Contractor's Cookies (Culpepper Cowboys Book 9)

by Kirsten Osbourne

  “Why not?”

  “Why would it be? You get to touch me, but I don’t get to touch you? How could that possibly be fair?”

  She shrugged. “Because I’ve never explored a man’s body before. So I should have some time to touch you before you touch me.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t think it’s going to work that way.”

  She pouted up at him. “Why not?”

  “Because if you start touching me, I’m going to go up in smoke. The zinginess isn’t all one way, you know.”

  “It’s not? You feel all the zingies when you touch me too?”

  He leaned down, catching her earlobe between his teeth. “So many zingies…”

  She sucked in a breath, surprised at the feelings rushing through her. “Maybe it’s time to get horizontal after all.”

  “I think it’s definitely time to get horizontal.” His hands plucked at her nightgown. “Does this come off first? Or do you need it for a little longer?”

  She grinned, her hands going down to his hips and stroking them through his underwear. “It can come off if these can.”

  “You, my dear, have yourself a deal.” He reached out and caught the hem of her nightgown, pulling it over her head and tossing it to the floor. Then he pushed her back onto the bed before stripping off his underwear, joining her.

  He propped himself on one elbow, looking down into her eyes. “I think it’s time for that kiss.”

  She grinned, her palms flat against his chest. “Kiss? Did we discuss a kiss?”

  The smile that stretched across his face had her giggling. “I think we did.” He slowly lowered his head, his lips pressing against hers, gently at first, and then with more pressure.

  As soon as she felt his lips on hers, Felicity gave a sigh of sheer emotion. She’d known kissing him would change her forever. She wrapped her arms around his neck and parted her lips, giving him access to her mouth, her own tongue coming out to trace the inside of his upper lip.

  He gasped with surprise. His hand, which was not propping his head, had stayed at her waist respectfully before that, but now moved up to cup her breast, his fingers toying with her nipple.

  Her hands moved over his back, stroking every inch of his skin there. She loved having access to his body. Touching him was better than cookies, and that was saying a lot from a woman like her!

  Finally, he broke the kiss, looking down into her eyes. “And?”

  “Oh, the zingies,” she said with a sigh. “It’s a good thing we waited. Now come back here!” She pulled him back down to her, noticing he didn’t put up a lot of resistance along the way.

  His hand became more aggressive, moving down to stroke between her thighs, needing to be sure she was ready for him. This woman set his body on fire. She was right about one thing, though. It was a good thing they’d waited to kiss, because with as responsive as she was, he wasn’t sure they’d have made it ‘til they married otherwise.

  When he rose above her to cover her body with his, he moved one knee up to her core, rubbing against her soft skin there. “You ready for me, Cookies?”

  Her hands went to his shoulders, continuing to stroke them. “The zingies are at an all-time high. Does that mean I’m ready?”

  Allen nodded slowly, leaning down and kissing her again. “Definitely.” He pressed inside her, waiting for her to protest his invasion, but not his sweet bride.

  Instead, she moaned softly and arched beneath him. “More!”

  He grinned. “You’re something else!”

  “The question is, what am I? Now stop talking and just do me!”

  “You’re so romantic!”

  “Shhhh!”

  Later, he held her cradled against him, stroking her long hair. His eyes were closed as he thought about how lucky he was to have found this sweet woman. He’d keep her in his life for as long as she wanted him.

  She pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “I knew I’d like that!”

  He chuckled softly. “I’m so glad you did. Will make my life a lot easier if I’m not following you around like a lost puppy dog, begging for it all the time.”

  She propped up on one elbow to look at him. “Really? You’d do that?”

  “Well, I would hope I wouldn’t, but you do something to me!”

  Her hand stroked down his body, going to the part of him she was most curious about. “What exactly do I do?”

  He moaned, grabbing her close for another kiss.

  Felicity woke at her usual time on Saturday morning, groaning. She glared at Allen who stood beside the bed with a cup of coffee in his hand. “You made me sore!”

