She’d lost track of the number of times she’d shared a makeshift meal with Caleb at that table with its trio of mismatched chairs. But she had a very clear memory of the time he’d snuck up to the cabin in advance of their arrival to set a romantic scene for her. There had been place mats and napkins and slender candles in fancy holders that he’d snuck out of Evelyn’s china cabinet. They’d nibbled on cheese and crackers and sipped fruit punch out of crystal glasses—also borrowed from his grandmother.
And then they’d made love on the narrow and rickety cot tucked against the wall. The thin mattress hadn’t been comfortable enough that anyone would want to sleep on it, but it served the purpose for a cowboy stranded overnight—or a couple of teenagers who cared only about being together.
At some point during the past seven years, that cot had been replaced by an actual twin-size bed covered by a rail-fence quilt, while the old woolen blankets that she remembered were tossed over the back of the ancient sofa in the middle of the room. An equally ancient chair and wobbly end table completed the small clustering of furniture that faced the stone fireplace.
A narrow door on the adjacent wall opened to a tiny bathroom—a late addition to the construction of the cabin and useless during the winter months, when the water was shut off and the pipes emptied to ensure they wouldn’t burst in the frigid temperatures.
She peeked into the pantry, noted at least half a dozen jugs of water, various canned goods and other nonperishable food items stored securely in sealed plastic containers. Gramps had always kept the cabin stocked for emergencies, though she suspected it was her brother Spencer who saw to the supplies now. She moved some cans around and finally found what she was looking for: a jar of homemade sweet pickles with a neatly marked label in familiar handwriting.
She brushed the dust off the lid, remembering the kind and loving woman who’d prepared the cucumbers in brine before slicing and packing them into jars, adding the vinegar solution and sealing the containers in a boiling water bath. Anna Blake would be so disappointed to know that hard feelings lingered between her husband and his granddaughter as a result of things that had been said seven-and-a-half years earlier, but Brie didn’t know how to break the distance that had grown between them and her grandfather had given no indication that he wanted to.
She set the jar back on the shelf, tucking it behind the cans of beans and chili, and closed the pantry.
A blast of wind announced Caleb’s arrival. He muscled the door shut and stomped his feet as Brie had done, then set the bag of food on the table before shrugging out of his jacket and hanging it on a hook by the door.
“It’s chilly in here,” she warned.
“Not for long,” he promised, making his way to the stockpile of wood beside the fireplace.
“What do you want me to do?” she asked, as he picked through the logs.
“Sit down and relax,” he suggested.
“I’m not helpless, you know.”
“I know, but I promised you a lazy day, so that’s what you’re going to have.”
She had no objection to that plan, but she moved the lamp closer, to provide additional light for Caleb while he completed his task.
He topped the stack of logs with paper and twigs. After opening the damper, he struck a match. True to his word, it wasn’t long at all before flames were crackling and dancing.
With the fire providing sufficient light and heat now, she lowered the wick in the lamp to extinguish it and returned it to its usual place on the counter. When she moved closer to the fire again, Caleb tugged off the hat she’d forgotten she was still wearing and helped remove her jacket, then hung both items by the door.
“It looks different in here,” he noted.
She nodded. “The curtains on the windows are new. And the quilt on the bed. Both Kenzie’s doing, I’d bet.”
“I never considered that your brother and sister-in-law might use this place,” he admitted.
“I don’t think we need to worry about them coming out here only a few weeks after the birth of their baby.”
“Thank goodness for that,” he said.
“Why? He was civil at Thanksgiving dinner, wasn’t he?”
“Yeah, but I figured that was only because there were too many witnesses to kill me then and there.”
“Kenzie wouldn’t let him kill you,” she promised. “She grew up without a father and wouldn’t want our child to do the same.”
“I feel so much better now,” he said dryly.
She nudged him with her shoulder. “They’ll come around.”
“It might have helped if you’d told them we were married before you told them that we were going to have a baby.”
“They know now,” she pointed out. “And so does your family. Though Sky looked more worried than happy to hear that she was going to be an aunt again. And her questions about my career plans weren’t exactly subtle.”
“She thinks you’re going to break my heart again,” he confided.
“Should I remind her that you broke mine, too?”
“No.” He shook his head. “Because that’s the past and we need to focus on our future.”
“You do know that if I ever decided to move back to Haven, every major holiday would be like Thanksgiving.”
He nodded. “It’s too bad you didn’t really enjoy cuddling with your nieces and brand-new nephew.”
“Too much cuteness crammed into one room,” she remarked.
“Far too much,” he agreed.
Of course, they were both joking.
And while Brie had been helping with the babies, she’d listened to her sister and sisters-in-law talk about how excited they were to have children close in age who would grow up together. And how lucky their babies were that they’d have so many cousins to play with—when they were big enough to actually play.
They were lucky, Brie realized.
