Lucky 7 Bad Boys Contemporary Romance Boxed Set (100 page)

"Chance scream the whole time?"

"Yep. Amazing they didn't arrest me for suspected child abuse." He was still wound tight as a spring and his head pounded. It didn't get much worse than changing the truck's tire on the side of a freeway with a baby screaming in one ear and a redneck California Highway Patrol officer making thinly veiled racist remarks in the other.

"I'm sorry."

He grunted, opened the cupboard, popped three aspirin, and eyed the pretty white, eyelet-lace sundress Rini had changed into. All the adrenaline that had been rushing around his bloodstream for the whole rotten day zeroed right in on his groin. He was instantly hard.

"God, you're gorgeous." How could she wear something like that and not expect him to ravish her on the spot?

Her smile faltered when she spotted the huge, straining erection his jeans did nothing to hide. The worn denim couldn't begin to disguise the throbbing length he longed to impale her on. Damn, he needed her badly.

He allowed her to take one hesitant sip of her wine. Two. A big gulp. Then he moved in. He captured her mouth hungrily, pushing his tongue between her lips. She stiffened, but after a second or two her body sagged against his. A soft moan escaped from her throat. Groping toward the counter, he set aside his bottle, then did the same with her glass.

He ravaged her mouth, all the frustrations of the day pouring out into his passionate assault. She tasted so good; she felt so right in his arms. "Oh, Rini, honey." He crushed her to him, reveling in her heated response. "I've missed you so. Missed this."

Her lips pulled away when he grasped her breast. "Wait—"

"Oh, woman, I want you."

Now.
Right here. Hot and wet and frenetic on the kitchen table. No, the table was too far. The counter. He leaned in and covered her mouth again. His hands worked under the hem of her dress and up to the top of her panties and tugged. Down to her ankles they slid.

"Cole," she groaned. "I need to ask you something."

"What's the matter?" he murmured heatedly as he raised her dress to her waist and lifted her bare bottom onto the counter. "Don't you want your husband?" In a twinkling he had her dress unzipped and the clasp of her bra undone.

"Yes, more than anything, but—"

"Good."

He pushed the sleeves and straps off her shoulders, baring her breasts, then bent to lock his mouth around a pointed tip. Rini gasped and pulled his head tightly to her. The nipple lengthened on his tongue, and he gently stroked it. He wanted her so badly his throat ached. He moved down her body, taking pleasure in licking and sucking and nipping her into a writhing, panting mass of frustrated need.

Need for him.

He felt her fingers in his hair, grasping and tugging. "Cole, please—"

"I'm coming, baby." He yanked down his zipper, struggled to release the snap at his waist.

"No, you don't understand." She pushed at his shoulders, breathing heavily as he jerked his jeans down his hips.

"What?" He could hardly think at all for the piercing agony of need and desire pulsing between his legs. He parted her thighs and stepped between them. His sex was perfectly aligned, with the wet, silky sheath he sought so desperately. "Put your legs around my waist," he rasped.

He grunted in satisfaction when her legs hooked around him despite a hesitation. Circling an arm behind her soft, round derriere, he moved closer, pressing the length of him against the burning hot woman's flesh at the juncture of her spread thighs. He rubbed up and down, stimulating the hard little point he knew would give her the greatest pleasure. "I want to make love with you," he urged in a gravelly whisper, adding his thumb to the persuasion.

She moaned, letting her head fall back for a moment. "Why?" she asked the ceiling, her voice strangled.

He paused, the physical torture mounting unbearably at her unaccountable resistance. He clamped his jaw tightly. Why couldn't she just melt in his arms? "Why what?"

"Why do you want to make love with me?"

Cole steeled himself against the urge to just ram home. What a question! He resumed moving his trembling thumb in a slow circle around the pearl of her desire. "Come on, baby. Let it go." She quivered and grew wet, but her eyes sought his, the question in them burning slightly brighter than her hunger for him.

He would not enter her without permission. But he was likely to cripple himself if she didn't give in soon.

"Answer," she whispered.

He pressed his thumb a little harder, patience hanging on by a thread. "Because I want to make you explode with pleasure. And if you don't let me, I'm going to explode with frustration. I need to be inside you, Rini.
Now."

Her eyes went limp and liquid. Shoving him aside, she lurched off the counter and stumbled away. "I can't do this anymore. I just can't."

Frustration had him crackling with anger. "What is your problem?"

"You! You're my problem!" She wrapped her arms around her middle. "You don't love me!"

He stared at her incredulously. If he'd had a less harrowing day, or his head hadn't been throbbing quite so badly, or if he hadn't been denying himself the pleasures of her body for more than a week, he might have been able to deal with her declaration more rationally. Known what to do. Taken her in his arms and soothed her with words he'd already planned to say.

As it was, he snapped, "Don't be ridiculous, Rini. I can't deal with this right now."

She sucked in a sharp breath. "That's it. I have to leave."

"Fine," he growled with an oath, and started to stalk away. "I'm taking a shower."

"I'll send for my things later."

His whole body went into red alert, his heart clutching as if grasped by a powerful fist. He spun back to her. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Dr. Redcloud offered me a job at Rincon. I'll—"

"What!?"
Anger roared through his veins.

"At the health service. You can see Chance on—"

The full impact of her statement hit him like a locomotive. His hands clenched into fists and he slammed one against a cupboard door so hard the glasses inside shook. "You're
leaving
me?" he shouted, unable to think of anything but her taking a job—and his son—that far away. "How can you do this to me?"

