Marrying the Cowboy

by Trish Milburn

  When they returned to the nursery, Pete parked beside her SUV.

  “I won’t push you,” he said. “But some time soon, I want you to spend the night with me. I don’t want you to worry about if someone knows.”

  She leaned across the truck and kissed him so that she wouldn’t have to say anything. A part of her wanted to proclaim their relationship to the world, but there was still enough fear in her heart that things wouldn’t work out that she just couldn’t, not yet. Not when doing so would mean a constant barrage of questions and expectations from Verona. She loved her aunt dearly and knew that she meant well, but she could be intense with the need to pair everyone up.

  Even so, it was remarkably difficult to drive away from Pete. When she pulled into her garage, she didn’t immediately get out of the SUV. Her emotions felt as if they were spinning like the contents of a blender. Excitement over her new relationship with Pete, sadness that he wasn’t going to be right next door anymore, anxiety about allowing herself to think too far into the future. After all, how likely was it that she was going to hit the true-love lottery after both India and Skyler had? Wasn’t that asking too much from fate?

  Realizing that the longer she sat in the garage, the more likely Verona was to question her, she got out and went into the house.

  “Hey, hon,” Verona said. “How’s Pete?”

  Elissa stopped moving just as Verona looked up from her knitting.

  “Oh, don’t look so surprised,” Verona said. “You’re not nearly as good at hiding things from me as you think you are.”

  “What do you mean?” If Verona said one word about knowing that Elissa and Pete had been having sex when she came home from the wedding, Elissa was going to die of embarrassment.

  “That you’re head over heels in love with that boy.”

  Elissa didn’t even try to argue. There was no use. Instead, she crossed to the couch and sank down onto its edge. “It’s totally insane, right?”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “It’s Pete,” she said, as if that should explain everything.

  “Yes, and you couldn’t find a better man if you tried the rest of your life.”

  “But we’ve been friends with no hint of attraction for years.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  Elissa looked at her aunt. “What does that mean?”

  Verona smiled. “When you moved in, Pete had the biggest crush on you.”

  “No, he didn’t.”

  “Just because he never said anything doesn’t make it any less true.”

  That revelation floored Elissa. “Do you think he’s felt that way all this time?”

  “That’s something you’d have to ask him.”

  Elissa flopped against the back of the couch. “Why wouldn’t he say anything?”

  “Maybe he was afraid to, or maybe it went away and only recently reignited. What about you?”

  Elissa shook her head. “I never thought of Pete that way. I mean, I knew he was attractive, but he was just my friend.”

  “But something changed.”

  “Yeah. I think it’s the out-of-the-blue nature of it that scares me. What if it goes away just as suddenly?”

  “Does it feel like that’s going to happen?”

  Elissa thought about that for a moment, then shook her head again. “No.”

  Verona smiled, the way she did when she’d known something all along.

  “Don’t tell me you knew this was going to happen.”

  “Why do you think I tried to nudge you two toward each other? I saw the glances and the subtle changes in how you acted around each other even before either of you realized what was happening.”

  Elissa stared at her aunt for several seconds. “You are a freak of nature.”

  Verona laughed, and in the next moment Elissa found herself laughing, too.

  “So, when do I get to start planning your wedding?”

  Elissa threw up her hands and stood. “This is why I didn’t want you to know.”

  Verona laughed again and gave Elissa a look that let her know she was teasing.

  Elissa shook her head. “A freak of nature and evil, I tell you. You’ve got everyone snookered into thinking you’re this sweet little lady, but I know the truth.” She grabbed and playfully tossed a ball of yarn at her aunt, then headed toward her bedroom.

  “Mark my words, wedding bells will ring for you two.”

  Elissa closed her bedroom door behind her, blocking some of the sounds of giggling from the other room. But once she took one look at her bed and remembered what she’d shared with Pete there the night before, she couldn’t help imagining what it might be like if Verona’s prediction came true. It was so hard to believe. For now she was happy to revel in the high of being with Pete in a way she’d never dreamed of before that tornado had blown him into her guest room.

  She walked to the bed and stretched out along its length. As she closed her eyes, she inhaled Pete’s scent and smiled.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Over the next week, Elissa discovered she was happier each day than the day before. She’d always considered herself a happy person, but she’d had no idea how happy she could be until now. When they weren’t working, she and Pete spent almost all of their time together. They went for a canoe ride on the lake, to a movie in Austin, to a dinner on the River Walk in San Antonio and for another horseback ride, this one on the trails at the Teagues’ ranch. They also spent plenty of time at Pete’s apartment in his bed.

  Even now, as she watched the construction guys put the finishing touches on the rebuild, she couldn’t stop thinking about him and when she’d see him next.

  “Would you like to take a look at everything?” Brett asked as he approached.

