by Andre, Bella
“Was it now?” he asked, voice tinged with amusement.
“Mmmhmm. Better actually than I hoped.”
He laughed and held her close and she fell asleep, still tucked safely at his side.
Jenny woke up surprised for a moment to be in a strange bed with a strange body next to hers, and then she remembered where she was, and what had happened.
Colton had happened.
Her lips curved in a faint smile of appreciation.
Oh boy, had Colton happened.
She stretched a little and turning her face towards Colton, she discovered he was awake and watching her. “Hey,” he said.
She smile shyly. “Hey, yourself.”
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Amazing,” she answered, unable to hide her grin. “How about you?”
“Pretty damn good.”
She leaned over to kiss him. “Good.”
He grabbed some pillows and propped his head up. “So, what’s your plan, princess? What happens next?”
She rolled over onto her stomach and propped her chin in her hands, not yet ready for this. “Do we have to talk serious? It’s kind of depressing after all that incredible lovemaking.”
He reached out, stroked her hair, and then caressed her cheek. “We’re not done, darlin. Just taking a break, letting you rest before I ride you hard and put you away wet.”
Jenny giggled, just as he’d intended. “That sounds horrible and wonderful at the same time.”
“That’s because I am horrible and wonderful.” His smile slipped. “When do you return to Chicago?”
She drew a deep breath. “Monday. Mandy’s driving me to Malta to catch the Amtrak to Chicago.”
“That’s a five-hour drive.”
“Four and a quarter the way Mandy drives.”
He frowned. “That’s a long way for her to go.”
“The things we sisters do for each other.”
“I’ll take you,” he said firmly. “I was heading out Monday anyway.”
“I’m sure it’s out of your way.”
“But it’d give me four and a half hours more with you.”
Jenny reached out to take his hand. She pressed a kiss to his palm. “That’s nice of you.”
“Better yet,” he said, “why don’t I drive you to Chicago and then I can fly from Chicago to San Francisco for next weekend’s show at the Cow Palace.”
“You’re going to San Francisco next weekend?”
He nodded. “Need to get back riding, competing. The year’s almost over. Every point counts at this stage of the game.”
“How are you in the standings?”
“In third. But not too far back.”
“That’s good.”
His head tipped and he studied her hard. “Why don’t you come with me to San Francisco?”
“Don’t tempt me. I’ve always wanted to go to California.”
“Charles never took you there?”
“We went other places, when he had meetings and conferences.” She ticked off the cities. “New York. Detroit. Boston. Atlanta.” She thought hard. “And Phoenix.”
“So you’ve seen a bit of the country.”
She nodded. But California was top of her wish list. She’d always wanted to see the Pacific Ocean and have chowder in one of those sourdough bread bowls she’d seen on the Travel Channel. You did that at Fisherman’s Wharf, in San Francisco and you could see the Golden Gate bridge from there, too, she thought. She wanted to see the famous bridge, and ride a cable car, and if there was time, drive to the coast and visit Carmel and Monterey. She was pretty sure Clint Eastwood used to be mayor of one of them, although she couldn’t remember which.
“Why can’t you come with me?” he asked, tugging her up to him. He pulled her onto his chest. “What’s keeping you here?”
Nothing. Nothing was keeping her here. She had friends and family here, but they didn’t keep her here. They’d always be here. She could go and return…she could always go and return. Her family and friends would always welcome her back, welcome her home.
So that wasn’t the issue.
“Is there a reason you need to be in Chicago?” he persisted.
Jenny shook her head. There was nothing for her in Chicago. Not anymore. Everything she wanted was right here. “No.”
“Then what?” he asked, pushing a wave of her hair back from her face.
“I…” Her mouth opened, closed. She could think of reasons why she shouldn’t go. Could think of people like Carol Bingley and what they’d say. But people like Carol Bingley would talk no matter what she did. Or didn’t do.
She couldn’t control others. She couldn’t change the past. She couldn’t worry about a future that wasn’t even here yet.
But she could live, and could have an adventure, a very romantic, impractical adventure with the only man she’d ever loved.
The man she hopelessly, madly, passionately loved.
“Yes,” she said, eyes shining, pulse quickening.
“Yes?”
He clasped her face and kissed her deeply. “Damn, girl, but I am crazy about you.”
She laughed.
“I’m serious,” he said. “I’m falling… pretty damn hard and fast. If we’re not careful, we might be getting hitched in Vegas on our way out West.”
“Is that a promise or a threat?” she teased.
He drew her thighs apart so she sat up and straddled his naked hips. He was hard for her. “Maybe both, darlin’. What do you think of that?”
She sucked in a breath as he eased her down to him. “Whoa.”
He arched a brow. “You haven’t answered my question.”
“I’m getting to it.” She grinned mischievously as she rocked on him, making him groan. “I think it’s going to be one hell of a ride. Take me with you, cowboy?”
Epilogue
Ten days later…
Apparently summers in San Francisco could be cold and foggy, but this October afternoon was stunning, with a blue sky so pristine there wasn’t a cloud in sight. The Golden Gate bridge wasn’t orange but red, almost like Colton’s father’s truck and Jenny loved the dramatic swooping red arc of the bridge against the green foothills and the dark blue water below an azure sky.
So many beautiful colors, so many new and exciting things to see.
This week she’d ridden in one of the city’s famous cable cars, driven down crooked Lombard Street, eaten dim sum in historic China Town, had an incredible carne asada burrito south of Market, and bought a gorgeous glass snow globe of the San Francisco skyline at Union Square.
