If she and Craig were meant to be together, then Caroline needed to prove to him once and for all how much of a woman she was.
Sitting at the conference table in her office that morning, Caroline stared absently at her blank notepad, trying to figure out how to do that. Cecelia had implied that Craig was willing to move on, so maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing for Caroline to seduce him after all.
She tapped her pencil against her chin. The problem with that was she didn’t know how to go about it. Especially since her past attempts at physical intimacy with Craig had been rather unsuccessful and only left her wanting more.
“I go away for two weeks and come back to find my favorite employee engaged.”
At the sound of the familiar voice, Caroline looked up to see Vivienne entering the office.
Smiling widely and looking sun-kissed and refreshed from her honeymoon in Fiji, she gushed, “I can’t wait to hear all about it.”
“Yeah, it kinda happened fast,” Caroline said, then let out a deep breath and slouched against the chair’s brightly upholstered fabric. “The engagement, that is. It took on a life of its own, if that makes any sense.”
“You have no idea how much sense that makes to me.” Vivienne gave a little chuckle. “Did I ever tell you how Cole made up an entire fiancée in order to have me plan his pretend wedding?”
“But Cole loves you,” Caroline said, referring to Vivienne’s new husband.
“He barely knew me when he came up with the plan.”
“What plan?” Josselyn Weaver asked as she came into the office for her rescheduled consultation. Ever since their first meeting had ended in a hospital stay, Caroline had the feeling her client had been purposely avoiding her. Fortunately, the woman still had a wedding to plan, which meant Caroline could finally get some answers.
“We were just talking about my engagement.” Caroline studied her for any signs of conspiracy. Josselyn gave a discreet cough and looked away, practically inviting the next question. “Did you know I wasn’t engaged to Craig when I woke up in that hospital?”
Josselyn gasped before narrowing her eyes. “Wait. Did you know you weren’t engaged to him?”
“Not at the time I didn’t.” Caroline sighed in frustration, sinking lower in her seat. “I really believed he was my fiancé when I first saw him.”
“But now you know...” Josselyn made a circular motion with her wrist, encouraging Caroline to fill in the blanks. “What exactly do you know?”
Caroline went on to tell the two women about everything, from Winona Cobbs to her late-night research on confabulation to how her memory had come back as soon as Craig kissed her.
“So you guys kissed?” Josselyn asked, settling down into one of the chairs at the conference table. “How was that?”
“Wonderful and confusing and then wonderful again when I met his family.”
“Oh, boy, you already met his family?” Vivienne asked, joining them at the table.
“Yes. I went there for Thanksgiving. And then some of them and his friends had this impromptu engagement party for us at the Maverick Manor the other night and everyone was congratulating us, and I sat there, knowing the truth yet saying nothing.”
“Well,” Josselyn started, “if it’s any consolation, Craig also knew you weren’t really engaged.”
“Exactly. Craig knew it and, for the life of me, I can’t figure out why he would go along with a pretend engagement.” Caroline placed her elbow on the table and braced her forehead in her hand. “Who else knows it isn’t real?”
“Well, Drew and I knew since we were there at the hospital when you came to and made the surprising announcement. Sorry for not speaking up sooner about that, by the way. The doctor didn’t want us saying anything that could give you any more anxiety. Plus, Drew promised me that you were in good hands with Craig.”
“But what does his family think of your relationship?” Vivienne asked.
“I’m not sure what they think.” Caroline looked over to Josselyn, who only smirked.
“So, I wasn’t able to attend the party at the Maverick Manor, but I heard that his siblings nominated Cecelia to be the one to tell you that they approved of the engagement.”
Her tummy flipped in excitement. Having the rest of the Clifton family’s approval boosted her confidence. But just to be sure her feelings weren’t completely one-sided, she asked, “You guys don’t think all of this is totally nuts?”
“From what I understand, there have been crazier courtships in Rust Creek Falls,” Vivienne offered. “If you want him, I say go after him.”
“I definitely want him, but only if he wants me in return. What happens, though, when he realizes that I remember everything? Will he be relieved that he can finally walk away?” Caroline rested her head against the back of the chair and studied the ceiling. “How do I come clean and still keep my cowboy?”
“I don’t know Craig as well as the rest of the Stricklands do.” Josselyn leaned forward and wiggled her eyebrows. “But I’ve seen the way that man looks at you.”
Hope blossomed in Caroline’s chest and she sat up straighter. “How does he look at me?”
“Like he’s in no hurry to walk away.”
She sincerely hoped that Josselyn was right. But just to be sure, Caroline decided to take matters into her own hands.
Chapter Seventeen
“Your drink matches your outfit,” Craig said over the strains of the band’s rendition of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas.”
“Huh?” Caroline’s nerve endings were pulsating along with the tempo of the festive music.
He nodded at her rum-laced eggnog in a miniature Mason jar and repeated himself.
