“You,” he said without hesitation.
“Was that why you had to get out of here in such a hurry earlier?” she asked none too nicely.
“I know that wasn’t the best thing I could have done. But you have to admit I’d had a couple of pretty big blows to deal with.”
“And you dealt with them by walking out.”
“Only for a little while. Can’t we look at it as a cooling off period that didn’t take too long? Just a breather?”
“Did you cool off?”
“I did.”
He got up from the bed and came to stand in front of her. He didn’t touch her, but she could feel the heat of his big body, and that went a lot further in soothing her than the shower or the hair dryer had.
Although she still wasn’t sure she was happy that was the case.
“I not only cooled off,” Tyler added, “but I realized a few things, too.”
“Like what?”
“Like even though I still wish you would have told me the minute I walked into the Feed and Grain that we’d had that night in Tulsa together, you used my lack of memory to both our advantages. And even though I was really mad that you didn’t tell me, I wasn’t as mad at you as I would be at myself if I lost you over this. Plus I’m in love with you and I want you, and I wouldn’t want to live the rest of my life without you.”
It would have been so easy to believe all of that. But Willow couldn’t help thinking about Bram having stormed out of there himself. Apparently he’d rounded up the rest of her brothers to confront Tyler, no doubt to force him to do the right thing by their unwed, pregnant sister. Which meant it was possible her brothers had orchestrated Tyler’s presence here and dictated what he was to say to her to convince her he’d come on his own.
“How much did my brothers influence your realizations?”
“I told you, they were too late. I’d made up my mind before they ever got there.”
“Sure you did. And there’s probably not a mark on you.”
Tyler yanked open the snaps that held his shirtfront closed and shed it just as quickly. “Take a look for yourself. No bruises.”
He’d bared his magnificent chest, and one look at it stirred memories of the previous night, of running her hands all over his steely pectorals and iron-hard stomach. Of using his broad shoulder as the perfect pillow.
And she felt her will weaken.
Then he reached for the button on the waistband of his jeans, and Willow knew she wouldn’t be able to resist him if he stripped down completely, the way he seemed intent on doing. So she stopped him.
“Okay, so no brute force was used. That just means you were smart enough to agree to what they wanted before fists flew.”
“What that means is that I let them know I was on my way to propose to you, and if that’s what they’d come to talk to me about they’d wasted their time.”
Willow tore her eyes from his chest, fighting cravings for him and working hard to hold on to reason.
Then she shook her head. “I don’t believe you.”
Tyler’s eyebrows arched in disbelief. “What don’t you believe?”
“That you’re here because you want to be. That my brothers didn’t have a hand in it. That you’re over your shock and anger already and want to live happily ever after as if this were some dumb fairy tale.”
“Why not? You set out to let me get to know you. To see if I would like you the way you really are. Didn’t I show you every step of the way that that’s exactly what happened? Why else would I have kept coming back for more? Even in the face of your brothers’ opposition I still stuck around, still wanted to see you.”
“You didn’t want to see me this morning,” she reminded him.
“Even people who love each other get ticked off, Willow. But it passes and the love is still there to stay. That’s what I figured out today—that even though I was mad, I still loved you. I still wanted you. Underneath it all, I still wanted you,” he repeated, enunciating each word slowly as if to help it sink in. “And it doesn’t have anything to do with your brothers or anything they did or said this afternoon.”
“Or maybe you just think the same way they do and you’re saying all of this because of the baby.”
He closed his eyes and gave a little chuckle. “The baby,” he breathed, as if he’d forgotten about it. “That doesn’t even seem real to me yet. I’d be here, doing this same thing, saying these same things, even if there wasn’t a baby.”
Again Willow shook her head. It all seemed too good to be true, and she was afraid of buying into it.
Tyler took her by the shoulders and gave her a gentle shake. “Listen to me. I couldn’t remember that night in Tulsa, and still it made such an impact on me that I moved lock, stock and barrel to Black Arrow just on the off chance that I might meet up with you again. And even though I didn’t recognize you when I did move here, even though I was still looking for my mystery woman, I couldn’t resist you. That was all before I knew about the baby. Before I knew about anything. And in spite of everything. I fell in love with you in Tulsa. I fell in love with Wyla. And then, in Black Arrow, I fell in love with Willow. Wyla, Willow, they’re both you! And I fell in love with every part of you. Every part of who you are. Crazy, madly in love with you. And if you’ll let me, I’ll spend the rest of my life proving it to you. One baby or two or three or a dozen, one brother or two or three or four brothers notwithstanding, I’m in love with you.”
Willow searched his eyes, thinking about all he’d said. Thinking about that night they’d spent together in Tulsa and about this time they’d had together since Tyler had been in Black Arrow. Thinking about all she’d learned about the kind of man he was.
