Jordan turned in his seat until he was facing her. “What kind of memories?”
Sarah rested her head against the back of her seat and closed her eyes. “I thought I loved James. He was so…” She tried to think of a word that described what he’d been like, but everything seemed so stilted, so contrived. “…attentive.”
She thought about the time that had gone into planning their wedding. “He gave me whatever I wanted. When we were planning our wedding, he agreed with everything I suggested. I thought he was being so nice, but looking back I don’t think he cared. He wasn’t planning on sticking around for long.”
“Must have come as a shock. Seeing him as he really was.”
“It wasn’t a shock to everyone else. They’d seen through him months before, but I didn’t listen to them. I think I was in love with being in love. James just happened to be the so-called nice guy that slotted into the gap in my life. Does that make me as bad as him?”
“Depends on what you wanted out of the relationship.”
“I wanted forever,” she whispered. “I wanted a happy life, children, a career. I wanted it all.”
Jordan didn’t say anything.
“Do you think I was being unrealistic?”
“It wasn’t my life, Legs. I can’t tell you whether you were being unrealistic or not. You chose those things because they made sense with the guy you were with. It doesn’t mean they won’t work with someone else, but you’ve got to be prepared for differences.”
Sarah thought about what Jordan had said, wondered why she couldn’t have met him sooner. He lived his life simply, believed in the truth, not sugar-coated lies. “Do you know why I came to Montana?”
“You didn’t just come to Montana. You closed your business, left your friends and family. You ran away from what happened. But it chased you all the way here. Does that tell you something?”
“I didn’t run away,” she growled. “I walked fast.”
“Big difference, Legs.”
“It was at the time,” she muttered. “I wanted to get away from everyone, from what happened. I needed to figure out what was important to me.”
“Has it helped?”
Sarah nodded. “I feel like a different person.” She knew what Jordan was thinking. Knew, that if she asked him, he’d say that maybe she’d found who she’d been all along. “You haven’t asked about what my lawyer said?”
“It’s none of my business.”
“I won the court case,” she said quietly. “My lawyer has filed all of the international rights to the software I designed.” She didn’t mention the money she’d been awarded or the court costs the judge had made James reimburse.
“Congratulations. How do you feel?”
Six months ago she would have been dancing for joy. Now she just felt relieved. “Happy it’s over.”
“What are you going to do next?”
Silence settled inside the cab while Sarah thought about her answer. “I’m thinking about being spontaneous.”
The air inside the cab thickened, weighed down with anticipation. “You are?”
“But I’ve got a problem.” She glanced at Jordan. “I haven’t had much experience at being spontaneous. I might need someone to show me how.”
“You were doing all right at the party.”
“I had some help.”
He leaned across the cab and brushed his hand along her cheek. “Are you sure this is what you want? You can’t change what happens after we’ve been…spontaneous.”
“I don’t want to change it. I want you.” She turned her head and kissed the palm of Jordan’s hand. He jumped back so fast that she thought she’d done something wrong. Until he looked at her, then she knew he was every bit as ready for this as she was.
He took a deep breath and started the truck. “Okay. Let’s do spontaneous. Do you want to come back to the ranch? Pete’s looking after our guests tonight, so we’d have Gracie and Trent’s home to ourselves.”
“Sounds good.” She almost smiled. He sounded nervous and so worried about making sure this was what she really wanted that it made her fall a little more deeply for him.
“You can always change your mind, Sarah.”
“I know. Just drive.”
Jordan pulled out of the parking lot, turned onto the highway and headed toward the Triple L.
Tonight she was going to be so spontaneous that she wouldn’t have the energy to regret what she’d done. Or hadn’t done. And maybe, if things worked out as well as she hoped, there’d be more chances to be spontaneous before she left Montana.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Jordan parked his truck behind Gracie and Trent’s home. Sarah hadn’t said much on the way to the ranch and he’d said even less. The security lights flicked on, filling the cab with white light. He glanced across at Sarah and she stared back.
She undid her seatbelt and reached for the door handle.
“Are you sure?” the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. Anyone would think he was the one having second thoughts. But he wanted this to be right, to be something neither of them would regret.
Sarah turned to him. Her lips twitched with amusement. He was glad she could see something funny in what they were doing because he sure couldn’t. She leaned across the cab and ran her hand along his jaw. Her fingers brushed his lips and his heart slammed against his ribs. He wanted her with a need that ran deep, deeper than anything he’d ever felt before.
“I’ve never been more sure of anything.” She sighed, then sent him one of her lopsided grins. The kind that told him everything would be okay.
A soft blush filled her cheeks and he smiled. “Wait here. I’ll open the door for you.”
He rushed around the truck, opened her door and led her inside. He didn’t want her thinking he was desperate. He’d offer her coffee. Ask her about the project she was doing with the students from the local school. Anything to make her feel more comfortable. “Do you want a drink? I could make coffee or…”
Sarah grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him close. Her mouth landed on his and he forgot about the coffee. Forgot about everything except the feel of her body as she slowly devoured him.
