by A. C. Wilson
“Who are we kidding?” She asked herself, but it was said out loud. Colt looked like he was just given a pop quiz in front of the class in his underwear.
“Meg?” He asked, still bemused and he looked to be floundering. She had the upper hand at the moment. If he turned his charm back on her, Megan knew she’d be a goner.
“I have to go.” She stepped back, breaking the lovely connection of his hands on her body.
“Why?” Colt took a half step toward her. “Tell me what you’re thinking?” His silver eyes glinted with hope and a million questions. She swallowed hard, never taking her eyes off his.
“I’m thinking that this can’t go any further.”
“So you’ve thought about our future?” Colt asked, his mouth firming and his chest swelling with a deep breath. Megan felt like a wall of water was coming to crash against her feeble barrier.
“I’m not a one night stand. I won’t be one.”
Colt snared her gaze. “You won’t be one, what?”
She hesitated. She could very well offend him and that’s not what she wanted to do. He tipped his head to side as if to tell her that he was waiting for an answer. “I won’t be one of those girls on the road that show up for a good time and then disappear in the morning. I live here, Colt. I’m not a city girl.” Panic was rising in her chest. She watched those unique eyes as they sparkled with something that made her wary. She suddenly felt like prey to a wolf. Colt was back in control and totally on his game. Damn the man! He stalked closer until he was inches from her. Megan fought the urge to back up, but it wasn’t easy. She felt butterflies fluttering inside her.
“No, you won’t be.” His warm breath caressed her cheek. His low growl slid down every nerve ending and lighting up her desire for him. “I don’t want a city girl.” Acid dripped from his words. She could believe him and if that weren’t enough, he hooked his palm around her waist and pulled her against him. The reminder of his ardor pressed firmly into her. Megan’s chin tipped up so that she looked defiant when she really wasn’t. He chuckled as he slid an index finger along her jaw. “Give me time to show you who I am.”
It wasn’t an awful request. She was more than against walking away from him, but it also meant offering up more of herself than she had in nearly a decade. It was a risk, a big risk. Something in her asked if she could really say no and if she could really turn her back on him. Instantly, she knew the answer without weighing any of the worries. “Okay.”
Colt leaned into her letting his stubble brush along her soft cheek so that his lips met her ear. “You won’t regret it.” If she had had a dollar for every time she had heard that phrase, well, she would have a dollar. A smile twitched at the corners of her mouth. This was going to be the start of something amazing and whether that was good or bad remained to be seen. Colt had been right. She was looking at their future and there was no telling just how it might end. It was a leap of faith, to be sure.
“I certainly hope not.” She leaned back. “I honestly don’t see how this will work though. I don’t fit into your world, Colt.”
He smiled and circled her waist with his arms. It was difficult not to notice how easily she fit there. That circle was made for her. “Don’t be anyone other than yourself, Meg. That’s the girl I want to get to know.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
And so it went for the next week. Colt was funny, charming, and eager to prove that he wasn’t the guy the magazines made him out to be. Megan was even inclined to say that he was re-learning his country boy skills and he didn’t seem so out of place now. They rode horses through the pasture and counted the cattle penned up in the stock yard. Colt was learning the day to day operations of the ranch. Megan watched as pride made him stand taller and smile easier. He allowed the daily triumphs to absorb into him.
It wasn’t just all work either. Colt was true to his word. She wasn’t just a one night stand and to be rather candid, they hadn’t acted on their baser feelings. A blush stole across Megan’s cheeks at the thought of how very much she wanted to be with him, but it wasn’t the right time. There was still no guarantee that they had a future and if she let this one piece of her go to him, then she really would be no more than she claimed she wouldn’t be that night in the kitchen. Colt respected her for it and didn’t push for more.
“What are you thinking about?” Colt’s warm breath tickled her neck as she leaned against the porch railing. He had snuck up on her again. “Me?” She could hear his grin in his voice. Smiling, Megan turned into him and rested her hips against the wood railing.
