Authors: Natalie Frost
Arm around his lady, he led her inside and glanced at her.
Her eyes darted about—clearly curious—but she was otherwise impassive. It would have bothered him, except for the fact that she continued to lean close against him. Even if she didn’t care about the setting, she liked being by him.
The thought was more pleasing than he wanted to admit.
He guided her to booth, and then the two of them took their seats across from one another. As tempted as he was to sit beside her, it was perhaps too forward. Then again, she was a city girl. Maybe being forward was how to win her heart.
Hanes nearly laughed at the idea. Him acting like someone else to impress a woman? Dear Lord, that hadn’t happened in years.
A waitress was quick to hand them some menus. Hanes tilted his head and thanked her.
“What do you recommend?” Frankie asked over the music, the waitress not hearing it and leaving them in a hurry. Frankie laughed and faced Hanes. “Well, what do YOU recommend?”
He picked up his menu, his eyes skimming over it in a quick search for something the lady would like. His face brightened when he found it. “Do you like pork?”
“I love it.”
If he weren’t a man, he would have swooned. A woman after his own heart.
She laughed, her eyes darting to the table. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Can’t help it,” he said, just noticing the strange smile on his face—the slight soreness in his cheeks. “You’re mesmerizing.”
“Stop,” she giggled out, blushing harder.
Lovely, he thought with sincerity. So lovely.
They ate, they talked, they laughed—he even got her to dance a little with him, though she was quick to shake her head and snake her way back into the booth.
He spread out his arms, mock hurt on his face. “What? Come on now.” Despite the heat in the air, his torso felt a strange chill at her absence.
Frankie giggled and shook her head. “No, no, I can’t. That little jig—or whatever it was—is all your getting.”
He relented, the memory of her close to him—moving her body goofily—fresh on his mind. He held on to it, his eyes locked on her.
If he didn’t know any better, he would think he was falling in love.
He drove her back to the hotel, and then walked her to her door. Hotel or not, it was only proper to see a lady safely back to her place of residence.
When she asked him if he wanted to come in, he couldn’t deny it even if he wanted to.
“Tonight was so much fun,” she said, sitting on top of the bed. Her eyes softened as she regarded him, standing awkwardly in front of her. “Thank you so much. I’ve been so stressed about the baby, about work, and everything. Tonight was really nice.”
Triumph soared through him. “You’re welcome. I had a lot of fun, too.” He glanced at the empty space beside her, but for some reason, a shot of nervousness held him back. He shuffled on his feet as he tried to get himself to move forward—to say or do something to charm her and fully win her over.
“You can sit down,” Frankie said, patting the bed. “I’d offer you water or something, but seeing as how that went last time—” She shrugged.
Hanes still found himself hesitating before he finally managed to move and sit beside her. Relief and warmth flooded through him, his shoulder brushing against hers.
“You okay?” she asked, brow furrowed. “I’ve never seen you so quiet before.”
A startled chortle burst out of him. “You saying I’m chatty?”
“No! Of course not. I’m just a little worried. Not that I need to be, I know, but I mean—”
He leaned over and kissed her cheek. It was a jagged motion, her jaw moving too quickly as she spoke and his aim a bit off, but it still felt wonderful. His nervousness returned in fold, making his limbs feel too heavy and clumsy, but something pleasant was also rushing through him.
She gaped at him.
Hanes beamed, eyes hooded. “I’ve been trying to work up the courage to do that. Well, not even
that
. I really want to kiss you proper, but…only if you want me to.” He leaned forward, daring nature returning. “Do you?”
For a split-second it took for her to respond, dread formed in the pit of Hanes’s stomach.
And then she was the one to kiss him proper, her soft lips pressing against his.
He lost sense of himself in that moment. His entire body worked on its own accord—his arms wrapping around her, his mouth opening a little to taste her. When he felt her hands on his thigh and side, he shivered.
Even her lightest touches were perfection.
They dragged one another down to the bed, but he made his way on top of her—she sliding beneath him.
He kissed her jaw and then her neck—tasting more of her. His head spun, heat and love coursing through him in unison. It was overwhelming yet not enough. He wanted more. He needed more.
Frankie slithered out of her clothes. As his gaze roamed her body, becoming more naked by the second, he got out of his own clothing.
Her breasts pressed against his chest, he shuddered. His mouth found its way to her neck again. He sucked and kissed various spots on her, writing and gasping. The soft friction between them was tantalizing yet pure—everything he never even dreamed of having.
She shakily reached for his member.
Hanes didn’t think; he leaned into her touch and urged her to grip tighter. When she did, he jolted as a spike of pleasure shot through his blood.
Frankie was gentle as she guided his already hard member to her southern wet lips. He rubbed his tip over her, making them both moan. Then, with obvious hesitance, she released him.
Hanes instantly slid himself inside of her. He felt connected to her—anticipated her wants, aware of her pleasure.
He thrust in and out of her. He became harder. She became wetter.
Frankie threw her head back and arched her chest toward him, his name escaping her lips in breathy whines.
Hanes’s hands gripped the covers on either side of her body. He continued to pound into her—to feel her—his pleasure rising higher and higher within him.
When his orgasm hit, everything went white. He knew nothing but ecstasy and her voice, crying out his name.