  He frowned. “I’m sorry. Is it bad? Do you need me to bring you some Advil?”

  She shook her head. “I’ll live. Is that for me?” She didn’t wait for a response, taking the coffee from him and drinking it down. “Thanks. Are you working today?”

  He nodded. “At least this morning. I need to go and supervise the pouring of the cement. I'll pick Tristan up at the high school at three. What time will you be finished at work?” It just occurred to him she had no car of her own. At least until he was done at the bakery, they could ride together.

  “About four. Could you come get me after you pick Tristan up? Or I can have Rikki bring me back here.”

  “I’ll come get you.” He took a step closer to her, kissing her softly. “Tristan might be a bit freaked out.”

  She grinned. “There’s something wrong with him if he’s not freaked out. He’s never met me and doesn’t know I exist.” She frowned. “Is he going to hate me on principle?”

  “I doubt it. He’s a pretty even-tempered kid.”

  “I hope not!” She kissed him quickly. “I’m going to go shower. I don’t want to be late for work.”

  “I’ll make some eggs for breakfast!” he called.

  “Sounds yummy.”

  She hurried into the bathroom and showered, dressed quickly, and went out to the kitchen. He was standing over a frying pan filled with eggs and sausage. “That smells good. I didn’t know you could cook.”

  He shrugged. “I’m not a professional baker or anything, but I can cook a simple breakfast without too much trouble.”

  “I can eat a simple breakfast without too much trouble. Want me to set the table?”

  He nodded, gesturing to the cabinet to the right of the sink. “Plates are up there. Silverware to the right of the stove.”

  She set the table, pouring them each a fresh mug of coffee. He scooped the eggs into a bowl and carried it to the table, before going back into the kitchen to get the toast that had popped out of the toaster. “I’m not going to have to make all the meals, am I?” She was thrilled to see he wasn’t useless in the kitchen.

  He shook his head. “I couldn’t cook much when Wendi left, but I learned, and I made sure Tristan learned too. We needed to be able to feed ourselves.”

  “I’m happy you know what you’re doing in the kitchen. Will help me out a lot.”

  “Did you think I married you so you could cook, clean, and take care of us?” he asked, sitting across from her. “I assure you, I only married you for the sex.”

  “Oh, good. That’s why I married you too. Sex. Very, very zingy sex.” She grinned at him. “I was a little worried the zingies would be gone this morning, but when you kissed me, it was as zingy as it’s ever been.”

  “So glad we didn’t lose them. We’ll have to kiss more and see if it helps them to go away!”

  “No, I like them!”

  Allen laughed, picking up her hand and kissing it. “I do too. I think you and the zingies are pretty awesome!”

  “Well, that still zinged. We’re safe for now.” She took a bite of her eggs and smiled. “You really are a decent cook!”

  He shrugged. “I can do simple things pretty well. I’m great with a grill.”

  “I think we’re going to make a really good team.” She took a sip of her coffee, watching him over the rim. “Tell me about Tristan. I know he plays
football, but what kind of student is he? What does he like to do?”

  “Tristan likes to play video games a lot, which is why I pushed him to play football. He’s good at the game, and I think he’s starting to really like it. He likes to watch action movies.”

  “Sounds like a normal kid. Grades?”

  “He gets decent grades. Not straight As, but he’s usually on the A-B honor roll. Just an all-around good kid.”

  “How does he feel about Wendi taking off like she did?”

  He shrugged. “That’s harder to answer. At first I think he blamed himself. He cried a lot. But now he seems to have adjusted better. I think that’s what I’m worried most about. That he’s going to think we shouldn’t have married because his mom may come back.”

  Felicity raised an eyebrow. “Any chance of that?”

  He shook his head. “Not at all. Divorce is final, and she’s remarried. Someone told me she’s pregnant.”

  “How would you feel if she showed up now?”

  “Other than annoyed? I don’t know. She’s not someone I would have chosen to marry, if that makes sense. She was just someone I was passing time with.”

  She made a face. “Nice.”

