and we’ll go from there.” The satisfaction on Mason’s face told Colt his brother couldn’t wait to have ownership of the ranch sewn up. He couldn’t blame him. Mason had spearheaded the whole campaign of winning back Crescent Hall and he loved the ranch as much as Colt did. The knowledge that marrying Heather fast would settle things for everyone satisfied him, too. Everyone was much more relaxed this morning and Colt knew that was because it was obvious he and Heather had made up. He couldn’t hide his happiness today and neither could she.

“What about you, Heather? Are you okay with such a short time frame?” Ella asked.

“I am, except… I still want all the traditional wedding things, you know? I want my dress to be beautiful.”

“Of course,” Regan said. “And you need to pick a theme and flowers and invitations.”

“You’ll have to send those invitations really quickly!” Storm broke in. “Don’t forget the bachelorette party. I’ll take care of that if you like!”

“We’ll do the rehearsal dinner,” Zane said. He looked at the other men. “We can handle making a reservation at a restaurant, right?”

“I can call Mia Matheson right after breakfast if you want to hire her to plan the wedding,” Regan said. “She has all kinds of contacts that can speed things up.”

“That sounds great,” Heather said.

“We’ll all pitch in and do what it takes to get it done,” Zane said.

Everyone nodded, even Austin, who for the most part had kept his distance since Colt had come home. Sooner or later, Colt knew he and Austin would have to mend fences.

“Who’s going to be the best man?” Dan asked.

Colt smiled. He’d already figured that one out. “Richard.”

“There she is,”
Susan proclaimed when Heather walked into Renfree’s later that morning. “You’re just the woman I need to talk to. You told me last month you would show me how to install laminate flooring. Could we set a time for that soon? I want to get my living room done before spring.”

“Of course,” Heather said, feeling a pang of guilt. She’d been putting Susan off for far too long. “Maybe we can do it tomorrow. Let me put my things away and we’ll look at the calendar.” Heather hurried toward the back of the store. She felt calmer now that she was at work, where she called the shots and knew how to handle problems. Her upcoming wedding thrilled her and worried her in equal measure. She knew they could pull off the ceremony and reception, but everything felt so rushed. She’d just adjusted to Colt being back in her life and now she might be pregnant. Laminate flooring was a welcome relief.

A woman popped out from behind a display of window screens, startling Heather. It was Donna Richmond, a retired teacher. “Laminate flooring? I want to learn how to install that. I’ve been asking my son to come and put some in my pantry for months. He says he doesn’t have time. Could you show me, too?”

“Of course, Donna. I’ll call you when I’ve set up a time.”

“Excuse me.” A woman Heather didn’t recognize came around the corner. “I didn’t mean to listen in, but did you say laminate flooring? I want to put some in my basement to make a sewing room for myself, but my husband’s back won’t let him do the work. Could I really do it myself?”

“Sure,” Heather said. “I tell you what; give Susan up front your name and number and I’ll call when I’ve picked a time. I’ll hang up a flyer on the door, too. Then anyone can join us.”

“Terrific!”

Heather left the pair of excited women and continued toward the back room. She wondered if anyone else would want to join in. Probably, she decided. She’d print up that flyer and post it in the store for everyone to see. Her mind shifted to practical considerations. She wondered what time was best to hold such a demonstration. Maybe early in the evening so that people who worked could come?

When she returned to the front of the store, she found her employees talking excitedly.

“I think your demonstration is going to be a hit. I’ll bake some brownies and bring them in for it,” Susan said.

“You don’t need to do that.”

“Yes, I do. My mother always said give the people food and drink and they’ll follow you anywhere. You’d better stock up on some juice, too. The good stuff, not the cheap kind.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Susan scowled at her. “Don’t give me any lip. You’ll see.”

“I could make the flyer for you,” Allison said.

“Really? You know how to do that?”

“Sure!” Allison looked excited for the first time in weeks. Too often the young woman radiated boredom. She was a recent hire and Heather was afraid she wouldn’t work out.

“Okay, have a go at it,” Heather said after a moment. “You can use my laptop in the office. I’ll get you set up.”

Ten minutes later, Allison was typing happily and Heather returned to the front of the store.

“That was a good idea,” Susan said, leaning against her checkout counter. “She needed a project.”

“I’m not sure how she’ll do,” Heather said. “She hasn’t been too enthusiastic so far.”

“I think she’ll be enthusiastic now.”

Susan was right. An hour later, Allison poked her nose out of the office. “Heather, can you come here for a minute?”

“Sure.”

“Here you go.” Allison gestured to the laptop when Heather joined her. “I set up the flyer and I set up a newsletter, too, that you can send out each time you plan a demonstration.”

“Each time? I don’t know if I’ll ever do another one.”

“You should have a newsletter anyway. You can tell people about upcoming promotions and things like that. I updated your website with a form for people to sign up for your mailing list. You can also take people’s names at the tills and I’ll add them to the list every now and then, if you like.”

“How on earth did you do all that so fast?” Heather peered at the laptop and then looked back at the nineteen-year-old. “I can’t believe how professional this looks.”

“It’s easy. I can show you how I did it.” Allison bit her lip. “I hope you’ll let me keep doing them, though. It’s more interesting than running a till.”

“Of course you can keep making the newsletters.” Heather had no desire to learn a new program when she had so much on her plate already.

“I was thinking,” Allison said. “Maybe you should start sending out printable coupons in the newsletters, too. You could tie them in to something you want to highlight. Also, did you know you’re not on any of the social media sites? And your website is really lame, even with the newsletter signup. Sorry,” she added, “but it is.”

“I know it is.” Heather thought fast. She didn’t feel like she could pay someone to do that kind of work, but could she really afford not to? She wasn’t very tech savvy herself, but she still used the Internet all the time—for everything. So did everyone else. If she didn’t invest in an online presence she’d get left behind. “How would you like to take that on, as well?”

“I’d love it! We should look into online advertising, too.”

“One thing at a time!” Heather laughed. “I like your enthusiasm, though.”

“This is what I really want to do,” Allison confided. “I mean, I’m glad you gave me the job; I need to make money if I’m ever going to move out from my parents’ house, but I want to do online marketing.”

“Well, I’ll be your guinea pig, then. I’ll still need you on the floor most of the time, but we’ll squeeze in the online work whenever possible.”

“I’ll drum up so many sales you’ll need me full time!”

“I hope so.” Heather smiled, and for the first time in weeks she felt like things were looking up for her home décor business.