She struck him again. This time he caught her fist, brought it to his mouth and opened her palm.
He placed a kiss in the center, keeping his gaze on hers the entire time.
“Kisses, not hits,” he said softly, as though he were talking to a child, much the same way she would to one of her young patients, fighting to keep the smile from his face.
“Butthead,” she said and laughed. “That wasn’t the only thing I missed.”
He felt a smile tug the corner of his mouth. Was his recalcitrant woman trying to tell him something?
She drew in a deep breath, and as though it was the hardest thing to do, then looked him in the eyes. She literally squared her shoulders.
Canton didn’t know if he should be happy...or concerned. He hoped it was the former and prayed to God it wasn’t something he didn’t want to hear.
The last few weeks they’d begun to build a rapport so strong, he wondered if she realized how easy she had become with him, how much she had begun to open up to him.
“I missed you. When I left that night seven years ago, a part of me left...because I was afraid.”
The admission wasn’t what he’d expected to hear.
Canton put all joking aside and sat down in her desk chair, pulling her down with him, stealing her protest with a short, hot kiss.
“Continue,” he said, once he’d released her mouth.
She drew in a deep breath and began. “My folks are hardworking people. Although my mom went to college, she didn’t finish; she met my father before she did, they got married...and well, to the day, nine months later I was born,” she began with a small laugh.
Canton listened to her as she opened up about her family, not wanting to speak in case she lost her nerve and stopped. He silently encouraged her to continue.
“The night I met you, it seemed like everything changed for me. I had known of you, your family,” she said. “I mean, who didn’t know about the Wildes? But that was unlike anything that had ever happened to me. The way we seemed to connect from the first...well, it scared me. And after we made love, well...”
As her voice trailed off, Canton didn’t press it. That night had seemed just as magical to him as it had to her. He didn’t know how or if he should share with her just how much it and she had meant to him.
He allowed her to continue.
“The next morning, when I woke up...in, um, the hotel, well, I felt cheap. I knew your rep.” She laughed without humor. “Everyone did. And to be honest with you, I thought I was just a onetime deal with you. That it would be easier for you, and me, if I was gone before you woke up. So I left. A part of me wanted you to come charging after me,” she went on, shaking her head. “But...well, when you didn’t, I figured I was right and you weren’t interested. I graduated a couple weeks later and left for medical school.”
Canton remembered the anger he felt when he realized that not only had she left, she hadn’t even said goodbye to him. In his youthful, righteous anger, he let her go. Thought she’d come back.
By the time he realized she wasn’t, she was no longer in Cheyenne.
For long moments she sat in his lap, listening to his heart as it beat steadily against her ear, remembering that time long ago.
She didn’t know what had come over her, but the closer they’d become, the more she wanted—needed—him to know how much he’d affected her that night. Why she’d left and never returned.
“So, why did you leave?” He got to the heart of the matter with the simple question.
“Fear.” The answer was as bold as it was concise. She sighed. He wrapped his arms around her and she leaned into his embrace.
“Fear that what I felt wasn’t real. Fear that if it was real, you didn’t feel the same.”
He placed his chin on the top of her head as the memories flooded both of them.
“You know, I felt the same way.”
She leaned her head back far enough to look up into his handsome face.
“I had never felt the way I did that night. It was like there was no one in the world but the two of us. From the moment I laid eyes on you to the moment we fell asleep in each other’s arms. I knew it was different. I guess I was a little scared, too,” he said, the admission surprising her anew.
“You? Why?”
“Tiber and I had the responsibility of the family on our shoulders with Dad’s death,” he began and she nodded. She, like everyone in the community, was saddened by the death of the Wilde patriarch, although everyone knew of his love for smoking his favorite cigars; he’d been diagnosed with cancer and months later it had spread throughout his body.
“With that, not only did we have the company to manage, we had Brick and Riley as well. And those two...” He allowed the sentence to dangle and she giggled lightly, as she’d heard the antics of the two youngest Wildes growing up, as well as from Canton the past few weeks.
She felt his pride as he spoke of his siblings. “That and a few personal things had happened that threw me, baby. To be honest with you, I was still sorting through some issues that rocked my world, even as Tiber and I had to hold it together for the family.”
“So...had I stuck around, then what?” she asked after a long pause.
He shrugged and lifted her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes. He gazed down at her. “Oh, who knows...maybe nine months later we would have been welcoming a little Wilde of our own into the world.”
His reply brought a swift hiss of what was a combination of pain and desire for what might have been from Naomi.
He knew she was using the incident of her parents as a factor on their own situation, but the thought of seeing a little brown baby with his bright blue eyes staring at them was so real, so...vivid.
For a moment, the words seemed to affect Canton. A flare of emotion shone big and bright in his eyes. To recognize the truth of his emotions. Even though neither one of them had yet said those three important words to each other.
“So...what do we do now?” she asked in a low voice.
He stroked a hand over her curls, and she lay closer against his chest.
“We keep doing what we’re doing now.” He surprised himself with his answer, not for what he said but the wealth of emotions that lay beyond the words.
