The Airman's E-Mail Order Bride (Heroes of Chance Creek Book 5) (26 page)

He pulled back and searched her gaze with his.

“Colt, I need you—now.”

He didn’t require any more urging. He shucked off his jeans and boxer-briefs and helped her out of her pants. Hooking his thumbs in the band of her panties, he said, “Are you sure? We could wait if you want to.”

“Colt!”

He greeted her outburst with a wolfish grin. “Just kidding.” He tugged off her panties, moved between her legs and true to his word, he soon nudged against her. It was cramped in the back seat, but Heather didn’t care; she wanted Colt close. Sliding into her, he groaned, “That’s it. From now on we live right here.”

“In the back seat of an Impala?” She could get on board with that.

“Exactly.” He pulled out and pushed in again. “Forget ranching. And home décor. From now on we live on love.”

“And sex?”

“Lots and lots of sex.”

“Where will we put Richard and the baby? Might get a little crowded—”

“Pipe down, woman, I’m making love to you.”

Yes, he was. And it was delicious. Heather propped her feet on the door and relished the feel of him moving inside of her. Colt filled her perfectly and the sweet friction of his motions already had her senses reeling off the charts. Lifting her hands over her head, she took hold of the other door and let Colt have his way with her. As he stroked in and out of her, she closed her eyes and gave herself up to each and every sensation.

“You are gorgeous,” he whispered. “How did I survive all these years without you?”

“I don’t know. I never want to let you go again.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“Open your eyes.” His request was husky and she opened them to find him watching her. “I want to watch you come.”

“I don’t know—”

“Yes, you can. I know you can.”

Of course she could. This was Colt. She could share anything with him. Letting go of all her worries, she concentrated on feeling the motion of him within her. Filling her up and sliding back out, he satisfied her every longing, and when she let go, her orgasm rolled through her, and she cried out, never tearing her gaze from his. When he came, he bucked against her but never looked away. She could see the love and desire in his eyes and knew that the future held so much that was good. She let his thrusts carry her up and over the edge again and her cries mingled with his until they both collapsed, panting for breath.

Afterward, when she felt Colt tugging at her hand, she didn’t know what he was trying to do until he slid her ring off. Propping himself up above her he held it up. “Heather Ward, I’m a single man again. I’m free to marry whoever I want, and I’m here to tell you the only woman I want is the one lying beneath me right now. I want to make love to you every day for the rest of our lives. I want to share my dreams with you, tell you my plans, talk over my troubles with you, raise our children together and begin and end each day with you in my arms. Heather, will you marry me?”

She didn’t think she could love a man more than she loved Colt right now. “Yes.” She held up her hand and let him put her ring back on, erasing all that had gone before. “What time is it?”

“Are you serious?”

“Just tell me!”

Colt made a face but checked his watch. “About one.”

She fished around among their clothes until she found her phone. Colt raised an eyebrow while she dialed work but when she told Susan she wouldn’t be back today, he grinned. She clicked off her phone and tossed it aside.

“That gives us four more hours before you have to take this car back. Come here.” She tugged him down to her, and as he wrapped his arms around her she knew she didn’t care where they made their home as long as they could be together.

‡

“Y
ou again,” Rose
said when Colt walked into Thayer’s Jewelers the following day.

“Me again,” Colt agreed. He handed her a small velvet box. “I need to return this.” Melanie had handed him back her ring at breakfast. He had a feeling she’d get another one soon enough, judging by the way Eric looked at her whenever she was near.

“Came to your senses?” Rose asked. She accepted the box and moved to the cash register. He figured Mia had broken the news to Rose already since they worked together, but Rose obviously hadn’t forgiven him yet for buying Melanie the ring in the first place.

“Something like that.”

“Glad to hear it. Are you in the market for another one? I’ll need your credit card to process the return.” She took his card, pressed a few keys, opened the cash drawer and shut it again.

“I already bought one for Heather weeks ago, but I do need a ring re-sized.” He held out another box, this one containing the wedding band he’d bought for himself alongside Heather’s engagement ring back in Billings.

Rose handed him a receipt, opened the box and pulled out the ring. Holding it up, she looked off into the distance a moment and broke into a dazzling smile.

Colt’s heart lifted. “Is it good?”

“It’s so good.” To his surprise Rose came around the counter and hugged him. “I’m so happy for you and Heather. You’ve got a terrific future together.”

“I know.” He did know, but it was good to get confirmation, even from such a strange source. “You’ll get your wedding invitation soon.”

“Glad to hear it! I’ll have the ring ready in plenty of time.”

“Sounds good.” He turned to go.

“And Colt,” she called after him. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

Colt couldn’t wait to get home.

When Heather entered
Fila’s restaurant a few days later, she was surprised to see many of her friends grouped around a central table. She’d thought she was going to meet Mia for an update on wedding plans. Instead, Mia, Camila, Fila, Regan, Ella, Storm, Rose and Autumn all looked up to greet her.

“What’s going on?”

“This is an intervention,” Camila announced. “A business intervention. I know Renfree’s is doing much better than it was just a month ago, but there’s a lot more for you to do.”

“You need to change the name, for one thing,” Storm said.

“And redecorate, for heaven’s sake,” Mia said.

“And expand your online advertising. I like the newsletter you sent out,” Autumn said.

