From This Moment On

by Debbi Rawlins

  Trace brought her hand to his lips and kissed it, lingering to inhale the vanilla-scented body cream she’d rubbed everywhere.

  “Have I told you how beautiful you look?”

  “Once when you picked me up and twice at dinner.” She tried to ignore the heat surging to her cheeks. It had been quite an eye-opener to discover she was more comfortable with Trace teasing and flirting than she was when he got serious and looked dangerously sexy. “But don’t let that stop you.”

  His mouth curved in that same slow patient smile he’d given her across their candlelit table an hour ago. She’d had a glass of wine, something she did only on special occasions. His concession was to drink his beer from a wineglass. That had made her laugh, which she suspected had been the point.

  Of all the ridiculous things, her nerves were getting the better of her. She couldn’t explain it. She was supposed to be more worldly, more sophisticated and...what was the word...blasé? Yeah, that was it. Anyone may have assumed tonight was something she’d done a thousand times. Not give a second thought to having a really hot guy come to her door, take off his hat, kiss her and tell her she looked beautiful. Oh, not just say the words but really mean it, so that she’d see the truth in his eyes.

  She’d certainly tried to give the impression of a woman who’d seen it all when she started at the Watering Hole. And it was partly true. Her fast life in Houston was so different from anything here in Montana, people here wouldn’t get it. But right now she was out of her element, and she had the feeling he knew it. The shift in power would’ve bothered her more if it was anyone but Trace.

  He released her hand, slid his arm across the back of her seat and leaned in to her. Their lips barely touched when a horn honked behind them. The light had turned green.

  Trace cussed under his breath and hit the accelerator.

  Nikki laughed. “What are we doing after the driving tour? Not that I’m not enjoying this.”

  “I’d planned on checking out what movies are playing, but I don’t know...” His gaze started at her exposed shoulders then slid down the front of her strappy sundress. “I should be showing you off.”

  “Oh, God, there you go being sexist again.”

  “I know, and I don’t care.”

  She shook her head, faking disgust. The thrilling way he’d practically devoured her with that look trumped political correctness. “Then we should go dancing.”

  “Um...”

  “Relax. I’m kidding.” She twisted around for a second look at the fancy hotel they’d passed. So much nicer than the motels she’d seen closer to the highway.

  Nikki turned back and faced straight ahead. She couldn’t tell if Trace had noticed the hotel or her interest in it. Of course sex was on her mind. And she’d bet her savings he’d been thinking about how tonight they had the perfect opportunity. The heated looks were hint enough. But after throwing herself at him the other night, the subject was still touchy for her.

  “You seem restless,” he said. “Is there somewhere you wanted to stop?”

  Suspicious that he had seen her check out the hotel and was teasing her, she studied his profile. He wasn’t trying to hold back a smile or anything. “No. Just getting the lay of the land as they say.” She sighed, wishing the horn hadn’t interrupted their almost kiss. “I haven’t had many dates.”

  He frowned, darted her a glance. “What’s that?”

  She sighed again. The thought had passed through her mind so many times she wasn’t sure she’d meant to say it out loud. “I haven’t had many dates. Not the real kind. Like tonight with you picking me up at the house.”

  “Why not?”

  “It wasn’t like that in high school.” She shrugged. “My friends and I did group things and then sometimes paired off. After graduation I worked nights, even when I went to community college, so I didn’t have time for a social life.”

  “We went out in groups, too. Mostly to football games or rodeos, so I get that. But what about proms or dances or just dinner and a movie?”

  Nikki bit her lip. Ten years later and she still cringed just hearing the word prom.

  “Obviously you think I’m an old-fashioned country boy, and you go right ahead—”

  “I don’t think that at all. Don’t put words in my mouth.”

  “I see you trying not to laugh.” He caught her hand again. “A woman accepts an invitation from me and she’s gonna get picked up at her house, and seen to her door at the end of the night.”

  “Oh, boy, if you ever have daughters their teen years won’t be pretty.”

  He let out a short laugh. “Probably not.”

