Frogs croaked and crickets made their own nighttime sounds as she took a deep, inhaling breath and enjoyed the gorgeous view Colt’s property allowed of the Lonestar as well as the lights from town off in the distance. Even at night she could still make out the beautiful spread.

  Wearing Colt’s shirt, his masculine smell surrounding her, Elise wrapped her arms around herself as the cool Texas air blew against her, bringing with it the distinct sound of cows mooing in the distance. Goose bumps formed on her arms and a shiver passed down her spine. She squeezed her eyes shut at the realization that the cold hadn’t caused the rush that passed through her…she knew without a shadow of a doubt, she was home.

  Warm arms wrapped around her as Colt’s bare chest brushed against her back, his heat seeping through the thin cotton of her shirt. The feel of his hard, muscular body pressed against hers, made the sense of completeness and belonging flood through her in waves. Elise couldn’t stop the tears that silently rolled down her cheeks.

  “Hey there,” his deep voice rumbled against her back as he planted a gentle kiss on her neck. “I brought some of your stuff from the apartment. Even remembered your birth control pills. I didn’t want you or me to have to worry,” he finished with a chuckle. “How’s the headache?”

  His thoughtfulness pushed her over the emotional edge she’d teetered on. Holding back a sob, she wrapped her arms around his as she answered, “It’s now down to a dull roar and manageable at least. I’ll live.”

  Colt gave her a gentle squeeze. “You had me really worried.”

  She laid her head back against his neck. “I’m fine.”

  He turned her around, cupped her face in his hands, and said, “Hey, I do care—” but he cut himself off when his palms brushed against her wet cheeks.

  “Why are you crying? What’s wrong, Elise?” His voice sounded urgent, worried.

  Why do you cry even harder when someone shows concern? she wondered as she let out the sob she’d been holding back.

  Colt swiftly picked her up and walked inside. He sat down on his couch next to the low light on the end table he’d apparently turned on and cradled her in his arms. His body tense, he ran his fingers through her hair and cupped her cheek, rasping, “God, Lise, whatever it is, I’ll make it right. Just tell me.”

  Elise wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her nose under his jaw, giving a watery, embarrassed laugh. “I’m fine, really. I’m just happy the headache is gone, that’s all.” Now why couldn’t she tell him how she really felt? I just realized how complete my life is here with you. Bock! Bock! She sniffled at the chicken sounds she heard in her own head.

  He smiled and pulled her closer. After a few seconds, he stood with her in his arms and said, “Considering you skipped lunch and dinner, I’ll bet you’re starving. How about I make you something to eat?”

  She looked at him in surprise. “You’re cooking for me?”

  Colt raised his eyebrow as he lowered her feet to the floor. “What? You don’t think I can cook?”

  She gave him a doubtful look. “You’ve never cooked at my place.”

  “Well, you’re at my place now. Have a seat, gorgeous.” Colt smacked her on the butt, then gave her a devilish smile as he grabbed her rear before heading off to the kitchen.

  As she followed him, Elise winced and drew in a breath when he flipped on several overhead lights. He glanced back at her, apologized and turned them off, then turned on the small light over the stove.

  Taking the couple of steps up into the kitchen area, Elise sat down on a tall cushioned barstool behind the counter and put her chin in her hand to watch Colt move around the kitchen.

  God, he looked hot with his broad bare chest tapering into a faded pair of jeans that fit his muscular butt to perfection. He’d taken off his boots and socks and was walking around his kitchen barefoot. As her heart raced at the sexy picture he made, Elise’s breasts began to swell in response. She pressed her knees together to assuage the throbbing heat that had started between her thighs.

  While Colt cracked eggs in a pan, she distracted herself from his stimulating appearance by checking out his home. Scanning past the small oak table and spindle back chairs, she took in the comfy-looking hunter green sofa and matching chair and ottoman that sat in front of a stone fireplace. Her gaze shifted to the large stuffed taupe-colored chair that sat next to the huge picture window. She smiled when she noticed a paperback novel stuck in the side of its seat cushion.

  Letting her gaze roam, she followed the wooden stairs upward to a hallway that overlooked the kitchen area. At the top of the stairs she saw two doors. She knew the first bedroom was Colt’s, so the other must be a guest room.

  Colt had a very nice, cozy home, and neat too, she thought as she realized as she notice there wasn’t a bit of trash or discarded clothing laying about.

  “Eat up,” Colt said, drawing her attention as he set a plate of bacon, eggs and toast in front of her.

  While he poured her a glass of juice, she picked up the fork and took a bite. “Wow, I’m impressed.”

  Colt grinned and came around the bar to sit beside her on another barstool.

  “Aren’t you going to eat?” she asked, taking another bite.

  He shook his dark head and smiled. “Nah, I ate while I was out earlier. Plus, I’m enjoying watching you eat,” he finished in a seductive tone.

  Elise took another couple of bites and smiled. At the look of pure sexual hunger in his deep blue gaze, she couldn’t wait to finish eating. The dull throb in her head competed with the aching throb in her sex as she admired his gorgeous chest and defined abs—obviously her libido won the battle. She wanted Colt to take her to his bed and make love to her.

  Setting down her fork, she turned in her seat and faced him. “I think you are hungry and you’re just being polite on my account.” His T-shirt was long on her, but when she sat down the hem had ridden high on her thighs. Hooking her toes on either side of the barstool, she spread her legs and put one elbow on the counter and the other on the back of her chair saying, “See anything you like?” The position pressed her breasts against the cotton fabric, outlining her nipples in the dim light.