She’d also realized that she wanted her child to benefit from the same close family connections. Which would be impossible if they were living twenty-five hundred miles away.
“So you’ll move back to Nevada.”
Caleb’s words from weeks earlier echoed in her mind now.
“Not just because of two little lines,” he’d argued. “Because those lines represent our baby.”
She’d dismissed his suggestion out of hand, because she wasn’t going to let anyone else—even the father of her child—make decisions about her future.
But she wanted to be with Caleb. She wanted to live with him in his house on the Circle G—and help him pick out furniture to transform that house into a home where they would live and laugh and love together. She wanted to turn the spare bedroom closest to the master into a nursery for their baby. And then fill the other rooms with more children. Because more than anything, she wanted a family and a future with him.
But before she could share this realization with him, he said, “I got a call from the ranching co-op on Long Island yesterday. They offered me a job.”
Chapter Sixteen
Though only three weeks had passed since his interview, Brie had almost forgotten that he’d applied for another job. Because she’d been certain that even if they offered it to him, he’d never take it. Because he’d never want to leave the Circle G.
Now she didn’t know what to think, what to say. But he was obviously waiting of her to say something.
“They told me that I had forty-eight hours to give them an answer,” he said, when she remained silent. “But of course, I’m going to take it.”
“You are?”
He frowned, no doubt confused by her lackluster response. “It’s what you wanted, isn’t it? To stay in New York?”
She couldn’t blame him for thinking so when she’d told him exactly that countless times over the past two months. But in the past two days, everything had chang
ed.
“Actually, I want to have our baby here.”
“Here?” He looked around. “In the cabin?”
She laughed then. “No. I definitely want to be in a hospital with access to pharmaceutical pain management—just in case. I meant here in Haven,” she clarified. “Well, Battle Mountain, probably, since that’s the nearest hospital.”
“But...your doctor’s in New York,” he reminded her.
“Obviously I’m going to have to find a doctor a little closer,” she acknowledged.
His only response was a slow nod.
“I thought you’d be happier about this.”
“I am happy,” he said, his tone cautious. “I’m also a little worried that this might be an impulsive decision, and I don’t want you to have any regrets later.”
“The truth is, I’ve been thinking about it since those two lines appeared in the window of the pregnancy test, but I was afraid to admit it was what I wanted.
“I was barely eighteen when we got married,” she reminded him. “And pregnant and terrified. I didn’t object when you said we were going to Vegas, because I wanted to marry you. Just...maybe not so soon. I didn’t protest when you said we had to keep our plans a secret from our families, because I knew they wouldn’t approve.
“Then we lost the baby, and I didn’t argue when my parents told me that there was a way to undo all the mistakes I’d made. Because I knew I’d made mistakes—I’d been reckless and irresponsible, and it only seemed right to try to fix things.
“Moving to New York was the first decision I’d made. And when you suggested that I should come back to Haven, I think I was afraid such a move would somehow undo that decision and undermine my independence.
“It took me a while to put all of that aside and think about what I really wanted—for you and me and our baby. But now the answer is obvious. I want to have our baby here, with you by my side. I want us to live together as husband and wife, right next door to both of our crazy feuding families.”
“It sounds like you’ve given this some thought,” he acknowledged.
“I’m sorry it took me so long to figure it out.”
He touched his fingertips to her lips. “Didn’t we agree to forget about the past and look to the future?”
She nodded. “I want my future to be with you—every day, for the rest of our lives together.”
“I want that, too.”
“Of course, I’ll have to go back to New York to give notice to my principal and pack up my stuff,” she pointed out to him.
“And tell Grace and Lily,” he said, his tone indicating he didn’t envy her that task.
But she wasn’t concerned. “I think they already know.”
“How can they already know if you only made up your mind right now?”
“Because they know my heart,” she said. “It was my head that needed some time to catch up.”
“You all caught up now?” he wondered.
She smiled and leaned forward to touch her lips to his. “Almost,” she said, and began unbuttoning his shirt.
“Um, Brie?”
“Hmm?” she asked, her attention focused on her task.
“I brought you here because I wanted some time alone with you where we weren’t likely to be interrupted by one of my sisters or your brothers or anyone else,” he told her. “I didn’t bring you up here to seduce you.”
“I know.” She pushed his shirt over his shoulders, then yanked his thermal undershirt out of his jeans and slid her hands beneath it. “That’s why I decided to seduce you.”
“Are you sure about this, darlin’?”
“I’m sure.”
“And it’s...safe?”
“Well, I’m already pregnant, so I don’t think we need to worry about birth control,” she teased.
“I meant safe for the baby,” he clarified.
“I know what you meant,” she said. “And yes, it’s safe.”
“In that case,” he said, and whisked her sweater up and over her head.
She chuckled softly. “I love that you’re so easy.”
