Montana Homecoming

by Law, Kim

  “You said crap on a cracker,” she recalled. Then she chuckled. “Out of the blue. I had no clue what you’d seen or what had shocked you, then we got interrupted about Harper before you could explain it. Was that why?”

  “It was.” She leaned in on Maggie’s other side and tilted her head until it rested on Maggie’s shoulder. “I felt like I was watching one of my best friends talking to the man she is supposed to be with,” she whispered.

  Pleasure washed through Maggie. She knew Arsula was likely just saying what she thought Maggie would want to hear, but she really did want to hear it. She’d originally thought her crush was just that. A crush. She hadn’t been with a guy in a long time when they’d gotten together back in the spring, and a weekend with him had seemed like the perfect solution. Only, she’d seriously enjoyed their time together. And now that they were “dating,” it had only gotten better. He reminded her, in some ways, of her father. He watched out for her. And he could be so darn sweet.

  “He’s a good man,” she said to her friends.

  They both nodded.

  “He is,” Erica agreed out loud. “I’ve known him a lot longer than Gabe and I have been together. I met him back in college, the first time Gabe and I dated. Their mom really messed him up, though, hon.” She squeezed Maggie’s arm where she still had hers looped through it. “Keep that in mind. She messed all of them up, but to hear Gabe tell it, I think she had a special knack for getting into Cord’s head.”

  Maggie thought about Cord saying that his role in the family was to save his mom.

  “I’m glad I never met her,” she said.

  “Me, too,” they both agreed.

  “He is worth fighting for,” Erica continued, “just keep in mind that it may take him a while to admit how much he cares. Cord has some hard walls to scale, and I think he needs to scale them as much as he needs someone else willing to do so with him. So, if this is real . . . all I’m saying is, don’t give up on him. Any of the Wildes are worth fighting for.”

  * * *

  Maggie’s front door opened Friday night before Cord could get all the way to it, and Maggie’s smiling face poked out.

  “You’re here early!” Joy filled her features.

  “It’s supposed to be clear all weekend, so I chartered a helicopter.”

  “I’m so glad.” She stepped back, opening the door wider and hurriedly motioning him inside. “Come in. I want to show you something. I just finished.”

  Her excitement was contagious. He stepped inside the door. “Can I steal a kiss first?”

  At his question, she immediately stopped. She slowly turned back, her bottom lip caught between her teeth, and he let himself admit what he’d been trying to avoid thinking about all week. He’d missed her like crazy.

  “You want to kiss . . . me?” she teased. Her eyes sparkled with delight.

  “I’d like to do a hell of a lot more than kiss you,” he declared. Then he swept his gaze over her form, watching as her fingers clenched at her sides. He would love to roam his hands all over every luscious curve, even if that’s all they could do. He stepped closer and pushed the door closed with his foot. “Did you miss me this week, Maggie?”

  Her eyes glazed over. “I most certainly did.”

  “Good.”

  She went up on her toes before he could lean in and slid her hands into his hair. “Kiss me, Cord,” she whispered against his lips. “Kiss me like you did the first time you ever walked into this house.”

  He growled under his breath as memories assailed him, and he ground his mouth to hers.

  He tugged her close, careful not to hold her too tight, but he wanted to feel her pressed against his body. Once he had her tucked in, her curves aligned alongside his strength, he went caveman and plundered. They kissed for several minutes like that, standing right there, two feet inside the door, until both of them were out of breath. And when he pulled back, she wore the type of smile he loved to see the most.

  “Hello,” he officially greeted her. “It’s nice to see you again.”

  She laughed lightly, looking flustered and thoroughly disoriented, and he told himself that seeing her reaction almost made up for not being able to be there in person over the last five days.

  “Now . . .” He took her hand. “What was it you wanted to show me?”

  She looked confused for a moment, as if still thinking about the kiss instead of whatever she’d had on her mind, and he couldn’t help but pull her back in for another round. She was just too cute. And somehow, he was just too smitten.

