Taking a Chance

by April Zyon

  “No, no,” he said. Shaking his head, he laughed. “You will be in awe of how amazing it was. You’ll tell our children, our children’s children, and their children, just what a rock star I was with this proposal. How not a one of them will ever be able to top it. That is the story you will be sharing with everyone. No teasing the man to give you that story either.”

  She grinned and felt her heart warming. “So you want children with me?” That had been the first time that he had even mentioned children, at all. Even in joking, he hadn’t said anything about them having babies. “How many would you like? A number less than four, by the way. Your mom is a super hero for having the lot she did.”

  “I’m good with two, reasonably close together so they can entertain one another, yet still have their own lives. Yes, Mama was definitely brave to have seven of us. Though the last two were a bit of a shocker, being twins and all.” He chuckled and rested his chin on her chest. “How the hell she managed us all and all our projects, classes, and events I can’t even imagine. She made it all look so easy too.”

  “Some women are born mothers. I just hope that I will be able to be half as amazing as she is for our kids. I didn’t have much of a mother figure, so I will be taking lots of notes from her bag of tricks.” Her parents had died early, and she had been raised by a woman who was already well set in her life and older than a parent should be, but she had a happy childhood. Mostly.

  “We’ll figure it out, love, together. It will be nice to have Mama around, though. She can give us pointers when we’re fucking up. I’m sure she’ll have more than a couple. I wouldn’t worry too much yet. It’s not like we’ll be parents tomorrow. We have time to come up with a game plan on how to make our kids hate us.”

  “Oh lord.” Cassidy was giggling. “Make our kids hate us, huh? Why? Why on heaven’s earth would we want them to hate us?” She liked the way this felt, talking about their future and knowing that they had one.

  “Oh, come on. What teenager hasn’t hated their parents at least once? Usually for no good reason at all, I’ll admit that much, but it’s one of the stages. No matter what we do, though, we do need to be a united front. We can’t have them playing one off the other. All decisions we’ll have to discuss and figure out the best plan.”

  “That part I fully agree upon. There will never be a case of us telling our kids to go ask the other parent. If we want to have a discussion on something that they want, we will have it together. That way we know if the kid in question says, ‘Well, Mom said to ask you,’ or whatever, we will know it’s not true.”

  “Or that it is true,” he said softly. Smiling, he lifted his head enough to kiss her chin lightly. “We’ll be fine. We just can’t let them divide and conquer.” Resting his cheek to her chest, he let out a breath. “We’ll be okay, love. We have one another. That’s all we’ll ever need, with a little guidance from those that have been there and done it already, of course.”

  “True thing that.” Cassidy relaxed into his embrace and sighed happily. “I could definitely become used to nights like this. Just the two of us relaxing in front of the idiot box. I like it. A lot.” She was also starting to feel sleepy. “How about we go up to our room, though? I would like to bathe with you before we fall down into bed. Especially since someone woke me at four a.m.”

  “Hey, don’t be blaming me for that particular wake up call. If you will recall, that was my mother that knocked on the door and wanted to know if we wanted breakfast or not.” He got up, pushing off the sofa and to his feet. After shutting off the movie and TV, he helped her to her feet. “A hot bath sounds good, actually. Especially since I hadn’t expected Josh to put me to work like he did. I’m seriously out of shape for this stuff. I may need to do some work around this place so it doesn’t hurt so much at night.”

  “I will give you a rub down if you need one. You know that I am here for you, big guy.” And she was. That was the beauty of their relationship. They were there for each other. Plain and simple.

  “I’ll see how I feel after the bath. I might just take you up on that offer if we’re not already half asleep.” Catching her hand, he led her out of the room and up the stairs. “I’ll get the tub filling if you want to ensure the door’s locked so we’re not disturbed.”

  “Sounds good.” She moved away from him and locked the door, then put a chair under the knob as well. “There, that way that sneaky mom of yours can’t use her ninja mom powers and walk in and wake us.” So she hoped. “No bubbles in the bath, please.”

