The Cowboy's Bride (2 page)

Jake grimaced.
Is that what she
thought?
“Is that what you think, Tessa?”

Tessa scoffed. “What do you expect? You left
right after! I feel like such a sl…”

“Don’t you dare talk about yourself like
that, Tess. I am really sorry for how I left. I feel so…shit, I
don’t regret anything, other than not taking more time… and being
gentler.”

“What are you trying to say, Jake?”

“Tessa, I wanted you. I still want you. I
just wish, I wish I knew that you were a virgin. God, you can’t
imagine how I felt, how I feel, knowing that you gave me yourself.
I could walk on water, Tess. I’ve lov….I’ve.”

Tessa’s eyes widened at the almost
declaration. “You’ve?”

Jake pulled the door the rest of the way
open and grabbed Tessa. “I love you, Tess. I’m sorry it’s taken me
this long to say it. I’ve loved you for a long time now.”

Tessa smiled. Her lips quivered as her lips
met his. “I love you, too, Jake.”

Their kiss lasted for a few minutes before
Jake broke away. “Listen, I’m glad you’re home. I can’t stop
thinking about the other night.”

“Oh, so you did want round two?” Tessa
laughed at the look on Jake’s face.

“No, that’s not it, although a second round
would feel good. I’m here because, well, I was wondering if you’ve
found out yet.”

Tessa looked at him as if he were nuts.
“Found out about what?”

“Well, if you’ve… well, are you?”

“Am I what?”

“Pregnant?”

Instantly, Tessa was pissed. Jake could tell
the moment her eyes blazed like fire and she backed up from him.
“Get out, Jake Anders, get out!”

“What? What’s wrong?”

“You! You just get out of my house! Get
out!”

Jake backed up, startled. His Stetson fell
off his head and crashed to the floor. Jake went to pick it up, but
she was having none of that. “Get out!”

As Jake stumbled out the door onto his ass,
Tessa’s mom and dad were walking up the drive.

“And don’t even think of coming back!” Tessa
yelled, then slammed the door. Jake’s boot didn’t make contact with
the door that time. It seemed the door rattled in its frame. She
was royally pissed.

“What the hell did you say to her?” Tessa’s
dad, William Jons, asked.

“I…well, sir, I…”

“William, it’s none of our business what was
said. Obviously this isn’t a good time,” Mary Jane Jons said. Mary
Jane was always the sensible one in the Jons family, and Jake was
grateful that she was there to run interference.

“Thank you, Mary,” Jake said as he stood up,
Stetsonless.

“I’m not sticking up for you, Jake.
Obviously Tessa is upset and if you do anything to hurt my daughter
I will make you my personal project, if you know what I mean.” Her
tone wasn’t menacing and that’s what scared Jake. Jake swallowed
and nodded.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

William walked past Jake and pushed the
doorbell, waiting for his daughter to answer.

Jake could hear Tessa’s cursing from the
other side of the door.

“I swear to God, Jake Anders, you will rue
the day that you slept with me!” she screamed as she opened the
door wider. “I would not sleep with you again if you were the last
person on this Earth! This universe. And if there is a baby, you
better hope it doesn’t look like you, because I will come down to
your place and beat the living shit out of you with a shovel!”

Tessa stopped at the two faces on the other
side of the door, then promptly fainted, falling back, crashing to
the floor.

Jake was quick with his strides, pushing
William and Mary out of the way.

“Tessa?” Jake pleaded. “Tessa?”

William and Mary stood frozen at the site of
their daughter and their neighbor. Mary hid a slight grin, but
William was not pleased at all. “Baby?”

Jake closed his eyes. “Yes.”

“How could my daughter be pregnant when she
isn’t even married?”

Jake didn’t feel like explaining the obvious
to the old man so he kept his mouth shut. Besides, holding Tessa in
his arms would keep him from getting the shit kicked out of him by
her old man.

“I’ll go get her some water and some
aspirin,” Mary Jane said, stepping into the house and walking
toward the bathroom. Apparently she knew where things were kept.
Yet another thing Jake had to be embarrassed about. He couldn’t
even go get her something. Hell, he didn’t even know where her
bedroom was.

“You don’t even know anything about babies!”
William yelled, lecturing Jake.

“Will, I’ve lived on a farm my entire life.
I know about babies!”

“That’s rich coming from you, Jake! My
daughter! You cheapen my daughter by not even gracing her with a
ring! And now she’s pregnant!”

