by Karly Morgan
“Don’t go disgracin’ yourself by pantin’ after Kolton all these years later. Not after how ya did him. Especially now that he’s finally movin’ on.” Steel entered Millie’s voice, and she reminded me a lot of Bonnie in that moment. I didn’t know if she bought our story, but whether she did or not, she wasn’t tolerating Karlene’s behavior, which was enough for me.
“Why does everyone act like I’m the bad guy?” Karlene threw up her hands as if she were innocent as a wallflower. “I’m not the one who ended things.”
“This is neither the time nor the place for this discussion. You no longer have a place in my life so ya might as well hightail it back to work. I know how Ol’ Mr. Gifford gets when anyone’s even thirty seconds late to an appointment, let alone his only employee,” Kolton told her, not even bothering to turn and confront her directly. In fact, he’d started filling in the application, cluing me in to the fact he was left handed for the first time since we’d met. Not something I would’ve guessed at all, and I was glad I’d seen that before people’s questions got too invasive about how well we knew each other, as I knew at some point, they would.
“Leave, Karlene, and don’t ya go spreadin’ lies ‘round town on your way out. You’ve done enough damage ‘round here already. If it weren’t for your daddy, ya’d already been chased outta here when ya came back from wherever it was ya ran off ta out west,” Millie stated, getting to her feet with difficulty.
Millie was an older woman who obviously struggled with some arthritis problems, judging by the cracking of her joints as she straightened herself. She wasn’t short in stature either. Her height came close to rivalling Kolton’s, which left her towering over me and Karlene both. “In fact, I’m beginnin’ ta have an itch ta call your daddy right now and tell him all about what ya get up ta when you’re supposedly workin’ late in Mr. Gifford’s office.”
“You wouldn’t,” Karlene’s voice lowered threateningly and her eyes narrowed, focusing on the older woman intently.
“Try me. You’re nothin’ but the town slut and everybody knows it. Get goin’,” Millie ordered, reaching and picking up the phone’s receiver. Before the woman could press a single button, Karlene was gone. I couldn’t hold back my sigh of relief.
“Don’t ya go worryin’ bout her. She’s a lotta talk and no bite,” Millie tried reassuring me as Kolton slid the paper my direction for me to fill out my portions.
Instead of replying, I turned my focus to the task at hand while Kolton relayed our concocted backstory, making sure to lay it on thick about often we talked and such. By the time we were both finished, Millie was eating it up, grinning from ear to ear like a proud mama hen.
“You two are just the sweetest couple,” she complimented as she did her thing, going over everything we’d filled out, confirming details, and entering it into the computer. By the time we left, he had an appointment to come back to pick up the license and orders that Millie had to be invited to the wedding against all protests of doing a family-only ceremony on the ranch.
“Tell your mama that I’ll be out ta have tea with her on Saturday. I haven’t gotten out there as often as I should with Carl’s issues,” Millie said mournfully.
“How’s he doin’ anyway?” Kolton paused to ask, worry crossing his features.
“As good as ta be expected, considerin’ he’s stuck in the house. He can’t get around very well bein’ half paralyzed on the right-hand side from that stroke. I just hate it for him,” Millie said and dabbed at tears that welled up in her eyes.
“If you ever need a thing, give me a call,” Kolton ordered before releasing me long enough to wrap her up in a hug across the desk. She grasped him tight for a couple of minutes before pushing him back toward me.
“Go take that girl and show her ‘round town. Let me know if Karlene ran her damn mouth and I’ll handle her for ya,” Millie’s voice turned threatening, and we laughed.
“Tell Carl hi for me,” Kolton said as we began backing toward the door.
“Don’t forget ta give Bonnie my message,” she reminded him, and he nodded as we exited the office through the same door we entered.
“Is it always like that?” I asked once we’d gotten far enough away that Millie wouldn’t overhear my question.
“Oh, darlin’, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Millie was easy,” Kolton warned, and the panic I’d experienced just after walking into the building threatened its return.