  She could hear the water running as he reappeared in the bedroom, his shirt heading for the laundry basket. “No bubbles, got it,” he said. Smiling at her, he sat to remove his boots before getting rid of the rest of his clothing. “You know, and I don’t mean to nitpick here, but you’re a little overdressed for a bath. Just sayin’ is all.” With a grin, he went back into the bathroom, like he was out for a stroll, all nonchalance and no self-consciousness.

  “I am still dressed because it doesn’t take me but a second to get naked.” She quickly divested herself of her clothing and then stalked after him, naked as the day she was born. Placing her hand on his back, she let the hand slide down to his ass and goosed him. “Bathtub, remember?”

  He grabbed her wrist quickly and shook a finger at her. “Behave, the tub is nearly full. A bit of patience, sweetheart.” Grinning at her, he pressed a kiss to her knuckles before releasing her wrist. When he bent over to turn off the water, he kept one eye on her, though, suspicious male.

  Cassidy looked at his fine backside and let out a low whistle of appreciation. “Damn, you are one fine specimen of man. Now, do you want me in first or you?” The water was hot and steamy, a temptation to her sore muscles, ones she didn’t know she had until she began riding a horse with Travis.

  “Probably best if you get in first. Less chance of temptation for me to cop a feel, which, in this particular tub, could lead to a severe concussion.” He took her hand and helped her remain steady as she climbed in. Once she was settled, he joined her, his back to her front as he leaned into her. “If I’m too heavy, we can switch,” he said with a sigh.

  “For now, this is good.” Cassidy leaned back against the towel and sighed happily. “I could become very accustomed to being in a tub with you like this. Be even better if we had a jet tub.” There was hesitation and then she asked, “Are we going to live here forever? If so, do you think that your mom would mind if we made our rooms and bathroom bigger?”

  “Actually, no, we won’t be staying here. Unless, of course, you want to,” he said. Shifting a little, he turned his head enough that they could look at one another. “I was actually thinking we might get one of the little orchards or something. Close enough that I could still come and help out Josh as he needs it, still be a part of the Carver Ranch, but something that would be all ours. I’d want to build our own home, something to suit us, and our future, but those are just my thoughts on it all.”

  That had Cassidy grinning. She nodded. “I would like that. A home that we designed and had built ourselves, a home with everything in it that we could possibly want. I could have a sunroom with nothing but glass for the ceiling and walls for storm watching, and we could have a pool as well. In Texas, we have to have a pool, right?” Or she would be a very bitchy woman who spent a lot of time at the ponds on the property. “I love it. The idea, all of it.” She wanted that future with him.

  “We can do whatever you want,” he told her. Smiling, he pressed a kiss to her chin. “If we’re doing a pool, though, I think we should do one of those waterfall type ones, get the sound of the water as a backdrop out there. I think that would be pretty awesome. We also need a big deck with a big ass grill. We’re in Texas, sweetheart, a man needs his big ass grill.”

  “Oh I love the way that sounds, and you betcha. We will put in a massive grill and sink combo. That way we can keep a fridge and stuff out there as well.” She shrugged and moved around him to look at him, the water moving with her. �
��These are all ideas we will need to make sure to take with us when we hire a contractor and architect to draw up the plans. Do you know any good places here near Massey where we could get that done at?”

  “Better,” he said. “I’ll just hit up my brother for the plans. Martin’s an architect and he’ll know of a good contractor we can use. Plus, we’ll have all this help too. We have neighbors that adore you. Just bat your lashes when we go hat in hand for assistance. I’m sure they’ll fall over themselves to help out.”

  Cassidy snickered and leaned her cheek to his shoulder, giving him a hug. “And a massive, huge tub. I mean spectacularly huge. One that will make all other bathtubs before it bow down and praise the piece of art that will be ours and ours alone. Hurm.” She tapped a finger to her lower lip. “I wonder if we can create a bathing pool type of bathtub for us? Thoughts?”

