Lily stood for a moment, thinking about what to do. But she knew there was only one thing to do. She walked over to Colin, so close their chests were only inches apart and put her hand on his cheek. He leaned into it, with his eyes closed. “Lily,” he whispered, “we can’t do this.”

  “Yes, we can,” she said, as she willed him to open his eyes. When he did, she leaned up and kissed him on the lips. It was tentative at first, a shy kiss at first to test the waters. He was resistant, until she put her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. Colin’s willpower seemed to snap and he deepened the kiss, putting his arm around her waist and wrenching her up against him with such force, it was as if he was trying to swallow her whole, to merge them into one being.

  He started walking her backwards towards the wall, knocking over obstacles in the way, but never removing his lips from hers. Her back hit the bookshelf with a loud bang and she could feel the books topple from the shelves. She didn’t care. She was in his arms. The kiss was more than she ever imagined in her dreams. It was as if Colin wanted her to be a part of him, the way he had been a part of her all those years.

  As they sat next to each other on the floor, with Lily trying to rearrange her dress, he couldn’t help but feel ashamed. He knew he was stupid; he shouldn’t have let it go as far as it did. He took advantage of her, right in his office, in a way that only an animal would do. Wasn’t he above all that? He felt like he had ruined her. He wanted to tell her to forget everything they had just done. They could go back to being friends.

  But when he looked back toward her to say all these things, Lily was smiling wide and her eyes were lit like stars. “That was wonderful,” she said, looking up at him.

  Colin was still cautious. “Did I hurt you,” he said, putting his hand on her check. Even though he felt guilty for taking advantage of her, he still craved to have contact with her.

  “No, of course not,” she said, putting her hand on top of his. She leaned up to kiss him again, but he turned away.

  “I shouldn’t have done that,” he said, as he got up from the floor and started to button his open shirt.

  Lily followed suit, making sure her dress was buttoned up. “Why not? We are legally husband and wife. Isn’t that what husbands and wives do?” she joked, trying to make Colin laugh.

  Colin just scowled. “I’m being serious, Lily.”

  “So am I. And I don’t regret anything we just did. You can stop treating me like some little girl. I can make my own decisions and I chose to do this with you,” she sternly said.

  Colin didn’t know how to react, so he stayed silent. Lily closed the gap between them and put her hand to his cheek, forcing him to look at her. “Do you regret what we just did?”

  Colin thought about the question. He knew he felt he shouldn’t have done it, but he knew that he wanted what had just happened. He shook his head to which Lily smiled. “Then there is nothing to be ashamed of.”

  “Truthfully, I’m afraid of what people will say,” he said. He was surprised at his own words; he never thought he would tell her this, but in this moment, he just felt he could tell her anything. “There were whispers and rumors already surrounding us. I didn’t want to make things scandalous for you.”

  “I don’t know why you were so afraid.”

  “Our age difference,” Colin said, pushing a strand of Lily’s hair behind her ear. She looked so beautiful, her profile against the moonlight streaming from the window.

  “There have been plenty of people who have married with bigger differences. You shouldn’t care what people think; I don’t. When Nicholai proposed, people called me the spinster bride because they never thought I would marry. If I concentrated on what other people said, then I wouldn’t be able to live my life.”

  “You didn’t have to see the look on your sister’s face when she would see me in the office. It was as if she could read every dirty thought I had in my head,” Colin said, with a slight blush to his cheeks.

  Lily laughed. “My sister is the most judgmental person you’ll ever meet. She was afraid I was wasting away being your secretary. But don’t worry, once she finds out that we are married, she’ll be singing a different tune.”

  Colin was surprised. “You still want to stay married?”

  “Of course!” When she saw the indecision on Colin’s face, she continued. “I’ve been in love with you since I was seventeen. I can’t think of my life without you.”

  Colin smiled at the girl who stole his heart all those years ago. “Well, if you’ll have me, I’d like to stay married to you too.”

  Lily chuckled. “I honestly wasn’t going to give you a choice.”

  She leaned up on her toes and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Colin moved to hold her close to his chest and he stared into her eyes. “I love you, Lillian Sullivan. I don’t know what I would have ever done if you didn’t come waltzing into my office that day.”

  Epilogue

  “I can’t believe I missed out on another wedding,” Samantha pouted. She was sitting in the office in front of Lily’s desk, with Seth wondering what happened to the bookshelves behind them.

  Lily laughed. “I’m sorry, Samantha. Colin and I just couldn’t wait. We had wasted so much time, we thought it was important for us to just start living our lives together.” Colin still wasn’t sold on the idea after their tryst in the office. Once they discussed it more, he was more open to the idea.

  “I actually have you to thank,” Lily said, grasping Samantha’s hand. “If you hadn’t sent out that telegram, I probably would still be living with Iva and destined to be a spinster Aunt.”

