The Princess of Coldwater Flats
Page 22
Cooper sighed. “It’s not every day I ask a woman to marry me. I never thought I’d do it again. But you’re not exactly jumping for joy,” he observed dryly.
Sammy Jo shivered and Cooper’s arms tightened around her. But she wasn’t cold. Not physically. “I’d like to know why you want to marry me. I mean, you said it’s for me, but…”
“I love you, Sammy Jo,” Cooper said clearly, amazed at how easily the words came to his lips. “I’ve loved you since you first slammed into Valley Federal and gave Matt Durning a piece of your mind.”
“He deserved it,” Sammy Jo muttered, feeling suddenly shy and awkward. Could she believe him? No. Was she crazy? Yes!
“I loved you when you schemed to marry Brent Rollins to save your ranch.”
“You hated me for that,” she protested.
“I hated the lengths you had to go, but I loved you. I was just afraid.”
“Afraid?” Sammy Jo asked, drawing back to search his face. “Are you being straight with me, Cooper?”
“You are so damned suspicious, woman,” he muttered, kissing her hard. “Come on. I’ll take you inside and warm you up.”
Sammy Jo liked the way he said that. “You know, I’d do practically anything to keep Uncle Peter from getting the ranch.”
“Even be my mistress,” he mocked gently.
At the door, she stopped short. “Do you really want a wife? Really?”
“I want you, Sammy Jo. Only you.”
Now, in the half-light glowing from the living room, Cooper’s blue eyes staring into hers, Sammy Jo read the truth. He did care about her. He’d said he loved her. Her lips parted in wonder, her heart slamming inside her chest.
Swallowing, she said, “I meant what I said.”
“What was that?”
“Back…by the oak tree. I didn’t know I said it, but I meant it.”
His eyebrows drew together. “I can’t remember what you said. Refresh my memory.”
“I said…I said…”
“You said,” he encouraged, his mouth drawing into a sexy smile.
Sammy Jo planted her hands on her hips. “I said I’d never let you be my lord and master!”
Cooper whooped with delight. “Say it. Say it,” he demanded, tickling her with hands that found every sensitive spot.
“Stop it,” Sammy Jo panted, laughing hysterically. “Stop it!”
“Say it!”
“I love you, you sadistic monster!” She tried to kick his shin. Cooper practically threw her over his shoulder as he hauled her screaming and shrieking form inside. Tossing her onto the couch, he held her arms down and kissed her neck, face and shoulders until tears of mirth stormed down her cheeks.
“I love you, too,” he told her. “We’ll be married this weekend.”
“Too soon.” She pulled his mouth down to hers for a searing kiss.
“Not soon enough. “We’ll have the wedding right here. At the Triple R.”
“And we’ll invite Uncle Peter!” Sammy Jo gasped.
“I’m serious, you know. I really do want to make you my wife.”
Sammy Jo smiled at him. Her heart was so full of new, fresh hope she could scarcely believe this wasn’t a dream. “I will make you a good wife,” she promised solemnly.
“You’ll be a pain in the rear end,” he predicted. “Thank God.”
And Sammy Jo, with all the love she’d never been able to lavish on her family, pulled her husband-to-be toward her by his lapels, kissed him lightly on the lips and said, “We’re going to be very happy.”
“And you’ll beat the tar out of anyone who says otherwise.” Cooper chuckled.
“Damn right,” Sammy Jo murmured, as she and Cooper sealed their bargain with a kiss that quickly turned into another wildfire of passion.
