Authors: Heidi Betts

Tags: #Contemporary, #Fiction, #Romance, #General, #Man-Woman Relationships, #Love Stories, #Category, #Ranchers, #Inheritance and Succession, #Divorced Men, #Romance Fiction, #Ranch Managers, #Happy Holidays

Bedded Then Wed (15 page)

BOOK: Bedded Then Wed

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Epilogue

T he Dixie Chicks crooned about wide open spaces over the stereo speakers set up on either side of the big white gazebo in the center of the park, while couples danced and children chased each other through the grass, screaming and laughing. Everyone in Gabriel’s Crossing had come out for the Fourth of July celebration, bringing their best covered dishes and dressing in red, white and blue from head to toe.

Emma smiled at Ida Mae Fisher, who was telling her yet another story about one of her fifteen grandchildren, and nodded at what she hoped were appropriate intervals. But her gaze scanned the crowd, looking for two familiar faces.

Her husband, who had gone off about an hour before to play a game of horseshoes, and her three-month-old daughter, who was being passed around like a bowl of mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving dinner.

It was the baby she was most concerned about. Amelia was so little, still a newborn, practically, and Emma didn’t deal well with having her daughter out of her sight. Never mind that it had been her mother-in-law who’d taken the baby from her arms or that the woman had raised two children of her own.

She was a nervous, overprotective mama, Emma thought. So shoot her.

Two large, masculine hands snaked around her waist, locking in the middle and making her jump. She tilted her head back to find Mitch’s gray eyes and grinning lips only inches away.

“Good lord, you scared me,” she said, giving his arm a light swat.

“Ida Mae,” he drawled in that whiskey-smooth voice that made her spine go soft and tingly, “would you mind if I borrowed this pretty young lady for a minute? She’s needed over by the dessert table.”

The older woman’s eyes crinkled at the corners and she waved them away. “Of course not. You two go on. I’ll finish telling you about little Dwight Allen later.”

“Oh, goodie,” he whispered in her ear, keeping his tall body pressed against her back as he turned with her and walked them both in the other direction. “I’ll be sure to get you back for the rest of that story.”

She chuckled. “That’s all right. I can live without knowing how they got the kernels of corn out of his nose. Thank you for rescuing me, by the way.”

Instead of leading her to the long picnic table weighed down with cakes, cookies, brownies and pies, he steered her away from the festivities toward the field of parked cars.

“You’re welcome. I really did need to talk to you, though.”

Her amusement fled in a rush, replaced by an immediate flicker of fear. She stopped in her tracks and twisted to face him, forcing him to halt, too.

“What’s wrong? Is it Amelia? Is she sick? Did she get hurt?”

“The baby’s fine,” he answered patiently before she could break away and go in search of their daughter herself.

A second later, he’d neatly maneuvered her between two vehicles so that her back was against the passenger side door of his big blue truck. He leaned in and took her mouth, kissing her until her toes curled and her bones began to melt.

When he lifted his head, they were both breathing rapidly and she’d forgotten what she was worried about only a moment before.

“There. Now will you stop worrying about Amelia?”

“I’m a new mother. It’s my job to worry.”

His face split into an understanding smile. “I know. And you’re very good at it.”

She raised one eyebrow.

“At being a mother, I mean,” he added quickly. “Not the worrying part.”

“That’s what I thought you meant,” she said, letting him off the hook with a grin of her own.

“So what do you say we sneak away from the party and go home, where we can be alone for a change and fool around like teenagers. There’s a new litter of kittens up in the loft I’ve been meaning to show you,” he added as extra enticement.

Her blood warmed at memories of their first night together, in the loft of her father’s barn, and at the thought of being alone with him again. Really, truly alone.

Since Amelia’s birth, it seemed like their house had been overrun first by well-wishers dropping in to bring gifts and get a glimpse of the new baby, and then by Emma’s father and Mitch’s parents, who were playing their roles as grandparents to the hilt.

And after everyone else finally left, either Amelia still needed their almost constant attention or they were just plain exhausted.

“I’d love to,” she said.

They’d been at the town picnic three or four hours already. She was more than ready to go home for some peace and quiet. And if she was lucky, maybe a little cuddle time with her husband.

“Let me just collect Amelia and we—”

Mitch covered her mouth with his own and kissed her into silence once again.

Mmm, she rather liked his method of shutting her up. If he ever tried it during an authentic argument, she’d probably have to deck him, but as an every day mode of hushing her up it was certainly something she could get used to.

“When I said ‘alone,’ I meant it,” he explained when he broke off this time. “Just the two of us. My mom’s going to keep Amelia for the night.”

Emma shook her head, already suffering the first twinges of separation anxiety. “Oh, no. I couldn’t—”

“Yes,” he stressed, “you can. You need to. We both need to.”

Before she could protest further, he brought two fingers up to her lips. “Amelia is going to be fine. Mom and Dad are thrilled about having her all to themselves, and you know they’ll take nothing but the best care of her. I already put the car seat and diaper bag in their car, and I made them swear that if they needed anything, they’d call. I’ll keep my cell phone on me at all times,” he added, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. “I may even set it on vibrate.”

“Very funny.” Biting her lip, Emma looked back over her shoulder at the throng of people, not seeing Theresa and the baby, but knowing they were there somewhere.

“Come on,” Mitch cajoled, his hot breath fanning over her cheek and neck as he lowered his head to nibble at her throat. “Say yes.”

Her maternal instincts warred with the lust and need coursing through her veins. Finally, common sense won out.

Amelia would be fine for one night. And she really did miss being alone with Mitch, just the two of them, to do all the naughty, sexy things that had brought them together in the first place.

“All right,” she acquiesced, her fingers curling into the firm muscles of his upper arms as his tongue did wicked things to the lobe of her ear.

She could feel the tilt of his grin in the curve of her shoulder, and then he gave her a tiny nip before straightening to meet her gaze.

“Have I told you yet today that I love you?” he asked.

As always, those three words coming from him made happiness burst inside her.

“Yes, you did. This morning, over breakfast.”

“Hmm.” His eyes narrowed as he studied her. “Well, I’m going to say it again, just in case I’ve done something stupid, or do before the day is out. I love you.”

She chuckled, wrapping her arms around his neck and lifting up on her toes to reach his mouth. “I love you, too. But don’t worry, you’ve been a very smart man lately.”

“The smartest thing I ever did was marry you.”

The conviction in his voice and sincerity shining in his eyes made her want to weep. She tugged him close and kissed him to let him know just how proud she was of the changes he’d made, leaving all of his hang-ups and insecurities over his ex-wife behind him.

And then he was shifting her to the side, opening the truck door and lifting her onto the seat. A second later, he’d rounded the hood and climbed in behind the wheel.

Emma smiled, taking in every detail of her husband’s profile as he drove them home faster than the law allowed.

They’d come so far in one short year, overcome so much pain. But she wouldn’t change a minute of it, because in the end, she’d gotten everything she’d ever wanted.

She’d gotten Mitch.

ISBN: 1-55254-696-9

BEDDED THEN WED

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