“I love you,” he said, and kissed her again.
She wanted to respond, to tell him that she loved him, too, but her mouth was too busy kissing him back to worry about words.
When he had her stripped down to her undergarments, he paused and touched a finger to the ring that dangled from the chain around her neck. “I wondered what you’d done with it.”
“I wasn’t ready to put it back on my finger,” she admitted. “But I wanted it close to my heart.” Then she drew his mouth down to hers again. “And now I want you.”
He yanked the quilt off the bed and spread it out on the floor by the fire. Then he lifted her into his arms and lowered her gently onto the cover.
“Okay?” he asked.
“Very okay,” she responded.
He eased away, just far enough so that he could look at her. His gaze skimmed from the top of her head to the tips of her toes, a leisurely and thorough perusal.
Suddenly aware of her nakedness and growing belly, she reached for the edge of the cover to pull it over herself. But he caught her wrist, thwarting her effort.
“You are so beautiful,” he said, the reverence in his tone assuring her of his sincerity.
“I’m going to get fat,” she warned.
“I can’t wait.”
She smiled. “You’re a strange man, Caleb Gilmore.”
“Because I want the world to see my baby growing inside you?”
“There’s plenty of evidence of our baby already,” she told him.
He splayed his palms over the slight curve of her belly, so that they covered the baby in her womb. “Are you still having nausea?”
“Hardly ever now.”
“That’s not a no,” he noted.
“I’m not feeling nauseated now,” she assured him.
He smiled at that. “Your breasts are bigger.”
“I didn’t think that would escape your notice.”
He moved his hands now and lightly traced the edge of her bra, his fingertips skimming delicate lace and silky skin. “Are they more sensitive?”
She nodded.
He dipped his head to touch his lips to the creamy flesh, then nuzzled the hollow between her breasts, making her shiver.
He released the clasp at the front of her bra and slowly peeled back one of the cups, exposing her flesh a fraction of an inch at a time. His lips followed the same path, skimming over her skin. She closed her eyes on a sigh as his mouth closed around the taut peak of her nipple, suckling gently. She threaded her fingers through his hair, holding his head close to her breast as heat began to build low in her belly, flickering like the flames in the hearth.
He shifted his focus to her other breast, giving it the same care and attention, then hooked his fingers in her panties and tugged them over her hips, down her legs, before finally tossing them aside. Then he worked his way back up again, brushing his lips over her ankle, skimming her calf, the inside of her thigh. Higher.
Their first time together had been here, in this cabin. But unlike that first time, when everything was new and unfamiliar, she had a good idea about what to expect this time. She knew how he could make her feel, all the ways he could please her—and she knew how to please him, too.
She marveled at the contrast of smooth skin and hard muscle as she explored the contours of his body with her hands and her mouth, pleasing him as he’d pleased her. She swirled her tongue around his hard, velvety length, licking from base to tip, then parted her lips to take him in her mouth. A low growl sounded deep in his throat and he wrapped his hand in her hair and tugged gently, to draw her away. “Brie. Please. You have to stop.”
She recognized the desperation in his voice, knew he was close to the edge. And though
she was tempted to ignore his plea, glorying in the knowledge that she had to power to push him over, she acceded to his request—and her own desire.
She straddled his hips with her knees. She was already wet, more than ready, and her thigh muscles quivered as she pushed her hips forward to take him inside. Though she was on top and he was letting her set the pace, she knew better than to assume she was in control. As he proved when he reached down to where their bodies were joined and brushed a callused thumb over the ultrasensitive nub at her center. She gasped as pleasure jolted through her.
She bent forward to brush her mouth against his, and he surged upward, burying himself even deeper. She grasped his shoulders, holding on to him as their bodies merged and mated, seeking and finding a rhythm that drove them toward their mutual pleasure and beyond.
“I’ve missed this,” she said, after she’d collapsed on top of him and managed to catch her breath again.
“Sex?” he queried.
She smiled as his hand stroked lazily down her spine. “That, too,” she agreed. “But even more, I’ve missed just being with you.”
“Me, too,” he said. “That’s probably why there hasn’t been anyone since you.”
“You mean, since Las Vegas?” she guessed.
“I mean since our first time together,” he clarified.
She tipped her head back to look at him. “But... I’ve been gone for seven years.”
“I’m not saying I didn’t date. And it wasn’t unusual for a date to end with a good-night kiss. But anytime there was a possibility of it going any further—I just couldn’t,” he confided. “We were still married, whether you knew it or not, and I couldn’t break the vows I’d made to you.”
“I didn’t know we were still married,” she reminded him gently.
“I know. And that’s okay. I don’t expect—”
“But even without knowing, even without a ring on my finger, my heart always belonged to you,” she interjected. “It always has. It always will. And that’s why there’s never been anyone but you.”
One Night with the Cowboy Page 19