Both Beau and Travis looked at him. “What? It’s not my fault the women sucked all the joy out of the house by leaving.”
Beau gave him a small smile. “You’ve been keeping your relationship with Rachel on the downlow.”
“She’ll be leaving in a month to six weeks. Whenever she gets the pics taken you’ve asked her to take after the wedding. No reason to broadcast something that’s not going to remain.” Adam shrugged.
His dad lifted an eyebrow. “I’ve never known you to give up so easily, Son.”
He folded his arms. “She’s planning to go to art school.”
Beau shook his head. “No, she’s thinking about going to art school. According to Alyssa she hasn’t made up her mind about that.”
“And I recall her talking about the old photo studio in town and how much fun she’d have with it.” Travis added.
Adam swore. “I know, but I can’t be the one to decide for her. Besides she’s too young for me.”
Beau rolled his eyes and Travis laughed. “Adam, that’s one of the dumbest things you’ve ever said. I married your mother when she was eighteen, I’m six years older than she is. Your grandfather was even more of a cradle robber. He married your grandmother when she was only seventeen, they were seven years apart in age. Rachel is twenty-two and a mature adult. You’re the ripe old age of thirty-one. Nothing wrong with that age gap.”
Adam frowned. “But if we were still in school—”
Beau whacked him on the back of his head. “You’re not still in school, dumbass. Get over it already. There are people out there getting married with a twenty or even thirty-year gap in ages. Less than a decade is nothing. Lighten up.”
“Fine, but I still don’t think it’s my place to decide for Rachel to not go to school.” Adam crossed his arms again. He’d never thought about age gaps in his parents or grandparents.
“No one said you have to decide for her,” Beau said, “but you might want to offer her some choices.”
“I’ll think about it.” Adam noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. “But right now, it looks like the women are finally home.”
Beau and his dad turned their heads so quickly back to the window there was practically a breeze.
“Thank God,” Travis said.
“Whoo hoo, last one out the door is a rotten egg,” Beau cried and nearly ran out the door, with his father right behind him.
Adam frowned at the discussion as he followed the other two men out of the house. Am I really being a dumb ass? Based on the revelations he’d just heard it was no wonder no one else thought a thing about Beau marrying Alyssa.
Rachel was shocked at the feeling of returning home she had when they turned into the driveway of the Rockin’ K ranch. She had not felt this feeling of homecoming when she’d arrived in Chedwick or even her family’s home a week ago. Her childhood bedroom had seemed foreign to her, even though she’d been living in the room her whole life, up until a couple of months ago.
It was very disconcerting, and she supposed it had something to do with the tall cowboy following his father and brother out the door of the house with a slight frown on his face. That expression changed to a smile when she climbed out of the back seat. It surprised the hell out of her when he came straight to her and wrapped her in a hug. They had never had any PDA in front of his family. Not that anyone was paying attention, since Travis was greeting Meg with a much more enthusiastic greeting. And Alyssa and Beau were devouring each other. Emma was busy releasing her tired little boy from his car seat.
Adam sighed and stepped back. He looked into her eyes. “I missed you.”
She felt her smile wobble. “I missed you too. Join me tonight, after dinner?”
His eyes lit. “Happy to. Now let’s get this car unloaded.” Turning away from her he said, “Beau, quit eating Alyssa’s face, we need to get the car emptied.”
Beau gave Alyssa one last long kiss then pulled away. “If we must.”
Even though the car was packed to the roof with luggage and wedding gifts, it didn’t take them long to unload it, especially when the twins and Grandpa K showed up to help.
Rachel went into her room and sank down on the bed. She needed to unpack, download her pictures from the trip, the wedding shower, bachelorette party, and the dress fittings. It had been a long couple of days, so she just wanted to sit for a minute. She looked at her desk and wished she had brought her computer. She’d debated bringing it with her the whole time she was home. In the end, she had left it because Alyssa’s wedding gifts had filled the car. Half of them were still in Washington and her family planned to bring them along when they came back for the wedding in three weeks.
