Not a chance.
So she said the one thing guaranteed to push him over the edge. “Fuck you, Colt—”
His mouth was on hers before she finished saying his name. Heat and power slammed from the kiss, and her mind swam.
Fire lashed through her so quickly her knees weakened. Her nipples scraped his chest, and lava consumed her. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she fell into the storm created by a man much more dangerous than she’d known.
She kissed him back, her body alive, her mind shutting down.
There was nothing but the whirlwind of impossible need cascading around them, through her, into her, beyond her.
The kiss was hard, angry, and more passionate than she could’ve dreamed.
Many times they’d come close to kissing, but one of them had always backed away. With a grin, or a joke, they’d escaped ever taking the chance. The one thing Melanie knew for sure was if Colton ever kissed her, if he ever showed her that side of him, there’d be no turning back. Ever.
As he released her mouth to pin her with a dark gaze, there was no question he knew it, too.
Determination filtered through his eyes, and his jaw firmed. Something new and intriguing fluttered alive in her abdomen. Her eyes widened, and satisfaction lifted his lips.
Holy crap. Colton Freeze didn’t want to turn back.
Chapter Three
After a restless night, Colt kicked the post into place, his stomach empty, wind slapping his cheeks and scattering snow across his boots. “The weather is supposed to warm up in March. Where’s the sun?”
Hawk rubbed a well-worn glove across his forehead. “It’s only five in the morning. Give the day a chance.”
“Whatever,” Colton muttered.
His brothers glanced up from tying off twine around a fence post.
“What’s eating you?” Quinn asked. As the sheriff in town, Quinn often stepped in before anybody threw a punch. Well, unless it was Quinn aiming the fist.
“Nothin’.” Colton shook his head. One sleepless night didn’t mean a thing.
His oldest brother, Jake, leaned into the back of a battered truck to grab a thermos. “What’s up, Colt? Is your detailed plan for this week off track?” Jake shared a look of amusement with Quinn.
“I don’t plan everything,” Colton said.
“Do too,” his brothers muttered right back.
“Whatever. I’m just chomping at the bit to get into the office later.” Not true—not true at all. His mind still spun from the disastrous kiss the previous night. What had he been thinking? Kissing Melanie was not in any plan.
Even worse, his body didn’t regret it nearly as much as did his mind. In fact, his body wanted to march right back to Melanie’s and finish what they’d started.
His body could shut up. “How’s Sophie?” he asked Jake.
“Great.” Jake grinned like he always did when talking about his spunky wife. “She’s starting to show and having some fun shopping for maternity clothes.”
“I think this time you’re having a girl,” Quinn said, reaching for another fence post.
“Either would be great, but I do think it’s another boy,” Jake countered. “Just a gut feeling.”
“Twins,” Colton said with a grin. It was nice seeing both of his older brothers married and happy, although he had no intention of joining them anytime soon. Jake had married an artist and already had a baby boy, and Quinn had married an art gallery owner, and their wives had become instant friends.
Hawk scratched his head. “What is she, about five months along?”
“About that,” Jake said. “This pregnancy was a complete surprise considering Nathan is only fifteen months. We could find out the sex but decided it’d be fun to wait and see. Our daughter is hoping for a girl this time.”
Little Leila was from Jake’s first marriage, which had left him a widower. It was wonderful seeing both Jake and Leila happy with Sophie in their lives now.
Leila would be a great big sister no matter what. At eight years old, the sweetheart was more fun than imaginable. “Tell her to be ready after dinner for our movie night,” Colton said. He liked to take his niece to the movies every time a new Disney came out.
“She already picked out her outfit.” Jake grinned. “She won’t tell me what you two have planned for the St. Patrick’s Day float.”
Colt reached for a hammer. The family always entered a float in the Mineral Lake St. Paddy’s Day parade, and this year, he and Leila had volunteered to create the design. “Let’s just say it involves wolves and bears that are cuddly versus scary.”
