Love at Last

by Melissa Foster

  “That is sweet, and that baby girl sure is beautiful. Callie and Wes look exhausted but elated. I can’t wait for that.”

  “I thought I would have exhausted you by now,” she teased as she scrolled through more pictures, showing each of them to Cal.

  He kissed her shoulder. “You thrill me, darlin’. You don’t exhaust me. I’m looking forward to having a family. That’s what it’s all about, right? We spend years going to school, making a name for ourselves, figuring out who we are. But what good is all of that if you don’t share it with someone you love and pass on your life lessons to the next generation of crazy kids that’ll ignore you and sneak out at night causing trouble?”

  She laughed. “I never snuck out at night.”

  “You would have if I’d have known you back then. I would have gotten you in all sorts of trouble.”

  “Somehow I don’t believe that.”

  “Aw, come on. Let me pretend to be a badass.”

  “You’ve got the baddest ass around, but you’re not a troublemaker.” She kissed him and headed for the bathroom.

  “Spend the day with me,” he called after her. “Let’s watch the sunrise and see what kind of trouble we can stir up together.”

  She used the bathroom, then came out with a towel wrapped around her. “I’d love to.” She crooked her finger, beckoning him. “After our shower.”

  He stood, and six-plus feet of naked cowboy strode toward her. His cock was still half hard, nestled on a tuft of blond hair between his powerful thighs. Her mouth went dry as he closed the distance between them. His hair was tousled, hanging over his eyes, which were drilling a hole right through her. He bent to kiss her, and as she put her arms around his neck, her towel dropped to the ground. She wasn’t even a little embarrassed.

  She ran her fingers through his hair. She loved knowing she could do that as much as she wanted from now on. “Is it weird that I feel like I’ve been here forever?”

  “No, because you’ve belonged here forever.”

  A LITTLE WHILE later, after knocking shower sex off their bucket list, Rachel and Cal sat on his back porch wrapped in a blanket, watching the sun rise over the mountains. She could hardly believe it had been less than twenty-four hours since they’d come together. She leaned against Cal, thinking of all they’d shared, and just as the sun spilled over the fields, her stomach growled.

  “All that lovin’s got you hungry,” he teased, and kissed her neck.

  “Starving, actually.”

  He rose to his feet and brought her up with him. “Then, come on, darlin’. Let’s hit the diner. Then we can come back here and I’ll introduce you to my horses.”

  “The last time I went with you into a barn, I learned the art of seduction.” She put her arm around his waist as they went inside to retrieve his keys.

  He groped her butt and said, “You’re a remarkable student. Maybe if you’re good I’ll show you my hayloft.”

  “And if I’m bad?” She waggled her brows, and he hauled her against him, making her laugh.

  “Careful, baby, or we may never make it to the diner, much less the barn.”

  THEY MADE IT into town, though they were delayed by hungry kisses in the driveway, at the stoplights, and in the parking lot. Rachel couldn’t get enough of Cal, and apparently he couldn’t get enough of her, either, because as they headed into the diner, he leaned in for another kiss.

  “Well, well,” Margie said as she filled a mug with coffee. “What do we have here? I seem to remember that brown sweater from yesterday, Miss Gray.”

  Rachel felt her eyes widen. “I…um…”

  Cal tightened his hold on her and said, “She was helping me with—”

  “With my horses,” Luke said loudly as he rose from a booth in the corner, where he was sitting with Daisy, Emily, Dae, Jake, and Fiona, all of whom were watching them with appreciative smiles. “They were taking care of my girls.”

  “Is that what they’re calling it now?” Margie shook her head. “Squeeze on in for breakfast with the Bradens, honey. You too, cowboy,” she said to Cal. “I’ll be right over to take your orders.”

  Jake and Luke moved a table beside the booth so they could all sit together.

  Ross and Elisabeth blew through the diner doors with Catherine on their heels.

  “Hey, you guys. Sorry we’re late.” Elisabeth winked at Rachel and said, “Nice sweater.”

  A knowing smile spread across Catherine’s lips. “Well, it’s an even better morning than I’d thought. Did you see the pictures of the baby?”