  She shifted her attention back to what she should be concentrating on, getting her business back up and running so she stopped falling deeper into a financial hole. “Sure.”

  As she followed him through the tour of the new construction, excitement built in her. Maybe two or three days of interior work and she could open again. “You’ve done a great job. And I really appreciate the fast tracking.”

  “My pleasure.”

  “Come on and I’ll get the last of your payment.”

  Brett followed her to her office as his employees loaded up their equipment. He leaned in her doorway as she wrote him a check. When she extended it to him, she found him watching her with a look she knew well.

  “So you and the cop are an item now?”

  Something about the phrasing “an item” didn’t sit well with her. They were much more than that, though she was still hesitant to put a definitive name to it. “We’re dating, yes.”

  He shook his head. “All the good ones are taken.” He took the check. “Well, if you’re ever free, you have my number.”

  “I do.” But she hoped she never had the need to call it again, at least not for the reason he was implying.

  With a little salute, he turned and walked away. After a few moments, she stood and left her office to lock the exterior door. But when she reached it, she noticed Pete passing Brett on his way toward her. When Pete reached the door, she smiled but didn’t open the door.

  “I’m sorry, sir, we’re closed.”

  He tapped the badge pinned to his uniform shirt. “It’s in your best interest to open the door, ma’am.”

  “Is that right? I can’t imagine why I’d want to do that.”

  He stepped closer. “Open the door and I’ll show you.”

  Giggling, she slipped the lock free. The moment he stepped inside, Pete pulled her to him and kissed her as if he hadn’t seen her in a month.

  “I take it you missed me,” she said.

  “How did you figure that out?”

/>   She pointed toward her temple. “My finely honed powers of deduction.”

  Pete rubbed his palm down her arm. It was the simplest of touches, not anywhere near as erotic as so much else they’d shared, but something about it lit her on fire. An idea formed in her mind that had her reaching around him and securing the door.

  “Can you help me move something in the back?”

  “Sure.”

  Elissa led the way to a large room filled with patio furniture, some of which had just been delivered that morning in anticipation of her reopening. They were halfway across the room when she spun around and pushed him down onto a chaise longue. She followed him and started unbuckling his belt.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  She gave him a wicked grin. “I’d think that was obvious. I have to say, Deputy Kayne, you do fine things for a uniform.” She leaned forward and whispered in his ear, “Especially when I know what is beneath it.”

  Elissa captured his mouth as she wriggled out of her shorts and underwear and freed him. She didn’t take the time to remove his boots or even his pants all the way before she settled herself onto him.

  They made love fast and with a lot of heavy breathing before they both found their release and she collapsed atop him.

  “You are insatiable,” he said as he smoothed her hair.

  “I know. It’s like you turned some sort of switch on inside me.”

  He tilted her face to look up at him. “Is it really that different with me?”

  She caressed his cheek. “Yes. I’m afraid of jinxing it by saying it, but I’ve never felt this way before. I feel like I’ve been saving up all these years and I can’t get enough of you.”

  He smiled. “Who am I to argue with that?”

  She almost told him that she loved him, but still something kept her from saying those words that she knew in her heart were true. She loved Pete Kayne with all her heart.

  He hadn’t said the words, either, but she found herself hoping that he held the feelings. Everything pointed that way, including when she arrived at work the next morning to find not only Pete and her employees on hand to help with the painting and interior organization but also almost a dozen other people, too. India and Liam, Skyler and Logan, Lara, who worked in India’s store, a couple of the inn’s employees, Greg Bozeman, Keri and Simon, and a few other Teagues quickly got to work as she indicated what needed to be done.

  Halfway through the morning, she looked up from painting the trim around the entryway into the new section of the building to find Pete smiling at her. “What?”

  “You have paint on your nose.”

  “And you find that funny?”

  “Cute.”

  As he came close, as though he was going to kiss her, she lifted her brush and dabbed it against his nose, leaving a white smudge of paint behind.

  She saw the change in his expression that promised retribution and turned to flee. But he was too quick. He caught her around her waist and spun her into a little alcove full of decorative outdoor thermometers. Before she could say anything, he kissed her so deeply that her head spun.

  Someone knocked loudly on the wall, causing them to jerk apart. “Come on, lovebirds,” Simon said. “Don’t be leaving the rest of us to do the work while you make out.”

  Elissa hid her face against Pete’s chest. He dropped a kiss onto the top of her head before leading her out of the alcove.

  A few minutes later, Skyler stepped up next to Elissa. “I’m so happy for you.”

  “Yeah, it’ll be great to get the doors open for business again.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  Elissa looked over to see Skyler watching Pete. “I’m happy for me, too.”

  With the amount of help Pete had brought, all the necessary work was completed by the end of the day. If she allowed a day for the paint to fully dry and to get the word out that she was reopening, she could be back in business in two days. After everyone but Pete left, she found him in the patio furniture room with a naughty grin on his face.