“I’m not…”

“What? Now you’re going to… I swear to all
that’s holy, young man, you better have a good reason for
this.”

Jake didn’t think horniness was a good
reason, so he kept his mouth shut. William looked into his eyes and
scoffed.

“God only knows why she slept with you.”

“Will!” Mary Jane reprimanded. “Now, you
just stop.”

“Mary, I…”

“Oh, my head!” Tessa said, wincing. Jake,
Will and Mary all looked down. “What?” she said, then her eyes
rounded. “Oh my God!”

“So, our daughter is pregnant?” William
asked Tessa.

Tessa winced. It had only been a week. How
in the hell did she get into this predicament. First of all, there
was no way she could know if she was pregnant yet or not and now
the entire world knew that she had slept with Jake. Tessa rolled
her eyes and went to stand up. Jake was still cradling her head in
his lap. His fingers were gently massaging her temple. It was
relaxing.

“Dad, I don’t know if…”

“We want to wait any longer, right, Tess?”
Jake finished her sentence. Tessa looked at him as if he grew
another head. “She’s mad at me because I want to marry her, and she
didn’t think it was because I really loved her. She thought I just
asked because of the baby. I didn’t, Tess. I want to marry you…for
you. For us. Marry me, Tess.”

Tess swallowed deeply. Three sets of eyes
were trained on her. Her mother was smiling hopelessly, her father
was … pissed… and Jake—he really looked as if he was in love.
Everything was happening so fast that Tess could barely think.

“What’ll it be, Tess?” Jake asked. “Will you
marry me?”

“Of course she won’t!” William answered for
her. Mary swatted at his chest. “Shut up, Will!”

“Yes.”

Jake’s heart threatened to stop as he looked
into Tessa’s eyes. He could see tears pooling in them, nearly
releasing onto her cheeks. “You will?”

Tessa nodded. Jake leaned forward and, in
front of her parents, kissed her deeply on the lips. Tessa couldn’t
help, but return the passion. It was a minute or so before she
could hear her mother’s throat clearing.

Jake smiled and laughed. Tessa was laughing,
too.

“We’re getting married!” Tessa cheered. Jake
smiled.

William rolled his eyes, as Mary Jane patted
Jake on the back. “Welcome to the family, Jake!”

Chapter 3

A
fter Tessa’s
parents left, Jake and Tessa sat on her couch and she couldn’t
believe her luck! Jake Anders, the man that she had been in love
with since elementary school. Tessa could feel the grin take over
her entire face. Jake leaned down to kiss her and saw it, too.

“What’re you smiling at, darlin’?”

“You. Us. Jake, I’m so happy right now.”

Jake smiled back and tightened his hold.
“Me, too, Tess.”

“When were you thinking?”

“Hmm?” Jake said into her hair. Her scent
was driving him nuts. She smelled like lilacs.

“Getting married… when were you
thinking?”

“Oh, well, as soon as we can get someone to
marry us.”

Tessa laughed. Just like Jake, she thought.
“I’ve dreamed about this for a long time now, Jake, and I want it
to be absolutely perfect.”

“Oh yeah? You dreamt about this, Tessa,”
Jake asked as his palm caressed her breast. “And this,” Jake said
as his other hand made its way down between her thighs.

“Mmm,” Tessa moaned. “Yes, I’ve dreamt of
that more than once.”

Jake smiled then kissed her neck. “We are
going to be so good together, Tessa.” Jake playfully bit her neck
then moved both hands back up to push her down into the pillows.
Jake maneuvered himself around so he was on top of her and then
kissed her lips. “You’ve gotten me so hard, Tessa…so hard.”

Tessa moaned once again and pulled Jake into
her, crushing her lips against his. Tongue against tongue. Bodies
wrapped into each other, seeking climax.

Soon they were naked and in the throws of
passion when the doorbell rang. The sound echoed throughout the
house until it stopped Tessa and Jake. Tessa laughed, as Jake
cursed.

“Don’t answer that,” Jake said,
pleading.

“Jake, we can’t just…I don’t know!” Tessa
laughed, then stood up to retrieve her clothing. Jake pulled on her
wrist until she was back on top of him. Tessa gasped at the
contact, then continued playing with Jake. A second bell vibrated,
cutting off their lovemaking again. Jake groaned.

“I really should answer that.”

