Jackson Hole Valentine

by Cindy Kirk

He lowered his head and kissed her softly, gently, while Richard Marx began to sing in the background. Cole’s lips were warm and sweet and Meg let her eyelids flutter shut, savoring the closeness.

  The music transported her to a high school gym decorated with crepe streamers and balloons. Cole was in a tux and she was in a slinky dress that made her look beautiful and they were kissing on the dance floor.

  He continued pressing his lips lightly to hers, teasingly, his mouth never pulling away. His hands slipped underneath her sweater, slowly sliding up and down her back.

  When his thumbs skimmed the edges of her breasts, Meg waited for his fingers to try to unclasp her bra—not that she would allow that liberty, of course—but he lowered his hands to her waist and simply continued to kiss her.

  After a moment, she gave in to temptation and wrapped her arms more tightly around his neck, dragging him closer, drinking him in.

  When they finally came up for air, she leaned her forehead against his. “That’s one.”

  Cole’s brow lifted.

  “Our lips stayed connected,” Meg said, trying not to sound defensive. “That makes it one kiss.”

  His mouth—that wonderful, delightful mouth—widened into a smile. “I like the way you count.”

  She played with the strands of his hair, her breath coming in short puffs. Dear God, if she got this excited over kissing the man, what would it be like if they made love? No need to go there, she told herself. Her body unfortunately seemed to have developed a mind of its own.

  “The kiss helped. My thoughts are clearer,” he said. “I now see why you think making love would be a mistake.”

  “Really?” Was that disappointment she heard in her voice?

  His gaze turned sharp and assessing. Finally a slow smile lifted his lips. “Actually, no. I believe I need another kiss before I come to such an important conclusion.”

  Meg knew he was teasing her but she didn’t care. She wanted another kiss. And another. And maybe one more for good measure.

  “Perhaps—” she brought a finger to the lips that still tingled from his touch “—taking the kiss a little…deeper might help offer some clarity.”

  His eyes danced. “Let’s give it a try.”

  Without waiting for her response, Cole tilted her head back, teasing the fullness of her lower lip with his tongue. He tasted like the most delicious, decadent candy Meg had ever eaten.

  She parted her lips and he immediately changed the angle of the kiss and plunged inside, claiming her mouth. His tongue circled and danced with hers. She did the same to him, each touch, each tingle reinforcing the possibilities.

  Her fingers trembled as she caressed his face, his hair. Her head spun. If he hadn’t been holding her so tight she’d have lost her footing.

  Then suddenly the kiss ended and her head was on his shoulder. The only thing she was aware of was the beating of her heart mingled with his.

  Two kisses. She’d promised herself she’d stop at two. Or was it three?

  A sigh escaped her lips.

  “Hey.” He tipped her head back with a curled finger, his blue eyes dark and filled with concern. “What’s wrong?”

  Meg thought of the weeks, months and maybe even years that had been filled with regret over what could have been. Sure, she’d survived and had moved on with her life. Still, every now and then she hadn’t been able to stop herself from looking back. Even at sixteen, she’d recognized that the relationship between her and Cole was special. She’d firmly believed that, given the right time and place, they could have gone the distance.

  “Meg?” he prompted.

  It all became clear. She and Cole had been given a second chance.

  She was apprehensive, of course. After how their relationship had ended before, who wouldn’t be? But a lot had happened in both their lives since that time.

  Meg understood Cole better now than she had back then.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he said.

  “Flattery,” she said slowly and distinctly so there could be no misunderstanding, “will get you everything.”

  He cocked his head. “Everything?”

  The rightness of the decision washed over her. “We can discuss this further at your place.”

  There was a beat of silence. Confusion filled his gaze. “Uh, this is my place.”

  Meg giggled. Honest to goodness giggled. If she hadn’t heard it herself she’d never have believed it. “Your place, as in your bedroom.”

  In case she still hadn’t made herself clear, Meg pulled his face down with her hand and gave him a ferocious kiss. The type of kiss that tells a man “I want you now.”

