For Keeps Read online

  “I’ve opened the windows and doors. You need some air in there. I called Wes and he said he’d make sure the night shift patrol around here so you don’t have to worry. We haven’t had a burglary in town ever, at least for as long as I can remember.”

  I nod. “Thanks,” I mutter, controlling the impulse to object to him poking around in my home and belongings, as well as making decisions about the police patrolling around my place. He’s got every right. It is his house.

  A quick rush of attraction for him hits me. Seems it’s mutual. The heat in the look he fires me is an olive-toned ogle. It starts at the tip of my toes all the way to the top of my head before hovering around my cleavage. I stifle a grin at his oh-so-typical male appraisal.

  Brett

  I take in the sight of my gorgeous redhead.

  Can’t think of her in any other way.

  She’s definitely mine.

  Every time other time I’ve seen her, she’s dressed for working around the house or garden. Her clothes and appearance are always cute but practical. Like the way she looked earlier, dressed for bed and a bit worse for wear from the fire. She tends to be a bit mussed up and glistening with perspiration. I like that about her. It’s hot.

  Only now her designer cleaned-up, sweetly voluptuous look is knocking me back on my ass. The blouse definitely shows off her charms. My eyes fall to the drawstrings at her cleavage. I get way too hot at the idea of undoing them, preferably with my teeth. The real kicker is when she turns around to shrug on her leather jacket from the wooden hall stand. Holy cow! Her grabbable, ample ass was a sight to see before, but encased in that low-slung designer denim…

  “Huh?” I look at her stupidly, some of my earlier tongue-tied mode returning at the rush of emotion she arouses in me.

  “I asked if I should bother with my keys if you’re leaving the windows and doors open.”

  I nod. “Yeah. Always. Don’t break safe habits. Beside, depending on how long we’re at the hospital, the patrol might decide to close things up for you.”

  “Okay.” she nods, grabbing her keys from the hook. “You really think we might be a while? I got the impression Cassie meant it as a precaution. That I don’t have much to worry about.”

  My protective urges rise immediately. She’s gone all big-eyed and worried. I really want to kiss her now. Take her in my arms and soothe her. I take a few steps forward before I stop.

  I settle for reassurance. “I reckon you’re just fine, but you know what hospitals can be like. They’ll want to run some tests. Should be okay. I’m sure we’ll have you back home in your comfy pajamas and slippers in no time.”

  “Oh, still like me in that outfit better, then?” she says it in an innocent tone. Except she undercuts it with an undulating movement toward the door that shows she knows exactly the effect her change of clothing is having on me.

  Standing beside her while she locks the door, I can’t fight the protective urges flooding me. She’s tiny. I feel like a wall of masculinity beside her. She’s carrying quite a few extra pounds, but she carries them well. All the gardening, probably.

  She’s nice and solid, I think unromantically. Garnet Junction men are protective of their women, but the women need to be strong in body and spirit. A woman has to be able to hold her own out here in this country. A guy has to think of these things when looking for a wife in our unforgiving geography.

  Shit! Wife? So that’s where this is headed? Come on, man. You’ve know that since you first saw her. You know this sexy woman is the one for you.

  But what about her? Does she feel the same way? All the signals tell me she wants me. But is she playing for keeps?

  Or just playing?

  Cora

  It’s the early hours before Brett brings me back from the hospital and well into late morning before I get up. After a cup of energy tea made from my own blend, I complete some gardening chores before settling down outside on my bench swing. Surrounded by natural beauty, I’m marveling at the uninterrupted view of the majestic snow-capped mountains in the distance, when my cell rings.

  “Hey there, Cora. You sleep well?”

  “Brett!” I can’t keep the pleasure from my voice. I was hoping to hear from him, but didn’t expect it would be this soon.

  “Yeah. Like a baby. I only got up a couple of hours ago. Good thing you put up the closed sign for me.”

  “Yeah, well,” he tells me in his lazy drawl, “trauma of a fire, four hours waiting at the hospital, I reckon you’re allowed.”

  I breathe shyly before telling him, “Thanks for all your help, Brett. You made things a lot easier. You made what could’ve been a rotten ordeal almost fun. Above and beyond, Mr. Firefighter.”

