The shorter woman rolled her eyes. “Nothing. I’m not always raunchy. I can be a lady.” She winked. “Especially when there’s a sexy bartender next door I’m trying to impress.”
“Just be careful,” Layla warned though she thought Clint and Yasmin would probably have a lot of fun together. “Remember the dangers of pooping where you eat.”
“Ew.” Yasmin’s nose wrinkled. “Now who’s being raunchy? Go to sleep, woman, before you ruin all the fantasies I’m planning on having while I sit behind that desk all night.”
Layla laughed. “Fine. Goodnight.” She circled around the desk with a wave. On a normal night, she would stay and chat with Yasmin before she headed for home. But there was a beautiful man with Hard-On-Itis waiting for her and it was impairing her ability to focus on anything except getting naked with him as soon as possible.
She hurried down the hall and let herself into the last room on the right, stepping through the door with a smile on her face, expecting to find Cole already in bed. Instead, she found him sitting at a table for two set up near the bureau. It was one of the room service tables, but instead of the normal room service fare, two glass dishes of vanilla ice cream sat on either side of a dozen smaller dishes filled with toppings.
“What is this?” she asked, a smile stretching across her face.
“Your Halloween surprise,” Cole said as she crossed the room. “Hope you’re in the mood for ice cream.”
“I’m always in the mood for ice cream.” She leaned across the table for a kiss, before whispering against his lips, “But maybe we should take care of your condition and the ice cream at the same time. I hear licking ice cream off of certain body parts can help cure Hard-On-Itis.”
Cole shook his head, lips brushing against hers as he moved, sending a fresh wave of arousal prickling across her skin. “Tempting, but not this time, sweetness. Now sit your pretty ass down and pick out your toppings. You’ve got ten different options, including limited edition miniature candy corn pumpkins. Yasmin helped me pick them out.”
“So that’s why she was being weird,” Layla said as she settled into her chair. “Well, this is super sweet, and I appreciate it. But is it okay if I’m a one topping kind of girl?”
“Rainbow sprinkles?” He lifted a brow, watching as she reached for her spoon.
“You know it.” She ladled two spoonfuls of sprinkles on top her of ice cream and was about to take her first bite when Cole said—
“How about one more scoop? You don’t want to skimp on the sprinkles.”
Layla cocked her head, considering the sprinkle-to-ice-cream ratio for a moment before she dipped her spoon back into the sprinkles. “Fine, but there’s an art to this, you know. It’s a fine line between just enough sprinkles and too…”
Her words trailed away as she lifted the spoon, revealing the ring sitting at the bottom of the small bowl. It was white gold with a single diamond gracing the top, the kind of ring that only meant one thing.
Before she could catch her breath, Cole was down on one knee beside her chair, reaching over to pluck the ring from the last of the sprinkles.
“I know you keep saying you’re not in a hurry,” he said, a tremble in his voice that made her think he was as nervous and excited as she was. “But I love you, sweetness. You’re the only person I want to share my life with and this question has been burning a hole in my guts for months so…”
He swallowed before continuing in a steadier voice. “Will you marry me, Layla Parker, and let me be the rainbow sprinkles on your ice cream for the next forty or fifty years?”
Layla’s tongue swept across her lips, but no words came. Her divorce from Wayne had been final last June and he’d been sentenced to life for attempted murder a little over a month ago. Cole and Layla had both fully recovered from their gunshot wounds, Layla hadn’t been charged with a crime, and the Wheelers had retreated to their family compound.
She was no longer a danger to the Lawsons and she loved Cole more than anything in the world and didn’t see that changing, no matter what the future might hold. She should say yes and slide the beautiful ring on her finger, but for some reason she hesitated.
“I understand that you’re worried about upsetting John,” Cole continued, proving that he knew her heart even better than she sometimes did. “But John knows that Wayne had nothing to do with Lily’s death. And he wouldn’t want us to put off something that’s going to make us happy because he’s still grieving. He’ll be more hurt if he thinks he’s the reason we’re not getting engaged.”
Layla swallowed, fighting the tears rising in her eyes. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” A hopeful smile curved his lips. “And I’m also sure that my mother will have a heart attack if we end up pregnant before we’re married.”
“But I’m dying to have a baby,” Layla said with a breathy laugh. “I swear, I don’t know what’s happening to me. It’s like a sickness that gets worse every time I hold Lawson.”
“Pregnant-Itis,” Cole said, making her laugh again. “I get it, and I can’t wait to make a baby with you. I’d just like to have a ring on your finger before it happens.”
“But you know I don’t need it, right?” she asked, smile fading. “I’m going to love you and any children we have forever. Because what we have is real and wonderful. A ring and a wedding won’t make it any more wonderful.”
“Won’t make it any less wonderful, either, though. Will it?” His brow furrowed and a moment later his fingers curled around the ring in his hand. “Is this about Wayne? Because of him, you think any marriage is going to end badly?”