  She’d learned long ago that regret over something you wished you’d said or done but no longer had the chance to do was its own kind of hell. And she wasn’t letting this opportunity pass her by.

  Cole seemed equally determined to seize the moment. He locked his hand around her elbow and propelled her into the bedroom, only stopping to close and lock the door behind them.

  Usually Meg was the poster child of calm, but tonight she was a tangled mess of wants and desires. Her need for him a stark carnal hunger she hadn’t known she was capable of feeling.

  “This better not take too long or I’m going to combust,” she murmured and felt some of her nervousness fade at his quick laughter.

  “I’m afraid I’m going to do my best to stoke that fire,” he said in a husky voice that made her blood feel like warm honey sliding through her veins. “But I promise if we go up in flames it will be together.”

  Cole moved his arm so her hand slid down to his and he gently locked their fingers together, tugging her to the bed. Once there, he pulled her up against him, linking his arms lightly around her waist.

  A sudden look of tenderness crossed his face. His grin was a little lopsided, his fingers not quite steady as they touched the curve of her cheek and trailed along the line of her jaw.

  “You won’t regret this,” he said and his voice was like a promise.

  Meg met his gaze. Could he hear her heart pounding? When he looked in her eyes, could he see her desire reflecting back at him?

  Once again he seemed to know what she was thinking. He began to remove his clothing, cursing when his hands fumbled with the brace. She shrugged out of her dress, letting the soft fabric fall to the floor before unfastening the last of the Velcro straps for him with shaking hands.

  In a matter of seconds, their clothes lay in a pile at their feet and Cole’s gaze was riveted to her now-bare breasts. But thankfully he wasn’t content to look and not touch. His long fingers lifted and supported the yielding flesh as his thumbs brushed across the tight points of her nipples.

  Shock waves coursed through her body with each touch. Moaning, she reached out and wrapped her hand around his hardness.

  “I have protection,” he groaned, gesturing with a short jerk of his head toward the dresser.

  “I’ve got it covered,” she managed to say.

  “Yes, you do.” A tiny smile touched his lips as he glanced at her fingers stroking him.

  He couldn’t seem to get enough of her breasts, kissing and licking each pink peak thoroughly, dragging his teeth across the sensitive skin.

  Meg squirmed, whimpering in frustration. She pushed her hips against him, rubbing his erection. She wanted, no, she needed…

  Cole’s answer to her unspoken demand was to catch her mouth in a hard, deep kiss and pull her down beside him on the bed. His hand flattened against her lower back, drawing her up against the length of his body.

  Conscious of his knee, Meg draped herself across him, body on body, his arousal pressing into her thigh while she rubbed herself against him, her breath coming in short puffs.

  While she wanted to prolong the pleasure, she couldn’t wait. Running her hands up his chest, she pushed him back down, guiding him inside her as he nuzzled her breasts. He was thick and hard and stretched her to perfection.

  She moved her hips against his in a sensual r
hythm as old as time, shivers of desire traveling up and down her spine. Cole held on to her hips, guiding her up and down in a steady rhythm she couldn’t resist.

  Just when she thought she couldn’t stand any more pleasure, he captured her mouth in a deep, hot, tongue-tangling kiss that mimicked the fast, hard, frantic mating of their bodies. Meg surged against the pleasure swelling like the tide inside her.

  Her body trembled and she tried to hold on, but he continued to pump his hips up and down, again and again, every thrust harder than the one before until she cried out, her body convulsing around his shaft, milking him, shuddering with the force of her own release.

  Cole opened his eyes the next morning to the feel of Meg’s soft lips against his neck. He stretched and slid a hand up her bare arm. “Now, this is the way every day should begin.”

  Meg chuckled and rested her head against his shoulder, her fingers toying with the hair on his chest. When she brushed the small bud of his nipple, Cole’s breath hissed between his teeth and his body jolted.

  “It’s only six—” she found his other nipple buried in the curling mat of hair and rubbed her thumb over the tight bud, the edge of her nail scraping ever so lightly “—and I thought if we were really quick we might have time—”

  A wave of heat swept through him. “I like the way you think.”