Out September 2013…
Nowhere To Run
Some Secrets
When Liv Dugan ducks out of work for lunch, it’s just an ordinary day. When she returns, she stumbles onto a massacre. All her colleagues at Zuma Software have been shot. Only luck has left Liv unscathed, and that might be running out…
Will Follow You
Liv suspects the shootings are tied to her past--and to the package she recently received from her long-dead adoptive mother. Sensing she’s being followed, Liv jumps into a stranger’s car and orders him to drive. Her “hostage” complies, listening carefully as her story unwinds. Skeptical at first, he ultimately begins to believe all Liv’s fears are justified…
To Your Grave
Together, Liv and her unlikely confidant try to uncover the truth about her adoptive family, her birth parents, and her troubled childhood. Because somewhere in Liv’s past is a secret worth killing for, and a nightmare she can never outrun…
Nowhere To Hide
There Are Sins
“Do unto others…” Carefully, he carves the words into their flesh. The victims are all young, brunette, pretty. But she’s the one he really wants. The others are just a way to ease the rage that has festered for years, until the only thing that calms him is his knife slicing through skin…
You Never Live
Detective September Rafferty--Nine to her friends--recognizes the artwork that arrives in the mail. She created it back in second grade. Now a killer’s words are slashed across it in what looks like blood. He knows her. September’s investigation leads to her old classmate, Jake Westerly. She wants to believe Jake is innocent. But trusting anyone could be her last mistake…
To Regret
Every slight, every slur, he remembers them all. They turned him into a monster, and now they will suffer for it. Starting with September, he’ll show them that the past can never stay hidden, and the time of vengeance is at hand…
Something Wicked
You Sense Him
Some refer to it as the Colony. To others, it’s a cult. But few locals in the Oregon coastal hamlet of Deception Bay have ever been invited to the inner sanctum of Siren Song. Even the sisters who live here, far from strangers who might recoil at their unnerving psychic abilities, don’t know all the terrors buried within its walls…
You Fear Him
Eight months into a surrogate pregnancy for her sister, Kristina, Detective Savannah Dunbar just wants to wrap up paperwork before taking medical leave. But her department’s investigation into a brutal double homicide has suddenly become much more complex--and personal. And now there are disturbing rumors about the Colony, its matriarch, and a long history of bitter secrets…
But You Can Never Stop Him
Death has come to Siren Song before. But this time there will be no refuge and no remorse. For everything born in wickedness must die that way--and a killer will not rest until he has claimed them all…
Dear Diary
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY…
Rory Camden fell for Nick Shard in the third grade when he helped her save a hapless frog from several older boys. But it seemed that Nick and Rory were destined to be just friends and Rory put her unrequited feelings into her diary.
As they grew into adults, Nick’s feelings for Rory shifted to something more, and he began a campaign to win her love. But Rory had learned – through her father’s infidelity – that no man could be trusted and she couldn’t bring herself to believe she and Nick had a chance together, either.
And then tragedy struck and Rory feared she’d lost Nick forever.
Summertime Blues
Maggie Holt had never stopped loving Tanner Baines, no matter how hard she tried. She was a girl from the wrong side of the tracks and he was a wealthy “lake kid” who’d won her heart during several long, sultry summers when they were both young. But Tanner had thrown their love away at the end of that last summer and married someone else, a girl with all the right connections, a girl who was Maggie’s nemesis. Now, fourteen years after leaving Lake Chinook, Tanner was suddenly back. Though Maggie wanted to hate him, she just couldn’t, even though Tanner still held secrets from the past – the same secrets that had ripped
them apart so long ago and still had the power to destroy their happiness. Though Maggie tells herself to forget him – she’s had enough summertime blues for a lifetime – she forces Tanner to reveal the soul-destroying barrier that has kept them from being together all this time and finds a way to love him again.
Imaginary Lover
Still reeling from painful news that would irrevocably change her life, Candace McCall didn’t want to attend her father’s annual Christmas-in-July party at his mansion on the island – or pin on a smile to deal with his colleagues, even the dashing Connor Holt. But it’s Con who becomes intrigued with Candace, when he sees a woman in a silvery dress standing at the edge of a rocky point looking like she’s about to jump.
Then Con realizes who Candace is and all his own past mistakes come rushing back: he’d fallen once for the boss’s daughter and he’d be damned if he was going to do it again! But history may be doomed to repeat itself because Con catches glimpses of the vulnerable woman hiding behind her icy façade and he finds he cannot turn away.
The Princess and the Pauper
THE PRINCESS…
One reckless teenage night, well-to-do April Hollis tempted a boy from the wrong side of the tracks, and it changed her life forever. Motorcycle riding, leather jacket-clad Jesse Cawthorne was everything her family forbade: poor, dangerous, with no future that they could see. A man who would only break April’s heart. But April couldn’t resist Jesse, and they spent a lost, tempestuous summer together.
THE PAUPER…
As summer turned to fall, however, Jesse realized April was playing with his feelings, and his terrible pride forced them apart. He believed she was what he’d always thought: a spoiled, little rich girls from Windsor Estates. And knowing he would never fit into her wealthy world, he fled.
THE RECKONING…
Now, ten years later, Jesse was back, and he and April were forced to confront the same impossible passion that had once held them in thrall… and damn the consequences.
About the author
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Nancy Bush has been writing for over thirty years. Known for her romantic suspense and mystery novels, Nancy began her career writing romance, historical romance, and even Nancy Drew novels before turning her attention to her own mysteries and thrillers. Her “Nowhere” series has been steadily climbing the bestseller lists. NOWHERE SAFE, the third in the series will debut in 2013 after NOWHERE TO RUN and NOWHERE TO HIDE. Nancy also co-writes the ‘Wicked’ series with her sister, bestselling author Lisa Jackson, WICKED GAME, WICKED LIES and SOMETHING WICKED. SOMETHING WICKED received a starred reviewed by Publishers Weekly and was chosen as one of their 2013 best summer reads. After fans clamored for more, Nancy is now also working on a new novella featuring Jane Kelly from the popular Jane Kelly mystery series.
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Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
More Nancy Bush books
About the author