James Bravo's Shotgun Bride

by Christine Rimmer

  “As long as we’re clear that it’s only pretend.” She kissed him again.

  He felt her smile against his mouth and advised, “So, then, in the interest of my not losing it too soon, I think you should maybe let go of me...”

  She made a low, purring sort of sound deep in her throat. “Not a chance.” And then she gave him a cruel, hard little squeeze that brought another groan up from the deepest part of him. “But I’ll be careful not to push you too far.”

  He gritted his teeth, it felt so good. “You have no idea how close I am to losing it.”

  “But you won’t lose it, will you?”

  He never ought to argue with her. It never got him anywhere. With another groan, he reached across her beautiful, naked body and snatched the box off the nightstand. One-handed, he flipped back the lid and whipped out what they needed. “Help.”

  She took pity on him, letting go of his aching hardness and taking the box from him. She set it back on the nightstand and then took the still-wrapped condom. “Lie back. I’ve got this.”

  With a shaky sigh, he rolled to his back.

  She unwrapped the condom and carefully rolled it down over him. “There,” she said with a pleased little smile.

  “Addie.” He reached up and clasped her shoulders.

  She met his eyes with the softest little smile. “What?”

  “Ride me.”

  For once, she didn’t argue, just swung one of those muscled horsewoman’s thighs across his hips, lifted herself up onto her knees above him and then reached down to put him right where she wanted him.

  “Addie,” he whispered, dying a little in the best kind of way. “At last.”

  She really was something. He’d waited so long for this, to see her like this, bare and open to him, lost in her pleasure. On her knees above him, golden eyes watching him, baby-doll lips parted, her breath coming shallow and fast, she lowered her body down to him, taking him, all of him, in a sweet, perfect glide.

  Tight. Hot. Wet.

  So exactly what he wanted, so completely right.

  “James?” A sweet flush suffused the soft skin above her breasts. With a moan, she came down to him, her body curving over him, settling against his chest, her hair falling forward, brushing his throat, sliding like ribbons of satin along his arms. “Oh, James. Oh, my goodness...”

  He gathered her close. Never in his life had he been anywhere sweeter than buried in Addie on their wedding night. “There’s no one like you, Addie. No one in the whole world...”

  “It’s good,” she whispered. “James, it’s so good with you...”

  And then she was kissing him, her mouth wet and open over his, her hair so silky and warm all around him, her body taking him, holding him, owning him, so good and deep.

  Making him crazy in the best kind of way.

  He groaned her name. She gave his back to him.

  And then he slid his hands down and took hold of her fine, round bottom. He surged up into her.

  She shouted his name then, out good and loud. And then she was riding him, hard and fast, racing to the finish. He held on and went with it, with her, as he felt her body tightening, reaching...

  And then it happened, both of them going still, not even breathing. Until she cried out again—and unraveled around him, her inner muscles contracting, releasing and then clutching him tight once more.

  That did it. He couldn’t hold out a single second longer.

  He rolled, taking her with him, claiming the top position. Another cry escaped her, a softer cry. And yet somehow a wilder one, too.

  She lifted her legs and wrapped them around him.

  By then, he was gone, lost in her, lost in the searing heat that set the air on fire between them, in the connection they shared that she’d denied for so long.

  But not tonight. Tonight she had no denials. Tonight she belonged to him. At last.

  James and Addie. Like this.

  The way he’d always dreamed they might be.

  He buried his face against her throat and gave himself up to her, pushing hard into her, so far gone in her that nothing else existed. There was only Addie, holding him. Addie, whispering naughty, sexy things.

  Addie, moaning his name again as the world spun away.

  Chapter Eight

  “A home nurse?” Levi sucked in a breath of pure outrage and then groaned because it hurt his incision. Addie could almost feel sorry for him. Except that, as usual, he was being a major pain in the butt. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he barked. “I don’t need a nurse and we don’t need to go wasting good money on one—and, son...” He turned to James with another groan of pain. “Do you have to hit every damn bump in the highway? You’re killing me here.”