  “Yes! Oh my gosh, she’s so beautiful!” Rachel said, glad for the change of subject. “How is Callie feeling?”

  “Tired,” Catherine said as she sat down. “But happy.”

  Fiona scooted over so Jake could sit beside her. “She said Daisy was right. She forgot the pain of childbirth the minute they put Belle in her hands.”

  “Chubbers,” Jake said with a smirk.

  “Jake.” Catherine shook her head.

  “What?” Jake splayed his hands. “She’s adorably chubby. I think chubbers is cute, don’t you?”

  “I think Wes is going to beat your ass if he hears you say that,” Luke said as he sat down next to Daisy.

  “Maybe after he comes down from the baby high he’s on.” Dae flicked his chin, sending his dark hair out of his eyes. “Wes has got more energy than you can imagine. I’m afraid he’ll crash hard at some point.”

  “We’ll all crash hard after last night,” Fiona said. “Poor Callie was in labor for hours.”

  Cal leaned closer to Rachel and whispered, “I’d like to crash into you.”

  Rachel felt her cheeks flush.

  Margie came over to the table, eyeing Cal and Rachel. “So, I hear we have a new Braden baby and a new Hayden couple. Trusty just got a little bit happier.”

  Rachel smiled up at her and leaned against Cal’s shoulder. “Are you going to embarrass me every time I come in here now?”

  “That depends,” Margie said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Did you guys get together last night or this morning?”

  Cal sat up a little straighter. “That’s private information, Margie.”

  “Private and important.” Margie pulled a handful of folded papers from the pocket of her pink waitress uniform. “We’ve got big bucks riding on this information.”

  “What?” Rachel snapped.

  The girls lifted their menus and hid behind them.

  “Big bucks? What is going on? Emily? Daisy?” Rachel saw Ross slip a few dollars to Luke. “Ross? You too?”

  “Sorry, Rachel, but see the way Cal’s looking at you? He’s been doing that for months.” Ross nodded toward Cal. “You’ve turned him inside out. The last time I looked at a woman that way, I married her.”

  “I love you, Rossie,” Elisabeth said, and leaned in to kiss him.

  “But you guys bet on us. That feels so wrong.” And kind of funny, but Rachel didn’t want to admit that.

  “Now, don’t get yourself all up in a tither,” Margie said. “We might have made a friendly wager after you and Cowboy were in here last month making eyes at each other.”

  “Last month?” Rachel said.

  Cal chuckled.

  “Cal! Really?” She glared at him. “You’re laughing about this?”

  He schooled his expression, but his lips tipped up again. “I can’t help it. We both knew we belonged together. They must have seen it, too. That doesn’t surprise me. Darlin’, a love like ours comes only once in a lifetime, and it’s too big to go unnoticed.”

  “Aw,” Daisy said. “That’s so romantic.”

  “It is romantic,” Rachel admitted. Everything he said touched her. “But doesn’t it bother you that they bet on us?”

  “Why? They know us. They love us.” Cal pulled her closer as their friends mumbled their agreement. He gazed into her eyes like he’d done a hundred times over the past twenty-four hours and said, “I’d bet on us every single time for the
rest of our lives.”

  As he lowered his lips to hers, their friends cheered, and Margie said, “Well, that match is done. Who’s next?”

  Continue reading for more Bradens!

  But first, meet Belle Catherine Braden!

  Ready For More Bradens?

  If you’d like to learn more about the Bradens at Trusty, Colorado, you can start with the first book in that series, Luke and Daisy’s love story, TAKEN BY LOVE (FREE in digital format at the time of this printing. Preview included below), or start with the very first book in the Love in Bloom big-family romance collection, SISTERS IN LOVE (FREE in digital format at the time of this printing), and get to know all of our hunky heroes and sassy heroines. Characters within the Love in Bloom family cross over and appear in other family series, so you never miss an engagement, wedding, or birth. All Love in Bloom novels may be enjoyed as stand-alone romances. Jump in anytime!

