Wandering Heart (22 page)

She couldn't
say anymore, her guts hurt, her head hurt, and it was raining so
hard she could hardly breathe, much less talk.

"Angel?" He
took her arms again, this time bringing her close against him. He
held her there for a long moment, until she stopped sobbing.

Pulling out of
his comforting arms, she shouted at him, "I had to know! Are you
satisfied? I've made a complete idiot of myself. Now, will you let
go of me?"

"Know
what?"

"If you and
she, if you . . ."

"She? She who?"
He looked around them as if to make sense of what she was
saying.

"You better go
back inside, Coop. Your company might get lonely."

"What company?"
He growled lowly, pulling on her arm a little harder. When she
didn't answer, he pulled her face up to his. "Who and what are you
talking about?"

"Please, let me
go," she wailed helplessly.

"Not until I
know what this is about."

"You want me to
say it? You want me to humiliate myself further? All
right—Maxine."

He stopped dead
cold, let her go without warning and stared at her for a long
moment. As though he had to assimilate everything she had revealed.
"You thought..."

She turned
away, not able to face him anymore. "Now can I go home?"

"Not on your
life," he bellowed, picking her up and over his shoulder and
hauling her back to the bungalow, this time inside.

The water
dripped from their clothes in large puddles on the floor, but
neither of them seemed to pay any attention. It was again obvious
he had been in bed, the covers were in an disarray. But equally
obvious he hadn't undressed yet. The bed was a mess.

Angela quickly
assessed the situation. Perhaps Maxine had already been here and
gone.

"Now, does it
look like I'm entertaining anyone?" he muttered.

"Well, no, but
. . ."

"But what?" he
demanded angrily. "You think she's in the closet? Go look."

"But you had a
date. Where did—"

"Wrong again.
We had no date." His eyes blazed into hers.

"But
she..."

"Yeah, she had
all kinds of plans. But I didn't. Did it ever occur to you I didn't
want Maxine? What do you think I am, some kind of idiot? Do you
think so little of me that you think I'd make love to you and then
Maxine? I guess you did—you believed what you heard."

She shook her
head in disbelief. Dear God, had she misjudged him again? He'd
never forgive her. How could he? What she insinuated was almost to
the point of dirty. But the mind could play dirty little
tricks.

"I…I'm so
sorry," she began and started running out of the bungalow. She'd
made such a fool of herself she couldn't go on.

She heard him
call her, but she couldn't face the music. Until he pulled her up
by the back of her shirt, and it nearly ripped off her.

"Angel," he
shouted, turning her around slowly, unmindful of her state of
dress, and pulling her into his arms—warm arms that melted all
resistance to flee.

"I'm so sorry,"
she began. Her sobs racked her body.

He shushed her
gently. The rain beat against them, but neither of them seemed to
notice. They just stood there staring at one another, as though it
didn't matter.

"You don't have
to be sorry. It was my fault," he whispered near her ear as he held
her tighter.

"Yours?" she
barely managed, as she looked up and felt his chin nod at her.

His heart was
beating wildly against her own, and she couldn't stop herself from
snuggling closer. He groaned and pulled her head up off his chest,
to look into her tear stained face, a mixture of rain and
tears.

And quite
suddenly his lips were on hers, in frenzy as though it weren't near
enough. Nothing moved but his lips on hers. Over and over he kissed
her. Oblivious to time and place. His kisses went all over her face
and jaw. He held her tight, his big hands warm against her bare
back.

"Come on, I'll
explain, if I can keep my hands off you long enough."

It could have
been a tornado and they wouldn't have known the difference. Moments
later, he held her closely, cajoling her with soft spoken words as
another soft love song drew them together. "Dream lover." They were
both dripping wet, but neither seemed to notice or care, as he
pulled her down to sit beside him on the bed. He held her against
him tight.