  “Cord,” she whispered when he released her the second time. Her voice had turned husky, and it managed to scrape itself all the way into the depths of his soul. “I’m . . . uh . . .” She looked down at herself, her hands motioning up and down in front of her belly, and she blew out a frustrated breath.

  “Over eight months pregnant?” he guessed.

  “Exactly.”

  “I know that.” He waggled his brows at her. “And you’re sexy as hell.”

  She chuckled as if she didn’t quite believe him, so he took her hands and held them out to her sides.

  “Do you want to know what I see when I look at you, Mags?”

  She gulped. “I don’t know if I do or not. I mean . . . I’m already far too turned on as it is.” She licked her lips and continued. “And the point I was trying to make before. About my state of pregnancy. Is that . . .” Her gorgeous eyes pleaded with him, and he could see her uncertainty. Not about her physical ability to be intimate, he didn’t think, though that was likely in question, as well. But her doubt likely centered more around what he might think if he saw her without clothes. She would look a lot different than she had before. “I just don’t know, Cord.”

  He cupped her chin and pressed another quick kiss to her lips. “I’m not pushing for anything more, Mags. I love kissing you. Kissing you is enough. Of course. But I’m also not going to lie and say that I wouldn’t like to stroke my hands all over your gorgeous body. What man wouldn’t want to?”

  She gulped again, and then she turned without another word and headed to the kitchen.

  He chuckled behind her, enjoying the moment more than any other since he’d driven away from her earlier that week. They’d talked every night on the phone, usually via video call, and he’d also ended up texting her multiple times throughout each day. He hadn’t really known how he’d feel about this whole relationship thing when he’d first agreed to it, but surprisingly, he’d found that he liked it. He also figured that if he ever was going to try a real relationship, it should be with someone who made him laugh and who turned him on. And Maggie did both. She also simply left him feeling good. Being around her caused happiness. And it didn’t hurt, of course, that she happened to be carrying his baby. Which had upped her sex appeal even more than what it had been back in April.

  He followed along behind her. “What is this you’ve got to show me?”

  “It’s a surprise.”

  She took him into the kitchen, where the two dollhouses remained and motioned toward the table with a little “ta-da.” Only, he had no clue what he was supposed to be seeing. They looked the same to him.

  “Did you add more wallpaper?” he asked.

  “No, silly. We finished that last weekend. Lean in. Take a closer peek inside the rooms.”

  He edged in, scanning over the three stories of each house, and then he finally saw it. The windows of each room now had tiny curtains hanging from them. “You found curtains?”

  “I made curtains. And I made several extra pairs for each.” She opened one of the two metal cookie tins sitting beside the houses to reveal a variety of additional curtains tucked inside, all of differing colors and sizes. “They attach with Velcro.” She picked up a small panel to show him. “That way the girls can easily change them out to update the look of the rooms. I thought they might like it.”

  When she turned her face back up to his, looking quite proud of herself and likely assuming
he’d thank her for the extra effort she’d gone to, he didn’t have words.

  “Cord?” She frowned when he remained silent. “Oh, dang. Did I mess up? Did you have something else planned?” She put the lid back on the tin. “I’m sorry.”

  “No,” he finally managed. “No,” he said again, this time cupping her face in his hands.

  Making tiny dollhouse curtains was something akin to what his sister might do. His sister, who was a great mother. It wasn’t anything his mother would ever have done. If his mother ever went out of her way to create anything that others might deem special, then she did it for the express purpose of making sure others saw it. Not simply because it would have made him or any of his siblings happy.

  “They’re perfect,” he whispered, unable to fully express what he was feeling. “Amazing.” Then he kissed her again. Not passionately this time. Not like he had when he’d first come in. But he kissed her with as much feeling, just the same. This woman was going to make an excellent mother. And she was going to be the mother of his son.