Caroline had carefully chosen an ivory cashmere sweater and paired it with a matching fitted skirt that flared into a short ruffle of chiffon above the knee. Despite the snow outside, she’d kept her legs bare and her feet festive in a pair of glittery gold pumps. “Well, that’s a party planner’s job. To work from behind the scenes and blend in with the surroundings.”
“As if you could ever blend in anywhere,” Craig said, his unconcealed stare turning her pulsing nerves into a throbbing ache under her skin.
It was the night of the Presents for Patriots fund-raiser and they hadn’t driven to the party together because, technically, Caroline was working. At least she had been the first half of the evening. But the caterers and the band and even the bartenders had worked previous events at Sawmill Station and didn’t need much direction. So, after dinner and the silent auction, the only thing left for her to do was dance.
Of course, the sexy cowboy standing in front of her didn’t seem all that eager to pull her onto the dance floor despite the fact that his warm hands kept sliding lower along her back each time he’d come over to check on how she was feeling.
In fact, judging by the way his palm was now resting along the upper curve of her bottom and threatening to dip lower, Caroline got the impression that he was much more eager to get her alone.
And truthfully, Caroline didn’t want to wait any longer to make Craig hers.
They’d been living together for almost two weeks now and there was no way she was going to let him sleep on her sofa one more night. Maybe it was the intoxicating fragrance of all the swags of pine branches and mistletoe running along the white linen-covered farm tables. Or maybe it was the warm glow from the white twinkling lights hanging from the rustic wooden beams of the old freight house. Perhaps it was the spiced eggnog concoction warming her veins. More than likely, it was a combination of all three making her grow bolder and more confident by the minute.
It was either now or never.
“Are you ready to go home?” she asked, turning toward him and laying her hand on the lapel of his dark sport coat. “I want to give you your Christmas present early.”
She saw
the muscles of his neck contract as he tipped back his head and swallowed down the rest of his beer. Setting his empty bottle on the nearest table, his voice was low and rushed when he said, “Let’s go.”
Vivienne—who was standing with her husband beside the vintage red sleigh loaded with gifts donated for the Presents for Patriots charity—gave Caroline a thumbs-up as Craig guided her toward the exit.
The ten-minute ride back to her house was the same one he drove every day. But now it seemed as though it only took seconds before they were pulling into Caroline’s driveway.
Maybe he knew what she had planned and he was just as eager for it. Snow was falling as they walked to her front door, yet her skin was on fire and anticipation raced through her. The sight of her spare key attached to his key ring gave her another jolt of confidence that Craig wasn’t in a hurry to go anywhere. At least, not yet.
“Wait here,” she said, pointing toward the sofa because it would’ve been too mortifying to suggest he wait on her bed. And trickier to explain without giving the surprise away. And she had a feeling that she was going to need the element of surprise.
Caroline went into her bathroom and carefully removed her sweater and skirt, then reached in the vanity to find the matching lace bra-and-pantie set she’d hidden there for this exact moment.
Her cheeks turned the same crimson shade as the lingerie and Caroline was glad she’d been smart enough not to wear such a sexy thing under her clothes earlier. She would’ve been entirely distracted throughout the party, constantly aware of what she had on underneath and thinking about who would see it later.
She was dying to splash some cold water on her face, but didn’t want to ruin her carefully applied makeup. Instead, she settled for a gulp of water out of the faucet, then stared at her reflection wondering if there was anything she’d forgotten when she’d come up with this plan. Don’t think of it as a plan, she told herself. Try to act natural.
Unfortunately, the longer she stood in this bathroom, the more she would second-guess herself. Steeling herself, she listened to that initial instinct—the one that had never steered her wrong before—and walked out into the living room.
Caroline heard Craig’s sharp intake of breath, saw the heat fill his eyes, and it was all she could do not to smile in triumph. She was sure he could see her heart thumping behind her rib cage.
“I have to tell you something,” Craig blurted out. His voice held a slight tremble and Caroline guessed that he was just as nervous as she. Another ounce of courage filled her and she straightened her back, causing her breasts to thrust forward.
“Don’t you want to unwrap your gift first?” she asked.
His only response was his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. Normally, when he was uncomfortable or trying to avoid a question, he focused on some distant point while he spoke to her. Right now, though, his eyes were drilling into her, and Caroline’s confidence soared.
He’d already discarded both his heavier outer coat and his sport coat and was now only wearing a white dress shirt. She walked toward him and slid her hands up his chest until her fingers landed on the first buttonhole. “Or can I unwrap mine first?” she asked him as she opened his buttons.
“I’m not who you think I am,” he said in a rush, and Caroline didn’t quite feel like herself, either. Boldness had overcome her, and right now, if she allowed him to distract her with all his chivalrous excuses of why they couldn’t be intimate, she would surely lose more than her memory. She might lose her mind.
Putting a finger up to his mouth to gently shush him, Caroline ended up tracing his lower lip. “But you’re exactly who I want.”