Nothing had been so perfect in his life. Not a damn thing.
CHAPTER NINE
To say that they were dating sounded right to her, already carrying his child and what not, but she supposed that was technically what they had been doing all along. Going out, spending time with each other, learning about one another—
So when he asked her to join him in a family dinner his mother had scheduled out, Frankie didn’t hesitate to agree. After all, she had already met his family, and the child she was carrying was related to them. It seemed appropriate.
But when the dinner came, she was full of dreadful regret.
In her best dress, sitting at the biggest and fanciest table she had ever seen, Frankie felt out of place amidst the Copper family. Everyone around her—white cowboys and cowgirls—kept shooting her and her stomach glares. Well, all except for Gina and Hanes’s mother, who just gawked at Frankie like she was an alien or something.
The plate of food in front of Frankie tasted too greasy yet too ashy. She wasn’t even sure how that was possible, but she surmised her pregnancy was making her taste buds faulty.
Hanes could clearly sense the tension, too, for he kept glaring back at his siblings who glared at her. But his plate was already empty, so perhaps the food wasn’t as bad as she was thinking.
Frankie glanced at around, sweat seeping out of the back of her neck. Were these people…racist? The mere thought was nauseating, and she didn’t want to believe it.
She took another bite of—what was supposed to be—mashed potatoes and smiled at Hanes’s mother, who intensely stared back at her.
“So,” Gina said. She pushed her own empty plate away from herself before crossing her arms. “We talked about the food, the weather—we said hello to one another. Surely we can think of another topic to talk about.”
Frankie couldn’t think of one. In her frazzled mind, she just wanted to come up with an excuse to leave.
“Sure thing,” Hane’s brother Thomas said, scoffing and dropping his fork to his plate. “Why don’t we talk about the elephant in the room?”
“That’s not why I scheduled this,” their mother snapped, her palms slapping against the table. “We are here to be a family, and not discuss business.”
“Yeah,” Thomas spat. “Well, it’s pretty hard to be a family when your family screwed his way into profit and then lies about sharing it.”
Hanes stood up so quickly that Frankie flinched back, a confused kind of panic gripping her chest.
“That’s enough,” their mother snapped. She sneered at Thomas before turning her attention to Hanes. “Sit back down. This isn’t a bar fight.”
“It’s about to be one,” Hanes said, air shooting out of his flared nostrils, “if people keep insulting my lady and our child.”
Frankie blinked. She thought about the words for a few seconds, but when she couldn’t make sense of them, she frowned and turned to Hanes. “What are you talking about?”
Hanes’s face fell, worried gaze snapping to her.
“You haven’t told her?!” Thomas barked, a breathless laugh following. “You really are a greedy bastard.”
“Shut it, Tommy!”
Frankie stood up, regaining Hanes’s focus. As his expression softened, weariness coiled around her heart. She grabbed his arm, as if to steady herself. “What is he talking about, Hanes? Tell me.”
Hanes sighed. He grabbed her arm in return, his grip almost painful. His green eyes glistened. “Look, the thing is—and the only reason I didn’t say anything is because I didn’t think about it, okay? I don’t give a damn about the ranch or the business.”
“Just tell her,” Thomas said.
“I’m getting to it!” Hanes snapped, glowering at his brother before turning his desperate gaze back to her. “In my dad’s will, he gives all of his profit and assets to the first one of his kids who have an heir. A grandchild.”
Frankie’s heart shattered. He…she and the baby were his ticket to a fortune. Of course. He never would have been so sweet, so considerate—
Tears were already forming in her eyes. Not wanting to cry in front of people who hated her, she quickly turned and hurried out of the dining room. She bumped into a cook or a maid—she couldn’t see, couldn’t even bring herself to apologize.
CHAPTER TEN
Hanes rushed after Frankie, his torso nearly colliding with their maid’s.
“Sorry,” he breathed as he weaved around the little woman and continued to chase down Frankie.
They were at the end of the hallway when he finally managed to grab her arm. “Wait, Frankie. Just—”
She spun around and tugged against him. Her angry, wet eyes stabbed into his psyche. “Let go,” she snarled.
He did. Guilt, pain, and fear clutched him, made his mind hazy. Looking at her in such pain floored him. For a second, he couldn’t breathe. “Frankie, the money doesn’t matter.”
“Then why didn’t you ever say anything about it? Were you just using me?”
“No! God no! I just—I didn’t want this to hang over us with the baby on the way, I swear it.”
She snorted, tears crawling down her cheeks. “Of course you didn’t.” She turned and walked away again, shaking him off when his fingers brushing against her shoulder. “Leave me alone, Hanes. Just—” Her voice choked off, and she moved faster as she walked into the adjacent room and then down another hallway.
Hanes remained where he was. Stunned, hurt, he blinked hard as he processed what had just happened—what he had just let happen.
He should have confessed to her that she was his world. That that money was nothing compared to the happiness she gave him. He should have said that he loved her and that he would give her all of the money to prove his love.
But he hadn’t said any of that. He hadn’t said any of the right things. And not only did he hurt the love of his life, he may very well have just lost her.
Hanes went cold, a tremor coursing through him. For a second, he considered going after her again, but she clearly hadn’t wanted that. So instead, he turned around and headed for the people who ruined his life.