“I think you should throw a party after you redecorate, too,” Storm said.

Heather sat down between Camila and Mia and joined in the conversation. Fila left the table and came back with platters of Afghan nachos and then dug into the food along with the rest of the women.

“What are you going to name the store?” Ella asked.

Heather thought about that. “I’m not sure.”

“Heather’s!” Camila and Mia said in unison.

“Seriously, it has to be Heather’s,” Camila said. “You have to stop being afraid to put your stamp on that store.”

Regan waved a chip. “Heather’s is a place that serves contractors, but also works with people who’ve never done a reno project before.”

“Especially women,” Mia put in. “From what I heard, making your demonstration like a party was genius.”

“That was all Susan and Allison,” Heather said.

“But they had you for a boss and knew you wouldn’t shoot down their ideas. That’s good management.”

Heather smiled at her friends’ enthusiasm. “You’re right; it is time to roll up my sleeves and get to work. I’ve got a few ideas.”

“Colt, can you
come up here?” Heather called down the stairs a week later.

Just in from the barn, he heard the urgency in her voice and shucked his outer gear off quickly before taking the steps two at a time.

“Where are you?”

“In here.”

He strode down the hall to his bedroom and found Heather pacing inside. She handed him the plastic applicator of a pregnancy test and suddenly he found it difficult to breathe.

“Are you…?”

“Look!”

He did, and whooped a second later when he saw the answer. “We’re going to have a baby?”

“Yes!” She laughed when he scooped her up and swung her around in a circle.

“Girl or boy?”

“Colt—we won’t know for months!”

“I don’t care. I’ll take one of each.”

“Bite your tongue!”

Colt carried her to his bed, laid her down gently and kissed her all over. “You are amazing.”

“All I did was get pregnant,” she protested and giggled as he kissed her behind her ear.

“But you did it better than anyone else.” He kept on kissing her and soon Heather relaxed with a happy sigh. “You sure you don’t want to move the wedding up?”

“I wouldn’t dare. Mia would kill me.”

“Can’t wait for our wedding night.”

“Neither can I.”

They’d booked a cottage on the California coast near where Storm’s family had once lived. Five glorious days alone together. Colt doubted they’d even make it to the beach.

“What’s wrong?” Heather asked. “You’re staring at me.”

“Nothing. I was just wondering what would have happened if you hadn’t answered my ad.”

“Don’t even think about that.”

“Thank you for being so brave.” He lowered himself down on top of her.

“Thank you for being so horny.”

“You know, I’m feeling kind of—”

“…horny again?” she supplied for him. “Why am I not the least bit surprised?”

‡

“I
t’s not Crescent
Hall,” Colt said several days later. He stood with his brothers on a property twenty minutes to the west of town and surveyed the large, plain clapboard house in front of them.

“No, it’s not,” Mason said, “but it has nearly the same square footage and we could always add a porch.”

“The barn’s smaller,” Austin pointed out.

“But the stables are bigger,” Zane said.

“Not as many acres,” Colt said.

“The terrain is more varied, which would be good for my training camps. Not that I expect to have a say,” Dan said.

“Your input is welcome.” Mason paced around to the side of the house and the rest of them trailed after him. “With ten of us and friends to help, we’d make a home out of this in no time.”

“Where would we build the course? No woods close by.” Zane scratched his head.

“We could build it out in the open.”

No one said anything as they tramped on. Colt knew what they were thinking: out in the open wouldn’t be the same.

“The realtor will be here any minute,” Zane said, “and if this isn’t the place, we’ll find one. We have time.”

“I’m a little surprised Heloise hasn’t kicked us out of the Hall yet,” Austin said as Mason stopped again. They took in the main building from the back. Colt wondered if the rest of them were as disappointed with it as he was.

“It isn’t April first yet. Maybe she thinks Colt might change his mind.”

“No way in hell.”

His brothers laughed. “We’re just kidding you,” Austin said. “No way we’d let you. I figure we’ve got until April second.”

“Until your wedding day,” Mason echoed.

They were all quiet as they thought about that.

“Then we’d better keep looking,” Colt said.

“You look stunning,”
Audrey said nine weeks later.

“Just beautiful,” Julie agreed. Colt’s mother had flown in the night before for the wedding, and she and Audrey were already fast friends.

“Doesn’t she?” Camila agreed. “Like a picture.”

Heather smoothed her hands over the fitted bodice and flounced skirts of her gown. The last few weeks had been a blur of activity. Camila and Storm had organized a raucous bachelorette party at the Dancing Boot and a bridal shower hosted at Fila’s, complete with fantastic food and silly games. They still hadn’t found a ranch to buy, but at the wedding rehearsal dinner the night before, the talk centered on a ranch Austin had spotted north of town that was for sale. The others all planned to go and view it in the days after the wedding. If it was worth seeing, Heather and Colt would take a look when they came back from their honeymoon.

The only thing that bothered Heather was that Heloise hadn’t spoken to them since the day Colt broke the news they were getting married. While she hadn’t kicked them out of Crescent Hall yet, they knew she could do so at any time and they had begun packing. Colt had refused to invite Heloise to the wedding, which didn’t sit well with Heather no matter how much trouble the old woman had caused, but she didn’t push him to change his mind. Heloise couldn’t expect a warm welcome from the men she’d manipulated for so long.