  “I was a kid with the morals of a parking meter. I didn’t care. I’ve grown up a bit if that helps.”

  “I’m glad.” She finished her eggs and carried her plate to the sink, rinsing it automatically and putting it into the dishwasher. “What about more kids? Do you want a baby?” She realized then they hadn’t used protection the night before and wondered if that bothered him.

  He nodded. “I never wanted to have an only child. Two or three more would be nice. What about you?” He handed her his plate when she walked back over for it.

  “I’d like a couple of kids at least. I was raised to believe birth control is immoral, but I don’t think I ever really fell for that one.”

  “I’m glad. I don’t want ten kids. Just two or three more would thrill me. I like the idea of us having a baby together.”

  “Do you want to have kids right away? Or wait a bit?”

  He frowned. “You’re younger than I am, so if you want to wait, I will, but I think I want kids as soon as possible. Tristan is already ten!”

  “Sounds good to me. I know that Patience and Ryan are already trying, and it would be nice for the cousins to be close in age.”

  He shook his head at her. “I hadn’t thought about how many local cousins our children will have. There are more Quinlans in Culpepper now than there are Culpeppers.”

  “No, there aren’t. There aren’t any Quinlans left. We’re all married with other names now.” She walked over to lean down and kiss him. “We need to get to work.”

  “But you made me zing! Aren’t we supposed to go back to bed now?”

  She laughed. “Sounds lovely, but quite frankly, I’m a bit too sore for that this morning.”

  He sighed. “Might as well work then, right?”

  “Right.”

  When they pulled up in front of the bakery, she scooted across the seat of his truck and kissed him. “I’ll be bringing cookies out in a bit.”

  He grinned. “I had a good breakfast. They can wait an hour or so.”

  She winked at him as she scooted away to go into the bakery.

  “Felicity! I figured you’d be a lot later than this,” Patience said, looking up from the scones she was working on.

  “I’m not going to be late just because I’m married. Besides, Allen needed to be here to supervise the cement pouring.”

  “Oh! Do we need to move cars?” Rikki asked.

  “I have no idea. I’d better go ask.” Felicity headed for the door.

  Grace shook her head. “No more kissing! I’ll be watching!”

  Felicity didn’t comment, and instead she hurried out to ask Allen her question. “Do cars need to be moved?”

  He shook his head. “I’m going to put up some construction cones for customers, but your cars are all far enough away you’ll be fine.” He caught her by the hips and pulled her close. “I missed you.”

  “We weren’t even apart for five minutes!” She sighed, resting her forehead against his shoulder. “I did miss the zingies, though.”

  “Do you care about me at all or just the zingies?”

  She briefly considered telling him she loved him, but she didn’t think he’d believe her. Not yet anyway. “Oh, definitely the zingies, followed closely by the Allen.”

  “At least I’m in there somewhere.” He leaned down and kissed her softly. “You’d better get to work. I’m going to need lots of cookies today.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “You always do.” She wandered off muttering loudly about him thinking she was his personal cookie baker.

  He laughed as he waved in the cement trucks. Time to get to work.

  By the time the bakery closed that afternoon, Felicity had worked herself into a panic. She couldn’t believe how nervous she was about meeting Tristan. She’d spent a good portion of her day making a half dozen different kinds of cookies and molding three of each into the shape of footballs.

  She wanted to take Tristan a dozen cookies, and thought two of each kind would be good. The third of each was in case the cookie crumbled. She didn’t usually make crumbly cookies, but she was nervous and worried it might happen.

  She decorated a bakery box with his name and put the dozen cookies into it, while Rikki swept and got the bakery ready to open on Tuesday morning. It had been a long week, and Felicity was ready to be off for a couple of days.

  When she saw Allen’s truck pull up in front of the bakery, she looked over at Rikki. “I’m so nervous to meet Allen’s son.”

  Rikki looked at her with surprise. “You? Nervous? You don’t seem like the type to get nervous about anything!”

  Felicity laughed. “I hide my true nature better than I thought I did!” She grabbed the box of cookies and her keys. “Are you ready?”