Chapter 16
“Well...how do I look?” Naomi performed a perfect pirouette for her parents, holding the ends of her gown out with both hands, one leg extended, posing for full effect.
“Aww, look at my baby girl. You look stunning, sweetheart!”
As soon as she came into the living area, both of her parents were there, as she knew they would be, sitting on the sofa together, talking and watching television nonchalantly.
But Naomi knew the real deal; they were not only waiting for her to come out so they could ooh and aah over her, but also they were waiting for Canton to arrive and pick her up for the evening event. Particularly her father, she knew.
Naomi was the slightest bit nervous about her dad’s meeting Canton. She was nervous for two distinct reasons, each reason associated with each man.
For Canton, she had no clue how he would act around her father, what he would say. She doubted he would mention their arrangement, no way on earth! In fact, she had all but forgotten their agreement. She was confident he felt the same.
No, she was worried for a whole different reason. Ever since the day she’d gone to his job, their relationship seemed to have grown. Although it had only been less than a week, she felt the changes. The nuances small, but easy for her to see and feel.
Which was the other reason she was nervous about Canton coming. Although they’d been inseparable as much as possible, being in the other’s company from the moment she’d come back to town, Canton had yet to really come into contact with or formally be introduced to her parents.
He’d come by one day to surprise her and take her out on one of the Wilde oil rigs. The drive was long, so her mother had packed them a snack. Embarrassed the slightest bi
t, she’d opened her mouth to tell her mother they were fine. And promptly shut it when Canton greedily rubbed his hands together like a villain in a cheesy action film and thanked her.
With a laugh, his mother had smiled, hugely, the light lines that scored her mouth only making her prettier.
Just like that, Canton had gotten her blessing.
Her mother had given him her approval silently, winking at Naomi as she walked out the door with him, hand in hand. When she mouthed “Ooh, yes, ma’am!” Naomi tried to quell her giggle. Whenever her mother liked something or someone...anything really, her standard reply was a drawn out, “Ooh, yes, ma’am!”
Her father had been out on his land working and had missed Canton’s visit. But Naomi doubted Canton would get his approval so easily. Not only because she was his only child, but she worried that her father would be embarrassed because of their financial situation.
She hadn’t really discussed anything further with her parents, only assured them that all was going to be okay.
For the first time in a long time, she believed that herself.
“Baby, you look absolutely beautiful.” Her father spoke and she turned toward him; her big grin faltered at the look in his light gray eyes.
Because she had her mother’s dark-toned complexion, most people would automatically say she favored her mother, but in actuality, it was her father Naomi resembled more.
One of things she’d definitely inherited from her father was the way he’d frown and bite on his bottom lip when he was either lost in thought or worrying.
Right now he was biting on his lip so hard, she thought he’d chew it off.
He turned to her mother. “Baby, would you mind getting me a refill on my drink? I want to talk to Ne Ne,” he said, and her mother nodded her head and placed a hand over Dean McBride’s lightly tanned brown hand and squeezed.
“Of course, darling. In fact, if it can wait a second, I think I left something in the bedroom. I’m going to grab it real quick.” He nodded, and with a wink she left Naomi and her father alone.
“Dad?” she asked, her frown mirroring his. He smiled and held out a hand to his daughter for her to take.
“Baby, come and sit down for a minute. I need to tell you something. Something that’s long overdue,” he began and a ball of anxiety pitted her stomach.
“It’s not all that bad. Get that nauseous look off your face, baby girl,” he replied gruffly, kissing her cheek as she sat down near him on the sofa.
“What is it, Daddy?” she asked, staring into her father’s light gray eyes. Despite his assurance, worry and fear were beginning to make her sick.
“It’s about the money. Where it went, and why we couldn’t pay our taxes,” he began. “Your mother and I started saving up for your college the minute you were born. We never told you that, because, well, by the time we needed the money to send you to school, we had already used it.”
She frowned, not saying a word, just listening to her father’s heavy words.
“Well, to be honest we didn’t use it for ourselves, or you. We used it to help the Carsons,” he said, mentioning a family she’d grown up with in their community. “Around the time a lot of folks were losing their shirts, we were still holding on. Some of our friends weren’t so lucky. The Carsons were one of them. Well, they lost the lien on their house to that company, the one that’s been sneaking around buying up the land ’round here. That Rolling Hills,” he said, spitting the name out.
Naomi wasn’t surprised at anything her father was telling her. He went on to say that he’d lent money to the family to try to pay back the tax lien, but it hadn’t been enough in the end.
Not only had the Carsons lost their small ranch, they’d lost all of their money, along with the money the McBrides had lent them, and were unable to pay it back in time for Naomi to go to college.
“Daddy, I don’t understand. How did you and Momma pay for my school, then?” Confused light brown eyes met saddened gray eyes. Without a word she understood; it was all there for her to see.
Her parents hadn’t been able to afford to send her to school, and despite the scholarships, there had been a large amount they needed to pay. Medical school wasn’t cheap. But she hadn’t known. Although they never discussed it with her, she’d always assumed they had a college fund for her.