She’d also spent eleven hours in the emergency room of UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco’s top-rated hospital, as they stitched up Colton’s thigh and hip and set a cast around a leg full of broken bones.
The bull had got him this time.
One moment everything had been fine, and then the next, it was terrifying mayhem. Colton had made it to the Sunday finals and was one second shy of having a legitimate ride when the massive white spotted bull tossed Colton from his back, and then put his head down, and went after him, determined to finish him off.
They’d taken Colton to the hospital in an ambulance and they’d put Jenny in a cab to follow him.
When they finally allowed Jenny to join Colton, he took her hand and held it, and kissed her, before teasing her, saying, thank God it was just a little goring, and not life and death.
But the little goring meant that Colton might need some surgery later, when he returned to Tulsa. Colton was nonchalant about the prospect of surgery. It was part of his job—one of the hazards—and he was content to just wait and see how he mended, though he knew that the season was over for him. There would be no more competing until the new season began in Spring.
Jenny couldn’t even think about Spring, or his next ride. It felt as if her heart had stopped when the bull went for Colton in the Cow Palace Arena.
When the bull put his head down, jamming his
horn into Colton’s thigh, she would have swapped places with him if she could. She loved him that much.
It might not make sense to anyone else, but Jenny had loved Colton her entire life. He was her person, her other half, and she couldn’t image a future without him.
After Colton was discharged from the hospital Monday morning, they returned by cab to their hotel, where Colton slept for much of the day. He somehow he pulled himself together and insisted they head out mid-afternoon as he had somewhere special he wanted to take her for dinner.
They’d taken a cab from the hotel to Fisherman’s Wharf to have that clam chowder in a sourdough bowl that Jenny had talked about.
So now they stood on the wharf, Colton leaning heavily on crutches, eating their soup which was good, but not that fantastic, gazing out at the majestic red-orange Golden Gate bridge, which was absolutely fantastic, watching the ferries come and go, while seagulls squawked and cried overhead.
Jenny had never been happier. Colton was safe. Colton adored her. Things were good—very, very good.
If Charles hadn’t jilted her…
If Charles hadn’t figured out that she was just poor Jenny Wright from Chance Avenue on the north side of Marietta…
“You all right?” Colton asked, gazing down at her, his jaw covered with the golden brown stubble of a beard. His eyes were still a little bloodshot. He had a bruise and a fresh gash on his right cheek. He’d had a hell of a night in the ring and then at the hospital, and yet here he was, playing tourist with her, for her.
What a good man. What a loving man.
Jenny felt so lucky. Lucky in love. Lucky in life.
She nodded and smiled up at him. “I’m great.” She searched his face for signs of pain or exhaustion. He was incredibly tough, but she wanted to make sure he didn’t push himself too hard. “How about you?”
“I’m awesome,” he answered, adjusting the crutch, and moving his arm to slide around her. His head dropped for a quick kiss. “Because I have you.”
She reached up to lightly touch his face, mindful of the cut and bruise. “I owe Charles a little thank-you for bringing me home to you.”
“Oh, I owe him a bigger thank-you.” Colton’s eyes glinted. “Not that I’ll tell him that. I don’t like the guy. Have absolutely no respect for him.”
“Fair enough.”
“But we do need to get your car and things from Chicago.”
“Yes.”
“Where should we take them? To my place in Tulsa, or, should we look for a place of our own in Montana?”
She took a quick, hopeful breath. “Move back to Marietta?”
“There’s some nice ranch land available right now. We could go looking at property together if you’d like. I’m not going to be traveling for a while. Could be a good time to look for a place we can call home.”
She searched his eyes, feeling dazzled and breathless. “Seriously?”
He nodded. “But I wouldn’t want to get a place together unless I thought we were really going to be together.” He fell silent, his forehead furrowing. “I want a future with you, Jenny. I want a family with you. Those babies you talked about, I want that, too.”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“I know it’s awfully soon to be talking about getting married, but I love you. You’re my girl. You’re the one for me. I’d get down on my knee darlin’, but I can’t—”
“It’s okay,” she interrupted, tears filling her eyes. “Don’t do that. The stitches and staples might come out and then we’d have to go back to the hospital and that would be awful.”
He laughed, chucked his soup bowl in a trash can, and reached into his pocket, withdrawing a little velvet jewelry box. “But I do have a ring, and I want it on your finger. That is, if it’s a yes…?”
“It’s a yes, yes, yes.” She tossed her soup bowl and mindful of Colton’s crutches, pressed close to him, kissing him once before giving him her hand, so he could slide the brilliant white diamond solitaire onto her finger. “Oh, it’s beautiful.”
“You’re beautiful,” he answered, gently kissing her forehead, the tip of her nose, and then her lips. “And you’re mine.”
She smiled through her tears. “That’s right. Always, and forever.”
Jenny Wright from Chance Avenue was the luckiest, happiest girl in the world.
THE END
About the Author
Bestselling author Jane Porter has been a finalist for the prestigious RITA award four times and has over 12 million copies in print. Jane’s novel, Flirting With Forty, picked by Redbook as its Red Hot Summer Read, went back for seven printings in six weeks before being made into a Lifetime movie starring Heather Locklear. A mother of three sons, Jane holds an MA in Writing from the University of San Francisco and makes her home in sunny San Clemente, CA with her surfer husband.
Acknowledgments
Special thanks go to the following for their help in getting this set off the ground:
Jessica Apple and A Sweet Life
Harlequin Enterprises
CrocoDesigns
IRONHORSE Formatting
Danita Moon
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