Desire (Montana Dreams Book 3) (10 page)

“As you wish. I made hot chocolate for you then, too.”

“You did. I mess up and you spoil me.”

“I don’t see it like that. I liked putting a smile on your face. Still do.”

She stared at him, her expression serious, yet desire sizzled just beneath the surface. The longer she watched him, the harder breathing became, until she diverted her attention to the fire. “As you know, my parents fought, cheated, did everything two people in love shouldn’t. It scared me. I was afraid their behavior was like an addiction. So, I did whatever I could to stay emotionally detached from anyone I liked.”

He wanted to say he understood, because to a point he did. He just didn’t take the emotionally detached thing as far as Cadence, but he sensed coming clean with her reasons why she did things hadn’t come easy. So he stayed quiet.

She placed her mug on the floor and buried her head into his chest, a moment later his flannel moistened. “I was scared,” she said against him, muffling her words. “I have only wanted you. I wasn’t strong or sure-minded as Trina. Early on, she knew Matt was the man for her and never denied it.”

Whoa!
She never gave him any indication.

She drew back and stared at him, her gaze incredibly open, trusting. “I acted foolish and let years slip by.” 

He wanted to kiss her so badly, but he sensed the need to convince her to stop blaming herself for whatever went wrong. “Stop piling the heavy load of responsibility on your shoulders.” He tapped a finger to her nose to lessen the sternness of his voice. “The timing was off.”

Her face lit up with a lop-sided grin. “Make ya a deal. You stop being easy to get along with, and I’ll stop taking responsibility. Between the two of us, we’ll get lots of accomplished.”

“Think I’m easy?”

“I know first-hand.” Cadence’s eyes sparkled with mirth. “I’ve got another idea.”

“Oh, jeez.” On her glare, he cleared his throat. “Go.”

“Let’s make a bucket list.”

“A bucket list?”

“Yeah, you know, a list of things you want to accomplish before you can’t.” She wrote on an invisible piece of paper.

“I know what it is. I’ve never had one.”

“Come on, everyone does.”

“Not me. If I write a list then I set myself up for disappointment.”

“Fine, then listen to mine.”

“This I’ve got to hear.”

“You’ll like my first one.” She smirked. “Have sex on horseback.”

He squinted and tried to picture doing just that. “Bareback with you facing me.”

Laughing, she turned and straddled him. “Like this.”

“Oh, yeah.” He gripped her butt and tugged her closer. The minx wiggled. “You’re killing me.”

“I have a remedy.”

He did too, but he still hadn’t come clean about his past. “Tell me the rest of your list then there’s something I need to tell you.” A bad feeling crept up his neck that she wouldn’t be happy when she heard his confession.

Her eyebrows squished together, but she didn’t question. “Number two. Feel good about myself.” She went quiet. The light in her eyes disappeared, and her mouth smooched together. “To forgive myself.”

And there it was, the thing that would stand in their way of having a healthy relationship. He slid his hands into her dark, silky locks and gazed into her beautiful eyes. “You will. Give yourself time.” Then he brought his mouth to hers and kissed her, long and slow, as he slid his hands around her back. Latching on the back of his neck, she pressed her wonderful curves into him. The kiss turned hot, deep, and begged for more.

“How’s it going?” Matt rushed by them into his room. A second later he came back. “You guys doing okay?” He never stopped to wait for a reply.

“What’s up?” Bradley asked.

“The babies are coming.” Matt raised his voice came somewhere near the door.

“Babies? What??” Cadence bounced off him, hand to crotch, crushing his erection.

“Hopper got a jill pregnant.”

Cadence sent Bradley a puzzled look before heading out of the house. Groaning, he got to his feet, did the bowlegged shuffle, and followed.

****

April brought in clear skies, but today the overcast sky stole the sun. Cadence breathed in the fresh air then waved at the children giggling and petting the furry animals. When the baby ferrets grew a little larger, Autumn planned to have a “show and tell” with a few children at a time. Cadence imagined their faces would light up more at petting the young miniature donkey.