She couldn’t believe it was only three weeks until the wedding. When she’d first come to Colorado, the few months she would be here seemed like a long time. Now with the end quickly approaching, she wished the time had not gone by so quickly. She would spend a week or two after the wedding getting the pictures taken of the Kipling herd, but then she would be either going back to Washington or off to college.
Her mother had given her the two acceptance letters to the schools she could attend in the fall. She dug the letters out of her purse and looked at them again. They wanted an answer right away, but she didn’t know how she wanted to reply. She’d applied late and hadn’t really expected acceptance, she was behind in the process and thought they might accept her for the winter term. But both the art school in California and Seattle had accepted her for the fall term, only eight weeks from now. She had the money set aside for the first year, so finances were not an issue and both campuses assured her there was housing available.
She flopped back on her bed and the letters drifted to the floor. She really did not know what she wanted to do. At least that’s what she told herself, she was afraid what she really wanted was to stay here in Colorado with grumpy Adam and reopen the photography studio in town. But was that even an option? Yes, he’d said he missed her but that didn’t necessarily mean he wanted her to stay either.
Maybe she should just enroll in one of them and move forward, mooning about some guy wasn’t smart. But which one should she choose? California would be fun, but she would be very far away from everyone. Seattle was a couple of hours from her family and Sandy, her old babysitter, lived there, so she would know someone.
She got up to get busy. Laying on her bed was not helping in the least. She folded the letters and put them in the night stand to think about later.
Chapter 25
Adam was attempting to shave. It was taking forever. He never had minded having a thick beard until recently. When he felt he had to shave all the damn time. He didn’t want to give Rachel whisker burn so he’d been shaving at least twice a day to keep from scratching her all up. He’d tackled the chore twice already today, this was his third time.
It was getting ridiculous, he probably could have skipped this morning, but his beard grew so fast that it was habit to clean it up in the morning. Then he’d also done it after lunch, so he didn’t look scruffy when the women got home from their trip. The reason he was carefully stripping his chin from whiskers for the third time was because Rachel had invited him to her room and he wanted his face free of anything that might harm her delicate skin. Because he planned to have his lips on every inch of her body.
Thinking about her delicate skin and where his lips would be, was not making his task easier. When he was finally finished, and his face was smooth he rubbed some lotion into his skin to make it a little softer. His face was weathered and rough from spending so much time outdoors. He grumped about always being indoor away from the sun, but he apparently spent enough time outside to give him a rancher’s roughness.
He startled when he walked into his room and found Rachel standing there. “Hi, I thought I was joining you.”
“I didn’t want to wait.” She looked so darn cute in her ratty jeans and T-shirt. He’d come to recognize this particular outfit as her comfort clothes. A slow smile
slid across his face. She didn’t want to wait? So, it wasn’t just him feeling eager.
“That’s the best news I’ve heard all week. Maybe even all month.”
She rolled her eyes. “Well then don’t just stand there, cowboy, make me feel welcome.”
He took two long steps to her and pulled her into his arms. She grabbed his hair and pulled his head down, fastened her lips on his and squirmed to get closer. This was not going to be a slow seduction. This was going to be fast and furious if her actions were any indication. And that was fine by him.
She pulled at his T-shirt, so he yanked it over his head. She did the same to her top and he realized she didn’t have a bra on. She ran her hands over his chest and then around to the back and pulled him in close, so nothing was between them, not even air.
Her soft breasts molded to his hard chest and it felt like heaven. He devoured her mouth. Lips and tongue and teeth melding, fighting and sometimes crashing together in the rush to consume, to taste, to ravish.
When they had to come up for air she shoved him back and fumbled with his belt, he pushed her bumbling hands away and quickly divested himself of his jeans and shorts. She did the same and they were soon naked. Thank God, he’d put the condoms in his pocket, he didn’t think they were going to make it the four steps to the bed. She snatched one and had him sheathed so quickly he barely had time to drop the others.