Refusing to give into it now that we’d filed for the license, I squared my shoulders and pushed it back. No way in hell I’d give Karlene the satisfaction of witnessing my weaknesses.
“Well, then what are we waiting for?” I asked, dreading the answer but keeping my voice light and teasing as he helped me up into his truck. He hurried around to the driver’s side and slid in easily.
“Not a damn thing.” He fired up the engine and we headed off toward the diner for lunch, grinning from ear to ear as if he truly was a man in love, finally getting to show off his bride-to-be.
Chapter Fourteen
Kolton
News spread fast around town, and we were approached by everyone who spotted us everywhere we went. Some thought our story was so romantic, while others took Karlene’s side that I should’ve worked things out with her since she was a local girl. Can’t please everyone and didn’t care to.
“Where to now?” Carissa asked as we left the jewelry store with the simple one-and-a-half carat, heart-cut diamond ring set in a platinum band sitting securely on her finger, not even having needed to be sized.
I’d expected some sort of odd feeling to settle in my chest as we’d looked over rings and Carissa pointed out ones she liked for the jeweler to pull out of the case, but I felt an odd sense of contentment. I’d been feeling completely at ease with Carissa since our talk after the Karlene confrontation/application for our marriage license.
“Up for more shoppin’? Don’t you need a dress or somethin’ for the weddin’?” I asked, praying I wouldn’t have to endure too much of that but couldn’t just head back without offering to take her.
“I think I might already have a dress that’ll work perfectly. We’re not getting all fancy, are we?” she asked nervously but seemed to calm when I enveloped her hand in mine and stroked the back of it lightly with my thumb, trying my best not to think of how natural it felt for me to do so.
“I’m good with simple. All I care about is that Mama and Caleb are there,” I told her definitively, and she nodded her agreement.
“Then that’s what we’ll do. Do you mind stopping by the drug store or something before we head back? There are a few items I need to pick up,” she asked hesitantly, and I reassured her that it wouldn’t be a problem as we reached the truck and I helped her in.
“Your wish is my command, my lady,” I told her with a huge grin before closing the door on whatever she’d been about to reply with. As the day wore on, I found I was truly enjoying the time I spent with her.
It took all of two minutes to drive to the drug store from the jewelry store, and we probably could’ve walked the short distance. I’d chosen to drive to avoid the number of times people would stop us and demand the details they’d heard about in the rumors spreading like wildfire. Carissa and I were the it conversation right now. You’d think we were the Kardashians or something. Hey, we may be from a small town, but that didn’t mean we didn’t keep up with pop culture—watching TV and reading magazines. Hell we even had a little theater that got new movies semi-regularly, usually just before they were ready to be released onto DVD.
“That was such a long trip,” Carissa remarked dryly, and I smirked at her sarcasm. “I’m sure glad you didn’t ask me to walk that far. My legs might have fallen off from the exertion.”
“We wouldn’t want that ta happen, now would we?” I played along, and she laughed happily, which made my heart pound a staccato rhythm in my chest. I needed to make her do that more often, the sound doing things to me I was beginning to crave more of by
the second.
“Definitely can’t have that. Especially with me having to walk down that long aisle in a few days,” she said, continuing our banter as she slid out of the truck, brushing against me as she moved. The slight friction sent all the wrong messages down south, and I was instantly hard. All I could think about was loading her back into my truck, driving out to a back road, and having her in any position I could think of in the cab or bed. I wasn’t picky, but I pushed the urge aside, desperately thinking of something that would curb my erection before she or anyone else noticed my predicament.
“Are ya nervous?” I asked, wondering when exactly my nerves had turned to excitement at the thought of watching her walk down the aisle toward me to recite our vows. It occurred to me then that we still needed to arrange for an officiant. I’d have to ask Mama if she knew anyone who’d be available on such short notice when we returned back to the ranch. I had no doubt she did.