"Angel, after
you and I made love, other women were history. I thought you'd know
it instinctively." He paused for a moment then said, "Actually,
before that. Long before that, I knew the 'right' one was out there
for me, waiting." He stopped long enough to cup her face in his big
warm hands, and smiled. "We've had a connection for so long, a
spiritual connection. A deep abiding connection. Something, or
someone, namely you, brought me here. Not a funeral. You. A force
stronger than attraction, stronger than friendship. We were meant
to be together. I knew it. You didn't."

"But you never
said anything," she barely whispered.

"Not directly,
no. I couldn't. You had your life in such order. And, in order for
a connection like that to work, both of us had to feel it. And that
night, well, you just broke up with Greg. I wanted you to have time
to be sure, before I pressured you with my feelings. How could I be
sure you wouldn't go back to him? I wanted more than just your
body. I wanted you!"

"Oh, Coop, what
a fool I've been," she cried, as he brushed the wet curls from her
face.

"No more than I
have. I've been out of my mind tonight wondering where you were.
Don't think I didn't worry, too. When you didn't come home I
thought you might have gone to see Greg. I mean he is leaving
town..."

She smiled a
little. "You're the only man I want."

He looked deep
into her eyes, and smiled gently. "Keeping my hands off you these
last few days has been murder. But I wanted to give you some space.
I wouldn't blame you if you chose Greg. I can see where you might
figure him as the best prospect for husband material. But it made
me so angry to see him with you, and him not claiming you. I can't
imagine being in love like that."

He glanced down
at her, saw her shiver, and went to the closet and brought back a
blanket. He covered them both in it and leaned against the bed
frame, holding her close all the while.

"I want you so
bad this very minute, but I've had a lot of empty physical
relationships. I didn't want our relationship smothered in merely
physical desire.I wanted you to see the difference. Although I'm
already tied in knots from being this close to you. There are so
many things I want to talk to you about. So many things I want to
share with you. I've been waiting a life time to share my life with
someone."

Angela snuggled
closer, a slow lingering smile played at her lips. "I've never met
anyone I'd rather spend the night talking to."

They cuddled
and talked well into the night. Occasionally he'd stop and kiss her
tenderly on the lips. But his hands didn't stray.

CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN

"Looking for
me?" she said with a big smile, the next morning as she scrambled
some eggs for their breakfast. He had walked her home in the wee
hours of the morning and kissed her thoroughly before letting her
go inside, alone.

There was a
smile on his face as big as Texas as he strode lazily over to her
at the sink, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against
him.

"Come here," he
urged her as he pulled her through the kitchen and out the back
door.

She giggled
merrily, rejoicing in his playfulness. "What?"

He looked deep
into her eyes, and then pointed. "Sunrise can be as beautiful as
sunset."

She smiled and
sighed against him.

Partner came up
to them, nudging them almost as though saying, "Yes, this is where
you belong."

Cooper held her
close, wrapping both arms around her and snuggling against her.
They stood watching the purple and orange, and yellow and blues of
the sunrise, and very lowly he whispered against her ear, "I love
you, Angel. Will you marry me?"

She turned in
his arms, planting a delicate kiss to his chin, and shyly replied,
"I love you, too, Coop. And yes, I'll marry you."

Then without
warning he picked her up, held her against the chameleon sky and
gave a loud Texas whoop. Partner barked a couple of times.

Cooper dotted
her face with kisses, and then proceeded to carry her back into the
house. "We were meant for each other, you know? It'll be good
between us, Angel. I'll see to that. We're so right for each
other."

"I felt it,
Coop. But it scared me. You see, I thought I had things worked out
in my head. And then you came along, and instantly things began to
change. You stirred feelings I didn't know existed. Feelings Greg
never began to. You were different from any man I've ever
known."

"What things
changed?" He asked with a smile as he watched her return to the
eggs.

"Well, for one
thing, I was reacting to you more than Greg. Every time you touched
me, my toes curled. And when I listened to your heartbeat, it was
so much faster, so much more alive. I felt awakened from a deep
sleep."