“Sounds good.” Quinn stretched his back. “Let us know when we need to show up and pound nails.”
“It’s a plan.” Jake cut a look toward Hawk, his gaze intense.
Colton nodded imperceptibly.
“All right.” Jake threw a hammer that clanked in the back of the truck. “Quinn and I will head over to the northern pasture and check on the fences before going into town. I have an early meeting with some clients.” As a lawyer, Jake often had early meetings.
Quinn slowly gazed at Colton and then Hawk. “Good idea. See you two later.” Sliding into the front of the Ford, he waited for Jake to jump into the passenger seat.
As the brothers drove down the bumpy field, leaving them alone, Hawk turned toward Colton. “That was subtle.”
“Huh?” Colton asked, stretching his neck.
“I figured all three of you would discuss my options with me.” Hawk wiped grime off his forehead.
Colton shrugged. “We didn’t want to gang up on you.” They would if they had to. Hawk was family, and when family needed help, you jumped in. “I can call them back if you wish.”
“No thanks,” Hawk said. “Get the prompting over with.”
“When do you need to decide on re-upping?” Colton asked.
Hawk sighed, his green eyes narrowing. “A month. I leave on another mission any day, and then I have a month to decide.”
“Want to talk about the mission?” Colt asked quietly.
“Can’t.” Hawk kicked a post into better alignment.
Figured. Colt’s gut ached whenever he thought about Hawk’s time as a sniper in the service, but he understood they couldn’t talk about it. “I need another partner in my business, and I want it to be you.”
“You don’t need another partner, and I doubt you have a partner to start with.” Hawk grabbed the post with both hands and twisted the base deeper into the earth.
Colton reached for more twine. “I want you and Mel as partners. It’d be more fun, and you have capital.”
“You’re richer than dirt and don’t need my capital,” Hawk said.
“Come on. You’ve given your time, and you’ve done a lot of good. It’s eating you alive, and that won’t work. We always talked about owning a series of fighting gyms, and now is the time.” Colt set his jaw. He’d enjoyed MMA fighting while in college and wanted to bring fighting and different martial arts classes to gyms throughout Montana.
“Don’t you think you’ll be busy with running Lodge-Freeze Enterprises?” Hawk asked.
“Sure, but I want this business for the three of us.” He’d never planned on only working as the CEO for the family companies, and even as young kids, he, Hawk, and Mel had planned to work together. Of course, as teenagers, he and Hawk had thoughts of owning a Hooters-type bar until Melanie had vetoed the idea.
As adults, they had different priorities than just fun. Colt’s current one included getting his oldest friend home in one piece. “You look tired.” Obsessed. Dangerous. Haunted.
“I’m fine.” Hawk rolled his shoulders and glanced down the row of repaired fences that protected cattle and didn’t delineate any division between their ranch lands. Since his mother had died, they’d worked the ranches as one. “One more mission—
something I need to take care of, and I’m out. I promise.”
Colt paused. “The mission sounds personal.”
“Missions are always somewhat personal.” Hawk’s face lost expression in a way that pissed Colton off.
He hid his irritation. “So, about our partnership?”
“You’re the financial genius. If you think we can make a go of it, I’m in.” Hawk finally smiled. “What’s the plan, anyway?”
“I thought we’d start with a gym in Mineral Lake and one in Billings…and expand from those locations. Teach martial arts, some fitness classes, and self-defense. Should be fun, and it’s not like we lack training.” Colt finished with the last tie-down. “What do you think?”
Hawk straightened his back and looked toward the snow-covered mountains to the north. He rubbed his chin. Finally, he turned toward Colton, dark eyes somber. “After this month, I’m in.”
Relief whipped through Colton so quickly he turned away to throw tools in the back of the remaining truck to hide his expression.
“How about now you tell me what’s bugging you?” Hawk loped toward the vehicle.