  “I like that you’re all gentlemanly and chivalrous.” She saw the corner of his mouth quirk. “I do. It’s nice. I wasn’t laughing.” She braced herself. “I had a bad prom experience,” she said, hoping she was right, that telling Trace would ease the tightness in her chest. “I’d met this boy at the mall when I was fifteen. Garrett was seventeen, a private school kid. His family was loaded. Obviously he didn’t live in my neighborhood.

  “Anyway, he followed me and a girlfriend around, asked for my cell number, tried to buy me lunch. I kept saying no and—” She smiled sadly. “And probably giggled a lot. Garrett was hot and funny and smart, and not what I was used to, so of course I was flattered. Every day for a week he showed up at the food court where we hung out. I have to admit, I looked forward to seeing him. Finally I gave him my number and agreed to go to a movie. The next weekend it was a party and then another party after that. It went on for three months.

  “My friend was convinced he was using me, but he’d never pushed me into sex. We made out a lot but nothing too hot and heavy. I mean, I think Garrett really did like me. He even asked me to go to his prom.” Taking a breather, she studied the familiar storefronts they were passing. Were they headed back to the highway?

  Trace squeezed her hand, then released it to use the turn signal. “I’m still listening,” he said quietly.

  “His friend heard him ask me and I should’ve gotten a clue from his shocked face. But I was too excited. I’d seen a dress at the mall, a very expensive dress, and I was already planning the argument I’d give my mom. We couldn’t afford it, but I begged and pleaded so I wouldn’t feel out of place with all the rich girls. She gave in, then two days before the prom, Garrett called it off. He was still going, but he had to take someone else.”

  She saw that he was pulling the truck over to the curb. “What are you doing? Don’t stop.” Part of the reason she was able to talk about it was the situation. Trace had to divide his attention, and somehow that made it easier. “Please.”

  The helpless uncertainty in his eyes touched her. “All right,” he said finally, and returned to the flow of traffic.

  “Garrett said he felt terrible. His parents had hired a limo for him, and a photographer to take pictures, and he said he was sorry but they wouldn’t understand him taking someone like me to the prom. He had college to consider and didn’t want to piss them off.” She refused to look for Trace’s reaction. “He said nothing had to change between us. He wanted to continue seeing me.”

  “What a bastard.” He spat the words with so much anger she had to look at him. The veins stuck out on his neck.

  “It’s okay. Jeez, it was so long ago. Anyway, I should’ve known better. My friends tried to tell me.”

  “Tell you what?” Now he sounded angry with her friends.

  “That I should stick to my own kind, and that Garrett was too class conscious and would eventually kick me to the curb.” She laid a hand on his thigh. “I don’t think about him anymore. Honestly, I don’t. Of course it crushed me at the time. I was only fifteen. In my head Garrett was like Wallace and I was mad at myself for being as stupid and weak as my mother.”

  Trace shot her a confused look.

  “Like I said, I was fifteen. One week my mom was the enemy, the next she was my BFF. I took so much crap out on her.” Nikki shuddered at the memories. “What still
bothers me is the dress. She busted her butt working overtime to buy it for me. And I couldn’t return it because—” Oh, God.

  She laid her head back against the headrest watching the thinning crowd. No use admitting she’d been the worst possible self-centered idiot. It wouldn’t change anything. Already she’d said too much. Trace was probably disgusted with this new glimpse of her. She was pretty sure they were about to reach the highway that would take them back to Blackfoot Falls.

  Her hand still rested on his thigh. She could feel the muscle bunch when he applied the brake. “I wanted you to know how special tonight was for me,” she said. “That’s why I told you all that. I wish I hadn’t gone overboard— I don’t know, it felt good to let it out. It’s the first time I’ve told anyone.”

  “I’m glad it was me.” He caught her hand when she tried to pull it away and put it back on his thigh. “Garrett’s a damn fool but I can’t say I’m sorry he blew it with you,” he said as they passed the last two motels on the outskirts of town.