  Rikki nodded. “Yeah, I’m finished. It’s going to be weird spending the weekend with Linda and not having you there.”

  “Trust me. Having Linda all to yourself is so much better than me being there. Ask her to teach you to paint. She paints these animals on rocks that are just amazing!”

  “You don’t think that would annoy her?”

  “She’d be thrilled. She loves to teach people to do crafty things. I sometimes feel like I missed out not getting her for a mother-in-law, but I’m keeping her anyway.”

  “Does she know yet?”

  Felicity shrugged. “I haven’t decided if I’m going to warn her, or if I’m just going to do it. Either way, I’m keeping her.”

  “If I like her as much as you do, do I get to keep her?”

  “Oh, sure. I wouldn’t mind. I guess you should probably ask Hope, Faith, Joy and Chastity, though. They’re her daughters-in-law. All of us Quinlans claim her, but we don’t all really have a right to.”

  “It’s kind of your cousins to share.” Rikki held the cookie box as Felicity locked the door and walked toward the truck with her. “I want to meet Tristan as well. Allen has said some nice things about him.”

  Felicity opened the door to the passenger side of the truck, taking the bakery box from Rikki and handing it to Tristan. “I baked you some cookies.”

  The boy looked like a young version of Allen to her. He had the same sandy hair and hazel eyes. “Dad says you’re a baker.”

  Felicity nodded. “I am. I own this bakery with my sister, Patience, and my cousin, Grace. I bake cookies, Patience bakes pies, and Grace bakes cakes.” She nodded to Rikki. “This is Rikki. She works for us and she helped with your cookies today.”

  The boy stared at Rikki for a minute before his attention turned to something more important. “Can I open the cookies, Dad?”

  “You can have one, but only one.” Allen smiled at Felicity. “I figured we’d go to dinner at the diner tonight. You and Tristan can get to know each other. I thought about dancing after, but the only place t
o dance in town is the Culpepper Watering Hole, and I’m not taking my son to a bar.”

  “I’ll watch him,” Rikki said, surprising Felicity. “I’d love to get to know him.”

  Tristan looked at Rikki and shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind too much.”

  Felicity looked at Allen, waiting for him to make the final decision about it. After a moment of consideration, he nodded. “That would be great. We won’t leave him for long, because we have church in the morning.”

  “I wouldn’t mind, Dad. She’s pretty.”

  Rikki laughed. “I think we’ll be just fine. Bring your cookies, and I’ll show you which ones I helped make.”

  Allen grinned at Rikki. “Thank you for being willing. I really appreciate it.”

  Rikki shrugged. “I moved here to be a nanny for my sister. I might as well get some practice before she has the baby.”

  Tristan looked at Rikki. “Who’s your sister?”

  “Valerie Savoy.”

  “Oh, the boys were all talking about her! She’s the big time TV star. Some show called Lovey Love or something dumb like that.”

  Rikki and Felicity laughed together. “Lazy Love,” Rikki corrected. “It’s a cool show but might be a little too old for you.”

  “All my friends watch it. They say your sister is really pretty.”

  Felicity nodded. “She is! And Rikki looks a lot like her, but she’ll never admit it.”

  Rikki shrugged, blushing a little. “Have a good dinner, and I’ll see you in a couple of hours.” She looked at Tristan. “I’ll find us a movie, and we’ll gorge ourselves on popcorn and cookies.”

  Tristan hugged the cookies to him. “I’m not sure I want to share these.”

  Felicity grinned. “Don’t worry about your cookie supply. Your new step-mom is a cookie fiend. You’ll always have cookies.”

  Tristan shrugged. “Maybe I can share one or two then.”

  Rikki closed the truck door while Felicity buckled her seatbelt. She then waved and hurried to her car. Felicity had no doubt Rikki didn’t want to be alone, and Linda must have a date. Poor Rikki. She wanted to tell her Culpepper was a safe place, but she knew the other woman would just have to learn that on her own.