She shook her head. “No. You aren’t Wayne and I would never stay in a situation like that again, even if you were. I’m just so happy I can’t imagine being any happier and…”
She broke off with an uncomfortable shrug as her eyes fell to the hands fisted in her lap. “I guess in my heart it feels like we’re already married. There will never be anyone else for me. I’m never going to love anyone the way I love you and isn’t that what counts?”
Layla glanced up to find Cole watching her with a soft smile that helped banish her anxiety, but he didn’t speak until she nudged his knee with her foot and asked, “What do you think about that?”
“I feel the same way,” he said. “But I’d eventually like to be married to you in a church as well as in my heart. So I hope you’ll forgive me if I ask you again in a year or two.”
“I might change my mind in a year or two,” she said, then added in a teasing tone, “Or at least before the second baby is born.”
He rolled his eyes as his smile widened. “Jesus, woman. Fine, we’ll get straight to the good stuff since you can’t seem to think about anything but getting knocked up.”
“I can too!” She protested as he cupped her bottom in his hands, pulling her out of her chair and rolling her onto the floor beneath him. “I’ve been thinking about licking ice cream off your cock since the second I walked into the room.”
“Oh hush,” he mumbled against her lips as he kissed her, his tongue sweeping into her mouth, banishing all but one hunger from her mind. “You’re not going to get pregnant licking ice cream off my cock and neither one of us is getting any younger.”
“Are you calling me old?” she asked, breath catching as his warm palms smoothed up the back of her bare legs.
“No, thirty-one is the new thirteen.” He kissed her neck, sending a shiver across her skin. “I read it on the Internet so I know it’s true.”
“Obviously,” she said, her laughter transforming to a sigh of pleasure as Cole made quick work of her clothes before pulling away to strip off his tee shirt and jeans.
Soon they were skin to skin, his chest pressed tight to hers as he urged her legs apart and settled between them. Just the feel of his hot length against her thigh was enough to make her wetter, but then she’d been wet half the night. Just standing close to him, smelling his Cole smell, meeting his eyes across the room, and feeling her h
and brush his as they reached into the candy bowl at the same time was foreplay.
In one way or another, they were always making love. When two people were as close as they were, lovemaking didn’t stop when you left the bedroom. It was there in every touch, every conversation, every moment of shared happiness that made a relationship into a union that nothing could break. Into a marriage.
Cole was her soul mate, so much a part of her she doubted she’d be able to cut him out of her heart even if she tried, and suddenly it seemed silly to say no when every part of her had already said yes.
“I’ve changed my mind,” she whispered as he began to move inside her, holding her gaze as he stroked deeper with every thrust, tightening the need fisting low in her body. “Let’s get married.”
His breath rushed out over her kiss-dampened lips. “We don’t have to. If you’re not ready. I don’t need anything but you, sweetness. Never have, never will.”
“And that’s why I want to say yes,” she said, tears of happiness filling her eyes. “I want to be your wife. I want to be Layla Lawson, the way I should have been all along.”
“Thank God,” Cole sighed, his own eyes beginning to shine. “I’m so fucking glad. I didn’t want to put that ring back in the box. I don’t want it anywhere but on your finger.”
“Where it’s going to stay,” she promised. “Forever.”
“I love you.” He kissed her again, the kind of kiss that made every cell in her body light up. “I feel like the luckiest man in the world.”
And for the rest of the night, he set about proving it until Layla had come so many times she was limp with pleasure and passed out the moment her cheek came to rest on his chest.
And when she woke the next morning, her love for Cole was a little deeper, a little stronger, the way it was every morning she woke in his arms. And it was beautiful and real and a love her heart would never surrender.
***
The End
Keep reading for a sneak peek of
ROPES AND REVENGE, Book 6, John and Percy’s story.
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A letter from the Author
Tell me your favorite part!
Dear reader,
I hope you enjoyed CHAPS AND CHANCE and will take a moment to leave a review (even a sentence or two is great!) and tell me your favorite part of the story! I love reading your thoughts so much and reviews help other readers discover the series.
The Lonesome Point books mean so much to me, and I’m thrilled to share these stories of sexy Texas cowboys and the women tough enough to tame them with all of you. I treasure every email I receive and hope to have more to add to my collection in the coming months as the rest of the series releases.
If you’d like to chat about your reading experience please drop me a line at [email protected]. You can also catch me on Facebook (my favorite place to hang out with readers) https://www.facebook.com/JessieEvansRomance, or sign up for my newsletter so you’ll never miss out on a new release or giveaway again http://bit.ly/1swaXYv.
Wishing you many good reads, and thank you for the chance to tell you stories,
Jessie Evans
More about the author:
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Jessie Evans, gave up a career as an international woman of mystery to write the sexy, contemporary romances she loves to read.
She's married to the man of her dreams, and together they're raising a few adorable, mischievous children in a cottage in the jungle. She grew up in rural Arkansas, spending summers running wild, being chewed by chiggers, and now appreciates her home in a chigger-free part of the world even more.
