Stone Cold Surrender (28 page)

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Authors: Brenda Jackson

Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #General, #Contemporary, #Arts&Photography

BOOK: Stone Cold Surrender
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while
growing
up,
he
and
his
brothers
and
cousins
would

visit
this
area
every
summer
to
spend
time
with
their
Uncle
Corey.
It
was
a
guy
thing,
which
meant
Delaney
was
never
included
in
those
summer
retreats.
She
usually
came
to

Montana
during
her
school’s
spring
breaks.
Stone
also

shared
with
her
the
little
escapades
the
eleven

Westmoreland
boys
and
McKinnon
and
his
three
brothers
had
gotten
into.
He
had
made
her
smile,
chuckle
and
even
laugh
a
few
times,
and
for
a
little
while
she
had
forgotten
the
reason
she
had
come
to
Montana
in
the
first
place.
At

dinner
she
had
met
Morning
Star
and
Martin’s
other
three
sons,
who
were
younger
than
McKinnon,
but
who
had
also
inherited
their
mother’s
Blackfoot
coloring,
instead
of
the

light
complexion
of
their
Caucasian
father.

“You
okay?”
Stone
asked
quietly,
coming
to
stand
beside
her.

She
tipped
her
head
to
look
up
at
him.
When
he
placed
his
arms
around
her
shoulders
as
if
to
ward
off
the
chill
in
the
air,
she
became
very
aware
of
how
male
he
was.
And
the
nice
thing
about
it
was
that
he
didn’t
flaunt
it.
In
fact
he

seemed
totally
unaware
of
the
sensuality
oozing
from
him.
“Yes,
I’m
fine.
Dinner
was
wonderful,
wasn’t
it?”

“Yes.
Mrs.
Quinn
always
knew
how
to
cook
and
her
apple
pie
has
always
been
my
favorite,”
he
answered.

Madison
grinned
when
she
remembered
the
number
of

slices
he’d
eaten
and
said,
“Yeah,
I
could
tell.”
She
then

thought
of
something.
“They
didn’t
say
a
lot
about
your
uncle
at
dinner.”
She
felt
his
fingers
inch
upward
to
caress
the

side
of
her
neck,
sending
a
glimmer
of
heat
through
her.

“There
wasn’t
much
to
say.
They
know
the
man
Uncle
Corey
is
and
know
that
your
mother
isn’t
in
any
danger.”

She
shot
him
a
quick
look.
“I
know
she
isn’t
in
any
danger
with
him,
Stone.
I
just
don’t
understand
what’s
going
on.
And
I’m
beginning
to
understand
a
bit
about
instant

attraction
if
that’s
what
it
was,
but
still
I
have
to
talk
to
her
anyway.”

“I
understand,”
he
said,
giving
her
shoulders
a
quick
squeeze.

A
part
of
Madison
wondered
if
he
did
understand
when
there
were
times
when
she
didn’t.

“Tell
me
about
your
parents,
Madison.”

His
question
caught
her
off
guard.
“My
parents?”

“Yes.
What
sort
of
marriage
did
they
have?”

She
frowned,
not
sure
why
he
was
asking
and
whether
or
not
she
was
willing
to
disclose
any
details
of
her
parents’
relationship
as
she
had
seen
it.
But
this
was
Stone.
He
had
stopped
being
a
stranger
to
her
that
first
day
on
the
plane

and
she
figured
there
must
be
a
reason
that
he
wanted
to
know.
“It
was
nothing
like
the
Quinns’
marriage,
that’s
for
sure,”
she
said
in
a
rush.

The
sound
of
his
chuckle
filled
the
night
air.
“It
wasn’t?”

She
leaned
back
and
looked
up
at
him
as
she
thought
of
the
two
adults
with
four
grown
sons.
Even
with
visitors

sitting
at
the
dinner
table
with
their
sons,
they
still

exchanged
smiles
filled
with
over
thirty
years
of
intimacies.
“No,
it
wasn’t.
Is
your
parents’
marriage
like
theirs?”

Stone
looked
down
at
her
and
she
could
actually
see
the

smile
that
touched
both
corners
of
his
mouth.
“Umm,
pretty
much.
I’m
proud
of
the
fact
that
my
parents
have
shared
a

long
marriage,
but
even
prouder
that
they
are
still
very
much
in
love
after
nearly
forty
years.”

He
shifted
his
body
to
lean
against
the
porch
rail
and
took
her
with
him,
letting
her
hip
rest
along
the
strength
of
his.
“They
claim
it
was
love
at
first
sight
after
meeting
one

weekend
at
a
church
function.
Within
two
weeks
they
were
married.”

He
decided
not
to
tell
her
that
his
parents’
had
predicted

that
their
six
children
would
also
find
love
that
way—at
first
sight.
So
far
Delaney
claimed
that’s
how
it
had
been
for
her
and
Jamal,
although
realizing
it
had
been
the
tough
part
for
her,
as
well
as
for
Jamal.
And
everyone
knew
the
moment

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