“I kissed Melanie last night.” Colt had never kept a secret from Hawk, and he had no intention of starting now.
Hawk halted and swiveled around. “Holy shit.”
That pretty much summed it up.
“Did she kiss you back?” Hawk shoved his hat further up his head.
Colton paused. Yeah, she’d kissed him back. With fire, with tongue, she’d pretty much blown his world. “Yes.”
Hawk rubbed his chin. “Well, it was either that or punch you in the face. What does this mean?”
Heat roared through Colt’s chest. “Nothing. It means nothing. The kiss was a temporary moment of craziness. I hadn’t seen her in too long, she wore that dress, and I was, ah, pissed.” Right? That was it.
“Um, okay.” Hawk stepped into the passenger’s side of the truck and waited for Colton to get in. “But why? You guys are great together.”
“The three of us are good together.” Colton slid into his seat and ignited the engine. Where one went, the other two showed up. The security of their friendship had made for a good childhood for them all, and they couldn’t leave Hawk out. He’d lost everybody but them.
“I’m not into threesomes,” Hawk drawled.
Colton snorted. “Did you just make a joke?” His buddy had been way too serious for much too long.
“I’m funny,” Hawk said.
Hawk was many things, but funny wasn’t one of them. Laconic. Serious. Deadly.
Colton nodded, steering the truck around potholes. “You are hilarious.”
“Thanks.” Hawk wiped dirt off his forehead. “The three of us are great friends, but you and Mel have always had something…separate. Something just for you.”
Colton jerked his head. Had they abandoned Hawk?
Hawk cut him a look. “It’s a good thing, and I have never felt left out.”
Was he telling the truth? The friendship with Mel and Colt had been all Hawk could hold on to for so many years. Hawk had never known his father, and he’d lost his mother as a teenager. Colton would never exclude him. “Mel and I are good friends.” No male-female stuff. Well, until last night. “We know everything about each other. No intrigue, no surprises, nothing to take us further.” Plus, he wasn’t ready for forever, and he’d just hurt her.
Then he’d have to kick his own ass.
“Hmmm.” Hawk pressed a button on the radio. “We all didn’t hang out as much as teenagers. Ever wonder why?”
“We were busy with sports and dating. We still hung out a lot,” Colton said.
Hawk shrugged. “Maybe you two didn’t want to watch each other date other people.”
That was just silly. “Whatever.”
“Aren’t you tired of bubble-heads?” Hawk asked.
Colt skirted a sprawling hole and headed for the nearest ranch road. “Bubble-heads? Shawna was an anthropologist with a doctorate.”
“Yeah, but she was dumb.” Hawk shrugged and then winced as the soundtrack for Grease belted out. “Perhaps book smart, but the woman couldn’t hold a conversation to save her life.”
Colt thought back to the voluptuous blonde. “We didn’t talk a lot.”
Hawk snorted. “Exactly.”
Like Hawk talked very much. This conversation included more words than Hawk usually used in a week. Colton shoved a rough hand through his hair as the music continued. “Apparently Melanie was in the truck earlier. Why does she still like those soundtracks, anyway?”
Hawk shrugged. “Grease was the first movie the three of us watched together. Remember? We snuck the VCR tape from her grandpop’s movie stash right after she moved here.”
That was right. Mel had only been four, a chubby little girl with sad eyes. Her parents had died in a small plane crash, and her grandpop had instantly brought her home to raise.
Colton had taken one look at her and decided they were going to be friends for life. The idea that she still loved the music because of him and Hawk was a sweet one, and she was a sweet woman. “I remember.”
Hawk rolled down his window. “Mel’s all grown up. How do you feel about her marrying somebody else and building a life?”
A possessive edge cut through Colt and brought him up short. “Marry?”
“Sure. She’s a doll, and hot to boot. She’ll get married and settle down,” Hawk said.
Colton frowned, not liking the panic heating his blood. “Humph.”