  “Garnet Junction’s finest take their duty very seriously,” he murmurs in a deep tone.

  “Well, you outdid yourself, last night.”

  “Good to know.”

  Silence slips between us. I look at the magnificent view, trying to screw up my courage. What the hell, might as well just dive in.

  “I thought maybe you’d let me thank you by cooking you dinner tonight.”

  Please, please, please don’t let him think me too pushy.

  Scrunching up my eyes, I hold my breath. I’m normally too shy to ask a guy out, but a thank-you dinner is laid back enough. My heart drops when I hear the refusal in his words.

  “Sorry, but I was planning on treating a beautiful woman to a fancy dinner at the Gemstone, followed by dancing at our local hot spot.”

  Oh, no! Too late I remember its Saturday night. Of course he has a date.

  “Providing she’s not too worn out by all her trauma, that is. You up for that, Cora?”

  “Oh, you mean me!” My stomach flips. “Oh, that sounds lovely, Brett.”

  “Great. I’ll take a rain check on dinner, though. I just love home cooking. Maybe in a few days after we get your kitchen’s fixed up. That’s the other reason I called. I thought I’d come round with some of my workmen to check out the damage and arrange the repairs. That okay?”

  “Sure.”

  “I’ll be round there in an hour or so. See you in a bit.”

  I sit looking at the mountains in the horizon, hugging myself. My stomach flips and my body flushes at the pleasure of seeing Brett again so soon. In only an hour from now and a proper date tonight. Its ages since a man took me for dinner and dancing and certainly never to a ‘local hot spot.’

  I spend the time waiting out in the garden sorting through my latest seeds and transplants. I resist the urge to run up and change my outfit. He knows I’m working in the garden. It’ll look silly if I’m all dolled up when he arrives. I assess my outfit in the hall mirror. My jeans aren’t my designer ones, but they still flatter my butt. My soft cotton shirt, tied up in front while I work, shows off my cinched waist, drawing attention to my curvy hips. I undo the top button, showing a little more cleavage than normal.

  Just under an hour later, Brett’s pickup pulls up behind my back gate, followed by an old battered Chevy truck. Brett and two men, one older and the other younger, walk through the creaky gate, setting off the old-fashioned bell I installed to alert me to customers. Biting my lip, I stand up and try to control my blushes. I’m in my mid-twenties, but Brett Johnson makes me feel like a shy teenager.

  Smiling as he reaches me, I look at the guy who sat with me patiently last night for over four hours while I was pushed and prodded and then made to wait while they checked out all my tests. We spent those hours establishing an easy camaraderie that made me feel comfortable around him. But there’s a lot more than comfort throbbing in me right now. Seems he’s feeling the same. I swear I catch a quick burst of tender lust darkening his eyes.

  But then he’s all business, efficiently introducing his workmen, who greet me with a tipping of their Stetsons and a deferential, “Good to meet you, ma’am.” They accept Brett’s instructions with a nodded, “Yes, boss.”

  He takes them into the house and I stand looking in the
window feeling anti-climactic. Perhaps I imagined that hot look. Perhaps he isn’t interested in me at all. Maybe he just feels obligated to take me out after I offered to cook him a meal. Dejected, I decide to stop torturing myself. I leave them to it and go back to my seedlings.

  The gardening works its magic. I’m soon engrossed in my task, which is why I’m taken unawares by a caress of warm breath on my neck. I’m lifted and held with my back to a broad, muscled chest. A chest I recognize. One I was held against last night after the fire.

  “Brett, you startled m…”

  My words are cut off. He turns me. I see the passion in his eyes. I forget to breathe. He holds me with my feet off the ground, my curves snuggled into him, my body in sync with his. Before he kisses me, I hear his low declaration.

  “Can’t wait any longer. Can’t leave these sweet lips of yours alone for another second.”

  I’ve lost count of the number of times I imagined his kiss. My imagination didn’t come anywhere close. The kiss is a shattering mix of earthy and tender. His lips are warm and pleasant as he plucks and plumps my soft flesh to a sweet wetness. Parting both our lips with a probing tongue, he enters my warmth, inviting me into his. I shiver, offering my tongue, meeting him in a swirling, sensuous dance.