“Us.” She waited to see what the reply would do and Colt’s smile only brightened.
“Really? Well, I hope they are good things.”
She nodded, leaning slightly into his chest. “Of course.”
“Good. Nora and Drew will be here in the morning. I can’t wait for you to meet my boy.” Colt’s fatherly pride ran deep. It warmed her heart to see him so excited and it also sent goosebumps along her arms at meeting Nora. It was clear from Colt’s mentioning Drew’s mother that the woman was so much more than that to him. Megan wasn’t sure she could compete with such admiration and tenderness.
“He will love being here with you. Do you want me to leave Zip for Drew?” Megan tried hard not to crumple with the weight of hesitancy and jealousy. It was jealousy, to be sure. She had never met Nora, but she wanted to dislike the woman on principle. It wasn’t fair obviously, but there it was.
Colt tilted his head to the side, his handsome face contorted with confusion. “Leave Zip? You’ll be here too.”
“I’m moving into my house tomorrow. Toby made sure it was ready or as ready as it will be until I can find a handyman who knows what he is doing.” Megan tried to make light of the situation, but it was clear Colt thought it was a horrific idea.
“No, Meg, you can’t go. I want you here with us. You promised me time.” His silver eyes glinted with some anger and hurt. Megan regretted both.
“It’s been a week and I love who you are, Colt.” She swallowed, trying to find the right words. Her heart was pounding in her chest. “What would people think if I stayed here with your son? It wouldn’t look good.” Megan slipped from between him and the railing. Finally free she tried to make him understand. “This is just a sojourn, a vacation and then it will be over. I have to live here and you will leave. We both know this.”
Colt shook his head, dislodging a strand of dark hair into his eyes. “I want to stay here with you and if I have to leave, I want you to come with me.” He stepped toward her, his hands outstretched. “I want us.”
“That’s a beautiful dream, Colt.” She lowered her eyes and pressed her lips together. “Can you honestly say that you would give up your career and all those that depend on you for me?” She knew he couldn’t. He took his responsibility seriously and she loved that about him. He shook his head slowly, his chin jutted forward as if wanting to argue. “I couldn’t ask you to do it. I won’t ask you to do it.”
“I will find a way to make this work.” Colt gestured between them and Megan would be damned if she didn’t admit that he was downright sexy! “The moment I saw you in that church, I knew you were something special.” He crossed the space between them and she let him take her into his arms. She didn’t want to fight him. She wanted this too. “I want you to stay here with me. But I understand why if you choose not to do it.”
Megan listened to the beating of his heart and closed her eyes to better hear her own. If she weren’t careful, Colt Cavanaugh would have her traipsing across the country after him. “Tonight. I’ll stay tonight and decide tomorrow.” She looked up at him and saw the shadow of his smile. He lowered his head to kiss her and she let him carry her away.
***
Colt felt like he had been in a mixer for the last week and it was blending all of his wants and needs together. He sat on the rocker on the porch with his cup of coffee. Megan was the reason for all of his internal and external chaos. That beautiful, feisty, ch
arming, and frustrating woman was the soul his heart craved. She was his future and if he were very, very lucky she would be his forever too. The force of that epiphany took his breath. He hadn’t been so intoxicated by a woman since he was with Nora.
Nora. He smiled at the memories they shared together. They shared an incredible little boy too. There was a difference between Megan and Nora though. Megan wanted him to love her. Nora had been too busy shutting him out and he had come to understand it now. It wasn’t their happily ever after that he craved. Megan was definitely his other half.
Taking a sip of his coffee, Colt heard his phone ring from his front pocket. He grimaced when he saw who was calling.
“Rod.” His manager’s voice was the last he wanted to hear.
“Good morning, Colt. I haven’t woke you, have I?”
Colt rolled his eyes skyward. “No, you didn’t.”
“Oh good! Well I just was in touch with Adam Shockley and he wants to know how soon he can plan to release the hits album.”
