by A. J. Pine
“We really do,” she said with a nervous laugh. “It’s terrifying.”
He tilted his forehead against hers and cradled her cheeks in his palms. He’d been through the worst and come out of it all the better. This? Her? Piece of cake.
Physical distance and a slight difference in age were nothing compared with what he felt when her body was pressed against his. If she felt it, too, then they could make this work beyond two weeks. He was sure of it.
But they didn’t need to worry about that now. Not when they had what he hoped was one of a thousand firsts for them to experience together.
“We got this,” he said, then kissed her.
Together they lowered their bodies unto the warm, bubble-topped water. He stretched his legs the length of the tub and she stretched hers over his knees.
“Okay, maybe this can count as skinny-dipping,” Jenna said. “Because I think I like this even better.”
He wasn’t sure if it was minutes or hours that they sat like that, kissing and tasting and touching. Time didn’t matter when they had all night.
But…the temperature of the water did.
Jenna’s teeth chattered, and her lips trembled against his.
“You’re freezing,” he said with a chuckle.
“I am n-n-not,” she lied, and he tilted his head back so his eyes met hers.
He rubbed his hands over her shoulders. “You are covered in goose bumps.”
She groaned, teeth clattering together. “I th-thought this would be romantic. Just m-more proof that I am the worst at being the surpris-er and m-m-m-much better at being the surprise-ee.”
He stood without warning, then held a hand out for her.
“Wh-what are y-you doing?”
“Being the surprise-er,” he said. “Come on.”
She grabbed his wrist and let him pull her up, wrap her in a towel, and then lead her out of the tub and back into his room.
He held up a finger, then reached down to where a small device hung from a cord over the edge of his bed. He threw the quilt and top sheet to the side and patted the mattress.
Jenna crawled onto the bed and sucked in a sharp breath.
“It’s—heated,” she said.
Colt grinned. “Surprise…”
Despite the plethora of supplies she had waiting for them in the bathroom, he opened his nightstand drawer and pulled out a condom of his own.
“Is this still what you want?” he asked, his heart in his goddamn throat. Because he’d never wanted anything more.
She nodded and opened up her towel, pulling it out from under her and tossing it on the floor.
His head swam. How the hell had she been a stranger only a week before?
He tore the small square package open and rolled the condom down the length of his erection.
He ached for her.
He needed her.
And when he crawled over her and sank between her legs, hearing her cry out as he buried himself inside her, Colt knew.
He was falling for her, and there was no turning back now.
Later they lay blissfully spent on Colt’s bed, Jenna’s hair still wet and his likely a crazy mess from having dried while they were—otherwise engaged.
Jenna’s stomach growled, and it was loud enough to wake the dead.
She gasped, and Colt burst out laughing.
“Sorry, darlin’, but I’m unprepared,” he said when the laughter finally subsided. “Had I known you were breaking in…”
“I didn’t break in,” she said, pushing him on the shoulder.
“Uh-huh,” he said, grabbing her hand before she could pull it away and kissing her palm. “Anyway,” he continued, “if I’d known you’d be breaking in, I’d have come home with some sort of frozen treat for you. Instead, all I have to offer is the last cookie from Willow’s almost trashed batch.”
Jenna raised herself up onto her elbow and stared at him, eyes wide and mouth agape.
“I don’t know what shocks me more,” she said. “That you would share such a treasure with me—or that you already ate the rest and probably never would have offered if I hadn’t busted in and rocked your world.”
He laughed. “That’s an admittance of guilt right there, Owens. And your chicken ate the rest of my treasure. There were only three left after that. The fact I’m even offering to share with you should be evidence enough of my good faith.”
Hell, he’d give her anything she wanted right about now. All she had to do was ask. But he wouldn’t put that kind of pressure on her. Maybe they were doing this all out of order, but Colt didn’t care. He could still take things slow and steady to give her heart time to catch up to his. But for now, he could at the very least give her some food.
He slid his arm out from under her and rolled out of the bed, naked as the day was long. He grabbed the almost empty cookie tin from the kitchen and brought it back to bed.
He lay back down under the sheet, next to the still-naked woman, and pried the lid off the tin.
“Jenna Owens…” he started. “Will you have my last cookie?”
She placed a hand over her heart and gasped dramatically. “Oh, Colt,” she said with even more theatrics. “I thought you’d never ask.” Then she grabbed the cookie from the tin and brought it to her lips with a grin, opened her mouth, and—
“Whoa! Hold up!” he blurted.
She stopped mid-bite, mouth still open and teeth seemingly ready to chomp.
“Were you about to pop that whole thing into your mouth at once? Without sharing? Without savoring?”
She moved the cookie away from her lips, but instead of lowering it back toward the tin, she held it high and out of his reach. She smiled at him, wickedly, which made him want to kiss her and forget all about the damned cookie.
Or maybe he could kiss her to distract her and steal it back.
He went for it, dipping his head toward hers, but she retaliated by rolling onto her back and palming his face to keep it away.
Colt fell onto his back, and they both exploded into peals of laughter.