He hoisted her up and she wrapped her legs around him. He propelled her back against the wall and impaled her in one swift movement. She was plenty ready for him and moaned her pleasure. He tried to slow down, but she wasn’t having it.
She gripped his hair. “Fast and hard, Adam. Make me feel it.” Then she latched onto his mouth, sucking on his tongue.
He obliged the lady and slammed into her, again and again, until he felt her gather for release. He sped up and gave a little twist of his hips at the end of each stroke and she exploded in his arms. She pulled on his hair and he was sure there would be two bald spots. But then he felt his own self readying, stroked into her a few more times and came hard.
He had her back up against the wall and he was panting, trying to suck in some air. Hopefully his legs wouldn’t give out before he regained his strength, dropping her would not be appreciated.
Rachel reveled in the fast and furious coupling, Adam was such a slow moving considerate lover, she always felt well taken care of sexually with him. But this time had been off the freakin’ charts. So, caveman-ish up against the wall. Like he couldn’t wait either, it was glorious.
She put her head on his shoulder and sighed with contentment. “Perfect.”
He chuckled. “Glad I could be of assistance. I’ll try not to drop you on the way to the bed.”
“I could walk. Maybe.”
“I think I can manage the four steps,” he growled in her ear.
“I don’t want you to use all your strength, I have more plans for you.” She felt him twitch inside her at the sassy words. She reveled in her feminine ability to rev him up.
“No problem, lovely lady. I can manage both.”
He didn’t pull out of her as he walked her over to the bed. It was a very odd sensation and kind of arousing. When he got to the bed he lifted her off him and set her down on the bed. After dropping the condom in the trash, he joined her under the covers and pulled her close.
God, she was going to miss this when she went off to college. Refusing to think about that, she snuggled in closer, breathing in his scent. She still had weeks to enjoy the man and she wasn’t going to let regrets ruin it.
Chapter 26
The wedding went off without a hitch. The dresses turned out beautiful. Barbara had come in a week early to check fit and length. She had each one of them try on their dresses with the shoes they would be wearing at the wedding, so the lengths would be perfect.
Alyssa’s dress was simple elegance with seed pearls lining the bodice and hem. She wore white cowboy boots her father had made her. He’d started on them the day after Beau had proposed to her on the video chat. He’d given them to her after everyone had cleared out after the wedding shower. Alyssa had burst into tears and clung onto her father, until his shirt was wet.
Tony and Jill had been adorable. Jill took after her father and had blond hair, but it had the curl of Barbara’s and she’d ended up with hazel eyes. Tony had the Kipling dark hair and brown eyes. They looked so cute together. Alyssa’s favorite colors were the warm tones of red, yellow and orange. So, Rachel was in red, Emma was in orange and little Jill was in yellow. The men all wore black western style suits with bolo ties and cowboy boots.
Rachel had reigned in her need to be behind the camera, but had kept her eye on the two photographers Alyssa had hired, to make sure they didn’t miss anything. She had to admit it looked like they were doing a very good job. They had shown Alyssa and Rachel some of the shots right from the camera, and they looked great. So, Rachel finally relaxed and let them do their job and she did hers as the maid of honor.
She was happy her mom and dad had come to the wedding, she missed them, but she also realized it was time to cut the apron strings and told them she planned to register for college in California. She still wasn’t positive she wanted to go to college, but she decided that going back to live in her childhood bedroom was no longer an option. When she told her mom and dad they had looked at each other. Then they had turned to her and told her they were proud of her. They would miss her, but also had realized it was time for her to live away from them. It had been emotional but in a happy way.
Adam had given an excellent toast that had everyone laughing and also pulled a tear or two from most of the ladies. Both dads had given moving toasts and Grandpa K had kept it short and sweet with, “Welcome to the family Alyssa, I’m happy to have a new granddaughter and looking forward to a few more great-grandkids, now let’s get to dancing.”