And the combination of what ran through her mind and what she saw in those deep emerald eyes gave her a sudden insight and knowledge that he wasn’t just saying any of that. He wasn’t doing what he was doing because her brothers had pressured or intimidated him into it. He wasn’t a man who said what he didn’t mean. He wasn’t a man who could be pressured or intimidated. He wasn’t a man who did what he didn’t want to do.
Yes, he was a man who would do the right thing, but that didn’t necessarily mean marriage, and it certainly didn’t require a declaration of love. He could just have come back here and offered to help her out financially, told her he wanted to be a part of the baby’s life. That would have been the right thing, too.
So she had a realization of her own—that if Tyler was here telling her he loved her, then he must love her.
And it was a good thing, because she felt the same way he did. She loved him. And she couldn’t let any thing stand in the way of their being together.
“I love you, Willow,” Tyler said then, as if he knew she needed to it hear it again.
This time she didn’t shake her head. “Be careful, because I just might hold you to it,” she said, testing.
“Good. Hold me to it. And say you’ll marry me. That you’ll let me have what I came here to find—my mystery woman.”
“I don’t know how mysterious I am.”
“You’ve already been two different people since I’ve known you. That’s pretty mysterious. So say you’ll marry me.”
“You’re sure my brothers didn’t threaten you with your life to make an honest woman of me?”
“Do you want to track them down and ask them?”
She didn’t. “Just tell me the truth.”
“The truth is that they did not threaten me and they didn’t get the chance to tell me to make an honest woman of you because I cut them off at the pass by letting them know what I was up to. Now say you’ll marry me.”
Willow pretended to think about it even though she’d already made up her mind. “Okay, yes, I’ll marry you,” she finally said.
His smile was a full grin just before he kissed her, claiming her with his mouth as he wrapped his arms around her to pull her to him.
It was a deep kiss that went on and on, leaving Willow breathless and watery kneed and f
orgetful of all that had ever gone wrong between them as her nipples hardened against her towel, against the iron wall of his naked chest.
Then Tyler eased the kiss into shorter, teasing, playful nips instead. And between those playful kisses he said, “You know, I got out of bed this morning and went looking for you, to bring you back to it. If the morning sickness is over and you’re up to it…” He glanced at the still unmade bed.
“The morning sickness is definitely over.” And so was the heartsickness, leaving Willow feeling better than she ever had in her life. “But we could have one of Bram’s deputies here to play handyman any minute.”
“Oh, I don’t think so.”
“No? Why not?”
“Because I warned your brothers not to disturb us.”
“You warned them?”
“Why do you sound so surprised?”
“Because ordinarily it’s my brothers who do the warning.”
“Well, this time it was me.”
“Hmm. And were you so sure of yourself or of me that you knew ahead of time that we’d need privacy?”
“Neither. I just said I wasn’t letting you up for air until you agreed to be my wife. No matter what it took or how long.”
“And they accepted that?”
Tyler’s smile was one-sided and cocky. “I don’t think we’ll be having any more problems with your brothers. By the time we all left my place we ended up understanding each other pretty well and agreeing that I won’t stick my nose into their affairs if they don’t stick their noses into ours.”
“And you came out of that alive?” she said with a laugh.
“You tell me,” he urged provocatively, pulsing his hips against her to let her know just how alive he was.
Then he swept her up in his arms and swung her onto the bed, leaving her towel behind and joining her on the mattress.
They made love right there and then, in broad daylight and without any inhibitions. And as Tyler explored every inch of her with wondrous hands and his magical mouth, as he aroused and cherished her—pausing with care at her middle, where their child was just beginning to grow—Willow felt a new abandon. A new freedom.
Because she knew that for the first time Tyler was making love to her as a complete woman. A person he knew and wanted.
And she loved him all the more for that.
A love that rocketed her into sensual space and set her soaring as their bodies united and formed one, sending them both into a climax so spectacular there could be no doubts left that they were meant to be together.
And when they’d settled back to earth, back to reality, and Tyler had rolled them to their sides so his weight atop her wasn’t too much for her or their baby, he said again, “I love you, Willow. With all my heart.”
“I love you with all my heart, too.”
“Are there any more secrets you’re keeping from me?”
She smiled. “No big ones. But what kind of a mystery woman would I be if I didn’t have a few small ones?”
“You’re going to keep me guessing just a little my whole life, aren’t you?”
“Just a little.”
But apparently it was all right, because Tyler gave a contented smile and closed his eyes just before he kissed her again, softly and full of a love Willow basked in.
And as she did she couldn’t help thinking once more of her great-grandfather’s words—that willows were meant to blossom and bloom during the brightest of midnights.
Or the brightest of afternoons.
Because as she lay in Tyler’s arms, that was exactly how she felt—bright and happy and in full bloom.
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Victoria Pade for her contribution to THE COLTONS series.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-8729-1
WILLOW IN BLOOM
Copyright © 2002 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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*A Ranching Family
Willow in Bloom Page 18
