Betting the Rainbow (Harmony)

by Thomas, Jodi

  “I’ve no doubt, but you’ll be with me, Rea. That’s all that’s important. No matter what, you’ll be with me. I never knew how much you meant to me until I almost lost you. I never want to have that feeling again. Never.”

  “Me either.”

  That night, after they’d put Utah to bed in his cradle in the corner of her room, Noah made love to Reagan with more tenderness than she’d thought possible. As he had every time they’d made love, he whispered her name.

  When they were both exhausted, he held her close and played with her hair. “I love you, Rea. Even if you decided never to forgive me, that wouldn’t have changed. I love you more than old Jeremiah loved sunsets. Do you think, just once, you could say you forgive me?”

  “I forgive you, Noah.” She already had. She knew her Noah. She’d seen him die inside when she’d told him to leave. She’d watched him fight to grow into the man she needed. He’d proved it this morning when he hadn’t stepped on that plane. He was proving it to her now.

  He rolled close and kissed her cheek. “You’ll never regret it, I promise. If I ever break that promise, Hank and Big have both sworn to make you a widow that same day.”

  “That’s comforting,” she said, as if serious. “Just promise not to sing to our children.”

  He fell back on his pillow. “You drive a hard bargain, Rea.”

  She laughed as he pulled her to him, and she knew this time he planned to never ever let her go.

  “By the way,” she whispered, “Utah’s middle name is Truman.”

  “Who said?”

  “He told me. Said he wants to be the last Truman standing one day.”

  “Go to sleep, Rea. I’ll talk him out of that plan tomorrow.”

  Chapter 42

  AS DUSTI WALKED BACK TO HER ROOM, SHE COULDN’T STOP smiling. All she could think about was that she was in the money. Tomorrow she’d be in the last round. The final table of winners played now; the first man out in the next game would walk out with ten thousand dollars.

  Her phone vibrated.

  “Did you win?” Kieran asked.

  “I did. How’d you know the game was over?”

  He laughed. “I figured it had to be. They just put your name up on the Internet as one of the players in the last round.”

  “Want to go celebrate?” she whispered. “I could get champagne delivered to my room.”

  “No. You’ve got another round to play in the morning. Get some rest. Eat something. Go for a walk. Keep your head clear.”

  She walked toward her room. “Talk to me for a while.”

  “Sure, but only about poker. Call me back when you’ve taken a shower and settled in.” He hung up.

  Dusti stared at the phone. The man was driving her mad.

  She called her sister, ate two bags of M&Ms, and finally called him back. When he answered, she asked, “When this is over, will we have anything to talk about?”

  “Of course. When this is over we’ll do whatever you want. I’ll bore you with my life story and you can talk dirty to me all you like, but right now, you’re still in the game. I’ve been saving up conversations to have with you since we were kids and went swimming in the lake naked.”

  They laughed and settled down to business, discussing anything that might come up in the last round.

  He tried his best to keep her mind on the game, but Dusti kept drifting to what she planned to say when this was all over. After he hung up, she’d almost fallen asleep when Abby called.

  “Start packing, Abby,” Dusti said. “You’re going back to school.”

  Dusti closed her eyes and smiled as her sister rumbled. She’d done what she’d set out to do. Even if she went out first, she’d finished in the money. Abby would have her last few classes of college. She’d become a nurse.

  When the game started the next morning she was still smiling. Thirty minutes into the last round a man stepped away from the table, and her take-home went up to fifteen thousand. Ten minutes later, another fell and she knew she’d be taking home twenty. Now she could pay the college and buy camera equipment.

  Half an hour passed in slow motion before the next man stood and left the table. Dusti almost giggled. Her take-home at this point just jumped to thirty thousand dollars. Abby could finish school, they could repair a few things around the house, she might even rebuild the darkroom.

  Twenty minutes later, while she was thinking about all the money she was making, she lost three hands in a row and had to be the one who stepped away. Only she couldn’t stop smiling. She’d done it. She’d showed in the money.

  She was winding her way out between people who came to watch with a check for thirty thousand dollars folded in her pocket.

  As she patted her pocket one more time, making sure it was there, her phone buzzed.

  “Good job, lass,” Kieran’s wonderful voice sounded in her ear. “I’m proud of you.”

  “Did you already hear about my losing on the Internet?”

  “No,” he said, laughter in his tone. “Turn around.”

  She slowly turned around and there he was, standing near a pillar where rows of chairs had been set up for spectators. She’d paid no attention to them. No one had come to see her play.

  Only there he was. Tall, redheaded, adorable Kieran.

  Dusti ran and jumped into his arms. She wrapped her arms and legs around him as tight as she could, and she couldn’t stop crying. He’d been with her the whole time. He’d been watching over her.

  Sunglasses guy walked by and pulled off his glasses. “Figures,” he said. “The good-looking girls who play always have a guy waiting in the wings.”

  Neither of them answered his comment. They were too wrapped up in one another.

  Kieran held on to her and walked out of the area. He must have known that she wanted to be with him alone for a few minutes.

