Chapter Nineteen
Elise walked around her father’s charity party on the back patio in her full-length, red sequined gown, feeling elegant but so totally out of place. Adjusting the halter-top strap around her neck, she realized all the designer gowned and tuxedoed clad people around her made her want to be back in Texas…to get back to wearing boots and jeans, riding Lightning with Colt by her side and…and… She shook her head to stop herself from thinking of fantasy scenarios with Colt. Right now wasn’t the best time.
She’d been able to avoid her father most of the morning since she spent her time prior to the party outside helping coordinate the caterers, the waitstaff, and the violinists who were there to play classical music for the event.
When she saw Jason exit the back of the house and walk down the stone steps, nodding to her as if he planned to make his way toward her, she turned and dodged through the crowd, picking up a glass of champagne on her way. Stopping near a tall potted tree, she sipped her drink and blinked against the bright Virginia afternoon summer sun. She couldn’t help but compare it to Texas weather. Yeah, Virginia wasn’t quite as hot as Texas, but she missed seeing Boone’s rolling hills, missed the fresh outdoor scents the Lonestar offered versus the current smell of expensive perfumes and colognes that wafted her way today.
The three-piece violinists’ music trailed off as her father stood up on the stage with the mike.
“Welcome, everyone to our fifth annual Save the Heart charity party,” he started off.
He looks older than I remembered even from a few weeks ago
, she thought as she stared at her father’s graying hair.
As he went into his normal spiel about the charity, she let her gaze roam the area around the stage. A tall, dark-haired man stood in front of the stage, looking up at her father, his back to her. She tilted her head and smiled thinking,
Man, I’ll bet that’s what Colt would look like in a tux. He’s about the same height and build. Ha! It’ll be cold day in hell before I ever see that from Mr. Wranglers.
She chuckled inwardly as the man started up the steps and took the mike from her father’s hand.
When he turned around, Elise almost dropped her glass. Colt stood up on the stage with her father.
“Thank you, Fred, for inviting me to emcee the presentation of the donation checks to the Save the Heart charity today,” he said in his best Texan drawl. And damn if the man didn’t knock her socks off in a tuxedo. He looked every bit as debonair as James Bond and ten times as rugged. What a lethal combination to her libido!
“Where the hell did he come from?” Jason whispered in a disgruntled tone in her ear as he stood by her side.
She didn’t even look his way, but kept her gaze glued on Colt as she answered, “Texas, born and bred.”
As Colt called the head of the Save the Heart charity to come up on stage, Elise handed her glass to Jason and said, “Gotta go” before she made her way over to stand in front of the stage. What
was
Colt doing here? And how in the world did he get her father to invite him to this function?
“I know a little bit about ‘saving the heart’,” Colt said in a lighthearted manner as Susan Kress, president of the charity, made her way up on the stage.
The crowd laughed and Colt looked right into Elise’s eyes when he followed his statement with, “I’m learning more about it everyday.” He smiled at her as he continued, “I’d like to introduce Save the Heart’s first contributor, Elise Hamilton.”
Elise walked up on the stage to stand between Colt and Susan. As the crowd applauded, she whispered to him, “What are you doing here?”
He reached down and clasped her hand, lacing his fingers with hers as he answered in the mike for everyone to hear, “I’m ‘saving a heart’, darlin’.”
As she stared at him, dumbfounded, her heart ramming in her chest, Colt’s blue eyes twinkled. Winking at her, he whispered, “Now’s the time to give ‘em their check, sweetheart.”
Sha
king herself out of the surreal dream she seemed to have fallen into, Elise faced Susan and handed her the twenty thousand dollar check she’d had tucked in her hand since the beginning of the party, saying, “I hope your charity can put this to good use, Susan. I’m one hundred percent behind the work you’re doing.”
“Thank you so much,” Susan beamed as she took the check from Elise.
“Why don’t you tell everyone just how you’re going to spend this money, Ms. Kress,” Colt said, handing Susan the mike.
As Susan began to talk about research hospitals and private donations, Colt moved behind Elise and wrapped his arms around her waist.