Rachel danced with all the Kipling men, including Grandpa K. They were all good dancers, but she enjoyed dancing with Adam the most. She’d also been dragged into dances with half her home town men, and some she didn’t know at all, from Colorado. It was fun, and she didn’t mind, but a few more dances with Adam would have been even better.
She was a little surprised when he didn’t dance with any of the local women, or any of the single women from Chelan. He only partnered with Rachel, Emma and his mother. She wondered if he didn’t like dancing, or what. He was a good dancer, so it wasn’t a skill issue. She planned to ask him about that, the next time they were alone.
Adam stood at the side of the dance floor and tried not to watch Rachel as every single man in the room danced with her. He was determined not to be jealous. He kept reminding himself, she was too young. She was leaving. He needed a more mature partner, he had responsibilities. But it wasn’t working, with each new man she danced with he felt himself tense. There were men from her home town like Tim Jefferson for example. He danced with Rachel, but only once and then he went off to dance with every other female in the room including Adam’s mother and the twin’s best friend Katie. In fact, if he wasn’t mistaken Tim had danced with Katie a couple of times. Well, better than Rachel, in his opinion, anyway.
All of a sudden, the object of his musings was standing in front of him, barefoot and breathing hard. Her hair had come loose from the fancy doodad she’d had it in at the wedding, and there were bits of it hanging down, caressing her bare shoulders. Her skin was flushed and a little damp and he wanted to drag her into the nearest dark corner, push up that fire engine red dress and have his way with her.
She looked at him with sparkling eyes. “Are you going to stand here holding up the wall all night? I could use a reprieve from all these guys I don’t know.”
“You looked to be holding your own with all of them. And I’m pretty sure you know at least some of them or we have party crashers, because I don’t know all of them.”
She laughed, a bright sparkling sound. “Yes, I do know some of them. I’ve danced with everyone
and I have been the perfect hostess, but now I just want a break.”
“And I’m your break?” he asked lifting his brows at her.
She nodded. “Yes, I know you. In more ways than anyone else in this room, well except for… never mind, old news, not important. With you I can relax. So, come on, give the girl a break and dance with me.”
He wondered which guy was the “old news” but maybe it was better he didn’t know. So, he didn’t have to kill the guy. He sighed deeply, and she laughed again. “If I must.”
“Yay.”
Even though he had pretended he was doing her a favor, he was delighted to be holding her. He wasn’t a bit sad that the music had turned slower, so he could hold her in his arms. He held her close and breathed in her scent as he twirled her on the floor. It seemed to him that everyone had paired back up for this dance. His mom and dad, Rachel’s mom and dad, Alyssa’s parents, Alyssa and Beau and other married couples or long-time partners. Surprisingly enough Chase was with Katie and Tim was with his little sister Beth.
He whirled Rachel through the next few steps making her laugh. He noticed that the old lady Mrs. Erickson was finally sitting this one out, she’d been out for over half of the dances and she had to be pushing ninety. Her escort, a guy named Greg, was dancing with the woman named Sandy who had developed the Adventures with Tsilly game, that everyone loved. Sandy had been as popular on the dance floor as Rachel, but Adam was certain every one of her dance partners had grilled her about the secrets in the most recent release of the game, and questions about what would be in the next one. It didn’t look like Greg was grilling Sandy, just holding her close, probably giving her a break, like he was with Rachel.
The longer they danced the more relaxed he became, he wasn’t in a hurry for the song to end. He wondered if this might be the last dance of the night. It had to be getting close to the end of the festivities. Beau and Alyssa had commandeered the wedding cabin at the Singing River Ranch for the next two nights, so they could see off their company before flying to Hawaii for ten days. Everyone planned to meet back here tomorrow after lunch, to clean up the Grange. Then his family was going to host everyone for an evening barbeque at the ranch, before all the Washington people left the following morning.
Taming Adam_Burlap and Barbed Wire Page 14