  “Sorry,” James answered mildly. “I’ll watch that.”

  Levi groaned yet again and shifted uncomfortably, pulling on the seat belt to loosen it up a little.

  It was exactly a week since Addie had married James. They were on their way home to Red Hill at last—James, Levi and Addie in James’s roomy quad cab. Levi had the passenger seat, where they’d thought he’d be the most comfortable, and Addie had taken a seat in back.

  Somewhere on the highway not too far behind them, Carmen followed in Addie’s old pickup. Dev had returned to Laramie a few days before.

  James caught Addie’s eye in the rearview mirror. Was that an “I told you so” look he was giving her? It certainly appeared to be. He’d thought they should tell her grandfather about the nurse sooner. She’d vetoed that. Levi wasn’t going to like it, no matter when they told him, so she’d decided to do it during the ride home, thus limiting at least the duration of the fit he was bound to pitch over the idea of paying a professional to help with his recovery.

  Addie narrowed her eyes at her temporary husband to signal that she had this handled; she knew what she was doing. She told her grandfather, “It’s not going to cost us anything. We have the best insurance money can buy, thanks to Brandon—you remember Brandon, PawPaw? My sadly departed best friend and the father of my baby? Brandon wanted us to have really good insurance for the baby’s sake and also because when something terrible happens to someone you love, the last thing you need is to be stewing over how to pay for high-quality care.”

  Levi exchanged a glance with James. They’d been doing that a lot in the past few days, silently communicating their manly thoughts, whatever the heck those were. Sometimes she found it kind of sweet that they got along so well.

  Right now she wanted to tell them both to knock it off.

  Levi blew right on by her pointed remarks about Brandon and the baby and insisted, “I can take care of myself.”

  “But a trained nurse can take care of you even better. And that’s what you’re getting. You’re getting the best care.”

  “You just tell that nurse not to come.”

  “She’s already moved in at Red Hill.”

  Levi made a sputtering noise followed by more grunts of pain.

  Addie said, “Her name is Lola Dorset. She’s a retired RN. She will see that you take your meds and eat right. She will supervise your exercises, all of them, strength, cardio and breathing. She’ll get you out walking but not let you overdo it. She’ll be helping you bathe and making sure you take proper care of your incision sites.”

  “My incision sites are doing just fine, thank you. And no strange woman is going to be giving me baths.”

  Addie suppressed a sigh. “Strange women—and men—bathed you in the hospital there at first when you refused to start getting well. You weren’t complaining about it then. And Lola is only there to help. Whatever you can manage for yourself, fine. But she will be ready to push you when you need it, to offer encouragement, too. She’ll be all about you for the next six weeks, at least—with a little help from a reli
ef nurse two days a week and evenings whenever Lola wants time to herself. You need someone who’s all about you right now, and we were lucky to get Lola. She only takes a few jobs a year now. And when she chooses to work, she doesn’t mind living in. As a matter of fact, James found her for you.”

  Her grandfather scowled in James’s direction and accused, “So you’re in on this, too?”

  James gave an easy shrug and evaded the question. “Lola looked after my great-aunt Agnes when Agnes had hip surgery two years ago.”

  Addie added, “Lola is about as good as it gets for home nursing care, PawPaw. You should be grateful that she’s going to be looking after you.”

  “Grateful is not the word that comes to mind,” grumbled Levi. “Unnecessary. That’s the word for your precious Lola. How many ways do I have to say it? We don’t need her. You and Carmen can—”

  Addie cut him off. “Carm has a life, in case you didn’t notice. And she needs to get back to it today. Both she and Dev have used up their family leave. She misses her kids—and she misses her husband, too, now he had to go home and get back to work.”

  “Humph,” her grandfather said. “You and me and James will manage just fine.”