  Reaching up, he grasped her arms and pulled her to him for an openmouthed, intimate kiss. Though they’d already made love several times during the night, he was ready to do it again.

  “I like the way you kiss.” Meg let her head fall back, baring her neck and throat to his lips, a purr of pleasure rumbling in her throat.

  “The way you smell drives me crazy,” he said, nuzzling her ear and kissing her neck.

  Cole brushed the hair back from her face with a gentle hand then kissed her with an intensity that had them both breathing hard in seconds.

  With a low groan, he pulled her on top of him. As much as he’d have liked to have mixed up the positions, for now his knee limited the possibilities. Still, that didn’t mean they couldn’t have fun....

  His hips surged upward, his mind conjuring up images of naked limbs entwined, of his body filling her as he thrust hard and deep. His hand had slipped downward, to the part of her that was already swollen with need, when he heard the noise.

  From Meg’s sudden stiffening, she’d heard it, too.

  A knock. And then another.

  “Uncle Cole.” Charlie’s voice sounded from the other side of the locked door. “Can I come in?”

  For a second, Cole froze.

  Meg gasped and rolled off of him. She grabbed a corner of the sheet, attempting to cover herself as if she feared Charlie would come storming into the room any second.

  “The door is locked,” he mouthed, finding reassurance in the knowledge.

  “What’s wrong, bud?” Even as he forced a calm tone, Cole swung his legs over to the side of the bed and stood, quickly shuffling his way to the closet. He began tossing on clothes, conscious of Meg doing the same thing behind him.

  “I can’t find Aunt Meg,” Charlie wailed, pounding on the door. “I think she left us.”

  “She didn’t leave,” Cole called back.

  “How do you know?” The little boy whimpered.

  Cole turned to see Meg kick her bra and panties beneath the bed and straighten her dress.

  “Because she’s here with me,” Cole answered.

  “I didn’t go anywhere, Charlie,” Meg called out. She surveyed Cole’s running pants and T-shirt then gave a short nod of approval. “I got up early to help Uncle Cole with his exercises.”

  Jerking the comforter up over the tangled sheets, Cole took a seat on the edge of the bed then gestured to Meg to open the door.

  “I’m sorry I worried you, sweetie.” She opened the door, and his son, still in his firefighter fleece footie pajamas, fell into her open arms with a sob.

  Cole’s heart clenched at the tearstained face.

  “I went to your room.” The little boy hugged her tight, his voice thick with tears. “But you weren’t there. I looked in the kitchen but you weren’t there, either.”

  Meg stroked the top of Charlie’s head. “I’m sorry, baby. Aunt Meg just didn’t think you’d be up so early.”

  Over the child’s head, her gaze met Cole’s and her lips lifted in a rueful smile. Today they’d both learned a valuable lesson, one that undoubtedly countless parents had discovered before them.

  No time was a completely safe time for sex. Not with a child in the house.

  “Why are you up so early?” Cole asked. “Do you feel okay?”

  Charlie tilted his head back, his eyes still shiny with tears.

  “Today is the party,” the child said as if that explained everything. He turned back to Meg. “Didn’t you tell him?”

  “Of course she did,” Cole said immediately. He thought for a split second. “That’s why I asked Aunt Meg to help me with my exercises this morning. I wanted to make sure my leg is in tip-top shape for the party tonight.”

  It was a pitiful excuse but the best Cole could think of on short notice.

  Charlie nodded solemnly, seeming to accept the explanation. “Did Aunt Meg make it all better?”

  Cole resisted the urge to look at Meg. “You know…it is better now.”

  “I can get on my clothes real fast. Then can we go?” Charlie wrenched himself from Meg’s arms, no trace of the tears remaining. “I want to play with Connor and Caleb.”

  Travis’s mischievous twin boys were in Charlie’s first-grade class, and they, along with their parents and three other siblings, would be at the party tonight.