  Fall in love with Luke and Daisy in TAKEN BY LOVE

  Chapter One

  DAISY HONEY JUGGLED a cup of coffee, a cake she’d bought for her mother, a bag of two chocolate-dipped doughnuts—because a girl’s gotta have something sweet in her life, and this was about all the sweetness she had time for at the moment—and her keys.

  “You sure you got that, sugar?” Margie Holmes had worked at the Town Diner for as long as Daisy could remember. With her outdated feathered hairstyle and old-fashioned, pink waitress uniform, Margie was as much a landmark in Trusty, Colorado, as the backdrop of the Colorado Mountains and the miles and miles of farms and ranches. Trusty was a far cry from Philly, where Daisy had just completed her medical residency in family practice, and it was the last place she wanted to be.

  Daisy glanced at the clock. She had ten minutes to get to work. Work. If she could call working as a temporary doctor at the Trusty Urgent Care Clinic work. She’d worked damn hard to obtain her medical degree with the hopes of leaving the Podunk town behind, but the idea of relocating had been delayed when her father fell off the tractor and injured his back. She’d never turn her back on her family, even if she’d rather be starting her career elsewhere. She supposed it was good timing—if there was such a thing. Daisy had been offered permanent positions in Chicago and New York, and she had four weeks to accept or decline the offers. She hoped by then her father would either have hired someone to manage the farm or decided if he was going to sell—an idea she was having a difficult time stomaching, since the farm had been in her family for generations. Since the closest hospital or family physician was forty-five minutes away and the urgent care clinic picked up the slack in the small town, Daisy was happy to have found temporary employment in her field even if it wasn’t ideal.

  “Yeah, I’ve got it. Thanks for the cake, Margie. Mom will love it.” She pushed the door open with her butt—thank you, doughnuts—just as someone tugged it open, causing her to stumble. As if in slow motion, the cake tipped to the side. Daisy slammed her eyes shut to avoid seeing the beautiful triple-layer chocolate-almond cake crash to the ground.

  There was no telltale clunk! of the box hitting the floor. She opened one eye and was met with a pair of muscled pecs attached to broad shoulders and six foot something of unadulterated male beefcake oozing pure male sexuality—and he was holding her mother’s cake in one large hand, safe and sound.

  She swallowed hard against the sizzling heat radiating off of Luke Braden, one of only two men in Trusty who had ever stood up for her—and the man whose face she pictured on lonely nights. When she’d decided to come back to Trusty, her mind had immediately raced back to Luke. She’d wondered—maybe even hoped—she’d run into him. Residency had been all-consuming and exhausting, with working right through thirty-six-hour shifts. She hadn’t had time to even think about dating, much less had time for actual dating. Her body tingled in places that hadn’t been touched by a man in a very long time.

  “I think it’s okay.” With smoldering dark eyes and a wickedly naughty grin, he eyed the cake.

  His deep voice shuddered through her. Okay, Daisy. Get ahold of yourself. He might have saved you in high school, but that was eleven years ago. He was no longer the cute boy with long bangs that covered perpetually hungry eyes. No, Luke Braden was anything but a boy, and by the look on his face, he had no recollection of who she was, making the torch she’d carried for him all these years heavy as lead.

  “Thank you.” She reached for the cake, and he pulled it just out of reach as his eyes took a slow stroll down her body, which was enough to weaken her knees and wake her up. She’d left Trusty after high school and had purposely found work near her college and med school during summers and breaks, so her memory of the people she’d gone to school with was sketchy at best after eleven years, but his was a face she’d never forget.

  “You’ve got your hands full. Why don’t I carry it to your car?” His dark hair was cut short on the sides. The top was longer, thick and windblown in that sexy way that only happened in magazines. His square jaw was peppered with rough stubble, and Daisy had the urge to reach out and stroke it. His stubble, that is.

  Luke looked like one of those guys who took what they wanted and left a trail of women craving more in their wake, and in high school his reputation had been just that. Carry the cake to my car? Like that won’t end up with you trying to carry me to your bed? The idea sent another little shudder through her. It was exactly what she’d been hoping—and waiting—for.