  “We can do whatever you want, Cass. When we get out of the tub, we’ll make some notes of what we want. We should wait until we find the right location before we get too far into our wants list. Make sure we have the perfect spot, and then we can go crazy on the plans. Which means, tomorrow, I should make mention to the ladies at the real estate place to do some digging. I don’t want to be too far from the ranch, but also not too close.”

  “Agreed. We also want to ensure that the land is fairly flat and the water table is pretty massive. It wouldn’t do for us to have to drill a new well more than once when we get our home started.” She knew they would have to drill a well. It was the way of life in Texas. “And an orchard would be wonderful. We could make sure that there is an aquifer for the plants and run water to it from that?” She didn’t know what the technical terms were for it, but she knew they would be able to find out.

  “We’ll figure it out, sweetheart.” Smiling, he grabbed her chin and kissed her lips. “We can do anything and everything you want, Cass. Let’s find the land first, though. No point getting too far ahead of ourselves before it’s time.”

  A loud banging noise came from downstairs. When she looked to Travis, he just shrugged. She could make out voices. They were faint, but they were all male. Joshua must have gotten the door. Groaning, Travis sat up and made a face in her direction. “I should likely go find out who that is. Why don’t you stay put, and I shall rejoin you momentarily?”

  “I think that I will get out as well. I’m getting all pruny and stuff. Go ahead and go down. I’m going to get my hair brushed and dried, lotion up my body, and then when you come back, we can decide if you are getting naked with me again or if we are going to do something else instead.”

  “Sounds good, love.” He pushed up with a small groan, and a wonderful display of muscles. “Grab the rub on your way to the bedroom too, please. I think I’m going to need some on my shoulders if I’m going to get to sleep.” Travis wrapped a towel around his hips and held out a hand to her. “Maybe start on your wish list for the house while you wait. I shouldn’t be long, but one never knows in this house.”

  She waved at him and nodded. “You go and see who it is that’s here and making such a noise and I will finish up in here.” She watched him as he moved, the muscles bunching and shifting much like a lion’s when it was about to pounce. Oh yeah, she would so lay still for Travis to nibble her up.

  He stopped in the door to shoot her a look, and shook a finger at her. “I don’t even know what to call that one. If I were wearing clothing, I’d say you just visually stripped me down. As I’m in a towel, hell if I know.” Chuckling, he shook his head and disappeared from view. A moment later, she heard the chair move and the door open and shut, presumably behind him.

  Cassidy leaned back in the tub and grinned. Oh she was so going to love being in this man’s life. Using her toes, she released the drain on the tub and then stood. Grabbing her towel, she dried off and stepped out. After carefully applying lotion all over her body, she washed her hands and then brushed her hair out. Wrapping it in the towel, she grabbed the rub for Travis and went to the bedroom to wait his return.

  Ten minutes came and went. Twenty minutes dragged on by. Around the half hour mark, she was starting to wonder what was going on. Right when she was considering going to find him, Travis came back in the room. “Sorry,” he said softly. “Simon and Anthony came over tonight. Josh and I needed to give them a bit of a rundown on the layout of the place, and a tour of the house. Thankfully, they are now settled into rooms for the night.” He locked the door and shoved the chair up under the handle.

  “I was starting to worry,” Cassidy confessed, and shifted on the bed. “Now, get in here so that I can rub you down with this before you really start to hurt.” She had noticed the way that his left arm seemed to drag when he pulled the chair up and under the door handle and she didn’t want to have him hurting any more than he needed to. “Come on, Trav. Let me take care of you.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said. Dropping his jeans, he kicked them up onto a chair before sliding onto the bed at her side. With a groan, he laid down on his stomach. “Joshua kicked my ass today and won. That shouldn’t happen, damn it.”

  “Well, you haven’t done this for a number of years, and from what I understand, he’s been doing it practically from the moment he could walk, am I right?” she asked as she began to massage the rub into his shoulders and back.