Colt wanted to swear up a storm and in his haste nearly spilled his coffee all over his lap. “Rod, we had this discussion before the tour ended.”
“I know we did, but this is the label head of On The Fly. You don’t say no to Adam Shockley.” Rod’s voice went up an octave and for a split second Colt regretted putting his manager in this position. Then he reiterated that Rod worked for him and this was not what he wanted.
“Rod, you’ll have a decision in two weeks.” Colt heard a board creak behind him.
“You do know you really don’t have a choice in this? Two weeks will not make a difference in what the answer should be.” Rod was irritated and he was starting to get too bold with his heavy-handedness. Colt growled and pulled the phone from his ear for a second. He took a deep breath and brought the phone back to his mouth.
“Tell Adam Shockley to call me directly next time. Our business association is over, Rod.” He hung up the phone.
“You okay?” Megan’s voice washed over him from her position near the door. Colt closed his eyes and lowered his head. He had to get ahead of this disaster that could steam roll him. He just had no idea how to do that.
“Yeah, I’m okay.” Colt turned to her and let her calm wash over him. Even with her red hair pinned up, minimal make-up, a tank top and jeans, Megan projected the fire that was always inside her. She was genuine. “Beat might be right.” He answered her silent question with the tip of her head.
“Beat?”
“My friend and original drummer to the Fleet Street. He left to be with his family and he mentioned that I might not have any other choice but to retire from this career.”
“Why would you want to do that?” She asked, leaning her shoulder into the door jamb. Colt tossed his coffee out into the bushes and set his cup on the railing. He crossed his arms to keep from feeling so vulnerable.
“I don’t want to make a greatest hits album for my label. I think I have too much to create before I do it.”
Megan shrugged. “I’ve heard your music. You have amazing songs. There’s every reason that you’ll have more, but why not give them what they want for now?”
“It isn’t time or at least I didn’t think so before now.” Colt let out a deep breath. His anxiety hadn’t gone with it though. He felt Megan’s eyes on him.
“Why would you walk away from it all now?”
Colt looked up at her, his eyes pinning her to the spot and he inwardly smiled when she wiggled slightly. “Are you sure you want to know that answer?”
The silence was broken by the sound of a vehicle coming along the driveway. Colt looked to see a truck with South Dakota plates pulling in. Megan moved forward to the stairs and he stepped up behind her. He lowered his mouth to her ear as they waited for the truck to stop and deposit Drew. He took a deep breath and spoke softly.
“I want a family.” His fingertips brushed the sides of her hips and if that wasn’t suggestive enough, he pressed a kiss to her neck. The shiver that greeted his boldness made him grin. The time for their conversation was at an end as Drew threw open the truck door and barreled in Colt’s direction.
“Dad!” Drew shouted as he climbed the stairs and threw his arms around Colt’s waist.
“Hey buddy!” They laughed and Megan moved to the side to allow the requisite rough housing to commence. Colt threw Drew up over his shoulder and shook the boy.
“Hi, I’m Nora.” Colt’s attention flickered to the woman before him. Nora raised her hand to shake Megan’s. True to nature, Nora was friendly, warm and trying to make Megan feel at ease. He couldn’t read Meg’s emotions as a wall came up. He made a mental note to ask her about it. There was much to talk about later.
CHAPTER NINE
Megan couldn’t believe how quickly Colt’s son passed out that night after his arrival. Drew was Colt’s shadow and she admired the two of them whispering, plotting, and planning the next two weeks together. It was exactly as a father and son should be. She walked into the kitchen for something to drink and went to the fridge. She looked around the large room and smiled to herself. She had cooked dinner and the boys had offered to do up the dishes. It was sweet, even though she could have easily loaded them into the dish washer herself. Opening the door, Megan reached inside and pulled out a beer. Her hand was clasped around the long neck of the glass bottle and her mind seemed to just go blank. She hadn’t had a drink in a really long time and had only stocked the beer for Colt.