  Brett

  I’ve wanted to do this ever since I saw her dancing out there on the porch. When I arrived this afternoon, she was standing in her garden all hot and curvy. I wanted her as soon as I opened her back gate. I got it under control, but when I come out after my workmen leave, I can’t hold back. She looks so inviting, her hair mussed up, intent on her flowers, bent over with her gorgeous ass in the air. I have to have my mouth on hers.

  Taste her. Own her.

  I start the kiss off soft and she melts against me. I part her lips with my tongue. She welcomes me with hers. Holy hell! All my pent up feelings take over. I thrust forcefully into her mouth. She’s mine. Clutching her hair, I grab her. The kiss goes on and on until she’s unsteady and trembling in my arms. I don’t care. I could kiss her into oblivion as long as it feels like this.

  I slow the kiss before letting her go. She looks reluctant to part from me. Good. She doesn’t want the kiss to end either. Slipping her down my body, I set her on the ground, steadying her when she’s uncertain on her feet.

  I let out a long breath. “That was a long time coming.”

  She colors and nods, dipping her head. She’s doesn’t meet the intensity of my gaze, but she doesn’t deny the truth of my words. She answers with a ragged, breathy whisper that acknowledges our weeks of secret longing for each other. “Yeah.”

  The kiss seals the deal for me. I want to tell her she’s mine for good, but she’s a city girl, intent on her new business. My brother Kyle’s hotel at the Diamond Springs Resort sees a parade of glamorous city women. I’ve seen them come and go in Garnet Junction as well. They think they want small town living and then can’t take it.

  All my instincts tell me Cora’s not like that. I reckon she’s got what it takes to make a go of her business here.

  Taking her hand, I lead her into the empty house. My mind’s still on that kiss and the feel of her curves against me. Inside the familiarity of my grandma’s old living room, I get a grip. My tone’s matter-of-fact. “I’m planning to include a few improvements in the kitchen during the repairs. Need your okay first, though. No point putting in changes you won’t like.”

  She nods. “Sure. Let’s hear them.”

  We go over the minor additions. She agrees to them and we walk back into the lounge.

  She turns to me. “Thanks, for all your help, Brett. Especially for waiting with me at the hospital, last night.”

  “No worries, Cora. It was a while, but a sweet while. Sorry you had to wait so long.”

  Guess the power of our kiss along with my talk of a sweet while gets to her, because she looks up at me and blurts out, “I’m not sorry. I didn’t mind having to wait. Not as long as you were around.”

  Her brain-to-mouth filter catches up with her and her cheeks flood with color. She sits down on the couch, groans and buries her face in her hands. “Oh, God. Did I just say that out loud?”

  Affection for her floors me. Damn she’s so sweet. She peeps at me real cute-like through her fingers. I sit beside her and draw her into my arms, a chuckle coming from deep down in my chest. “Don’t be embarrassed, sweetheart. I never even noticed the time, either.”

  I run my hand down her back. She trembles at my touch. Heat rushes through my body. I need to get the hell out of here before I do way more than I should. I stand up abruptly.

  My voice is hoarse. “I need to get going. I’ve some ranch work to finish before tonight.”

  She looks confused at my quick turnaround. She doesn’t deserve to feel like that just because I can’t keep my shit together around her.

  I toss her a grin. “You take it easy for the rest of the afternoon. I’m planning on feeding you well and dancing you off your feet.” I lean down and give her a quick kiss. “So save your strength.”

  Her shoulders relax. She curls her feet under her on the couch and grins back.

  “Yes, siree,” she nods with a mock drawl. “Consider me fully warned.”

  Brett

  Later that night, I stand with Wes at the bar in Jolene’s, Garnet Junction’s local saloon. Sharing a jug of draught, we watch Cora and Cassie kick up their heels and have a whole lot of fun line dancing.

  “Cora’s pretty damn good at this.” Wes is surprised. “She’s more than holding her own with the town’s women.”