At the end of the path, running between the garden nursery and the petting zoo, Thor neighed. His head peeked over the top board of the pen and nodded as he waited for her, or for the banana she carried in her pocket. Since the bananas kept mysteriously disappearing out of the barn, she started leaving them in the house to keep count and refill the supply when needed.

“Hi.” Trina stopped her on the path toward Thor. “Want to have a cup of coffee?”

“Sure. I’ll be right there.” After few minutes hanging out with Thor, she fed him the banana and went back to the house to meet Trina.

“Just in time.” Her friend placed two cups of coffee on the wooden kitchen table. After sharing an apartment together during college, Trina knew how she drank it. “Thank you.”

“Am I late?” Autumn scooted inside carrying a box in one hand and an excited Hopper in the other. Her long hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and her face glowed almost as much as Trina’s. She set him on the floor, along with the key to his outdoor cage. He immediately went into his war-dance routine, hunching his back and skipping sideways, as she lowered the box containing his family.

“The babies!” Candace and Trina cooed in unison and knelt beside them.

“The slinky, two-inch-long little speedbumps will eventually have the same markings as their sable parents, dark coloring and masked faces.” Autumn touched one of their backs. “Right now, they have peach fuzz.”

“What a happy, little family.” Trina scooped up one in her hands and put it back when it made an odd noise.

“For now, yes. I’ll have to keep an eye on the parents.” Autumn petted each of the six little ones with a finger stroke. “If a ferret gets scared, there’s a chance they’ll kill their young to protect them.”

“So will you get into the business of breeding ferrets?” When Cadence had stayed cooped up in her room, refusing to come out, Hopper visited her every day. She’d grown attached to him, and now with little hoppers available, she wanted one. “Can I have first pick?”

Autumn smiled. “I’ll ask the owners.” She looked at her sister-in-law. “How about you?”

Trina waved her hands. “No. My baby is all I can handle at the moment.” As if on cue, Cadence and Autumn touched her stomach. “Your belly is tight,” Autumn said. “Not much longer.”

“I need to make it through the engagement party.”

Cadence fell back on her butt. “I forgot.” She’d been so busy trying to get her life in order, she hadn’t kept her schedule straight. “That’s this afternoon. I need a dress.”

“Check out my closet. I can’t wear any of it.” Trina offered. “I have a misty lavender dress that will look beautiful against your dark hair and bring out your green eyes.”

The idea of Bradley seeing her dolled up shot excited prickles over her skin. “Perfect!”

“Trina, I can’t thank you enough for throwing me and Travis this party.” Autumn sniffled and bit her bottom lip. “I never thought I’d feel like I’d belong somewhere as much as I do here.”

Trina squeezed her future sister-in-law’s hand. “You do belong here. I’m very excited about having you for a sister.”

The women hugged, and a pinch went through Cadence. Trina had always been the sister she didn’t have, and they stayed tied together by that invisible bond. Now she wanted to actually be a sister not only to Trina but also to Autumn. The thought took her by surprise.

“Besides–” Trina eased away. “I didn’t do anything but hire a party planner. She organized it.”

“Well, you gave her expectations and paid for it. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Sunk into her own worries, Cadence hadn’t given any thought to a baby shower for Trina. Autumn must have thought the same since she locked eyes with Cadence as if a light bulb went off. Cadence nodded, and they made a silent agreement to plan one.

“As for going into the breeding business…not now. The owner requested the jill, sorry the female, be spayed once the kids are weaned in about six weeks.”

Trina rose and sat in the chair, holding her stomach as if she picked it up. “I’ve got to pee.” She rushed out of the room and they laughed. Autumn straightened, scooted the box next to the wall, and scanned the floor. “Where is the key?

“Have you asked Hopper?” Cadence snickered.