He smiled
warmly. "I couldn't keep my hands off you. Or my mind."

"I had dreams
about you for months before you came back," she admitted, placing
the eggs on the table and setting the table as though they were
talking about the weather.

He crooked his
head. "You did? So did I, about you."

She giggled
softly. "About me?

"Oh, yes,
wonderful dreams."

"Mine, too.
Only I didn't know it was you for a long time."

"What were they
like?"

Her mouth broke
into a big smile, and she sighed as she happily planted herself in
his lap. "Like nothing I had ever experienced before. Sort of
supernatural. Fulfilling, loving, gentle. Everything a woman wants
and more. But they had me rattled, I'll admit. Because I knew
instantly these dreams weren't of Greg."

He kissed her
lightly on the nose, and stared evenly into her face. "I'm sorry I
didn't tell you that first night we made love how I felt. But I
wanted you to be sure about Greg. About your own feelings. I wanted
to give you time to change your mind if you needed to. When you
said you loved me, I wasn't sure if you knew what you were saying.
I didn't want to upset your life any more than it already had been.
You've been through a lot."

"And I thought
you didn't want to commit yourself."

"I did that a
long time ago, Angel. First, I fell in love with you, and then I
fell in love with Josh. And I've always loved this place. I'd like
to make this place a showplace if you'll let me. I've got so many
ideas."

"You know I
really thought you were a man down on his luck, when I ran into you
that night. And yet, when you finally told me, it didn't seem to
matter. Money was never an issue with you. It was how you treated
me, treated Josh, worked the farm, and loved the animals. Some
mornings when I got up too early, I'd watch you from the kitchen
window, tending the stock. You were so gentle with them. And
Partner thinks you're his master."

He smiled and
kissed her hard. She was breathless when he let her go.

She looked at
him solemnly. "No one's ever affected me the way you do. I mean,
just the sound of your heartbeat thrills me. Everything about you
affects me. And it's so funny, but the night I realized I loved
you, I was sitting in a hotel room with Greg."

"That was the
night I was afraid I'd lost you for sure. I didn't know what I was
going to do that next morning. I was already so wrapped up in you
and Josh, and I was losing you."

Angela smiled
and snuggled against him, her fingers playing idly with his shirt
buttons. "I was so ashamed of myself that night. And then to think
I could come into your room and..."

"You did
nothing wrong. With me or Greg. And, if you hadn't, there's no
telling what I might have done. If you think you were jealous of
Maxine, you should have seen me that night before you came home. I
was a living mess. I wanted to tear Greg limb from limb. I wanted
to find you, take you, and make you mine. And then when you walked
in, dressed in that sweet little nightgown, that makes the
imagination go wild, I knew there was no turning back. And believe
me; I never wanted another woman after that moment."

She giggled.
"So, where do we go from here?"

He growled, his
hands going over her slowly. "Straight to the alter, with Josh at
our side."

"Josh loves
you, Coop."

"And I love
him. I wasn't kidding when I told you he was the son I never had.
And I guess it's safe to tell you now, he was sort of hoping this
might happen between us."

She closed her
eyes, a small tear forming at the edge of her eye. Cooper rose up
to kiss each eye, and take her into the cradle of his arms. Then,
he sighed again and nearly choked out the words that she had waited
to hear so long.

"Oh, woman, I
love you so."

"I'm almost
afraid to be this happy."

"Don't be," he
cajoled against her ear, "because we're going to be even happier
soon." And he sealed that promise with a kiss.

CHAPTER
NINETEEN

"Fire! Fire!"
Angela screamed as she witnessed the lightening striking against
the barn roof. The old building had turned white hot and
practically burst into flames.

For a split
second she couldn't move, couldn't react. Cooper came to her side
in a flash, barking commands at her to snap her out of it.

"Turn the water
on, honey, I'll get the hoses!"

She froze.

"Angel, turn
the water on!" He prompted his voice shrill and anxious.