Elise’s heart rammed in her chest that he’d so publicly staked his claim on her. She glanced at her father who had his gaze on Ms. Kress. But before she looked away, she saw him flick his gaze to Colt’s arms around her and then above her head as if he were looking at Colt. When he gave Colt a curt, respectful nod, she let out a breath of relief. She had no idea she’d even been holding it, but apparently deep down she’d hoped her father liked Colt.
As Susan continued speaking and answering a few questions from the crowd, Colt leaned close to her ear and said, “Good thing your father can’t hear this or I’d lose all the respect I’ve gained, but holy shit, Lise, I’ve never wanted you as bad as I do this second. I think I’d be willing to don a monkey suit like this every so often just so I can see you all dressed to the nines like you are now.” His voice dropped to a husky rasp as he continued, “And do you know why?”
When she didn’t answer, but instead squeezed his hand—in truth she was absolutely speechless—he continued, “’Cause I can’t wait to peel off the fancy clothes to get to my woman…the woman who looks so damn right in my bed wearing nothing at all but the sweet flesh God gave her. I’m here to convince you to come home with me where you belong, Lise.”
Elise clamped her hand over her mouth to stifle her shocked gasp, but her happiness radiated through as she turned in Colt’s arms and faced him. Looking over at Susan, she said, “Please excuse us, Susan. My father will present the other checks to your charity now.”
As Susan nodded her assent, Colt was already pulling her off the stage. “Colt,” she started to say to slow him down as she reached the last step, but he didn’t listen. Instead, he scooped her up in his arms and strode off the patio and up the stone stairs into the house. As they entered the house among the cheering of the crowd behind them, Elise’s heart soared. She tightened her arms around his neck feeling very much like the Princess with her very own Knight in Shining Armor, make that a “Cowboy” knight who had come to sweep her away.
When Jason’s voice called her name from outside, sounding close as if he were following them inside, Colt’s arms tightened around her and he picked up his pace, opening the first door he came to.
He shut the door behind him and locked it, then let her slide down his body until her high-heeled sandals touched the tile floor. Elise kept her arms wrapped around his neck and whispered in his ear with a soft laugh, “What is it with you and me and bathrooms?”
“It seems to be where we do our best communicating, darlin’,” he replied, his tone lowering to a deeper baritone as he placed his large hands against her exposed bare back and clasped her against him as he leaned against the door. His deep blue gaze, full of desire and promise, held hers as he continued, “I won’t be an easy man to be with, Lise, but one thing I can guarantee you, you’ll always come first in my life.”
Her breath escaped in a surprised sob and she threaded her fingers in his thick, dark hair. “I think that’s the best offer I’ve heard in a long time, Colt Tanner.”
“Nah, sweetheart, I hope the best offer you’ll hear is this one…” he said as he dipped his head and trailed hot, blazing kisses from the hollow at the base of her throat, all the way up until he reached her jaw. Sliding his hands further up her back, he pressed her chest against his at the same time his hard erection rubbed against her lower belly.
The feel of his hard, muscular chest pressed against hers, the faint, yet masculine scent of his cologne, coupled with his warm hands on her bare flesh made her go weak in the knees and her heart ram in her chest. As his mouth hovered close to hers, tempting her, taunting her, reminding her of the night by the fire and how they’d denied themselves even one kiss, she closed her eyes, waiting in tense anticipation for his lips to claim hers.
When he said, “Marry me,” her eyes flew open at his unexpected proposal, shock slamming through her in waves. She started to speak, but the look of tender love shining in his eyes took her breath away, rendering her speechless.
“I want you to be my wife. I want to fall asleep with you in my arms, to see you pregnant and holding our babies. I want to hear your input on running the ranch, to have you by my side when I’m out on the range, but more than anything…” he paused, and his gaze searched hers as he cupped her face in his big hands and rubbed his thumbs slowly down her cheeks. “I want to grow old with you. I love you, Lise,” he finished in a rough voice as if admitting his deepest desires was one of the hardest things he’d ever done.