  If he had planned on a more intimate night, she’d screwed that up. She’d treated him like a friend, not a lover, and she’d never had a man play both roles in her life. And, dammit, Trace made a really great friend. Although she still wanted to find out if she was right about what kind of lover he’d be. She’d sure thought about it often enough.

  She held back a sigh. “Hey, can we listen to some music? Matt said they have radio stations here.”

  “Yep.” Trace turned the knob and a country song blasted from the speakers. He lowered the volume. “We’ll have reception for about thirty minutes. Go ahead, find something you like.”

  Thank God. She was sick of all the country music people played at the bar. After a few seconds of button pushing, she settled on a classic rock station. “This okay with you?” She looked over to find him smiling. “What?”

  “I do enjoy your enthusiasm.”

  She thought for a moment and laughed. “Matt wanted to kill me by the time we reached Blackfoot Falls. On the trip back we had rules about how many times I was allowed to change stations.”

  Trace’s grin widened. “No rules in this truck. Go for it.”

  “Ah, you really know how to sweet-talk a girl.” She turned to face him and curled up in the seat. She wasn’t the type to daydream or replay events over and over in her head, not since she was a teenager, anyway. But tonight would live in her memory for a very long time.

  They’d been driving awhile when Trace flipped on the interior light and looked over at her.

  She blinked. “What are you doing?”

  “Getting another eyeful of that dress. Kind of a shame it has to come off,” he said, watching her carefully.

  Her breath caught. “And that would be...when?”

  12

  “THIS ISN’T HOW I planned tonight.” He shook his head at himself. She was staring at him, looking as confused as he felt. “I want you, Nikki. That’s not news, I know. But I swear I had every intention of taking the evening nice and slow...have dinner, show you around...return you to the Lone Wolf...”

  “You do realize we left Kalispell a while ago.” A small smile lifted her lips and made her eyes sparkle.

  “Of course I know.” He tried not to sound irritable. “I had to get us out of town before we passed one more damn motel and I did something stupid.”

  Laughing softly, she scooted closer. “I was really hoping for stupid.”

  His heart worked overtime. “Yeah?”

  Nodding, she slid her palm up his thigh.

  He checked the rearview mirror, saw there were no other cars and slowed to make a U-turn.

  “Wait.”

  No way he’d misread her. But he brought the truck to a complete stop and met her eyes.

  “Are we closer to Kalispell or Blackfoot Falls?”

  “About the same. Maybe five minutes less to get home.” He saw where she was headed with this. “No privacy, though.”

  She stroked his thigh, her heat penetrating the thick denim. The side of her hand brushed his fly, and he gritted his teeth. “Five minutes will seem like forever,” she said, leaning over and kissing him. “And I bet we find lots of privacy.”

  “Not if you want a bed,” he said, but he’d already released the brakes and was picking up speed toward Blackfoot Falls.

  “You have a blanket in that big cargo box you keep in the back?” She reached up to flip off the light, letting her breast graze his arm.

  Trace’s laugh came out hoarse. “You’re killing me.”

  “Sorry.” Sighing, she laid her head on his shoulder. “Can’t this truck go any faster?”

  Later he’d be pissed at himself for stepping on the gas and ignoring caution. But right now he was thinking like her. The sooner they got to Blackfoot Falls the better, and he knew the perfect place. Pretty sad that at twenty-seven he’d resort to his high school make-out spot. Though no sense wasting a full moon.

  He blasted the radio for a distraction. Then alternated between five and fifteen miles over the speed limit. By the time he turned off the highway and parked the truck, Nikki was pulling his shirt out of his jeans. She attacked the buttons, and man, he thought for sure she’d end up ripping the shirt open. But when he held her face in his hands and kissed her long and slow, her feverish pace settled to a sexy caress.

  “You can wait here while I get the blanket and a flashlight from the back.” He’d meant to pull away and go do what he said he’d do, but her eagerness was contagious. Barely had he dragged his lips from hers when his craving for more pulled him back for another sweep of her mouth.