“I figured you hadn’t thought it out.” Hawk leaned an elbow on the window. “You might want to do so.”
Colton’s mind spun. “I’ll give it some thought. For now, what do you think about Melanie working to oversee the construction of the gyms as her part of the start-up costs?”
“Great idea.” Hawk peered through the windshield as the sun finally appeared.
“She doesn’t have experience,” Colt said.
“So?” Hawk asked.
Colton nodded. “She’ll look out for our interests, and the contractors I’ll hire will have experience.”
Hawk nodded solemnly. “I’d feel better with Melanie keeping an eye on things.”
Now that was a friend. “Me too. Um, I think something’s going on money-wise with her.”
“More than the ranch and her grandpop’s bills?” Hawk asked.
“Yes.” Colton rubbed his eye. Melanie wouldn’t spend money frivolously or just lose it. Something had to be going on.
Hawk tapped his gloves on his knee. “Ask her.”
“I did,” Colton said.
“Then give her some space. She’ll ask for help when she needs it.” Hawk wiped condensation off the window.
“Maybe.” Colton shook his head. He wasn’t great at giving space—never had been.
Hawk chuckled. “When are you breaking ground on your new house?”
Colton shrugged. He’d been planning to build a house on the other side of the ranch and was now living in one of the small cabins skirting the west side. It suited him as he got settled. “Not until we get the gyms going.” His plan made sense, and he’d stick with it.
“Do you think Mel will agree to supervise the construction?” Hawk asked.
“Yes.” Now all Colton had to do was convince Mel she was needed, and she truly was. He needed her to stay healthy, relax, and make some money…and her watching over the construction would be an added bonus. “Wish me luck.”
“Luck,” Hawk drawled.
Colton ignored the amusement in his friend’s voice. He’d convince Melanie to oversee the construction, and they’d go back to being buddies like always.
How hard could it be?
…
Melanie bussed coffee cups from another table, her mind still spinning. She’d kissed Colton.
He’d kissed her.
Boy, had he kissed her.
“Hi, Melanie,” a chipper voice said.
Melanie turned to see Colt’s young niece standing behind her. “Hi, Leila. I just cleared a table for you.”
Leila shook out her long hair. “I got a haircut. See?”
Melanie smiled and shared a look with Leila’s grandmother, Loni. “You look beautiful, sweetheart,” she said.
“Thanks.” Leila slipped into the nearest seat. “Uncle Colt is taking me to the movies tonight. Do you wanna go?”
Heat flushed through Mel until her cheeks ached. “I would, but I have plans.” Somewhat true. Since she had the night off, she planned on cleaning her house and catching up on laundry. Even watching a movie if she had time to rent one.
“You gotta date?” Leila asked.
“Nope.” Melanie straightened her back, her vertebra cracking. “What can I get you two?”
Loni reached out to brush a motherly hand across Melanie’s forehead. “You look flushed. Feeling okay?”
Sure. Except Loni’s youngest son had kissed Melanie senseless the night before. She forced a grin for the woman who’d stepped in years ago and taken Mel bra shopping when her grandfather had needed assistance. At that point, noticing how lonely the teenaged girl was, Loni had checked in often. “I’m fine. Just bustling around,” Mel said.
Loni’s black eyes sparkled in her pretty face, her Native American heritage creating an interesting combination of smooth angles. “Good. I’ve been worried about you working so much.”
Not for the first time, Melanie wondered about her own mother. What would it be like to have such concern for every hour of every day? She cleared her throat. “Hey, Loni. I wanted to say thanks.”
Loni lifted her head, dark eyes wise. “For what?”
Melanie shook her head. “For being there for me…always. I needed you, and you were there.”
Loni patted her hand. “Of course I was there…we’re family.”
Yet they weren’t. Not really. “I know.” Melanie smoothed down Leila’s dark hair. The girl had inherited her grandmother’s delicate build and thick hair.
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