  “We all did,” he said. Travis let out a deep moan that she could feel through her hands. “Oh God, that feels so damn good, Cass. I’ve obviously let myself go horribly while flying commercial taxi services. I think we should add a gym into our plans for the house. A sauna room too, maybe.”

  “I think that those are both great ideas. A hot tub down with the pool as well. I’m thinking that since we likely won’t be able to build much of a basement, we should see if any of the properties that are available back up to a hill. If so, we could build part of the house into the hillside and have that as our fun area and our protected storm shelter area.” Something they would need living where they did.

  “All good points,” he agreed. “Did you start the list? ‘Cause if you didn’t, sweetheart, we may want to do that while we’re having all these brilliant plans. I know myself, and when Martin asks me what I’m wanting, I will blank right the fuck out.”

  “Don’t worry, I started the list. I hope you don’t mind, but I grabbed your phone and started the memo there. I didn’t feel like turning mine on.” She didn’t say that she was afraid of what she might find message wise on her phone. He knew that far too well.

  Travis shifted a bit, and catching one of her hands, kissed her fingers. “What is mine is yours, sweetheart. Now and always. You never need to ask. I just hope you didn’t get into my little black book on there.” He was teasing her. The big ass grin on his face said as much.

  Cassidy laughed. “No, honey, your little black book is all safe and sound from me.” Leaning in, she rubbed her cheek to his. “But it needs to be filled with me and anything you want to do with me and to me.”

  “Oh, I have another book all for you,” he told her. “If you look on my phone, you’ll see it’s called the little red book. You should give it a read one of these days. I’ve added quite a bit to it. It’s all nice and neat, little categories and everything. From the musts to the fantasies. You can let me know which ones you’re game to try.”

  “Well, how about this?” She began to rub the liniment into his back and sore muscles once more. “Later, when you can move without hurting, you read me some of your favorites and I will tell you my thoughts on them?” She was pretty adventurous when it came to him. Very much so.

  “Deal,” he said. He’d closed his eyes, and was letting out little moans again. “You have magic hands, Cass. If you ever feel like giving up the weather, I think you could make a killing as a masseuse. Be warned, though, I’d be the one picking and choosing your clients, with great care.”

  “There is only one client that I would want.” She leaned down and nipped his ear with her teeth. “That would be you. No one else has ever compared
to you and never will. I’m hooked on you, Travis Carver, and you are the only one for me for many things from now until we kick up our heels and croak in the very far future.”

  He let out a laugh at her words. “I like that, kick up our heels and croak.” Still chuckling, he popped open an eye to look at her. “You definitely have a way with words, love. Not quite sure how that one would play out, but I’m willing to test it down the line.”

  “It means we would die in bed doing the deed. I don’t want to go out of this life crying and wailing, but screaming your name, Travis. I’ve never wanted that before, but damn me if I don’t want it now, and with you.” Only him. He was under her skin and she was never letting him go.

  In a quick move, he had her flat on her back with his weight over her. “I will gladly ensure that you are screaming my name when we kick the bucket, sweetheart. Don’t care how old we are, you’re always going to be my gorgeous and so damn sexy woman.”

  “That’s a very good thing.” She moved so that her hands were on his shoulders and pulled him closer. “Because you are always going to be my drop dead sexy cowboy.” He might have been a pilot, but Travis Carver was a cowboy through and through.

  With a grin on his face, he kissed her, his hands slipping under her so, when he rolled them over, she ended up on top. “How the hell did I get so lucky to have you in my life, Cassidy Milner?”

  “I guess you just came back and were in the right place at the right time?” She lifted her hand and very lightly touched his cheek. “I love you too.” Her hands stroked down his cheek to his neck and then, bracing her hands on his chest, she lifted herself to sitting. “So now then.” She began to rub his chest. “Are you hurting anywhere else that you need for me to massage?”

  “With liniment on your hands, hell no,” he said. Laughing when she smacked him lightly, he shrugged. “I do have an ache, but I don’t think you should touch me there with your hands currently. I have no idea how that would affect the current ache I’m sporting.”