“Here,” she finally said, slapping the pastry onto his chest. “You never wanted me to have it anyway, you overgrown child,” she teased.
He pushed himself up to sitting, his pillow resting against the wooden headboard. Jenna did the same.
He broke the lone cookie in half, offering one portion to her and saving the other for himself.
“You’re only half right,” he admitted. “I never wanted you to have the whole thing.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, and her stomach made another audible protest over having been ignored for too long. “Can I eat it now?”
He laughed. “Yes. But don’t come crying to me wanting more when you’ve got Kentucky Fried Lucy to thank for that.”
She gasped, this time for real, and then popped her entire half into her mouth without another second of hesitation.
He waited for what came next. Because he knew.
“Oh. My. God,” she said and stopped chewing. “Why did you let me eat it all at once?” She held her mouth closed after that, unmoving.
He shrugged. “I did warn you.”
She swallowed, her look so forlorn he almost offered up his half to her.
Almost.
As if she could read his mind, she batted her lashes at him and tickled his shoulder.
“Please?” she asked so sweetly that he almost handed it right over.
Almost.
Instead, he held the half-moon of buttery, toffee-speckled shortbread between his teeth, with two-thirds of it extending from his lips.
“You’re going to have to Lady and the Tramp me for it,” he said, hoping she could understand his half-formed words.
She was straddling him in a nanosecond, her teeth clamping down gently on the cookie’s outer edge until she bit off the tiniest piece. Then she slid the rest from between his teeth, holding it between her fingers.
The little thief. But she was his little thief.
Her eyes widened. Though considering she wasn’t wearing any clothes, his line of sight dipped a bit lower.
She broke his half in half, popped her portion into her mouth, and then fed him the other, letting her thumb linger on his bottom lip.
“I was always going to share, California. You should have more faith in me than that.”
She braced her hands behind him on the headboard and grinned.
“You called me Colt before,” he said softly. “When you were going all melodrama on my baked-good proposal.”
Her brows drew together. “Is that simply an observation, or are you asking me a question?”
He placed his hands on her thighs and stroked her soft skin until he reached her behind. She sucked in a breath, and he smiled.
“No one calls me that,” he said. “It’s always been Morgan. Especially with me and Willow. A reminder that we’re family. That she’s my only family.”
“Oh,” Jenna said. “I’m sorry. I won’t—”
“No,” he interrupted. “I meant I liked it. My name on your lips. Like it’s something only for you.”
“Oh,” she said again. Then she leaned forward so her lips were almost touching his. “Colt,” she said, her voice soft and sweet. “Like that?”
He nodded.
“Colt,” she whispered, then brushed her lips over his.
“Like that too,” he whispered back.
“Colt,” she said one more time, barely audible, and then really kissed him.
And because he was a giver of more than just cookies, he really kissed her too.
Later, when Jenna lay tangled in his sheet, softly and sweetly snoring, he slipped into a clean pair of jeans and a T-shirt and slipped out the door and on over to the dining hall. Now that he and Jenna had finished the last of Willow’s cookies, he was going to need some provisions for when she woke up.
What time was it? Eight, maybe? Nine? All he knew was that when he got there, the guest area was dark, but the kitchen light was still on.
He braced himself for either a Luis-and-Anna Armageddon-type argument or the makeup making out that usually followed. Instead he found Sam Callahan standing against the counter, his arm elbow-deep inside a tub of ice cream.
Sam froze when he saw Colt, and Colt had no idea how to react to his friend and business partner hiding out in the ranch kitchen going to town on what was left of the night’s dessert rations.
“It’s not what it looks like,” Sam said, pulling out a spoonful of what looked like the salted caramel Luis had served that night with his summer apple crumble.
Colt scratched the back of his head and felt his hair sticking out at various angles. He realized he wasn’t one to judge, but he was going to call it like he saw it.
“It looks like you’re stress-eating a two-gallon tub of ice cream,” he said.
Sam sighed. “Okay. Then it’s exactly what it looks like.” He plunged the spoon into his mouth and licked it clean in one go.
“I thought you were doing the bonfire tonight,” Colt said.
Sam got himself another spoonful and shook his head. “Barbara Ann took it. Said I looked like I needed some time to myself to clear my head.” He shrugged. “Figured this was as good as anything else.”
Colt knew this had nothing to do with the ranch or he’d have known about whatever this issue was.
“So I have this meditation app,” he started.
Sam shook his head. “This is my meditation.”
Colt couldn’t help it. He laughed.
He strode toward Sam and gave him a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder.
“You’re the one who always has it together,” Colt said. “No matter what’s going on. Whether it’s falling for the woman who’s trying to take your land, your brother leaving…” He paused. “Losing Nolan? You’ve been unshakable, friend. So what’s got you all shook?”
Sam gave himself another heaping spoonful, swallowed, and sighed. “Delaney had contractions this afternoon.”
Colt’s eyes widened. “And she’s…?”