“A little. I have to say, spending the day with you has helped calm it quite a bit. With each person we convince, it makes following through with this that much easier as well, even though I hate lying to everyone,” she told me, and I nodded my understanding. So far no one had asked why Carissa had suddenly decided to make the trip here to see me and why we decided not to wait any longer before becoming official. That was a question I’d expected to answer repeatedly.
“Same here. We’ll get through this,” I assured her as I rubbed a hand down from her shoulder to her wrist, wrapping her hand in mine where it was beginning to feel like it belonged as I took a step back so we could head into the store.
“You don’t have to come in with me,” Carissa said when she noticed I was sticking right by her side. I wasn’t sure whether it was because I was worried someone would corner her in the store or if I just didn’t want to be away from her for the short time it’d take her to pick up the things she needed, but either way, I was going in with her, whether she argued or not.
“Oh I know I don’t have ta, darlin’, but I’ve been away from you long enough. I’m not wastin’ a moment longer spendin’ time with you and showin’ ya how much ya mean to me,” I told her, playing it up when an older couple we’d spoken with at the diner ambled past, smiling in our direction before continuing on their way.
“A few minutes won’t kill you. You know what they say, ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’.” She gave me a wink and a smile before pulling her hand from mine and stepping back toward the sidewalk. “I think I like it when you miss me.”
Was she flirting with me? I stood rooted to the spot as I realized she really was flirting with me, and there weren’t any witnesses we were performing for at the moment, since the older couple had moved into the drug store already. I loved it.
“What if I don’t wanna miss ya?” I asked as I closed the truck’s door and took a step toward her.
“Maybe it’s not all about what you want,” she replied, taking another step backward but not turning to walk away from me. It was almost as if she was afraid if she turned her back on me, I’d go running for it. Either that or she was enjoying this banter between us as much as I was and neither of us wanted to walk away from it.
“What is it you’re gettin’ that ya don’t want me to see?” I asked as I took a longer stride to close the gap between us even more.
“Maybe I just need a few minutes to catch my breath after everything that’s happened today? I mean, I did wake up single this morning only to have you propose by the time I’d finished my coffee and then whisk me in here to town to get a marriage license, announce our nuptials, and buy the ring,” she teased as she held up her left hand to allow the light to glint off the glistening diamond resting comfortably there now.
My heart skipped a beat seeing my ring on her finger. It felt more right than anything else I could describe. This girl was going to be mine in a matter of days. How we met and the circumstances surrounding it didn’t matter in the slightest.
“Did I tell ya how much I love seein’ that there?” I asked her as her back met the brick next to the store’s door and I pressed in close to her, caging her in. It was getting harder and harder to resist covering her mouth with mine and taking the kiss I so desperately needed to taste from those perfect red lips of hers.
“Only a dozen times or so,” she replied breathlessly, leaving her lips parted in invitation for my kiss. I was slowly lowering my head to accept her invitation when we were rudely interrupted.
“Can’t y’all get a room or somethin’?” Karlene’s voice was a douse of cold water over the simmering heat Carissa and I were creating between us. I gave her an apologetic look before sliding my arm around her waist and turning to face my highly irritating ex.
“If it bothers you so much, quit following us,” Carissa spat back at Karlene, showing me a fiery side I hadn’t even thought she possessed after the way she’d described her life.
“It’s a small town, hon. Ain’t many other places ta be where ya don’t bump into each other,” Karlene pointed out snottily.
“Well, how about you go find one of them and leave Kolt and I alone,” Carissa bit back, waving her hand in a shooing motion.
“Just who the hell do ya think ya are ta come into my town and tell me ta go someplace else?” Karlene yelled, balling her fists angrily.
“Your town?” Carissa asked, amusement coloring her tone. “I didn’t see your name anywhere on it. Well, maybe the whorehouse, if there is one.”
Carissa turned a questioning look toward me, and I roared out the laughter I’d barely been holding back. This woman had fire raging through her and enough wit to make the barbs she shot like arrows dig in deep.
