Wild for the Girl (15 page)
Authors: Starr Ambrose
“Oh.”
“Or coming home at night.”
Embarrassment burned her cheeks, but she held her chin up defiantly. “I was mad at you.”
“Then I guess you didn’t listen to my messages or read my texts, either.”
“
Really
mad.”
He nodded, as if her anger was totally understandable, which made her even more disoriented. “T.J., I’m sorry about going to dinner with Caroline and her father. I know how that must have looked to you. I should have found you instead.”
“Yes, you should have.” But because he seemed to be in the mood to explain things, and because she was starting to wonder what in the hell was going on, she asked, “Why didn’t you?”
“Because my father seemed to be encouraging Caroline to stay in Colorado with me. Permanently. I needed to make it clear that wasn’t going to happen.”
She swallowed back the sudden tightness in her throat. “Mike likes her?” It felt like another betrayal.
“Actually, he doesn’t. But I didn’t see that because he gave them a hard sell on the advantages of Caroline living in B-Pass, including moose hunting and helping to nurse him back to health.” He smiled at her look of disbelief. “Yeah, I know, not likely, which was the reaction he wanted. As soon as I realized what he was up to, I knew it was safe to leave, and find you. But I was too late.”
His patient explanation was working, at least enough to make her wonder if she’d rushed to judgment. “You weren’t trying to save your relationship with Caroline?”
“There was no relationship. It was over months ago.” Gently, he pulled a piece of hay from her hair, letting the backs of his fingers brush her cheek. Goose bumps ran over her scalp and down her arms. “Please believe me, T.J.”
She wanted to. “Caroline told me the two of you were close.” She watched him carefully. “Very close.”
His composure slipped a little at that. “Caroline talked to you?”
“Tad brought her to the barn.”
That caused even more slippage. He ground his teeth for a couple of seconds. “About Tad. I know you were with him that night. But I also know I hurt you, and . . . well, I just want you to know that if you tell me it meant nothing, I’ll understand.”
She shook her head, puzzled. “Understand that what meant nothing? That I talked to him at the barn?”
“That you slept with him.”
“
What?
Tad?” Her mouth dropped open, then pulled into a grimace. “I never slept with Tad. God! Whatever gave you that idea?”
He frowned. “Beth told me you had drinks, then went up to his room.”
“Beth told you that?” she said with raised eyebrows.
He took a deep breath then let it out, looking as if a huge weight had been lifted from him.
He’d thought she slept with Tad? The idea was enough to make her shudder, but her disgust was overshadowed by the humbling fact that glowed like neon in her mind. “You were willing to forgive me for sleeping with Tad?”
His jaw twitched, but there was no anger in his voice. “Not immediately. I’ll admit I hated the thought of you and Tad together. But then I realized how it must have looked to you when I ran off to see Caroline right after making love to you, then changed my plans in order to have dinner with her. Plus, there’s that other thing.”
Understanding how she’d felt was enough to melt any lingering resistance. “What other thing?”
“The fact that I had no choice.” He took her hand and pulled her a step closer, his other hand caressing her cheek. “I love you, T.J.” She stopped breathing, but he didn’t seem to notice as he rested his fingers beneath her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. “I love you, and I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving you. You’re worth fighting for, and if that’s what I have to do, I will. I need you in my life.”
“Oh.” It slipped out of her on a breath of air as her defenses crumbled. She couldn’t speak, so she did the only thing she could and stepped into his arms, burying her face against his shirt. His arms came around her, holding her tight, hugging her against his warmth until she lifted on tiptoe and kissed him. He responded greedily, and the first touch of their lips spiraled into a long soul-searing kiss that left her breathing hard when it finally ended. Holding his eyes with an earnest gaze, she told him, “You don’t have to fight for me, Reese. You already had me.” She touched her lips to his. “I love you.”
His grin warmed her until she was sure she was giving off beams of light. He kissed her forehead, then held her close for a long time, until a depressing thought ate through the happiness and made her draw back with a sigh. “I fell in love with an unemployed man who lives two thousand miles away. I can’t seem to get this local boy thing right.”