  When he pulled back that time, he read the confusion in her eyes. She’d felt the intensity of the kiss, too, he knew, and she wanted to know what it meant. But he didn’t say anything. He didn’t know what it meant. Or maybe he did.

  It meant that he had no clue how he was going to be away from her and their son every day. He had no clue how he was supposed to do this. His job meant a great deal to him, and he’d worked extremely hard to get noticed by such a top-tier practice. He couldn’t just walk away from it. Especially not now that he was back in everyone’s good graces. The dreams had subsided that week, and his colleagues had quickly picked up on his less tense mood. Life was back to normal in Billings. The job was good. His life was great. How was he supposed to consider giving all of that up?

  Might she consider giving up her life here and moving for him?

  “Cord?”

  “Thank you,” he blurted out before she could ask about the kiss. He stepped back from her and nodded to the houses. “Jenna and Haley are absolutely going to love the curtains. Without a doubt. Just keep in mind, though,” he teased, “Mia, and now Emma and Ellie, will be coming along in a few years, expecting their own dollhouses with custom-made curtains, as well. You know who they’ll be hitting up for those.”

  He smiled, feeling the hint of fakeness to it and hoping she couldn’t tell. And then he realized what he’d just implied. That Maggie would still be around several years from now as the next group of Wilde children got older. But would she? As more than just his son’s mom?

  Would he really be willing to let her be?

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” She eyed him carefully, and he did his best to swallow his nerves. He didn’t want her asking questions he didn’t know the answers to yet.

  “Do you want to go out to dinner? My treat.” He felt like he was botching everything.

  “There’s no need. I made lasagna before you got here. Why don’t we have some of that, and while we eat you can tell me what that kiss was about?”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Cord hadn’t yet told her what that kiss had been about. Or why he’d acted so strangely when Maggie had shown him the curtains. And he hadn’t done so because right after they’d sat down to eat, their cell phones had gone off.

  Erica’s water broke. They’re admitting her to the hospital.

  They’d both whooped with excitement, dinner—and the impending conversation—no longer a priority, and had quickly headed out. First babies could take a while to make their entrance, of course, but neither of them had wanted to wait at the house to hear more. Nor had any other member of Cord’s family. Everyone had arrived at virtually the same time, with the exception of Harper and the twins. Within the first hour of waiting, though, more excitement had happened when Dani’s water also broke. Haley and Mia had been reshuffled to other members of the family, and a nurse hurried out with a wheelchair.

  It was Saturday morning now. Most of the family had gone home the night before when things progressed slowly for both women, but everyone was back now, including Erica’s family from Silver Creek. Even Harper and the twins had shown up with Nick. Arsula and Jaden were currently snuggling the babies, making the kind of cute cooing noises that had Maggie wondering if they were also thinking of kids as well as planning a wedding, and according to the latest updates on the two deliveries, Dani and Erica both seemed to be nearing the end of labor.

  “Do you have any sixes?” Jenna asked Maggie. Maggie sat across from the little girl, a small end table between them, and Haley had settled on the floor, perpendicular to them. They all held a hand of cards.

  Maggie peeked over her cards, grinning at Gabe’s daughter instead answering the question, then she laughed along with Haley as the other girl clued in and started to giggle.

  “Say it,” Haley whispered from the floor. “Say it, Ms. Crowder.”

  Maggie winked at the girl before cutting her eyes back to Jenna. “Go fish!” she mock-shouted.

  Jenna groaned and dropped her head. “No fair. I haven’t won any games yet.”

  “That’s because you don’t have any skills,” Haley informed her cousin.

  Maggie merely eyed Jenna, then sent a playful pointed gaze to the stack of cards sitting in the middle of the table.

  “Fine,” Jenna grumbled. She reached for a card, but her eyes lit up as soon as she got a look at it. “I got a six!” She held the card up for them to see. “I get another turn.”