***
Sarah had never felt anything like the need crashing through her body. She ground her hips against Jordan, smiled as a groan ripped from his throat. She pulled at his shirt, fumbled with the buttons.
And then there was skin. Hot, hard, muscles quivering beneath her touch. Her hands explored every dip, every curve of Jordan’s chest. She followed with her tongue, nibbling and eager and so desperate that she wondered how she’d kept her hands off him for so long.
“We’ve got to slow down,” Jordan panted.
His hands were everywhere, teasing and rubbing until she felt as though she was about to burst into flames. “Can’t slow…” Oh God. His fingers dipped under her panties, found her sweet spot, rubbed backward and forward until she couldn’t breathe. So she groaned, loud and long, felt pressure build so fast that she knew she’d come in the middle of the hallway if they didn’t stop.
“You’re so wet,” he whispered hoarsely. His fingers kept moving, pushing in all the right spots. “Let go, Sarah.”
She squeezed her legs around his hand, tried to stop the swell of tension rolling through her body. But it made it worse. Better. And then she came, hot and fast. She couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything except grind against his fingers, open herself to the orgasm ripping through her body.
She dropped her head to his chest, caught her breath. It was so much, all at once. She didn’t know whether to say thank you or be embarrassed. “Jordan, I…”
“Sshh…”
He picked her up and carried her through the house.
She squirmed in his arms. “Put me down. You’ll hurt your back.”
“Are you saying I’m old?”
“I’m saying you’re going to end up seeing a chiropractor if you don’t put me…” She landed in the mid
dle of his bed.
“You were saying?” He started stripping out of his clothes, cursing his shoes when his trousers wouldn’t budge. He fell onto the edge of the bed, flicked his shoes off, then everything else.
Sarah couldn’t take her eyes off him. Moonlight whispered across his skin, defined the hard plains of his body. Made her want to give him as much pleasure as he’d given her.
Her dress felt hot and heavy, so she reached behind her, started sliding the zip down. Jordan’s gaze met hers, heated her from the inside out.
“Let me help.” He turned her over, slid the zip along her back and followed his fingers with his tongue.
She buried her head in the duvet, bit her lip in case he heard the needy little pants coming from her throat. This was supposed to be his turn, her chance to show him how spontaneous she could be.
“Roll over, Legs.”
She could listen to the growl in his voice for hours. It was as rough as sandpaper, as smooth as the satin he was slowly peeling down her body. She twisted on the bed, rolled to the side and would have fallen off if his arm hadn’t shot out to stop her.
“Where are you going?”
She smiled and slid off the bed. “It’s my turn to play.”
He watched her dress slide to the ground. Then sat up when her pink lace bra and panties joined the satin. And when she sat on the edge of the bed and crawled toward him she could have sworn he growled.
She pushed him back against the duvet and kissed his collarbone, moving lower, flicking her tongue against his nipple.
“Condoms…I’ve got…oh, shit.”
Sarah gripped his penis, ran her thumb over the tip, squeezed gently as he pushed against her hand.
“That feels so good…”
Her mouth moved further down his body. She licked his abdomen, trailed kisses across his hips, and swallowed him whole.
He groaned, pumped his hips as she suckled. She licked him like a lollipop, smiled when he groaned some more.
“Condoms…top drawer.”
She was hot and panting, needing Jordan inside of her as much as he needed her. She reached for the packet and ripped it open. Condoms spilled everywhere.
Jordan smiled, flipped her onto her back, and kissed her. A deep and dirty kiss that left her wanting more. His fingers slipped inside her, moving in rhythm with his tongue until she was the one squirming under his touch.
“Jordan.”
He pulled back, rolled a condom on, and slid inside her.
She lifted her legs and arched her back, pulling him closer. She groaned as he filled her, completed her, left her desperate for a quick release.
“Faster,” he growled.
She held onto his shoulders as he moved in and out, faster and harder. She couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe.
Jordan shuddered. Her body tightened. Heat exploded everywhere. Wave after wave of sensation swept through her, tossed her around, and dropped her back to earth.
Jordan collapsed on top of her.
She pushed against him and laughed. “You’re heavy.”
“Sorry.” He rolled sideways and pulled her against him. “Better?”
She nodded, caught her breath, tried to think. “I didn’t know it could be that good.” She kissed his chest and snuggled closer.
“Neither did I. You know what this means?”
Sarah smiled at the playful note in his voice. She had a good idea of what it meant, but she wanted to hear it from him first.
“We’re going to have to try again. See if it was a once in a lifetime sort of thing.”
She ran her hand across his chest and smiled. “I’m ready whenever you are.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.” He rolled her onto her back and grinned. “I thought I’d start here…” He kissed her nose, her cheeks, then nibbled on the soft skin beneath her ear. “…and see how far we get.”
Sarah knew exactly how far they’d get and her body purred in anticipation.
***
Jordan frowned at the beeping noise coming from somewhere in the house. It was loud and shrill and didn’t sound anything like his alarm clock.
He peered around the room. Sarah was sprawled out beside him, hogging most of the bed and all of the blankets. It was still dark, too dark for his alarm.