“Ah-h. Ho-op-per!” With her hands on her hips, and her head jerking between the rooms, Autumn looked very much like a mom ready to scold her child.

“Here he is.” Trina came back in the room. Hopper followed, watching her bare feet and carrying the keyring in his mouth The missing key clanked against the wooden floor.

“He loves your feet.” Autumn sighed and surprise-grabbed the key from him. He hissed in returned then peeked back into the box.

“You said ferrets will eat their young.” Cadence sat in the chair next to the window and raised a brow. “Hopper looks like he wants to kiss-lick them.”

“His reaction to the kids is unusual but then again, Hopper is a strange ferret.” As if he understood, he jerked toward her and stuck out his tongue.

“Ha!” Cadence laughed. “He told you.”

Autumn scooped him up and flopped into a chair near the box. “I can only remember him doing that one other time. It was on the flight from New York to Montana when Travis said Hopper looked like a rat.” In her lap, his front legs touched her chest, and he licked her neck, just below the ear. Autumn curled her head toward him and clutched him between her hands.

“When did he start doing that?” Trina laughed. “He used to go for the nose.”

“From Travis. We have to start putting him in another room. “He mimics everything we do.”

“No-o.” Trina’s eyes widened. “Even sex?”

Autumn waved a hand. “I don’t want to talk about it, but I will say this.” She pointed to the box. “After I examined the jill, I thought it’d be fun for Hopper to meet her and brought him into the exam room. When the other vet needed some help with another patient, I left him in there and gave the receptionist instructions to call me if they made angry noises. She’d been around Hopper enough to know if either ferret grew upset. Over a month later, Hopper becomes a dad.”

“A proud one,” Cadence added, as Hopper peeked over his owner’s shoulder at the box.

“There’s nothing like finding your missing part, isn’t that right Cadence.” Her best friend sent her a knowing look. “In your case, the one that you didn’t know belonged to you.”

No arguing with logic. “There’s nothing like it.”

“At least you got a better deal than me,” Autumn said, smiling at her teardrop diamond, bursting with the colors of the rainbow. “Trina threatened me.”

“I did not!”

“You did. You said don’t hurt my brother-in-law.” Autumn straightened, settled Hopper on the floor, and poured a cup of coffee. “What would you have done if I did?”

“Grab your ponytail.” Trina tugged on it as Autumn returned. “And cut it off in your sleep. You’d have the name Bobbitt branded on you forever.” Cadence busted out laughing with Trina.

Autumn arched her eyebrows, clearly not understanding their joke. “A woman cut off her cheating husband’s penis while he slept.” Cadence regaled in telling the story.

“Rumor has it, some man and his son found it the middle of the road.” Laughing, Trina covered her mouth. “Can you imagine finding a piece of deflated meat?” She giggled so hard, she had to grab her lower belly. “Oh, I’ve got to pee again. Don’t say anything until I get back.” Trina waddled out of the room, and Cadence grinned at Autumn’s annoyance. What a great feeling having her sidekick back.

“They sewed it back on,” Cadence said as soon as Trina stepped into the room.

“Ewe!” Autumn scrunched her nose. “Why call it Bobbitt?”

“It’s their last name,” Cadence and Trina said at the same time.

“Just say no to Bobbitt.” The sound of the door closing heightened the firmness in Matt’s voice. “That name isn’t allowed in this house.” He rounded the corner, followed by Travis and Bradley, all three men donning cowboy hats.

They were hot, muscular men, but only one fluttered her heart. Bradley winked at Cadence as he headed toward the coffee pot.

“How do you know what we’re talking about?” Autumn asked as she eyed the ferrets.

Travis chuckled, not a
har-har
type of laugh, but one that sounded painful. He lifted the pot after Matt deposited it. “I imagine at one time the whole country knew. Kind of stays with a person, like that movie
Fatal Attraction
. It scared the shit out of every man and boy in America.”

Bradley filled his mug and Trina raised hers for a toast. “Here’s to no reason for bobbitting.”