  Seth came behind the seat and set his hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Don’t say that. You are just going to give her ideas.”

  Samantha smiled and sat up straighter in her seat. “I am a good matchmaker, aren’t I? Maybe I should open up a business here in town.” She looked up at her husband. “We could make a pretty good living from it. I have a great track record.”

  “You just like to meddle,” he said, giving his wife a kiss on the cheek. Lily loved how tolerant Seth was of his wife’s little delights. “But I think we’ll stick with raising beef cattle. Besides, you have some other duties that need to be managed.”

  Samantha looked at him curiously, before her eyes lit up. “Oh, you’re right.” She turned to Lily, “I guess I’ll have to wait on the business,” she said, absentmindedly putting her hand on her stomach. The gesture caught Lily off guard and she didn’t think Samantha did it on purpose to draw attention. She had noticed that Samantha looked glowing recently; she just thought it was the crisp country air.

  She didn’t want to question it for fear they were keeping it a secret. She would wait until they made a more formal announcement. Although she was happy and couldn’t help but squeeze Samantha’s hand.

  “What was that for,” Samantha asked, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

  “No reason,” Lily said slyly, before going back to the papers in front of her. Samantha and Seth had come for Samantha to give a deposition for Clover’s case. Clover was in the office now with Colin, so they were waiting outside.

  Just then, the door burst open and a man walked in. He was tall and bulky, with a scruffy jaw and auburn hair. He was wearing brown pants with suspenders over a blue work shirt. He looked like a rancher with his tan skin and strong hands, which were holding a stack of papers. Seth turned to the man in recognition. “Gideon?”

  The man seemed out of breath. “Seth,” he said, looking around the room, nodding towards Samantha, “Samantha.” He stared at Lily as she started to get up from her seat. “Hello, I’m Gideon Avery. I was wondering if I could see Colin for a moment?”

  He held out his hand for Lily to shake. “Hello, I’m Lily. And Colin is in the middle of a meeting; I don’t know if he is available today. I can fit you in tomorrow possibly.”

  Gideon looked frazzled. “If there is any way I can see him today? It’s important. I came all the way into town.”

  “Gideon, what’s wrong?” Seth asked, as Samantha looked on with worry.

  “Something happened at the ranch. My father, he had an accident and he’s not recovering. I’m afraid he doesn’t have much time,” Gideon said. He gestured to the pages in his hands. “And we found something out about the deed to the ranch. It’s important that I see him as soon as possible.”

  At that moment, Colin opened the door to his office. “The Sheriff is going to come by and escort you back to the jailhouse, Clover, but for the mean time, you can wait out here,” he said, gesturing to the chair next to Samantha. When Colin looked up, he saw Gideon in the room. “Oh Gideon, what are you doing here?”

  Gideon opened his mouth to speak but was stopped when he saw Clover standing next to Colin. “It’s you,” he said, his face looked like he had seen a ghost. Clover, herself, looked as if she had been caught doing something inappropriate.

  Lily couldn’t help but wonder what he was talking about, but Samantha captured everything in one succinct sentence.

  “And you thought today was going to be boring.”

  The End

  I hope you have enjoyed Lily and Colin’s story. If you would like to learn more about the Black Hills Brides series, upcoming books, multi-author projects, readership opportunities, and sneak peeks, please visit my website. While there, be sure to sign up for my newsletter and receive updates on future books!

  www.christinesterlingbooks.com

  If you enjoyed this story, I would appreciate it if you would leave a review, as it helps me reach new readers and continue to write stories that appeal to you.

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  About the Author

  Christine Sterling lives in a pre-civil war Farm House with her husband, three dogs – Morgan, Brandi and Samson, and about a dozen rescued barn cats. She has been writing since she was eight years old when her grandparents gave her a Sears & Roebuck typewriter with a hard-plastic cover for Christmas in 1977.

  She spent her teen years crafting stories to include all her friends and then she discovered her true love -- romance when her beloved grandmother, Gigi, brought home a free promotional book from the Second Chance at Love Collection.

  She was hooked and began to write and read every single romance book she could get her hands on. She has since authored and published many short stories, magazine articles, and the occasional novella. She has also ghost-authored and collaborated as a writing coach on many books.

  She is passionate about writing, cooking, gardening, teaching others to write and publish their first book. She straddles the line between fiction and non-fiction, not only writing historical and contemporary romances, but personal development books as well.

  One of her big goals is to grow a 150lb pumpkin and feature it in the county fair.

  She loves hearing from her fans and will answer every email personally. You can write her at christinesterlingbooks@gmail.com.

 

 

  Christine Sterling, Her Secret Love (Black Hills Brides Book 4)

 

 

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