  “Yeah, turns out she took lessons back in Boston.” My curvy little redhead is keeping time real well. She twists and turns, with her fingers in the loops of her jeans as she stomps her cowboy boots.

  Wes shakes his head. “Who knew a big city girl from a corporate background would fit in with our small western town’s Saturday night entertainment quite so fine?”

  She sure makes me smile. Her fiery hair is braided the way I like, curving down at the side of her neck. It’s long enough that it whips back and forth every so often when the dance gets snappy. Her sweet face is shining with laughter and I know if I get closer to her I’ll see she’s all aglow with perspiration.

  I took a fair bit of ribbing when I walked into Jolene’s with her. It’s no secret around town how I feel. Or the trouble I had working up the gumption to approach her. I knew the sight of us together would set the place abuzz. Garnet Junction inhabitants like to see a new match. There’s no way to escape the approving winks, nods, and back slapping.

  The dance ends and Cora and Cassie make their way over together, laughing. They stop a couple of times to share a dance move. The band announce a break. People start to move round and gather in groups, taking the opportunity to talk normally without the music dominating the room.

  When the women reach us, I put my arm around Cora. I push some of the damp tendrils of her hair from her forehead and pour her a glass of water from a jug on the bar. She drinks it down eagerly. When she finishes, I ask her. “You want another glass of wine, hon?”

  “Uh-uh. Dancing’s too thirsty work for wine. This water’s great,” she tips her head at the jug of draught on the bar. “I’ll have some of your draught, if that’s okay.”

  “Sure,” I pour her a glass. I put the jug back down and run a caressing hand over the top of her head, all the way down her back so as to give a surreptitious squeeze to her hip. Leaning in, I tell her with a low growl in her ear. “You sure looked sexy swinging your gorgeous hips out there. Looking forward to taking you on the floor for some two-stepping. You took lessons in that too, right?”

  Cora nods. She opens her mouth and is just about to speak when the owner of the bar, the actual Jolene, picks up the microphone and asks for everyone’s attention.

  “Howdy, folks. Hope you’re all having your usual good time here at my little place. Tonight I’ve something a little different for you. Friend of mine’s visiting from Casper and she con
vinced me that you good people of Garnet Junction will just love Latin dancing. She and her partner are kind enough to offer us a demonstration and a quick intro lesson. Now, I’m not stupid. I know most of you men are just holding your tongues on account of she’s my guest, but you keep an open mind, now.”

  There’s a ripple of laughter and a few hoots as Jolene plugs an iPod into the sound system. The room fills with the sizzle and sway of Latin music.

  “Oh, Salsa. I love Latin!” Cora begins to keep time with the rhythm, moving her feet in a few steps.

  “Well. Lookie here. We got ourselves a little lady who knows the steps already. That right, Cora?” Cora stops moving and colors when all the attention of the bar turns to her.

  “Um, yeah a little, I guess.” She looks at me and then down at her feet, her natural shyness overtaking her.

  “Hey there, Jolene. Quit picking on my girl and just get this demonstration up and running.” I laugh good-naturedly.

  “Sure thing, Brett, but I reckon you and Cora’ll be one of the first couples up for the intro lesson.” She winks and then adds to Cora, “Get working on him, girl. If you can persuade Brett Johnson to move to Latin, we can get the rest of the men up here. That right, boys?”

  There are more catcalls, hoots, and grumbling from the men with laughter from the women. The lights are dimmed. A showy couple in a bright Latin outfit parade onto the floor. They’re a splendid sight blazing into the little saloon, causing a hush to fall over the room. They create such an exciting spectacle of color and movement that I start swaying a little.

  A fact I don’t cotton on to until Cora bumps hips with me. I look down to see her eyes alight with teasing and excitement. Guess her enjoyment of the dance is chasing away her shyness. I like that, the way she loses her reserve and gets caught up in the action.

  The dance ends and there’s an outburst of applause. The couple bow showily, the man twirling the woman from side to side as they acknowledge the crowd’s praise. The lights go up and Jolene steps forward. “Alright then, who’s up for givin’ it a try? Cora? Brett? What do ya say?”