He chuckled. “But I am a local boy. I put my condo in Boston up for sale. All my things are on a moving van that will be here in two days.”
She wanted to celebrate, but it seemed too good to be true. Leaving city life for a remote mountain town wasn’t that easy, even if he’d been born here. That was a long time ago. Giving in to her biggest worry, she asked, “Are you sure you know what you’re doing, Reese? Have you even spent an entire year in the mountains since you were a kid? Winters here are long, with a ton of snow. That little car of yours won’t make it through the first snowstorm. Living here means changing your whole lifestyle.” It was asking a lot. Maybe too much.
He took her hand. “Come here.” Leading her to the shuttered loft window, he unlatched it and opened one side to the cool air. “Take a look.”
Even in the gathering dusk, it required only a glance. On the gravel drive, a silver pickup truck shone under the tall yard light. “That’s yours?” she asked, smiling because she already knew the answer.
“Bought it with what I got for the car on a trade-in. I think it’s enough to get me through years of snowstorms.”
“I think it’s more than enough.” She peered closely at the shadowed rear end of the truck. “You have a trailer hitch.”
“Never know when you might need to pull something, like a horse trailer.” When she gave him a surprised look, he reached back and closed the shutter, drawing her close again. “I thought I might buy a horse. You don’t happen to know of one for sale, do you?”
The changes were coming so fast, she had a hard time keeping up, and this one warmed her to her toes. “I do, actually.”
“Good. Oh, and I may have that unemployed part taken care of, too. It turns out they need architects in Colorado.”
“Imagine that.” A tingling happiness spread through her; he’d thought of everything.
“There’s a firm in Juniper that’s pretty impressed with my resumé.”
“Of course they are.” She ran a hand through his hair, loving that she’d be able to do that whenever she wanted to. “Juniper’s fifteen miles away, you know.”
“That’s better than two thousand.”
She nodded, hesitating to move too fast, but knowing with every cell in her body that this was what she wanted. “Fifteen miles is close. You could live here.”
She held still, watching anxiously for signs of hesitation.
He stroked her hair, his eyes steady on hers. “Are you sure?”
She nodded, secretly amused by the urge to jump up and down and squeal with excitement. She was such a sucker for this guy. “Very sure.”
“Good. Because that goes nicely with what I had in mind.”
She gave him a puzzled look as he reached into his back pocket and pulled something out. When he opened his hand, a black velvet-covered box sat in his palm.
Her heart rate shot up as her startled gaze went from the box to him, and back to the box. A million bees buzzed in her ears as she stared at the black box. A hundred fears raced through her mind, about commitments that didn’t last and men who didn’t understand who she was and what she wanted. All of them coalesced into one big question, with an answer so strong it nearly knocked her off her feet.
With shaking hands, she took the box and opened it. Inside was more black velvet, and an empty slot. She blinked, then looked at him.
“I didn’t know your size or your preference. All I know is that I want you with me forever.” He pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ears, picking out another piece of hay as he did. “It’s only fair that you know I’m not thinking short term, T.J. I’m playing for keeps.” He dropped one knee to the hay-covered floor of the loft as she stared. “Theodora Jane Grady, will you marry me?”
She widened her eyes in horror. “No!”
His face went slack and the gleam of hope in his eyes disappeared. He swallowed hard. “No?”
“No,” she repeated firmly. “Theodora Jane will
not
marry you. But T.J. will.” She allowed him two seconds of relief before warning, “And if you ever call me Theodora Jane again, I promise I will rethink my answer.”
He smiled and tugged her down with him. “Deal.”
His kiss was hotter than the last one, and deeper. He guided her to the floor without taking his lips from hers, settling his weight on top of her in a comfortable fit her body responded to. Her hands tugged at his shirt, thinking about the end-of-summer chill in the air, and not caring. It might even feel good against her flushed skin.
But it would be much colder up here in a few weeks. She was going to have to find a couple of warm blankets.
ALSO BY STARR AMBROSE
Silver Sparks
Thieves Like Us
Our Little Secret
Lie to Me
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by Starr Ambrose
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First Pocket Star Books ebook edition October 2012
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ISBN 978-1-4516-8436-0
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