“How do you know, though? Your head—”
She cut off his words with a kiss. Caroline was tired of explaining that her concussion was perfectly healed. Her only option now was to show him. And she did so with her mouth, her hands, her entire body, distracting him from any argument about why they shouldn’t finally consummate their relationship.
There was a slight resistance when she tugged on his hand, trying to lead him toward her bedroom, and she could see all the conflicted emotions pass across his face. Cupping his cheek, she whispered, “Craig, trust me, I know what you want to tell me. But there isn’t a single thing you can say that would stop me from wanting you. Unless it’s that you don’t want me.”
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” he replied, his voice deep and loaded with desire.
“Then prove it.”
Craig groaned as he lifted her into his arms and carried her the rest of the way to the bed. His mouth claimed hers and as he set her down, she slipped her hands into his undone shirt and yanked it free just as his body followed hers onto the comforter.
There was more kissing, more touching, more moaning as her bra came loose and her panties slid from her hips. Caroline was pushing his jeans past the rounded muscles of his rear end when his body stilled.
“I need to go get some protection,” he murmured against her temple, then began to push off her, but she wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him back.
“Don’t leave,” Caroline said, thinking she would die of humiliation if he came to his senses and rejected her now.
“Honey, I’m just going to the living room to get them out of my duffel bag.”
Pleasure engulfed her as she realized that he must have known in the back of his mind that they would eventually make love. He’d prepared just as she had.
“That’s okay,” she replied, leaning toward her bedside drawer to retrieve the package she’d brought home from work. “I was too embarrassed to go to the drugstore in town, so I found these in one of the favor bags we had left over from a bachelorette party last summer.”
When he rolled the condom on, Caroline knew with a certainty that this was the man for her. This was her destiny. He entered her slowly and Caroline gasped as the hard tip filled her.
“Are you okay?” he asked and she could hear the tension in his tone, as it must’ve taken him an extreme amount of willpower to hold himself back.
“I’ve never been better,” she sighed. “Please don’t stop now.”
“I never can tell you no,” Craig said, then thrust deep inside her, only to freeze when she winced in pain. “You...you’re a...”
“I’m yours,” Caroline said, using her calves to wind around him and draw him in closer.
* * *
She’d been a virgin, Craig thought, trailing his fingers along her spine as she curved her body next to his afterward. There was no turning back now. Caroline had unwittingly given him a precious gift and all he’d given her in return was false hope.
Unless...
What would happen if Caroline never regained her memory and went on believing they were engaged? Could Craig actually go through with their marriage? The past couple of weeks, he hadn’t faked his attraction for her or even how much he cared about her. In fact, the more he’d gotten to know her, the more he could see that she was well educated and determined to live her life the way she wanted.
And apparently, she wanted him.
Caroline sighed and hooked her left leg over his thigh. His own arm under her shoulders instinctively pulled her closer, as though he could never get enough of her. And deep down, he knew that would be the case. How could he possibly let her go now?
If she really wanted that life to be on the ranch in Thunder Canyon, there was no way he would be able to tell her no. Besides, Craig was tired of being the voice of reason.
The truth of the matter was that the night she’d pulled out those matching Christmas stockings, he’d been terrified at first. But as he’d battled sleep all night on her sofa, he’d come to the conclusion that he could no longer imagine his life without Caroline in it. All he could hope was that, if she remembered nothing else, she knew that he’d always tried to do the right thing.
Her l
eft hand was absently caressing his chest and Craig knew that if she continued, he would want her on her back again. Or on top of him this time. As great as their first time had felt, he didn’t want to make her sore—or at least sorer than he’d probably already made her. Using his palm, he cupped her hand in his, slowing her motion.
After a couple of seconds, he found himself stroking her left ring finger, the one that had remained bare throughout all of this supposed engagement. Craig froze at the realization, wondering how both of them had overlooked something so obvious.
“Are you okay?” Caroline propped her chin up on her right hand. Her brown hair was thoroughly disheveled and hanging in messy waves around her face and she had never looked more adorable or more loved.
Oh, God. He’d fallen in love with her.
The realization should have made him go cold and sink into the bed with fear of the unexpected. Instead, Craig basked in the warmth of Caroline’s heated body as a feeling of weightlessness and euphoria settled into a cocoon around him.
“Actually,” he said, unable to stop the smile that played on his lips as he began tracing her ring finger again, “I was just thinking we should go to a jeweler to pick something out soon.”
Caroline gasped before scrambling up to her knees, not bothering to take the bedsheet with her as she beamed a smile at him. “You mean an engagement ring?”
“Of course,” Craig said, then chuckled as she rained kisses down over his face.
“I—” she kissed his cheek “—love—” she kissed his forehead “—you—” she kissed his chin “—so—” she kissed his other cheek “—much.” She kissed his lips. Then she held her face over his and he saw the depth of her happiness reflected in her eyes. “I was hoping that you’d propose by Christmas.”
Hearing her say that she loved him gave Craig the strength to take over the world. Or at least to flip her over and take his time covering her with kisses.
The Maverick's Christmas to Remember Page 15