  Dusti watched the bright lights fly by, but she couldn’t stop crying.

  She’d won. She’d followed her dream, and best of all Kieran had been there beside her all along.

  He finally stepped out into the warm, dry, desert air and sat down on a bench without turning loose of her. People were passing on both sides of them, but she still felt all alone with him.

  “I’m so proud of you,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head. “I knew you could do it.”

  He just held her for a few minutes, letting her nerves settle down. While she rested in his lap, he whispered, “You’ve got lots of people to call before you board the plane in the morning. Everyone you know is sitting at home waiting for the news.”

  “You’re staying with me tonight. Aren’t you?”

  “I can’t. I had to move heaven and earth to get a flight out here this morning. I’m due back in Dallas by midnight for a flight out to Heathrow.”

  “But . . . don’t you want to spend the night with me?”

  He laughed. “More than you know, Dusti, but I don’t want to be a one-night stand. It’s going to take a lot longer to cool the fire I have for you. It’s been building for years.”

  “Then why did you come?”

  “Because win or lose, it’s about time I give you that kiss you want.”

  Then, as if he’d done it a hundred times before, Kieran lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her like no one else had ever kissed her. The people passing by were no more than water parting as they drifted in a river of feelings. All the times she’d dreamed of kissing him didn’t come close to measuring up to this one moment.

  A few times they stopped long enough to laugh and talk, but before her blood had time to cool, he was reaching for her again as if starving for one more touch, one more kiss.

  Once they walked inside, he asked if she was hungry, then laughed when he saw the desire in her eyes. She’d tried to pull him to her room, but he wouldn’t budge. Both knew they only had a
short time, and this kind of passion wouldn’t be satisfied in an hour.

  He was still kissing her when they got to the airport two hours later.

  When he ran for his plane, she turned and walked away, thinking she’d finally been completely kissed. And, touched, she added. The feel of his hands moving over her body warmed her skin. She had no doubt how dearly he wanted her and he’d left a longing in her.

  The twenty-minute ride back to the hotel seemed like five. She felt like she’d been diving under deep water and needed time for her breathing to come back to normal.

  Once she was in her room, she stripped off her clothes, lay down atop the covers, and turned the air conditioner on freeze. It was going to take her body hours to cool off. Kieran had been right about one thing: If they’d kissed while she’d been learning to play, she never could have concentrated on learning to play poker.

  That evening as she talked to all her friends, she didn’t mention that Kieran had watched her win. She couldn’t, for if she did, she’d never stop talking about him.

  Once, during the kiss, he’d whispered that this was only a first taste of what was to come on the date.

  He’d been there for her. Win or lose, he’d been there. And now he was promising to be there again, this time for just her.

  Dusti no longer had to look at the check on the dresser; she already knew that today her life had changed. It would never be the same and it had nothing to do with a poker game and everything to do with Kieran O’Toole.

  Chapter 43

  RONNY WOKE ONE SORE MUSCLE AT A TIME. SUNLIGHT BLINKED in between the curtains across the front window. She thought it was a very good thing that Austin’s house was in the middle of nowhere because anyone walking by could have glanced in the window and seen her in her birthday suit.

  Laughing, she almost wished her mother would pick this morning to drop by. But that wasn’t likely and she couldn’t imagine Dallas Logan arriving anywhere quietly.

  A bird flew close enough to land on the porch railing. He seemed to look in, hoping for a snack he could steal.

  Ronny rolled to grab a blanket. When she did, her body tightened as if she’d just come from a workout.

  She’d never dreamed making love would be so physical but every night seemed to be wilder and more wonderful. She’d better start carbing up before bedtime or working out, because loving Austin Hawk would give her a heart attack before she turned forty.

  She shoved her hair out of her eyes and looked over at him. He slept on his stomach, the scars along his shoulders showing in the sunlight. She hated that he’d known such pain, but he was right, they were just part of him. He was built strong. No one would ever call him a ladies’ man. They wouldn’t see the beauty of him like she did. They’d never see how hard he tried to be gentle and loving or how totally he loved her. Austin Hawk was a man who ran full speed into what he believed in, no holding back.

  He couldn’t seem to understand that she loved him just the way he was, scars and all. His grumpy nature that she saw through. His sharp orders that he snapped when he thought he was just asking. His kindness. His caring.

  Poking his arm, she waited.

  He didn’t move.

  The worry that he might be dead wasn’t there like it had been those earlier nights when she’d just slept beside him. Maybe because last night and the night before and the night before that he’d proved to her that he was very much alive. Even after they’d made love, he’d hold her so close, as if what they had was so good he feared it might vanish if he didn’t hold tight.

  She poked him again.

  “I’m alive, Ronny,” he mumbled. “Stop poking me. That one-second poke only works on roadkill germs.”

  “I know,” she answered remembering how kids in school used to say that if you poked a dead animal longer than one second, dead germs would jump on you. “I just like poking you to make sure. The only time you’re completely still is when you’re asleep.”