She was going to
leave him
!

Staggering under the cripplingly familiar pain of abandonment, he stalked to the opposite side of the kitchen, afraid to be within touching distance of her. "You said you loved me!"

"But you didn't!" she yelled back, and stormed out of the kitchen.

Didn't what?
His mind reeling with numbing hurt, he stared after her, unable to wrap his brain around her nonsensical parting words.

How long had she been planning to leave him?

He grabbed the sides of his head, sure it would splinter from the pain. He leaned his forehead against the cool, solid wood of the cabinet in despair. Anguish clawed at his heart, rending it into shreds.

So much for the beginning of his new life and the new Colton Lonetree
. So much for the man who was confident of his place in the world. The man who was not afraid to love.

He yanked his jeans closed, covering himself from deceitful eyes. Eyes that had gazed at him so lovingly, while all the while planning to use and then discard him.

He had to get out. Go somewhere and think. Lick his wounds, and decide what to do.

* * *

Rini ran into the bedroom and slammed the door, then turned and locked it for good measure.

She flung herself onto the bed and lay staring at the ceiling, arms crossed tightly over her midriff, hot tears running down her cheeks onto the pillow. For a long time she couldn't move. The thoughts kept whirling in her head.

How had this happened? She hadn't meant to leave him. Not like this, anyway. Certainly not today, which should have been a celebration of everything she'd worked so hard to achieve. And not in the accusatory manner in which she'd done it. He'd had such a bad day, and she'd been so unfair. She should have been calm, rational, given him a chance to respond calmly and rationally.

The situation struck home with sudden, searing pain. She'd told him she was leaving.

Oh, Lord.
What would she do?

* * *

Cole steamed up the stairs to his office, craving the peace and solitude of his private sanctuary. He opened the outer door and ran right into Lindsay Walker.

"You!"

"Hi, Cole. Can we talk?"

"This isn't a good time, Lindsay."

"Please?" She looked up at him, and he noticed the red rims around her eyes. "I really need a shoulder."

"This
really
isn't a good time."

Her gaze dropped. "I met with Jeff."

Jetting out a breath, Cole shut his eyes for a moment.
Damn.
"All right. Let's grab a cup of coffee."
Maybe listening to someone else's troubles for a few minutes would let him put himself back together.

They walked to a nearby café and chose a table for two at a window in the back. "So what happened?" he asked.

She stared into her coffee. "It was awful. He accused me of all sorts of things." Her shoulder lifted imperceptibly. "All of which were true, of course."

Cole leaned back and fingered his coffee cup. "Ouch."

Her eyes flitted to his, then around the room. "Sort of got me thinking, I guess. That maybe you were right."

* * *

Rini finished her tea and rinsed out her cup. She had to admit, she felt better having forced herself to relax and observe the ritual of afternoon tea. Surely, she hadn't blown it nearly as badly as she feared.

Gathering up Chance, she resolved to find Cole and talk things over. Maybe he'd convince her he really did love her, even if he couldn't say it.

Then again, maybe not.

Maybe she should take the opportunity to go away for a while. Just to see how she really felt about him. About whether she could go on living with a man who didn't love her. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to take Dr. Redcloud up on her offer, if only for a few days or weeks.

But whatever Rini did, she needed to talk to Cole first.

Figuring he was probably at his office, she drove straight there.

"Sorry, he hasn't been in today," Charlie told her.

"Any ideas?"

"Nope." He went back to his keyboard, his long braid dangling over one shoulder. She felt like yanking it. Lord, he was uncommunicative. And far too loyal to his boss.

Tamping down her aggravation, she hoisted Chance on a hip and headed for the door. Where to now?

Walking to the car, she scanned the street, looking for his truck. It was difficult to see for all the traffic, but there it was, about half a block up. She shifted Chance to the other hip and looked around again, noticing the large, plate glass window of a café on the opposite corner. That seemed as good a place as any to start. She made her way across one street and waited for the light to change so she could cross the other.

It was then she saw them. Seated at a cozy window table, were Cole and the woman who'd kissed him at the powwow.

* * *

Cole mostly remained silent, letting Lindsay take the time she needed to tell him the whole story of her meeting with Jeff. He was torn. His sympathy was completely with the son, but seeing the anguish on his ex-wife's face, to his surprise, his feelings softened a little toward her.

"There wasn't much I could say to defend the choices I've made in my life, but there was one thing I could do." Shakily, she lifted her cup and drank.

"And what was that?" he asked.

"I told my parents about Jeff."

He sat up straight. "Holy crap. How'd they react?"

"My father is nothing if not predictable." She groaned and covered her eyes with her hands.

"Hell, Lindsay." Cole shook his head. He'd once hated her for what she did to him in their youth, and had come close again these past few months on her son's behalf, but now his heart went out to her. Nobody deserved to lose a parent's love over something like this. "I'm really sorry, hon."

She looked up, her eyes glistening with tears. "You're a good man, Cole. The second biggest mistake I ever made was tricking you into marrying me."

His mouth twisted in a wry grimace. "What was the biggest? Jeff?"

"No. Letting you go."

His brows rose in momentary shock, then he relaxed in ironic laughter. Reaching out, he tapped the end of her nose. "Don't get caught in the nostalgia, darlin'. It would never have worked, and you know it."

That won a smile from her. "Yeah. I know." She put her hand over his and held it between them on the table. "You've found the love of your life, and it isn't me."

She had to remind him. He shook his head. "Found and lost."