  “We won’t be leaving for the Delacourts’ house until five,” Meg explained.

  “Five o’clock is a long time away,” Cole stressed, wanting to make sure Charlie understood they wouldn’t be getting into the car anytime soon.

  Charlie looked abashed for a second then began hopping from one foot to the other. “Can we have pancakes for breakfast?”

  Cole stifled a yawn, wondering how anyone could have such energy before the sun had been given a chance to rise. Of course, he’d probably be more ready to embrace the day if he’d slept more than a few hours last night.

  “Can we have pancakes, Aunt Meg?” Charlie repeated when she didn’t immediately answer. “Please?”

  “Of course.” Meg smiled. “Uncle Cole and I picked up some chocolate chips when we were at the store. You can toss a few into the batter, if you’d like. But first you have to wash your hands.”

  “I’ll wash ’em right now.” Without another word, Charlie galloped from the room.

  “With soap,” Meg called after him.

  Cole raised a brow. “Chocolate-chip pancakes?”

  “If you don’t like them, we can make some without the chips.” Meg bent to reach under the bed. She pulled out a white lace bra and matching panties then dropped them into his top dresser drawer. “I’ll be back later to retrieve these.”

  “Be sure to come when you have time to stay and…visit.”

  For a second she hesitated, and he feared she was going to say that last night was a one-time event and she’d gotten him out of her system.

  Instead she grinned. “Absolutely.”

  As she sauntered to the door with her hips swaying from side to side, Cole realized two important facts.

  One, a single night with her hadn’t been enough. If anything, it had only increased his desire for her.

  Two, she wasn’t wearing any underwear beneath that dress.

  He wasn’t sure which fact caused him the most distress.

  Chapter Twelve

  There was no denying it. The Delacourt home in the mountains just outside of Jackson had been transformed into a winter wonderland. When Meg turned into the circular drive in front of the large stone-and-wood house, she had to smile at Charlie’s excited shriek.

  Meg was equally impressed. By the brightly colored lights decorating the snow-c
overed trees and shrubs. By the antique sleigh filled with lit packages of every shape and color. Even by the simple evergreen wreath with a big red bow hanging on the front door.

  Her family had never done much in the way of decorating for the holidays. Merely shopping for gifts for eight children had taken most of her mom and dad’s spare time. Yet Meg had yearned for a home filled with wreaths, garland and a tree with all the trimmings.

  Decorating her own apartment had always seemed like too much work for only one person to enjoy. Next year, though, she would do it. For Charlie. And for herself.

  This year she vowed to make the holidays special for the little boy who now proudly carried her food offering to the house.

  Nick and Lexi, along with their daughters, Addie and Grace, greeted them at the door, taking their coats and thanking them for the relish tray before pointing them in the direction of the great room.

  As she and Cole and Charlie passed from one room to another, Meg quickly discovered the holiday decorations hadn’t been confined to the exterior of the home. Sugar-coated gingerbread candles greeted them with a delicious scent when they stepped into the hall. Mistletoe hung over every doorway.

  In the great room a collection of old-world Santas marched across the mantel while orange flames danced in the hearth. A large fir tree, decorated with garlands of cranberries and popcorn, stopped just shy of the twenty-foot ceiling.

  A sumptuous spread had been set buffet-style on a large table. Covered in a red tablecloth, a thick gold velvet ribbon had been wrapped around the upper sides of the table and tied in bows. Small evergreen wreaths hung at regular intervals, providing a hint of color.

  Charlie loved it. Or at least he loved the light coat of gold glitter over the top of the table. She and Cole simply exchanged smiles when the boy insisted it was “real” gold but didn’t attempt to correct him.

  Mary Karen, her sister-in-law, strolled over at that point, one of her baby twins on her hip. Dressed in a form-fitting red sweater dress, Meg would never have known she was the mother of five.

  “Hi, M.K.,” Meg said, using her brother’s nickname for his wife. She glanced around the room. “I don’t know why but for some reason I thought this was a sit-down dinner.”