Jake didn’t make to move.

“You have to get dressed, Jake! The door is
right there!”

“I don’t want to,” Jake pouted.

Tessa laughed then yelled, “I’ll be right
there!”

“Jake, come on, here’s your clothes.” Tessa
threw his shirt and pants over to him, taking his boxers and
stuffing them into the couch cushions along with her underwear and
bra. Jake smiled.

“No,” Jake said once again, this time he
reached down to the floor and plucked his Stetson up and covered
his erection.
Tessa nearly fell over in laughter. Her shirt and pants were on now
and Jake was blessedly still naked.

Jake grinned. “I’m not getting dressed.”

“Suit yourself,” Tessa said, shrugging, then
opened the door to Jake’s horror.

Standing on the other side was the Ladies
Auxiliary Group from Benton Baptist.

Tessa grinned and welcomed them in, not an
embarrassed bone in her body, until one of the women peeked in and
spoke. “Well, son, don’t you know it’s impolite not to remove your
hat when you’ve got company?”

Tessa laughed. Jake grimaced and the rest of
the seven ladies behind lucky, door number one guffawed.

“So, what’s Jake Anders doing here in the
buff?” one woman asked, it was the town librarian, Lilly Scott.

Another question came shortly after the
first, “And why, pray tell, was he the only one naked?”

“And…if I may,” came another, “why in Sam
Hell did you answer the door?”

Tessa had been asking herself the same
questions ever since she opened the door. Tessa’s skin flamed and
she burst out laughing. Jake just walked into the room, fully
clothed, Stetson in his hands this time. “Ladies,” he drawled
smoothly.

“Jake,” they said in tandem.

Jake nodded a few times, came around to
where Tessa had been standing and placed a small kiss on her lips.
“Thanks for drawing me, Tess. I’m sure it will look great on
my…er…wall.”

Tessa laughed unexpectedly then covered her
mouth.
Drawing?

“Nice try, cowboy,” Lilly Scott said, barely
containing her laughter.

“It was worth a try,” Jake said, laughing.
“Tessa and I are getting married in two weeks.”

Tessa gasped
. Two weeks!
Jake smiled
at her as the others took in the little piece of information.

“We were just… well, getting acquainted. But
that’s okay. I can wait… until the wedding… Ladies,” Jake said once
more then walked to the door.

The ladies were all quiet for a moment, then
erupted like a volcano.

“Congratulations, Tessa! When did you get
engaged?”

Tessa grinned, forgiving Jake already for
leaving her with the group. “About an hour ago.”

“So we did interrupt something.”

“You little, hellcat!” another said. “He was
all naked and you still had your clothes on!”

Tessa’s face reddened guiltily, but she
didn’t say anything. What would she say? She was pregnant? She was
basing life on a one night stand that turned glorious? Wait a
minute—was this that? Was Jake marrying her just because of the
baby? If there even was a baby?

Tessa looked at the ladies expectantly, then
shortly after, did what she had been doing for weeks—fainted.

***

Jake walked into the barn on the Triple A
ranch and smiled. Tessa was a huge surprise. She loved him. It was
hard to believe, really. That after 29 nine years of living next to
Tessa’s family, they were going to join.

Jake knew he was smiling like an idiot, but
couldn’t help it. He and Tess, together, after years of thinking
they were oil and water, they were finally getting the chance that
he had always wanted with her. And the sex! It was fantastic. Jake
still couldn’t believe that she was a virgin, and he was her first.
It was the sweetest gift that she could have ever given and she
gave it to him.

Saddling his horse, Midnight, Jake secured
the saddle and mounted. It was going to be a long day, but he would
see Tessa at the end of it, and that would probably make it even
longer.

Jake rode out of the barn when he saw
Tessa’s father’s Chevy. Jake rode over to the truck and watched as
her father got out of his vehicle. “So, what do I owe this,”

“Cut the shit, Anders, I want to know what
your intentions are with my daughter.”

Jake nearly fell off Midnight. He
dismounted, ready to square off with Tessa’s old man. “Listen,
William, I’m—

“Don’t
William
me. You slept with my
baby girl and now all of a sudden you are marrying her. Is this
because of the baby?”

Jake swallowed deeply. He straightened his
shoulders and looked Will into the eyes and spoke firmly. “No, sir.
In fact, I’m insulted. I’ve loved your daughter nearly my entire
life.”