“Ah, what the heck!” She mumbled to herself and closed the door. Maybe it would help her relax since she felt like she was wrapped tighter than a spring. Her hand automatically twisted the cap off the top and she tossed it into the trash bin.
Something was different today. The world was spinning as per usual, but the fluttering in her stomach told her that nothing was ever going to be the same as it was when she woke up this morning. Leaning her hip into the countertop, Megan closed her eyes and remembered the warmth of Colt’s words against her ear.
I want a family.
A cynical side of her questioned his sincerity. Was he telling her the truth or just what the deepest, truest part of her wanted to believe? She had wanted to be content with her life as it was and knew that she should be, but there was no denying that something had always been missing. It was insane to think that Colt was that something. Holding the beer up to her lips, Megan took a short drink. Her tongue didn’t register the taste or how it felt to swallow. So absorbed in her thoughts, Megan wasn’t aware that someone else was in the kitchen with her. Someone that was guilty of holding her hostage with said thoughts.
“Mind if I join you?” Colt’s low request brought Megan’s heart into her throat. Startled, her head whipped around to find him leaning against the doorway.
“It’s your house.” Mentally she cursed herself for saying something so obvious. Since the man had come around, her witty vocabulary gone missing.
“I’d like to think it could be more than that.” Colt lowered his eyes to the beer in her hand. A dark brow raised in question as he walked to the fridge. “I didn’t know you liked beer.”
Megan looked at the bottle in her hand and set it on the counter. She shook her head. “I don’t really.”
Colt popped the top off his drink and tossed it into the trash. She watched in a daze as he raised the glass to his lips, pressing it against them and then, she noted how his throat moved as he swallowed the liquid. She was acutely aware of how her body was reacting to him as every nerve and aching place begged for his touch.
“You shouldn’t look at me like that.” Colt’s voice broke into her clouded brain. She struggled to get a clear vision of him.
“Look at you like what?” She mumbled, fighting every instinct in her body to keep from throwing herself into his arms and against that strong, muscular chest. Colt growled. More circuits went haywire.
“Like you want to come over here and make us both forget our names.” The steamy, gruffness of his voice caused her to let out a sh
aky breath and lean against the counter for support. Her knees were fixing to go rogue on her. Colt took another drink of his beer, no doubt giving her time to tamp down the desire that was flooding her veins. It wasn’t working.
“I’m not the same person as I was before you came.” She offered, wetting her lips with her tongue. Colt’s eyes flashed like polished chrome at her movement. She wasn’t trying to be seductive, but darn it, it was happening on its own. “My name is irrelevant.”
Colt moved a couple of steps in her direction and Megan’s knees shook more. Her hand clasped the corner of the counter. “I don’t ever want to be the same, if I can call you mine.”
They both looked at each other with the deafening silence and blurred surroundings fading into the background. Nothing existed outside of them and what was happening here. Megan was having a hard time convincing herself that Colt could be a one hit wonder in her romantic life. Nothing had ever felt this way before and she was loathed to think that it might never do so again. What would she pay for one glittering night in the arms of Colt Cavanaugh?
Colt Cavanaugh. That was the trouble with names. They labeled and categorized a person to their own spot in life. All she knew of Colt was that he was a big Country music singer who had made his comfortable life being every woman’s fantasy and every man’s wingman. She also knows that he is a father and darn good one. Why couldn’t he be a good husband and lover as well? Her eyes closed on the mental assault.
His boots were coming in her direction. The sound of his footsteps made her close her eyes more tightly and lean her weight into the counter. His fingertips were chilly as they slid up her forearms to her shoulders and then along her cheeks. The soft warmth of his lips pressing into hers stole her breath. Her thoughts disintegrated on contact. Colt pressed the length of his body into hers, molding them together just as she knew they might. His palms cupped her cheeks, tipping her head so that his tongue could swipe across the seam of her lips and cajole his entry inside. It worked. Megan barely registered the taste of the beer as they found a powerful cadence. They were intoxicating and she loved the sweet high that she was riding.