“Are ya gonna just stand there and let her talk ta me that way?” Karlene screeched at me, disbelief at my lack of jumping to her defense written all over her face. She was completely delusional if she harbored any ideas that I wanted her back.
“Lucky for Karlene, there’s no whorehouse, darlin’.” I grinned when I heard Karlene’s shocked intake of breath when I ignored her question and refused to jump to her defense. “I do have ta say that I love this sassy side of ya.”
I pulled her in close so she could feel just how much I loved it when her claws came out. I’d done my best to protect her from Karlene’s nastiness when we’d been at the Clerk’s office, but here she was showing me just how well she could hold her own without my assistance.
“This is all some game ta show me what I lost. I know that’s all it is. Ya win, Kolt.”
I turned to face Karlene, praying she hadn’t said what I thought I’d heard, but the forgiving look on her face told me she really did believe that’s what my end game was.
“Believe it or not, I’ve moved on. The world doesn’t revolve around you; never had, never will. Go on and leave us be,” I told her, mimicking Carissa’s shooing motion as I steered her toward the store. I’d had more than enough of being in this town for the day. The sooner we could wrap things up and head back, the happier I’d be.
“Your world has always revolved around me, Kolton Reed. Ya really shouldn’t lie ta me, her, or yourself about that. It’s not fair ta any of us,” Karlene said in a syrupy voice that made me itch for a shower.
What in the hell had I ever seen in her? Was she the best of my few options around here? Thank God for Carissa stumbling into my stables in her current situation or I would’ve been screwed.
“You know, they have doctors that can help with your mental illness,” Carissa pointed out as if she were trying to be helpful when really, she was just issuing another of her burns. “You really should look into seeing one.”
“Oh shut up. Ya know nothin’ at all ‘bout me or Kolt, for that matter. Why don’t ya crawl on back ta where ya came from?” Karlene suggested as if it was the best idea ever. Poor woman couldn’t imagine losing to anyone or that I would be interested in anyone but her. Carissa had a point about her needing some professional help for her delusions.
“What’s going on here?” Kar
lene’s father, the town’s mayor, asked as he crossed the street toward us. “Well, hello, Kolton! Good ta see ya, son. How’s your ma doin’?”
“Afternoon, Mayor. She’s hangin’ in there for the moment. I’ll tell her you asked about her,” I replied as politely as I could. I knew he was all for me marrying his daughter, so I didn’t hold out much hope that he’d be much help with Karlene.
“So…is this the pretty little thing I keep hearin’ ‘bout that stole your heart and wrapped ya ‘round her little finger?” he asked as he turned a smile toward Carissa. “Mayor Abernathy, but ya can call me Earl.”
He stuck his hand out toward Carissa with a warm smile spread across his face, and I was stunned by his greeting. Any other time I’d bumped into him around town, he’d always tried to convince me to give Karlene another chance.
“She is. This is Carissa…my fiancée,” I told him, a genuine grin wrapping my face from ear to ear.
“Well, young lady, I can tell ya, ya can’t do much better than this young man right here. For the longest time, I thought I’d be lucky enough ta call him my son-in-law, but then Karlene here shot herself in the foot and ruined things between them. I’m glad Kolton found someone as pretty and sweet as you,” Mayor Abernathy said, his voice ringing through with sincerity that shocked me to my bones.
“You can’t be serious?” Karlene yelled at her father, incredulity written all over her face, and I locked down the laughter trying to fight its way out at how twisted this whole scene was.
“Thank you, sir,” Carissa said, accepting the mayor’s hand with a smile and completely ignoring Karlene’s outburst. “I have to agree, Kolt is quite the catch, and I am a very lucky girl.”
“Kolt is mine,” Karlene snarled, shooting glares at Carissa, but nobody bothered to acknowledge her—not even her father.
“When is the big day?” Earl asked, releasing Carissa’s hand.
“In just a few days. We’ve spent so much time apart, we don’t wanna waste any more of it,” I told him, pulling Carissa closer to my side and offering her a sweet smile that she returned easily.