“We got out a loan. The next year, and a few years after that, well, the money got leaner, and we missed a few payments on the taxes. And, well...” He allowed his sentence to dangle, but there was no need for him to say anything more. Naomi easily filled in the rest.
“Oh, Daddy...why didn’t you tell me?” she asked and reached out her arms to hug her father, love and understanding making tears burn her eyes.
The sacrifices her parents made for her, the love they shared, was something she would always cherish.
“It’s all going to be okay, Dad, wait and see. We got this,” she said.
“Yeah, we got this, baby girl,” he replied. She laughed through the burn of tears when he offered his closed hand for a fist bump.
She grabbed him and hugged him, pouring all the love she had for her father into her tight embrace.
* * *
When Canton arrived at her parents’ home to pick her up, she proudly introduced her father to him.
She could barely keep her eyes off her man; he was so fine, so resplendent in his tux, she felt everything feminine in her leap, jump and tingle at the sight of him.
His tux fit him as though it had been custom-made.
Actually, she realized it was. Tall and broad-shouldered, he was the epitome of what a man should look like wearing a tuxedo. The expensive fabric fell perfectly on his lean, muscular form; the nontraditional black shirt he wore beneath it was a perfect foil against his light-colored hair and eyes.
She noted her mother’s smile and blushed, caught staring at Canton as though he was the last drumstick at a Thanksgiving meal.
And just as expected, each man sized up the other; Canton because he knew the love the small family held for one another was strong. He knew that if Dean McBride didn’t think he was worthy of his only child’s love, he’d have a hell of a time taking their relationship to the next level.
As far as Naomi’s father, he scrutinized Canton, grilled him on what his family was doing, how they were helping the community, and barely, just barely, refrained from asking what Naomi knew was burning a hole in his tongue to ask.
The same question all of their neighbors wanted to know...what were the Wildes’ plans with Rolling Hills?
The fact that he refrained from asking point-blank was a relief to Naomi. Finally the two left and he escorted her to his vehicle. Expecting the truck, she was surprised to see the low-slung, late-model silver Jaguar in her parents’ driveway.
Naomi knew her parents were watching them from the window of the den.
She knew Canton was just as aware of their regard.
He opened the door for her. Before he helped her into the low vehicle, he turned her into his arms.
“God, woman, could you be any more beautiful? You are the beginning to my end,” he told her, a catch in his voice as his gaze roamed her face. She gasped at the incredible words, a wealth of emotion springing forth, catching her off guard.
Before she could think of a suitable retort, he kissed her as though he would never see her again. The kiss was a statement to her parents.
She felt it, knew exactly what statement her Wilde man was giving.
When he released her, she tried as hard as she could to keep the smile from her face. To no avail.
“Are you ready to knock ’em dead, baby?” he asked, chuckling when she could only mutely nod her head up and down, still reeling from the romantic words he had spoken to her moments before.
* * *
The moment they entered the ballroom at the Grand Hyatt, the place where the cocktail party was being held, Naomi felt nauseous.
It wasn’t the grandness of the event or that
she felt as though she didn’t belong. Instead, it was the man who’d rushed to greet them as soon as they’d entered: Cyrus White.
Immediately he’d begun fawning over Canton, barely listening as he introduced Naomi, in such a rush to “speak to my Wilde man.”
Naomi barely, just barely, suppressed a shudder.
She frowned at his choice of words, caught Canton’s glance and saw his reaction as well. Good. It wasn’t just her. Cyrus White was definitely acting too familiar with Canton.
She placed a faux smile on her face and when Canton grabbed her hand, placing it within his big warm clasp, and winked down at her, all of Naomi’s irritation vanished as though it never were. The connection with him was so real. Just like her family, she felt deep down in her soul that he had her back.
She grinned up at him and giggled a little when her wink made him stumble. He leaned down, brushed his mouth against the side of her ear—sending goose bumps over her skin in the process—and threatened her.
“If you insist on teasing me, be warned, you’ll give me no choice but to find a dark corner somewhere and show you what happens when big girls wanna act like little girls...and tease big boys.”
This time it was her turn to stumble just the slightest bit, at both the hot warning and the subtle swat on her backside he gave her. He gave her a concerned, angelic smile and helped her stay steady on her feet, asking if she was okay for those listening, the look in his bright blue eyes anything but saintly.
Chapter 17
Naomi moaned into his mouth and drew in a sharp gasp when he shoved her gown down her shoulders, slipping it down farther until it pooled at her ankles, revealing her tiny panties and lacy bra before his hot gaze.
They had barely made it inside his house before they were all over each other.
Naomi had never been so glad for a keyless entry system than she was that night. It allowed him to open the door with a remote device even as he rolled into his own private entry to the Wilde mansion.
He swiftly, expertly parked his car in the attached garage, which also would lead them directly to his own private living quarters, something each of his siblings had in the Wilde mansion as well.
To Claim a Wilde (Wilde In Wyoming Book 6) Page 12