  “No fair.” It was Haley’s turn to complain. “I needed that six.” She slapped a hand to her mouth as soon as she realized what she’d said, and her eyes went wide. “Oops,” she mumbled behind her fingers.

  Jenna cackled before saying the other girl’s name. “Haley . . . do you have any sixes?”

  “Good grief,” Haley mumbled and handed over two of her cards. Jenna preened as she took the cards and turned all four of her sixes facedown, and that time, Maggie laughed along with her. The girls were a lot of fun.

  They continued playing, Maggie enjoying her time hanging out with the two of them, but from the corner of her eye, she kept an eye on Cord. Since he’d returned from Dani’s room a little earlier, he’d been sitting with his dad and Gloria. He currently held one-year-old Mia in his arms, her chubby cheeks crinkling with a smile every time he wiggled his fingers somewhere on her body and tickled her.

  “Ms. Crowder,” Haley said, pulling Maggie’s attention back to the game. “It’s your turn.”

  “Oh. Sorry about that.”

  Haley met Jenna’s gaze knowingly. “She was looking at Uncle Cord again.” They both rolled their eyes and made gagging faces.

  “She looks at him the same way he looks at her,” Jenna added.

  Maggie chuckled along with the girls, but inside, she wanted to question what they saw when Cord looked at her. Not that they’d be able to fully articulate the emotions, she suspected. But Jenna’s comment reminded her of what Arsula had said when they’d been shopping earlier that week. Arsula had changed her opinion of Cord being the right guy for Maggie simply because of the way he’d looked at her.

  And apparently, she looked at him the same. If that was the case, did that mean that he was falling for her like she was him?

  If his kissing the evening before was anything to go by, then he definitely had some feelings. Sweet Jesus. She could have let that man keep kissing her forever. Of course, then he’d talked about wanting to rub his hands all over her . . . and she’d totally noticed the way he’d been looking at her then. Pretty much the way she’d looked at him back in April when she’d so determinedly sought him out.

  Hungry.

  Lustful.

  Determined.

  “Ms. Crowder,” Jenna drew Maggie’s name out. “You still didn’t take your turn.”

  “Oh.” Embarrassment filled her. She pulled her gaze away from Cord yet again and played another couple of rounds before she caught herself once more checking out the man she wished she we
re brave enough to get naked with.

  She’d asked her doctor about having sex while at her appointment that week. She was over eight months along now, and forgetting the logistics for the moment, she’d wanted to know if it would be safe for her and the baby. Just in case. Not that the additional two pounds she’d put on in the last seven days added another tick in the “yes” column. Her doctor had assured her, however, that if she felt like doing it then she was good to go. She had no high-risk issues that would stem any extracurricular activity.

  But what would Cord think if she let him see her changed body?

  Would he be as turned on as he’d been the first time?

  Would he still want to put his hands all over her?

  She realized she was looking at him again when his eyes met hers, and when he subtly pointed toward the door with a question in his eyes, she immediately nodded. Whatever he wanted, she was there for it.

  “She’s going to leave us,” Jenna told the other girl before Maggie could figure out how to graciously depart. “I just saw Uncle Cord ask her.”

  Maggie almost laughed. The man wasn’t subtle enough to be overlooked by his niece.

  “That’s okay,” Haley determined. “I can continue beating you even if she isn’t here.”

  Maggie assured the girls that she’d play with them again, then she looked back over at Cord. He still held Mia in his arms, but as he’d watched her, his eyes had darkened and the lines of his face suddenly seemed harder. It was as if he’d been inside her mind, knowing all the X-rated thoughts that had been stirring around in there.

  Cord handed Mia off to Gloria, then he and Maggie rose at the same time and walked out the door together. Once clear of the room, he dragged her around another corner, then he backed her against a wall. He leaned in, one hand flattening to the wall beside her head and the other clasping her hand down by her hip. And when his mouth went to her neck instead of her mouth, she moaned—both in protest and in pleasure.