He frowned some more, then shot out of bed, grabbing whatever clothes he could find. “Sarah!”
She groaned and rubbed her eyes.
“Wake up. There’s a fire in the barn.”
She sat bolt upright, untangling herself from the bed before he’d thrown on his sweatshirt.
“Call 911. Get the fire department out here.” He tore out of the house, slamming his hand against an emergency alarm they’d set up in case this ever happened.
He raced across the yard as fast as he could. By the time he got to the barn, their six guests were standing outside, shivering in the cold. Most of them had wrapped blankets around their shoulders. They were staring at the barn, panic and bewilderment creasing their faces. The young honeymoon couple were coughing. They looked as though their lungs had been filled with smoke.
Tim and Frank arrived just after him, holding large fire extinguishers in their hands. Jordan opened a panel on the side of the barn and stared at the blinking light. He flipped a switch and the shrill squeal of the alarm stopped.
The state of the art smoke detection system had cost a fortune. But they were so far from town, that it was the only way they could guarantee the safety of their guests if a fire broke out.
Jordan closed the panel and turned to his ranch hands. “The fire is on the second floor, room three. Tim, you take our guests across to the main house while we see what’s going on. Ask Jeb to wait at the gate for the fire trucks. Has anyone seen Pete?”
“He’s inside,” one of the guests said. “He told us to come down here and wait for you.”
Jordan nodded. He grabbed Tim’s fire extinguisher and ran inside with Frank. He breathed deeply. The smell of smoke got stronger as they ran up the stairs. Jordan stuck his hand out, slowing Frank down in case they came across a bigger fire than they imagined.
“Pete?” Jordan yelled at the top of his lungs. They walked toward room three. The door was closed, keeping the worst of any smoke or fire contained within the room.
He put his hand against the wooden door. It wasn’t hot, so he stood to the side of the frame while he slowly opened the door. “Pete?”
“In here, boss.”
Jordan coughed. The acrid smell of whatever had burned hit his lungs and made his eyes water.
Pete was wiping his face, blinking through the smoke that was hanging in the air. “I didn’t want to open the windows until the fire trucks arrive.” He pointed to a blob of plastic that had melted over the carpet. “Looks like one of our honeymooners left their hairdryer plugged in. The fire melted clean through the plastic and started on the carpet and the set of drawers.”
Jordan stared around the room. A thick coat of white powder covered everything in sight.
“I think I got it all,” Pete said.
“You did good. We can wait outside until the fire trucks arrive.”
Pete didn’t look convinced that moving outside was the best thing to do. “What if it flares up again, boss?”
“Better to be outside and not trapped on the second floor. I need to call the fire department and let them know we haven’t got flames shooting into the sky. You can wait with Frank and show the fire crew where to go once they arrive.”
Frank hefted the fire extinguisher into his arms. “Where are you going?”
“Over to the Gracie and Trent’s home,” Jordan replied. “I want to make sure our guests are okay. Come and get me when the fire trucks arrive.”
Frank nodded as he walked down the stairs with Pete.
Jordan ran back to the main house and headed straight for the phone in the living room. He called 911 and made sure they updated the fire crew. Then he turned toward the back of the house where most
of the noise was coming from.
When he walked into the kitchen, everyone stopped talking. Sarah was handing out cookies and Mrs. Davies was passing mugs of hot coffee around. He didn’t look too closely at her in case she had questions about Sarah, and why she was standing in their kitchen, in her evening gown, at three o’clock in the morning.
“It looks as though Pete’s put the fire out,” he said. “The fire department will arrive soon.” He nodded at Danni and Grant Huse, the young couple that had married a week ago. “We’ll ask them to check your lungs, make sure your breathing is okay.”
Danni fiddled with the blanket around her shoulders. “I think it was my fault. I dried my hair last night and didn’t unplug the hairdryer from the wall. I know I turned it off. It shouldn’t have caught on fire.”
Jordan ran his hands through his hair, thinking about the clean-up ahead of them. “Sometimes the on/off switch overheats and catches on fire. But it doesn’t matter how it started. Everyone’s safe and that’s all that matters. You can sleep in the main house for the rest of the night and we’ll see what needs to happen in the morning.”
“There are three rooms ready upstairs,” Mrs. Davies said. “I’ll put clean towels on the end of each bed in case you want to have a shower to get the smell of the fire out of your skin.”
“I can organize the towels,” Sarah said. She smiled at Jordan as she walked past. “Are you okay?”
He kissed her quickly on the lips. “I’m fine. Thanks for helping.”
“You’re welcome.” She walked quickly out of the room, dodging Tim as he came running into the kitchen.
“Jeb called. Highway Patrol’s coming up the driveway.”
Jordan walked across to the pantry and grabbed a couple of mugs. “Take these with you, Tim.” He filled the mugs with coffee and added cream and sugar. “I’ll follow with a couple more.”
“You tell those boys to come and get some cookies too,” Mrs. Davies said. “They did well tonight.”
Forever And A Day (Montana Brides, Book #7) Page 11