  He rolled over and grabbed her, rolling her beneath his body. “You still love me this morning? You’re not leaving or waking me up to say good-bye?”

  “Yes, I still love you, and no, I’m not waking you up to say good-bye.” He felt so warm above her. Her very own cuddle blanket made of rock. “But, you’ve got to go a little slower and easier on me. I’m sore all over this morning.”

  “Me? You’re the one who wouldn’t stop last night.” He moved his fingers along her side, reminding her of how she’d begged for more and every time he’d been willing to grant her wish.

  She smiled, remembering. “Well, that’s true, but I’ve been waiting a long time, and I think it may take years for me to get enough.”

  “Good, that settles it. I’m applying for that job in town.” His words were muffled against her throat as he kissed his way down her body.

  “What job?” She pulled his face up to hers and for a second they both smiled, knowing he’d finish what he’d started as soon as they talked.

  “The firehouse has extra funds and is planning to hire a real fire chief. Hank says he’s retiring as the volunteer chief, so the job’s available as soon as I want to apply and can muster out of the army.”

  “But Hank loves that job. He’s been the chief for as long as I can remember.”

  “Loved,” Austin corrected. “He loved the job. But now he wants out. He told me that Alex is quitting being sheriff to run for county judge, and of course she’ll get it since half the voting population of Harmony is either Matheson or McAllen. So, he claims someone will have to stay home with the kids and run the ranch.”

  “But . . .”

  “Four months from now they’ll have their first. A boy. Hank says they’re naming him Warren after her brother who died.” Austin smiled down at her with pride. “Don’t tell me I knew something about the people of Harmony that you didn’t know.”

  She shoved him. “Roll off me. I can’t think naked. This is too much to think about.”

  When he let her go, she jumped out of bed and slipped into his shirt. Then she began to pace, feeling like something wasn’t right. “I feel like Harmony is changing. Really changing. It doesn’t seem natural. Everything is always the same in Harmony. We could put it on the welcome sign. Nothing much ever changes here.”

  He watched her, looking fascinated as always.

  She didn’t look at him. She had to piece everything together.

  Finally, he said, “I have to go back to the fort for a few months to muster out. You wouldn’t want to come along with me as my wife, would you? We’d have a few dinners to go to, but mostly we could just relax, maybe see Washington, or take the train over to New York for a weekend. It would be a great honeymoon.”

  She looked up. “I came back to Harmony for some peace, to settle down, to feel at home. Becoming someone’s wife wasn’t in my plan. Never once in the past year have I thought about getting married, and never have you, I’m guessing.”

  “But you love me and you attack me on a regular basis. I think that means you should marry me. I’m not sure, though; we could always ask your mother.”

  She tossed a pillow at him.

  As he ducked, he tumbled off the bed.

  When he crawled back under the sheet, he said, “I’m calling your mother and talking this over with her. I bet she’ll agree with me. You should marry me. You can’t just keep on using me like I’m your own private sex toy.”

  Ronny jumped back in bed. “All right, I’ll marry you, Captain, but you can never tell my mother about the attacks.” She grinned. “It would give her a heart attack to know what her daughter plans to do every day before she eats breakfast.”

  “My lips are sealed. No one would believe me anyway. Shy, silent Ronny Logan. The whole town loves and watches over you. They’ll never know what you did to me last night and hopefully every night for the rest of our lives.” He raised an eyebrow as if
her words were just catching up with his brain. “Or what you’re planning to do before breakfast? Did you just say that you planned to attack me before breakfast?”

  She was back to her shy self, as ladylike as ever. “I’m sorry. I should be careful about your leg, but I forgot about it last night. I wouldn’t want to hurt you again this morning.”

  “I see what you mean. From what I remember about last night, it could have fallen off at some point and I wouldn’t have noticed.”

  She laughed her light little laugh. “If you marry me, it might be like it was last night fairly often, though I’ll try to take it easy on you some nights. Maybe only do it once, or twice.” She slipped her hand beneath the sheet.

  “I’m betting on it, pretty lady.”

  He pulled her to him and kissed the top of her head. “When we marry, you could use the cabin for your office, but you’re staying here with me.”

  “In the third-floor bedroom.” The idea of waking up to a view of the lake sounded like heaven.

  “I don’t care which bedroom. Just as long as we’re in the same one.” When she rested her head on his chest, he continued to plan. “I’ve got quite a bit of money saved up. We could have a grand honeymoon. Go around the world if you like.”

  “I’ve done that. I’d like to come back here for the last of our honeymoon.” Her hand moved across the hair on his chest as if she were petting a bear. “We could spend our days making this house into a real home and our nights making love.”

  “Sounds good to me. I’ve traveled all I want to for a long while. I’d like to watch fall settle over the lake.”

  “Me too.” Her hand moved lower.

  He lost interest in the conversation, but she told him about the curtains they’d put over the windows and the new furniture they’d buy and how she wanted to remodel the kitchen.

  Finally, she lost her train of thought as he began kissing his way down her body.

  “Tell me about it later,” he ordered. “I’m busy right now.”