“At the hospital still. Turns out it’s preterm labor, but they’re hoping they can stop it with this medication that is making her so nauseous she can’t even look at me without vomiting.” He let out a bitter laugh. “I make my own fiancée vomit. Good news is if she makes it twenty-four hours without having the baby a month early, we should be out of the woods.”
Sam dug his spoon back into the tub.
Colt crossed his arms and took a step back. “Buddy, I’m guessing it’s the meds that are making her sick and not you.”
Sam hugged the tub against his torso. “What if something happens to the baby?” he said, all humor gone from his voice.
“It won’t,” Colt said.
Sam’s jaw tightened. “What if something happens to Delaney? This is all getting too damned real. There’s nothing I want more than to build a family and a future with her, but none of this was part of the plan. If anything happens to either of them…” He gritted his teeth and shook his head.
Colt had never seen this. Even at his darkest, Sam Callahan never faltered.
Colt had no medical training whatsoever, but he knew one thing was true. “Nothing is going to happen to Delaney or the baby. You want to know why?”
“Why?” Sam asked. “What kind of bullshit wisdom do you have that I don’t?”
Colt grabbed the tub of ice cream, but Sam held it tight.
“I can’t talk to you like this,” Colt said with a soft chuckle. “If you want me to impart my bullshit wisdom on you, it has to be without the ice cream tub.”
“Fine,” Sam said, the word short and clipped. But he relinquished his edible emotions, and Colt set it on the counter.
“Nothing is going to happen to Delaney, to your baby, to you…I mean, hell, you and Ben both got a second chance at a real future. Whether you believe something or someone is out there pulling the strings or not, what it tells me is that the odds are you didn’t get that second chance just to lose it. And that kid of yours is lucky as hell. You and Delaney will spend the rest of your lives making sure your child has the best possible chance at a future so that one day they can stress-eat their own gallon or two of ice cream worrying about their own kid.”
Sam swallowed. “You just pep-talked me into being a grandfather.”
Colt laughed. “You’re welcome. Now go get back to Delaney and keep on planning that future.”
Sam clapped Colt on the shoulder. “Thanks,” he said. “I needed that. You’re going to kill it in the dad department someday. You know that, right?”
Colt’s throat tightened, so he simply nodded.
Someday he’d get back everything he lost when the universe was a lot less than kind to him.
Someday.
Chapter Sixteen
Jenna knocked softly on the almost closed hospital door.
“Come in!” Delaney called out, and Jenna let out a long breath.
She pushed open the door and cupped her small gift close to her chest. She saw Sam first, pacing back and forth at the far end of the room in front of the window. Barbara Ann, Sam’s mother, was standing over Delaney, adjusting her pillows while Delaney spoke.
“I’m fine. Really. You two should get back to the ranch. Poor Colt is all by himself.”
Poor Colt hadn’t even woken Jenna when he’d left early to tend to ranch activities. She’d passed out in his bed the night before after her surprise that had almost gone horribly wrong but ended up going ever so right. When she woke this morning, instead of finding Colt’s warm body next to hers, she’d found a hastily scribbled note alerting her to Delaney’s premature labor and adding that he had to leave early to take care of the ranch activities for the day and likely wouldn’t make it back before ten that night.
“If I’m interrupting…” Jenna said.
Delaney met her eyes, shaking her head. “Th
ank goodness,” she said, her smile brightening the whole room despite the nervous expressions both Sam and his mother wore. “See?” she added, turning her attention to the aforementioned nervous Nellies. “I won’t be alone. Jenna’s here, and look! She brought a plant!” She breathed in deep through her nose and closed her eyes. “Mmm, what is that? I love it!”
Jenna smiled. “I stopped by that adorable little flower shop in town and was so thrilled to find she had these mint plants.”
Delaney held her hands out for the small white pot, and Jenna handed it over.
Again Delaney inhaled, the leaves right under her nose, and sighed. “This is so thoughtful, Jenna. Who knew I’d love a mint plant so much?”
Jenna laughed. “Peppermint is great for digestion when you drink it as a tea, but it’s also really useful for just brightening your mood and giving a sense of calm and well-being. I figured you might need a little of both.”
“I think we all could use a little of that,” Barbara Ann said. She wrapped Jenna into a warm hug. “Can you stay for a bit?” she asked. “If I don’t get Sam out of here for at least an hour, he’s going to burn a hole right through the floor.”
“I heard that, Mom,” Sam called from behind her.
Barbara Ann turned over her shoulder. “I was hoping you would. Let me take you back to the ranch so you can shower and check in on things. I bet Scout needs to be let out.”
Sam scrubbed his hand over his very stubbled jaw. “Doc Murphy is hanging at the shelter for the day, so I left Scout there. She’ll be fine. And Colt’s got Jessie and Carter helping him out at the ranch along with the new ranch hands we hired for the summer. They don’t need me.” He strode toward the bed. “But Delaney and the baby do.”
“Sam,” Delaney said. “I love you. So much. But look.” She pointed to her blood pressure monitor. “Your pacing isn’t helping. I haven’t had a contraction in a few hours now. If things continue like they are, I’ll be out of here tonight. So please, go home for a bit and take care of you.”