  “Care for an encore?” he asked.

  “How about we both go home and take showers, put on clean clothes and actually go out for a meal?”

  “I suppose that’s doable. As long as you promise I can have you for dessert.”

  She laughed as he pulled her down onto his lap and kissed her.

  “Thank you, for everything you did today.”

  He shrugged. “I have to keep up my good-guy appearance, especially when you’re endangering my reputation.”

  “Me?” She jumped to her feet and stepped out of his reach. “I might have to reconsider that dessert.” As she backed away, he just smiled at her.

  “You won’t be able to resist me.”

  The thing was she knew he was right. And she wore a stupid smile all the way home. She couldn’t even wipe it from her mouth as she stepped inside. Why did it matter? Verona had been at the nursery today, a witness to their not-so-secret kissing in the alcove. Plus, Verona already had a good idea how besotted Elissa was with Pete anyway. Heck, the entire Hill Country probably knew by now, and she no longer had a problem with that.

  When she stepped inside, she heard the shower running. While she waited for her turn in the bathroom, she grabbed the stack of mail on the kitchen counter and started going through it. Bills, junk mail, a postcard from her parents. She flipped it over and read her mother’s writing.

  Just a quick note to let you know we’re off to a couple of weeks in Chile. Then we’re coming for a visit. Looking forward to seeing you, dear.

  Love,

  Mom

  She smiled at the thought of seeing her parents. It had been three months since she’d last seen them. They likely had a million and one fascinating tales to share, and she certainly had a few things to tell them, too. She set the postcard aside and went through the rest of the mail. Her smile faded when she reached the last envelope. She bit her lip as the full impact of what she held in her hand hit her.

  It was addressed to Pete, from the Texas Department of Public Safety. She didn’t have to see the contents to know what it said. They had accepted him into the academy, and he would leave.

  Tears pooled in her eyes as her heart broke.

  * * *

  PETE HELD ELISSA’S hand in his as he led her into his apartment. That simple contact between them felt so right. He still couldn’t believe how their relationship had changed seemingly in the blink of an eye. But he was glad it had. And it was much more than sex. He knew without a doubt that he loved her. Now he just had to find the right time and place to tell her, something that she’d remember for the rest of her life.

  But first he had to find out what was bothering her. Though she’d tried to hide it, her mind had been elsewhere all through dinner. Whatever it was, it had to have happened between the time they left the nursery and when he’d picked her up to go to Gino’s.

  Pete tugged her into his arms. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.”

  He cocked his head slightly to the side. “I’m a cop, remember? I know when someone isn’t being truthful.”

  She sighed as she stepped away from him and walked to the dining room table. She set her purse down on the table and dug inside it until she pulled out an envelope.

  “Here,” she said as she extended the envelope to him. “This came for you today.”

  As soon as he took it and saw the return address, his heart rate increased. And the way Elissa was reacting to the letter told him something else, that she cared enough about him that she didn’t want him to leave.

  “This won’t change anything,” he said.

  She gave him a sad smile. “It will, Pete. And it should. You’ve wanted this the entire time I’ve known you.”

  He li
fted his hand to her face and ran his thumb across her cheek. “It’s not the only thing I want. I love you, Lis.” It wasn’t how he’d wanted to tell her, but he could already see her pulling away. He didn’t think he could handle that.

  “You’ve had to put your dream on hold too many times,” she said. “You’re finally free to pursue it, and I’m not going to be the reason you don’t.”

  He held up the letter. “You don’t even know what it says.”

  “I do, Pete. Because there’s not a person in Texas better suited to be a Ranger. You’re the ultimate good guy.”

  With a shake of his head, he ripped the envelope open, halfway hoping it was a rejection. But it wasn’t. He’d always imagined how happy he’d be in this moment, but he’d never imagined it might mean losing the woman he loved. Well, he wasn’t willing to do that.

  “I don’t have to go,” he said.

  “Don’t do that,” Elissa said, sounding angry. “If you throw away this opportunity, I’ll never forgive you.”

  He stared at her for several seconds and knew she wouldn’t change her mind. “Fine, I’ll go. But that doesn’t mean anything between us has to change.”

  “The academy is what, twenty weeks? And then you could be stationed anywhere in Texas.”

  “That doesn’t mean I’m going to the back of beyond.”

  “It doesn’t mean you aren’t, either. Listen, let’s not make this harder than it has to be.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Sadness filled Elissa’s eyes as she stepped close enough to caress his face. “You’ve been there for me every step of the way as I’ve worked toward my dream. Now I’m trying to return the favor.”

  He saw what she meant to do, and it hit him hard in the chest. “Lis, don’t do this.”

  “Isn’t it better that we step away before we get in any deeper?”

  “No, it’s not. You know why? Because I couldn’t fall for you any more than I already have.”