  “No. No, we will not. James has an office he needs to go to now and then. And I have a mountain of scarecrow orders to catch up on. I also have the horses to look after, not to mention all the chores you won’t be doing for a while yet. It’s a critical time in your recovery and you need a professional to help you make the most of it. Lola Dorset will be seeing to it that you get exactly what you need.”

  Silence from the front seat. Apparently, she’d actually managed to overrule all of his objections.

  Did she feel like a bully? Oh, well, maybe a little. But sometimes, with her grandfather, bullying was the only way to go.

  James caught her eye in the mirror. She scowled at him defiantly. For her sour face, he gave her a wink.

  The guy was a prize. No doubt about it. Supportive, smart, funny and kind. Also easy on the eyes and amazing in bed. Every day it got a little harder to remember not to let herself get too attached.

  * * *

  Lola, a trim woman with chin-length silvery hair and excellent posture, was waiting on the front porch when they drove up. Two days ago, when Addie had met her here at the house to give her a set of keys and show her around, the nurse had asked what the family would prefer her to wear. Addie had advised comfortable street clothes. So today, Lola wore new-looking jeans, white running shoes and a long-sleeved Henley shirt.

  Addie’s dog, Moose, sat at the nurse’s feet. Walker McKellan had dropped him off just that morning. The dog ran to greet them, but the nurse stayed where she was.

  With a glad cry, Addie shoved open the backseat door. “Moosey boy, I’ve missed you so much.”

  The sweet chocolate Lab bounced up on his hind legs with excitement and let out a bark, then remembered his manners and dropped to sitting position. A shudder of pure happiness wiggled through him and he whined for her to get down there and say hi.

  Addie jumped from the cab and dropped to a knee. “That’s my good boy...” She threw her arms around him, breathed in his dusty doggy smell and let him swipe his wet tongue across her cheek. “We’re home,” she whispered gratefully into his short brown coat. “Home at last...”

  James got out and came around to her. When Moose gave him a whine of greeting, he patted the dog on the head.

  Levi pushed open his door. “Ah. It’s good to be home.” He sounded happy, too, in spite of the recent battle over Lola and whatever pain the ride home had caused him. Addie’s heart lifted to hear him sound so cheerful. Then he muttered, “That her?” and tipped his wiry white head in Lola’s direction.

  Lola must have heard him. She came down the steps. “Yes, Mr. Kenwright. I’m Lola, your nurse.” That silvery hair really shone in the sunlight. She gave him a cool smile as she strode confidently toward him.

  He already had the seat belt undone and he swung his legs out. Addie stifled a nervous cry for him to be careful.

  James simply stepped into position so that Levi could brace an arm on his shoulder to ease his way down. It was gracefully done, with zero fanfare. Just the way her grandfather liked it. “Thanks, son.”

  “Anytime.” James reached into the cab and pulled out the cane they’d bought him a few days before. “Here you go.”

  Levi took it with a nod and leaned on it gratefully.

  Lola marched right up to him and slipped her hand around his free arm. “Walk me inside, will you? Let me show you how we’ve set things up.”

  “Take it slow,” he replied, sounding perfectly content—as if he hadn’t just given Addie all kinds of grief for hiring the woman. “Some fool doctor cut my chest open two weeks ago and I’m not as spry as I used to be.”

  Lola laughed. It was an easy, throaty sound. “One step at a time.”

  Levi actually smiled. “That’s the way you do it.” Slowly, the two of them started for the house. “You call me Levi,” Addie heard him say when they were almost to the steps.

  “Levi it is.”

  James, who was standing right behind Addie, put his big hands on her hips and whispered in her ear, “I told you she was something else.”

  “Amazing. She’s got a real talent with grumpy old men.”

  “And with bossy old women, too. Have you met my great-aunt Agnes? She can be difficult, to put it mildly, but she took to Lola on sight.” He pressed a kiss into her hair.

