Barbara Dunlop - Thunderbolt over Texas

He shook off the sleeves of his denim shirt. “Don’t worry about it.”

But she did worry about it. He’d agreed to marry her, and she didn’t want him to change his mind because he thought she was high maintenance. “Am I keeping you from work?”

He jerked his thumb toward the kitchen window. “In that? Are you going to be a nagging wife?”

Sydney couldn’t help but smile. “Sorry.”

“Get dried off. I can’t marry you if you’ve got pneumonia.”

She gave up. She left Cole to the teakettle and closeted herself in the tiny bathroom, stripping off her wet clothes. There was barely room to turn around in there. She banged her butt against the pedestal sink and nearly fell into the claw-foot tub. But she managed to strip down, find some towels and rub her skin dry.

She chose a three-quarter-length, plaid flannel robe with buttons all the way up the front. The shoulders drooped halfway to her elbows, and she had to roll up the sleeves, but it was warm and comfortable. She hung her wet clothes over the shower curtain.

They reminded her that she needed to get back to Wichita Falls and check out of her hotel room. She couldn’t keep wearing Katie’s clothes, and she should really return the rental car.

She cringed, remembering the wires she’d yanked out of the motor. Should she confess the sabotage to Cole, or just wait until it was discovered and pay the damages? Hard to say. Ultimately, she’d rather give up money than mess up her chances with Cole.

She rubbed her hair dry and found a comb. Makeup, she’d have to do without.

When she wandered back into the living room, Cole’s gaze slid down her body, lingering on her bare feet. He cleared his throat. “You want some socks?”

She glanced down at the billowing flannel. The tails hung past her knees. “You might have hit on the one way to make this outfit less attractive.”

“You look fine.”

“I look like a refugee from Little House on the Prairie.”

Cole chuckled low. “Who cares? I’m a sure thing, remember?”

“That’s an excellent point. I’ve never had a man see me at my worst and not had to care about it.” She sat down in the big armchair and eased her saddle-sore legs under her. This was restful, in a bizarre sort of way.

All those years she’d spent fussing and primping and worrying. Cole could see her in a gunny sack and it wouldn’t make a bit of difference. Come to think of it, this was pretty close to a gunny sack.

“This is your worst?” asked Cole.

She smoothed back her wet hair and nodded. “Pretty close.”

“At least there’ll be no surprises in our marriage.” He headed into his bedroom.

Sydney leaned back into the soft cushions. He was forcing her to think past the wedding. What would they do? She had to take the Thunderbolt to New York. But what if Katie didn’t get pregnant right away?

Would they keep up the charade? And if they did, would Sydney stay here?

She scanned the cabin again. It was a quaint little place. Maybe too quaint.

The kettle let out a shrill whistle. She waited a couple seconds, but Cole didn’t appear. Finally she flipped off the blanket, groaned and straightened, then hustled toward the kitchen, nearly colliding with him as he appeared out of the bedroom.

He was shirtless. His feet were bare. And the button at the top of his clean jeans was undone, revealing a flash of skin below his washboard abs.

“Sorry.” She put up her hand to forestall the collision and it came flat against his chest.

His fingers closed over her elbow to steady her and his thighs brushed up against hers.

“You okay?” he asked

She nodded, her heart skipping double-time. This was one good-looking cowboy. He looked great in his clothes, but out of them… Hoo, boy.

He reached over and shut off the burner.

Then his hand came up to cover hers, pressing it into his chest. His skin was warm and smooth. She could feel his heart thudding against his rib cage.

Her fingers made out the ridge of a horizontal scar. It was an uneven gash, three inches long, and she wondered what had happened.

From the little she’d seen of his life, she knew it was rough and physical. But what had caused this? And what other secrets were there on the body she’d admired for two days?

Before she could voice a question, their gazes met. His eyes turned a deep, ocean blue, and she inhaled his scent, marveling at how familiar it had become.

He slowly reached out to stroke her hair. Sensations washed over her like warm rain, and she longed to lean into him and absorb the full warmth of his strength. She held his gaze instead, finding flecks of gray among the storm-tossed blue. His look was turbulent, challenging.

He dipped his head ever so slightly. Then he stopped and his eyelids came down in a long blink.

“Is it just me?” he asked, refocusing. “Or is this a really stupid idea?”

She couldn’t stop the slow, sultry smile that grew on her face. “It is a really stupid idea…”

His lips parted. “But…”

“Have we ever let that stop us before?”

Cole was going to kiss this woman.

Stupid decisions were his stock-in-trade around her, and he saw no reason to give that up now.

“You’re gorgeous,” he said in all honesty, brushing the pad of his thumb across her cheek.

“So are you,” she responded.

He grinned at that, sliding spread fingers through the thickness of her hair.

To his surprise, she rocked forward and placed a hot, moist kiss on his chest.

He sucked in a tight breath, and she kissed him again, her soft lips searing into his skin. It took a second to realize she was tracing the scar on his breastbone. She was kissing away his pain, soothing what was once a gaping wound, calming a memory he’d sworn he’d have to fight forever.

His hands convulsed and he tilted her head, searching her eyes for the reason behind her caring touch. What he saw was smoky jade and simmering passion.

Lightning exploded in the sky above them. Rain crashed down on the shake roof and clattered against the window-panes. The oak trees creaked and the willows rustled as the wind whipped the world into a frenzy.

That same storm swirled to life inside him. He couldn’t wait another second to taste her lips. He dipped to capture them, touching, tasting, savoring. They were as lush as he’d imagined, but sweeter, more giving, the perfect shape and size and pressure.