When she's not writing, Jessie enjoys playing her dulcimer (badly), sewing the worlds ugliest quilts to give to her friends, going for bike rides with her house full of boys, and drifting in and out on the waves, feeling thankful for sun, surf, and lovely people to share them with.
Learn more at www.jessieevansauthor.com
More From Jessie Evans
Lonesome Point, Texas
LEATHER AND LACE
SADDLES AND SIN
DIAMONDS AND DUST
12 Dates of Christmas: A Lonesome Point Holiday Novella
GLITTER AND GRIT
Sunny With a Chance of True Love: The Ballad of Ugly Ross
CHAPS AND CHANCE
ROPES AND REVENGE
Always a Bridesmaid
BETTING ON YOU
KEEPING YOU
WILD FOR YOU
TAKING YOU (series-ending novella)
Fire and Icing
MELT WITH YOU
HOT FOR YOU
SWEET TO YOU
SAVING YOU (series-ending novella)
Escape to You Novellas
AUDITIONING YOU
DARING YOU
Edgy, New Adult Reads written as J. Evans
ONE WILD NIGHT-Wild Rush One
THIS WICKED RUSH-Wild Rush Two
ONE PERFECT LOVE- Wild Rush Three
THIS SWEET ESCAPE-Wild Rush Four (Danny and Sam’s story)
ONE BEAUTIFUL REVENGE-Wild Rush Five (Danny and Sam’s conclusion)
THE PROTECTOR
A Kindle Worlds novella set in the world of
H.M. Ward’s The Arrangement
Sneak Peek of Ropes and Revenge
Please enjoy this sneak peek of Lonesome Point, Book 6,
ROPES AND REVENGE, releasing April 14th, 2015
PROLOGUE
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
-Robert Frost
John Lawson woke up flat on his back in a field of gently waving golden wheat. Above him, a warm summer sun glowed in a robin’s egg blue sky, and all around his sprawled body sun-drunk insects hummed a sleepy tune. A gentle breeze caressed his face and the pungent scent of heavy, late summer flowers drifted to his nose.
For the first time in longer than he could remember, he felt relaxed, peaceful, and happy. So happy, he couldn’t seem to get worked up about the fact that he didn’t know where he was or how he’d gotten here.
If he’d been a different man, he might have smiled, closed his eyes, and let the warm sun lull him back to sleep. But John Lawson didn’t go with the flow or let the day take him. He was the strong, grounded, no-nonsense, keep-your-shit together type.
Since his father had died, he’d been the bedrock of his family, the person his mother and two younger brothers could turn to when they needed a shoulder to cry on or someone to help them calm down and see sense. John had talked his hot-headed brother Cole out of trouble more times than he could count and had coaxed his lovesick brother Bubba back from the emotional ledge when his first girlfriend broke his deep-loving heart, all while quietly tending his own garden without the need of special attention from the people he loved.
That was simply the man he was. He was a port in the storm; a calm, steady pair of arms to cling to when chaos swept into a life, setting the most carefully laid plans to waste.
And then suddenly, everything had changed.
He had changed, though for the life of him, right now, he couldn’t remember why.
Something had happened…something bad…
He rubbed at the tops of his eyes, but his thoughts didn’t clear and the feeling of unease whispering across his skin only grew worse. He didn’t know where he was or what he was hiding from in this golden field, but it was past time to get moving and head back home. There were cattle to tend to and people depending on him and he couldn’t afford to waste an afternoon lying flat on his back.
He rolled over on the cool, hard-packed earth, preparing to jump to his feet, but froze when he saw the woman in a yellow sundress lying on the ground beside him.
“Where did you come from?” he said
, a laugh rumbling through his chest. “You snuck up on me.”
Lily grinned, transforming her cute, freckled face into a thing of beauty. “I’m a sneaky one.” She squinched one eye closed. “Gotta keep both eyes on me, tough guy.”
“Not a problem.” John reached out, curling one arm around his wife’s waist and drawing her closer. Just that innocent touch was enough to make his entire body ache and chest feel like a pressure cooker slow-roasting his heart.
“I’ve missed you, Freckles,” he said, his throat tight as he leaned down to press a gentle kiss to Lily’s lips. He didn’t know why they’d been apart, but it felt like ages since he’d seen her smile, felt her warm in his arms, tasted the sweet grass and molasses taste of his favorite person in the world.
God, she tasted good. Perfect. Like something too pure and wonderful to be real.
But she was real, and they were going to find their way back home together. Now that his wife was in his arms, anything seemed possible.
“You don’t have to miss me.” She sighed against his lips as her thin arms twined around his neck. “I’m with you every day, babe. I won’t leave until you’re ready.”
John frowned as he pulled back to look down at her face, the face of the only woman he had ever loved. “Well, then you’re never leaving.” His arm tightened around her. “Because I’m never going to be ready. We’re forever, Freckles. I don’t want to find out what kind of man I’d be without you.”
Lily smiled, but sadness tightened the skin around her eyes. “You know what I love most about you?”
Chaps and Chance Page 17