  She started to lean back against him, because then he would wrap his arms around her and that always felt wonderful. But right then, Carm rolled into the yard and stopped the pickup a few feet from James’s quad cab. Reluctantly, Addie suggested, “We should get our suitcases inside so Carm can be on her way back to Laramie.”

  He made a sound of agreement and let go of her waist. They turned together to get the bags that waited under the camper shell.

  He handed her the one that belonged to Levi. “I’ll take your suitcase and mine upstairs.”

  She thought about sharing her bedroom with him for the next several weeks and liked the idea way more than she probably should. It was altogether too much fun playing newlyweds with James. “We’re the big room at the front. Turn left at the top of the stairs, left again at the end of that hall and it’s the only door on your left. I’ll get up there this afternoon and clear you out some drawers and closet space. You can put your stuff away this evening.”

  He held her gaze, a lovely, intimate look that sent hot little sparks dancing across the surface of her skin. “Sounds like a plan.”

  * * *

  Way back in the day, when Levi had married Addie’s grandmother June, he’d bumped out walls and added on a master suite for his new bride. The large bedroom, bath and walk-in closet were on the ground floor off the central hall. Now, all these years later, the suite was a godsend for Levi’s recovery. He wouldn’t be stuck upstairs most of the time, or have to make a temporary bedroom of one of the downstairs living areas.

  Addie had given Lola the upstairs bedroom that faced the backyard. It was closest to the stairs. The nurse had brought handheld monitors—a two-way system. Not only could she hear if Levi needed her, but she could communicate with him, find out what he needed without having to run down to his room first.

  Also, they’d replaced Levi’s old four-poster with a fully adjustable recliner bed that would not only be more comfortable, but would be easier for him to get in and out of, too. When Addie carried his suitcase in there, Lola had him on the bed and was showing him how to work the controller.

  “I like this bed,” he was saying as he raised himself slowly to a sitting position. “I could get used to this.”

  “It’s a nice one,” Lola agreed. “I think you’ll be very comfortable.”

  About then, Levi s
potted Addie. “I took a peek in the kitchen. Who fixed the floor?”

  Addie set down the suitcase in the corner by the door to deal with later. “James’s brother Garrett sent some people over.” James had asked her the morning after their wedding if it was all right to hire Garrett to fix the floor—and to install up-to-code grab bars for Levi in the master bath while he was at it. Addie had given the go-ahead. She’d also insisted that she wanted the bill sent to her. So far, that bill had failed to materialize. She made a mental note to remind James that she would pay for both the floor repair and the bath railings, thank you very much.

  “Looks good,” the old man said cheerfully. “I like the new tile.” As though it had been some everyday home improvement project. He gave Lola a distinctly cheeky grin. “I had a little accident cleaning my shotgun.”

  Lola was sympathetic. “That must have been scary.”

  Addie couldn’t resist grumbling, “You have no idea,” as she left them alone.

  Back out in front, Moose trailed after her down the steps. She found the back of the quad cab still open. Only Carmen’s suitcase and overnight bag remained inside. They’d already agreed that James would drive Carm into town, where she could pick up a rental car and head for home. Addie closed up the back and turned for the house as James came down the front steps.

  “Everything’s in,” he said. “I like those two dormer windows in your bedroom, with those cozy window seats.”

  She nodded. “That used to be Carm’s room when we were kids. I got it when she married Dev. Hated to see her go—but loved getting her room.”

  He came closer and guided a few strands of hair out of her eyes. She gazed up at him, thinking how good it felt to be close to him, how great they got along. More than once in the past few days, she almost forgot that by the end of May, they wouldn’t be married anymore. “Where’s Carm?”

  “I think she’s saying goodbye to your grandfather.” With a sweet brush of his finger, he traced her eyebrows and then the shape of her nose, thrilling her with those simple, silly caresses, and then slid his warm fingers back under her hair to cradle the nape of her neck.