  He had been two years ahead of Daisy in school, and because she’d spent her high school years fighting a reputation she didn’t deserve, she’d kept a low profile. She’d darkened her hair in medical school to combat the stereotypical harassment that went along with having blond hair, blue eyes, and a body that she took care of. Now, thanks to a six-dollar box of dye every few weeks, it was a medium shade of brown. She’d never forget the time in her sophomore year when Luke had stood up for her. She’d carried a fantasy of him thinking of her for all these years. Was I really that invisible to you? Apparently, she was, because by the look on his face, he didn’t recognize her. It stung like salt in a wound.

  Her eyes caught on a flash of silver on his arm. Duct tape? She squinted to be sure. Yes. The wide strip of silver on his bulging biceps was indeed duct tape, and there was blood dripping from beneath it.

  He followed her gaze to his arm with a shrug. “Scraped it on some wire at my ranch.”

  She should take her cake and walk right out the door, but the medical professional in her took over—and the hurt woman in her refused to believe he could have forgotten her that easily. She took a step back into the diner. “Margie, can I borrow your first-aid kit?”

  Luke’s brows knitted together as he followed her inside. “If that’s for me, I don’t need it. Really.”

  Margie handed Daisy the first-aid kit from beneath the counter. “Here you go, sugar.” She eyed the tall, dark man, and her green eyes warmed. “Luke, are you causing trouble again?”

  He arched a thick, dark brow. “Hardly. I’m meeting Emily here, but I’m a little early.”

  “Good, because the last thing you need is more trouble.” Margie gave him a stern look as she came around the counter, and he flashed a warm smile, the kind a person reserved for those he cared about.

  Daisy felt a stab of jealousy and quickly chided herself for it. She’d been back in town for only two weeks, and she had kept as far away from gossip as she could, but she couldn’t help wondering what type of trouble Luke had gotten into. Her life was crazy enough without a guy in it. Especially a guy with enticing eyes and a sexy smile who deserved the reputation she didn’t. She focused on his arm and slipped into doctor mode, which she was, thankfully, very good at. In doctor mode she could separate the injured patient from the hot guy.

  Luke shot a look at Daisy, then back to Margie. “Can’t believe everything you hear.”

  I bet.

  “Glad to hear that.” Margie touched his arm like she might her son. “I have to help the customers, but it’s good to see yo
u, Luke.”

  He flashed that killer smile again, then shifted his eyes back to Daisy, who was armed and ready with antiseptic. “I don’t allow strangers to undress my wounds.” He held out a hand. “Luke.”

  “You really don’t remember me.” Even though she’d seen it in his eyes, it still burned. “Daisy Honey?”

  His sexy smile morphed into an amused one, and that amusement reached his eyes. “Was that Daisy, honey, or Daisy Honey, as in your full name?”

  She bit back the ache of reality that he didn’t even remember her name and passed it off with an eye roll. She turned his arm so she could inspect his duct-tape bandage. “Daisy Honey, as in my given name.”

  He laughed at that, a deep, hearty, friendly laugh.

  She ripped the tape off fast, exposing a nasty gash in his upper arm.

  “Hey.” He wrenched his arm away. “With a name like Daisy Honey, I thought you’d be sweet.”

  She blinked several times, and in her sweetest voice, she said, “With a name like Luke Braden, I thought you’d be more manly.” Shit. I can’t believe I said that.

  “Ouch. You don’t mince words, do you?” He rubbed his arm. “I was kidding. I know who you are. I get my hay from your dad. I just didn’t recognize you. The last time I saw you, your hair was blond.” He ran his eyes down her body again, and damn if it didn’t make her hot all over. “And you sure as hell didn’t look like that.”

  You do remember me! She ignored Luke’s comment about her looks, secretly tucking it away with delight, and went to work cleaning his cut. “How’d you do this, anyway?” She felt his eyes on her as she swabbed the dried blood from his skin.

  “I was walking past a fence and didn’t see the wire sticking out. Tore right through my shirt.” He rolled down the edge of his torn sleeve just above his cut.