He kissed her again, this time pulling her soft body against his, opening wide, praying she’d follow suit. His skin was on fire and his chest tightened with a deep longing.

She parted her lips and a small moan escaped. The sound tugged at him, surrounded him, buried itself deep inside him as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hung on tight.

He inhaled her scent, wishing the moment could go on and on. He wanted to close his eyes, block out the world, lose himself in her, pretend nothing existed outside their cocoon.

But that was impossible.

The world did exist. The world of Kyle and Katie and the Thunderbolt. He slowly pulled back.

Her face was flushed and her eyes were glazed.

He suspected he looked exactly the same way.

She rubbed his chest and eased off with a deep breath. “Guess it’s good to get that out of the way,” she said.

“Our first kiss?”

She nodded, her gaze fixed somewhere below his neck. “Yeah. Could have been awkward in front of Katie.”

“I’ll say.” He stepped back, raking a hand through his damp hair. “Now at least I’ll know what to expect.”

“Me, too.”

“So it wasn’t such a stupid idea after all.”

“I think it was quite brilliant.”

“Yes.” He nodded. “Brilliant.” He took a tight breath. “I’m, uh…” He gestured vaguely toward his bedroom door then escaped quickly and grabbed a clean shirt, stuffing his arms into the sleeves.

Brilliant was just the word. Brilliant. Now he wouldn’t be able to look at her without getting aroused.

When he returned to the living room she was curled up in the armchair again with a pen and paper in her hands.

“We should talk logistics,” she said.

Cole’s steps faltered.

Maybe her mood could shift one-eighty in the blink of an eye, but he needed a few minutes to recover. He made a show of securing his buttons and tucking the shirt into his waistband, before he dropped down onto the couch and met her eyes.

“What have you got so far?” he asked, struggling to get back on an even keel, trying to ignore that fact that she was wearing his clothing.

She tucked her auburn hair behind one ear. It was beautiful even when it was wet.

“How fast do you think we can pull this off?” she asked.

“Why? You in a hurry?”

She glanced up in surprise. “Yes. I’ve got a whole display to coordinate. Dozens of pieces.”

“I don’t think Katie’s going to buy love at first sight.”

“I didn’t mean this afternoon. It’ll take a couple weeks to prepare the gallery.”

“A whole two weeks?”

“Probably a little more.”

Cole tamped down his annoyance at her business-like approach. They’d shared one kiss. Nothing had changed. There was still nothing more to their relationship than a commercial transaction.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing.” He neutralized his expression.

“You sure?”

“What could be wrong?”

She nodded. “Okay. Where’s the Thunderbolt now?”

“In a lawyer’s safe in Wichita Falls.”

“Can we get it?”

“Not until after the wedding.”

Sydney nodded again. “I’m going to need to make a few calls.”

“Kyle has a land line at the house. So does Grandma.” You couldn’t pick up a cell signal in the Valley.

“You don’t have a phone?”

Cole shrugged. “I only moved in after Kyle and Katie got married. Haven’t updated much.”

“No problem.” Sydney flipped the page. “Okay. So what’s our next move with Katie?”

“You might not want to takes notes on that.”

“Why?”

He raised a brow.

“Oh. Right. We don’t want to leave an evidence trail.”

“Rain’s stopping,” Cole noted. “How about I drive you back to her place and you can wax poetic about me for a while?”

A slow smile grew on Sydney’s face and Cole relaxed for the first time since the kiss.

“Let me see…” She began counting off on her fingers. “You are a good-looking guy. Smart, funny and oh-” She snapped her fingers and laughed. “I can tell her you’re sexy.”

Cole wasn’t sure how to take that. Was Sydney saying she thought he was sexy, or that she was willing to lie about it? He couldn’t ask. It would sound stupid. And there was no logical reason for him to care.

Still, he couldn’t help but wonder if she meant it.

When Katie found out Sydney was still checked into the hotel in Wichita Falls, she offered to drive her in to pick up her suitcase. The rental car was down for the count, and it was looking as though they’d need a tow truck to retrieve it. Exorbitantly expensive, but the drive alone with Katie seemed like a perfect opportunity to go all moony-eyed over Cole.

Not that it was such a huge stretch. That man could kiss like there was no tomorrow. She still got a little flushed thinking about it. In fact, she was hoping for an excuse to do it again. Soon.

The next morning, Katie’s pickup truck bumped over the ruts of the ranch’s access road.

“That’s Grandma’s house at the top of the hill,” she said. “Kyle and Cole’s dad grew up there. Kyle and Cole, too, for a while. But after the boys were born, their dad built the house where we live now.”

“Cole mentioned his parents had died.”

Katie nodded, gearing down to negotiate a series of potholes. “Light plane crash.”

“Oh, no.” A pain flashed through Sydney’s chest, her mind going back to the horrible day when she’d learned her own parents had been killed in a house fire.

“Cole was in the plane,” Katie continued. “He was the only one who lived.”

“Was he all right?”

“Cuts, bruises, broken ribs. He was really lucky.”

“But he lost his parents.” And he had at least one scar to remind him. She was glad now she hadn’t asked him about it.

Katie nodded again, keeping her gaze fixed on the road. “He’s a good man, Sydney.”

“I know he is.”

“He’s been through a lot.”

“Yes, he has.” Sydney understood better than most the horrible pain of losing your parents.

Katie cleared her throat. “I can understand…”

Sydney turned to try to gauge the odd tone of Katie’s voice.

“I can understand that you might be tempted to, uh, romance the brooch from under-”

“Katie!”

“I’m not judging you. I have a sense of how important it is.”