  She clung to his right shoulder, the tips of her fingers digging into him, her mouth soft and yielding, her exotic scent seeking a permanent nook inside his head. Damned if he knew how he could make himself leave her even for a minute. He cupped a hand over her breast. She wasn’t wearing a bra and he felt her hard beaded nipple through the thin fabric.

  Her fingers went back to the buttons and she continued where she’d left off, tugging with impatience, her breaths coming fast and hard in his mouth. Fear that he’d end up coming before he peeled off his jeans motivated him to make the break.

  “Nikki, wait. Let me get us set up.”

  “I can’t wait,” she whispered, pushing his shirt off one shoulder and pressing her lips against his skin.

  “I’m in the same boat, honey,” he murmured, his body so tense he thought he might have to physically remove her to a safe distance. Her hand lowered to his fly. “Dammit, Nikki.”

  “Okay.” She slumped back. “Hurry.”

  Leaving on the headlights, he fumbled with the door handle, cussing while she laughed. He waited until he was outside the truck before he looked at her. Nikki stared back, her moist lips glistening, her face flushed with need. “Your dress...don’t take it off yet.” He couldn’t decide if he wanted to do the honors, or lie back and watch her strip down in the moonlight.

  Her lips moved in a teasing smile. “You sure?”

  “No.” Barely intelligible, the strangled sound seemed to come from his throat. “Just...just leave it on for now.”

  He found the blanket, then remembered the flashlight was in his glove box. It didn’t matter. The moon was bright and the sky cloudless. He inspected the tall grass, kicked away a couple rocks, then shook out the blanket. Crouching, he ran his palm over the wool to make sure nothing hard lay underneath, wishing he were about to make love to her on a soft bed with silk sheets.

  Maybe he should’ve insisted they return to Kalispell. He should’ve taken a minute to make sure it was his brain doing the thinking. He didn’t want to get this wrong. Nikki deserved to feel special. She’d nearly torn his heart out telling him about the prom incident and that prick Garrett.

  He was straightening when he heard the car door. She stepped out and walked over to him. “I thought you’d started without me,” she said, grinning and kicking her strappy black high heels onto the blanket.

  “I like those.” Nodding
at the sandals, he loosened his buckle. “I like them a lot.”

  “You would. They’re ridiculously high and pinch my feet.”

  “So why wear ’em?”

  Nikki wrinkled her nose. “I knew you’d like them,” she said, looking small and fragile in her bare feet. Her sudden burst of laughter had a nice sound to it, lusty and full of humor, and she wasn’t the least self-conscious.

  So far that’s what he’d liked most about the night. Their relationship had reached a new level. Knowing she was comfortable enough with him to share a part of herself gave him a quiet pleasure he scarcely understood. It wasn’t easy for a woman like her to let her guard down and trust she wouldn’t be burned.

  “What’s that expression for?” Her smile slipped. “I was loud, I know.” She shivered, her dark eyes sweeping a gaze toward the trees that flanked them on the right. “I hope I didn’t attract a bunch of critters.”

  “Just one.” He reached for her and tugged her close.

  A warm gentle breeze stirred her hair as she tipped her head back to look up at him. “I love tonight. I love everything about it.” She wound her arms around him. “And as much as I’m beginning to like Gypsy, I’m glad she stayed home.”

  “I wondered if you recognized the place.”

  “Of course I do. We kissed here for the first time.”

  Trace smiled. Damn sentimental coming from her. “We have a lot more to do than kissing.” He skimmed his hand down her back, molded his palm and fingers over her firm round bottom. “After tonight, I suspect this place will deserve its own monument.”

  “Wow, that’s pretty cocky.”

  “Hell no, I’m counting on you to do your part.”

  Her throaty laugh had him searching for her zipper. He found the tab and carefully drew it down her back. She did a little shimmy that helped him pull the snug-fitting dress up to her waist, then she raised her arms. His heart raced and his pulse was going nuts as he lifted the dress over her head. She stood there in nothing but tiny black panties.