Marrying the Cowboy

Though he hated to do so, he forced himself to get up. Nothing on that to-do list was going to get done if he stayed in bed all day. It was likely that Elissa and Verona had been up for hours. But when he stepped into the hall, the house was quiet. Elissa was probably already out at the nursery, and Verona wasn’t a woman to sit idly at home when there were things to do and people to help.

He pulled on the clothes he’d taken off the previous night and made his way to the shower. He’d been standing under the hot water for a few minutes when his thoughts drifted to the night before. He’d listened as Elissa moved around in her room, how she seemed to be tossing and turning a lot after she went to bed. He’d gotten the distinct sense that something was bothering her. No doubt it was thoughts of the destruction to her business. Other than that, Elissa had always been carefree and perpetually happy.

As he shampooed his hair, for some reason his thoughts went back much further, to when Elissa had first moved in with Verona at the beginning of their freshman year. He’d been instantly in love. Well, as in love as hormonal teenage boys could get. But he’d also been the world’s biggest chicken when it came to girls and had never let her know how he felt, not even when they’d been paired up in history to create a diorama.

They had worked long hours creating the Coliseum in Rome filled with gladiators on the sand and bloodthirsty spectators in the stands, but he still hadn’t gotten up the nerve to ask her out. Eventually, the crush had faded away, leaving a close friendship. They’d worked together at the nursery in high school, and she’d been the one to encourage him to apply to the state police academy after his mother’s cancer went into remission.

He swallowed hard against the pain that still felt fresh, the knowledge that the cancer had returned and taken her life. He might be a grown man now, but there were times when he still felt like an orphan with both of his parents gone.

Pete shoved the thoughts away as he turned off the water and grabbed a towel. He had enough current problems to worry about without dragging up old sorrows. When he dried off, it hit him that he needed to address one concern before even a new vehicle. Clothes.

He stared at the rumpled jeans and T-shirt he’d had stowed in his locker at work. Without them he’d still be running around in the shorts and tee he’d had on when the storm hit. He had some new uniforms ordered, but he needed nonduty clothes pronto. Hell, he needed everything. Which meant he had to first go to the bank and get a new debit card. Damn, life was a pain in the ass when everything you owned blew away.

He rummaged in the cabinets until he found an unopened toothbrush. He needed to shave, too, but he’d wait until he could buy his own razor. It was bad enough that he was pilfering a toothbrush. Something about that act caused the events of the past couple of days to slam into him as he finished brushing his teeth. He cursed and shook his head. After rinsing the brush and his mouth, he stood with his hands pressed against the countertop for several seconds as he allowed himself a mini pity party. But then he turned on the faucet, splashed his face with cold water and toweled it away.

Feeling sorry for himself had never worked to his favor, so he wasn’t about to start now. Instead, he pulled on his worn jeans, thankful at least that there was one more clean T-shirt in the guest room.

He opened the bathroom door and was greeted with a yelp.

* * *

ELISSA COULDN’T BELIEVE she’d slept so late. After she’d finally gone to sleep the night before, she didn’t remember anything. Usually she woke up at least once in the night, but not last night. She’d slept like not just a log but a petrified log. She rubbed her hand over her face, trying to wipe away the groggy feeling.

As she reached for the bathroom door, it opened. She came fully awake with a cry of surprise. Her heart hammered against her breastbone until she realized it was only Pete and not some burglar who’d had to take a tinkle break before robbing her blind.

But as she looked up at him and noticed he wasn’t wearing a shirt, her heart refused to slow its frantic pace. The bare skin was damp and probably warm from the shower. And when did Pete Kayne get so ripped?

“Sorry, I thought you were gone already.”

At the sound of Pete’s voice, the voice of her friend, she snatched her gaze away from his chest to find an awkward, embarrassed look on his face. She half turned and gestured vaguely toward her room. “I think I sort of slipped into a coma last night.”

“Me, too.”

She forced herself to meet his eyes as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on, that she hadn’t just ogled the pectorals of one of her best friends. “Are you late for work?”

He shook his head. “On this afternoon.”

She glanced at the bathroom behind him.

“Sorry,” he said again, this time moving out of the doorway to give her access. “I’ve got errands to run.”

Pete hurried past her toward the guest room. Unable to help herself, she glanced over her shoulder. Damn, his back was every bit as well cut as his chest, a fact that she would have been much better off not knowing. Even after he slipped into the room and shut the door behind him, she didn’t move. Memories started tumbling through her head, and she realized she’d never seen Pete without a shirt on. And now she feared she’d never be able to forget the sight.

With a shake of her head, she entered the bathroom and locked the door behind her. It wasn’t as if she thought Pete was going to suddenly burst in, but she had the strangest feeling that she needed that extra barrier.

She pressed her hand against her forehead to see if she was feverish. Warm, yes, but she had the awful sense that the warmth had nothing to do with sickness and everything to do with embarrassment.

Even when she shucked her pajamas and stepped into the shower, she couldn’t stop thinking about how Pete’s lean muscles and toned skin had beckoned to her, begging her to run her hands up and over them. And then her traitorous brain shifted to thoughts of how Pete had stood in this shower naked only a short time before. Her entire body heated up more than could be accounted for by the stream of hot water.

Good grief, either she was having the strangest dream ever or she seriously didn’t get enough rest last night despite the fact that she’d been asleep twice as long as usual.

She hurried through her shower, but by the time she’d finished in the bathroom Pete was gone. Even with the house empty, she closed her bedroom door once she stepped inside. She sank onto the side of her bed. Her strange reaction to Pete had to be because of the stress she was under. All she needed was to work, get the nursery up and running again, return life to normal. Her being off-kilter, that’s all her weird reaction to Pete was. Nothing more.

With a shake of her head, she dressed and headed to work. When she arrived, she discovered India and Skyler walking back to India’s car.

“What are you guys doing here?” Elissa asked as she pulled up beside them.

“We came to see if we could help,” India said.

Not so long ago, India wouldn’t have been able to be away from her boutique during the middle of the day. But since getting married and becoming a stepmom, she’d hired some help to give her more flexibility with her time.

Elissa eyed Skyler as she got out of the SUV. “Not really the type of work you need to be doing.”

Skyler crossed her arms above her gently rounding belly. “I’m pregnant, not an invalid.”

“Okay, okay. Grouch.”

India laughed a little, earning a glare from their hormonal friend. “What? She’s right. You are grumpy.”

Skyler pointed toward India’s stomach. “Just wait until you get pregnant.”

India didn’t say anything in response, but the way her mouth twitched at the edges gave her away.

“Oh, my God,” Elissa said. “You already are, aren’t you?”

The twitching turned into a smile as India nodded.

Elissa and Skyler squealed at the same time and wrapped India in a group hug.

“Wait,” Skyler said as she took a step back. “You knew and didn’t tell us?”

“I just found out yesterday.”

Elissa swung a pointed finger between her two friends. “That’s it. No heavy lifting, no stooping, none of that for either of you.”

“Well, how are we supposed to help?” India asked.

“Name your babies after me?”

“What if we have boys?” Skyler asked.

Elissa smiled. “Mason’s a nice name.”

Skyler rolled her eyes.

Elissa laughed. “Those cowboys of yours don’t waste time, do they?”

“Bound to happen when we stay in bed half the time,” India said.