Elise put her hands on his wrists and sobbed. She’d never thought she’d hear Colt tell her he loved her and it was the sweetest sound she’d ever heard. She didn’t bother stopping the tears that gathered in her eyes. As they spilled out, she finally gained the ability to smile.
He rubbed her tears away and gave her a sexy, half-smile. “Does that mean yes you’ll marry me, darlin’, ‘cause right now hearing you say ‘I love you’ back would do a world of good to my ego.”
Her spirits bolstered, she gave him a sassy grin and unbuttoned his tux jacket then slid her hands around his waist to press her body close to his once more. “Now what made you think I’d left Texas for good, Colt Tanner? I was coming back. I was nowhere
near
done with you. I just thought you might need a break for a bit—”
She didn’t get to finish her cheeky response before Colt’s mouth landed on hers, his tongue thrusting inside her mouth as he speared his fingers through her French twist, knocking out the comb holding it in place as he cupped the back of her head.
Colt growled, a low, sexually charged sound as he stepped into her, pushing her back against the sink’s cabinet. “I want to hear it, Lise,” he said, his voice a low rumble against her mouth. Her stomach flip-flopped at the ferocity in his tone while her lower body began to throb, when he clasped the flesh of her rear through her dress and started to lift her up on the counter. Between kisses, she said, “I love you, Colt Tanner. Yes, I’ll marry you…my life is with you, no matter where we live.” She clasped his neck tight as he’d placed her on the countertop.
When Colt’s hands landed on her thighs, exposed by the two long slits up the side of her gown, tiny shivers made their way up her body. The shivers quickly turned into tingling awareness as he slid his hands up the bare skin until his thumbs rubbed against her silk underwear.
“Now this is where fancy duds gets to be a pain in the ass,” he ground out as he flipped the center piece of her long sequined skirt lying between her legs to the outside of one of her thighs to give him better access to her body.
Elise’s chuckle died on her lips as his fingers pressed against her damp underwear. Desire darkened his blue gaze and one dark eyebrow rose. His expression turned arrogant then seductive as he pulled her underwear down her legs and tossed it on the floor.
She glanced down at the obvious bulge between his legs and as he followed her gaze, he demanded, his voice turning serious, “Look at me, Lise.”
She looked up and her heart melted at the intense look in his eyes and the raw hunger she saw reflected in his gaze as he unbuttoned and unzipped his pants. Knowing he wanted her and planned to have her right then left her breathless and her heart galloping in her chest.
She reached up and pushed the jacket down his shoulders until it fell to the floor, then quickly pulled his tie apart and flew through undoing the buttons on his shirt until it fell open, exposing his hard chest. When he dropped his pants and silk boxers, she grinned and said, “Hmmm, he even wore silk boxers for the occasion,” as she wrapped her fingers around his hard erection, enjoying the heat and smooth feel of his skin.
Colt sucked in his breath at her touch. He held her gaze as he wrapped his hand around hers and guided her hand up and down his shaft, groaning his pleasure.
After a few more stokes, he shook his head, his look turning darker, his expression even more focused. “It’s not enough, baby. I won’t be happy until you’re surrounding me from all sides and I’m in as deep as I can get.”
To hear the conviction in his voice, to see the deep, emotional fires burning in his gaze, and to know he loved her with all his heart—the whole package was a total turn-on. She ran her tongue along her lower lip, then bit the plump flesh just to let him know how much she wanted him.
Colt’s nostrils flared and he stepped closer, his gaze raking down her body. “Unfasten your top,” he commanded in a rough-edged tone.
The barely controlled, rasping sound of his voice sent her libido into full throttle. Elise’s breathing turned choppy as she reached up and unclasped her gown’s halter-top, letting the straps fall down to expose her breasts to his hungry gaze.
She’d barely let go of the straps when Colt’s hand came around her back, pulling her close as his mouth captured her nipple and sucked hard on the tightened bud. She arched her back as burning desire shot straight to her sex at his primal response, making her throb for his touch. Sliding her hands underneath his shirt, she clasped his hard shoulders and felt his muscles flex beneath the warm skin.