  His gaze burning, Colt brushed his finger along her inner thigh, past her belly until he reached her nipple. Lightly grazing the nub, his gaze darkened, causing the tip to harden in response. “I was wrong about you in a T-shirt,” he murmured.

  Elise’s heart hammered in her chest at the slightest brush of his finger against her, but his words had her meeting his gaze with a puzzled one.

  His lips tilted at the corners in a seductive half smile. “You look best wearing my T-shirt.”

  Liquid heat rushed south and her breathing turned choppy. “I think I’ll look best wearing nothing at all, lying in your bed,” she bantered with a raised eyebrow.

  Colt’s nostrils flared and his shoulders tensed, so she knew she’d gotten to him.

  He placed his hands on her thighs and quickly pulled them further apart as he stepped off his stool and moved between her legs.

  Pulling her shoulders so the tips of her breasts brushed his lower chest, Colt tilted her chin until she met his gaze. “There’s nothing I’d rather do than take you to bed and make love to you all night…”

  Elise’s heart slammed in her chest at the promise in his words.

  “…but it won’t be tonight, sweetheart.”

  She immediately frowned, drawing her brows together. “Huh?”

  Colt ran his thumb along her bottom lip, then trailed his fingers down her throat, his deep blue eyes ablaze with suppressed passion.

  “I want you to recover first, for that headache to be gone.”

  Elise stared at him for a long minute, gauging him. He was serious!

  Letting her disappointment show, she grumbled, “Only you would use the excuse of the ‘woman’s’ headache as a reason to avoid sex.”

  Grasping her chin, he kept her from turning away as he growled out, “I want to take you right now, right in this chair. But I made a promise to myself to hold back and as much as it’s killing me to do so, I will wait until you’re 100% well, Lise.”

  She couldn’t help the smile on her face as she rode up. “I like when you call me ‘Lise’. It’s very…intimate.”

  Colt gave her a sexy grin as he dropped his hand and stepped back. “It’s meant to be, darlin’.”

  He pushed her plate closer to her. “Eat.”

  While Elise finished eating, Colt started a fire in the fireplace. When the wood crackled and popped as the fire roared to life, he sat back with one leg bent, his elbow propped on his knee, staring at the fire as if in deep thought.

  Elise touched his shoulder and he immediately pulled her into his arms, settling her between his legs.

  “I thought we’d enjoy the fire before we went to bed,” he commented softly behind her.

  “Oooh, going to bed sounds very nice,” she replied with a grin as she snuggled closer and thrilled at the feeling of his body surrounding hers.

  When she felt his erection against her back, she repeated, “Verra nice.”

  “Don’t tempt me,” he warned in a strained tone.

  “But it’s what I do best, according to you.” She gave a soft laugh and laid her head against his neck, sighing in contentment.

  With everything that had happened, she realized she’d been meaning to ask him about his mother. He seemed relaxed, content. Now would be as good a time as any.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about your mother?”

  Colt’s body stiffened behind her and he replied in a curt tone. “There’s nothing to tell.”

  Turning her head, she looked up at him. “But I want to know everything about you.”

  His hold on her tightened for a brief moment before he ground out, “As far as I’m concerned, my mother is dead. I’ll talk about anything you want, Elise, but the subject of my mother isn’t something I want to rehash.”

  Elise returned her gaze to the fire and wrapped her arms around his, giving him a hug. “I understand.” But in her heart she knew she had to get Colt to face his demons about his mother’s desertion or he’d never look at her any other way. She realized that he saw her as a woman with a similar upbringing as his mother. More than ever she was convinced that was the reason he held back a part of himself from her, that he didn’t trust she wouldn’t eventually desert him too.

  Knowing this about him helped her better understand her own feelings for this complex man. Somehow she had to figure out how to get past the invincible wall he’d built around his heart, because she was the type that gave her all when she finally committed, and she’d be damned if she’d accept anything less from him in return. But that was for another day. For tonight, she’d enjoy their time together.

  As she relaxed against Colt and turned her head on his shoulder, the paperback book she’d seen stuck in the chair cushion caught her eye once more.

  Leaning to the side, she pulled the fiction book out and discovered to her surprise her lover was a suspense reader.

  “As if I don’t have enough suspense in my life with a neighbor like Jackson Riley creating havoc from time to time,” he said in a dry tone as she thumbed through the paperback.

  When she pulled out the newspaper clipping he’d used as a bookmark and unfolded it, Elise couldn’t resist chuckling as she glanced up at him in surprise.

  “You like crossword puzzles?”

  “Doesn’t everyone?” he answered with an incredulous expression.

  She skimmed the finished crossword puzzle then read some of the questions he’d had to answer. He’d answered questions she wouldn’t have known where to start if she’d been working the puzzle.

  “And you answered them all, too,” she teased.

  Colt took the paper and put it back in the book saying with a sheepish expression as he set the book on the floor, “I get a bit compulsive until I get them all.”

  “Now why doesn’t that surprise me.” She grinned and put her hand on his neck as she kissed his jaw.

  Colt looked down at her, his lips hovering over hers, close but not touching. Her heart stopped as his deep blue gaze held hers for a long moment.

  As the heat from his warm, naked chest soaked through the thin cotton shirt she wore, her fingers threaded in his hair of their own accord. Their intimate closeness, his masculine smell, and the fire’s warmth surrounding her only stoked the heat flaring between them. Elise’s breath caught as she closed her eyes and waited for his kiss.

  His five o’clock shadow scraped her cheek when he whispered in her ear, “If I kiss you, I won’t stop until I’m sliding inside your sweet body, darlin’.”

  The low, husky register of his voice rumbled through her like a seductive growl causing her body to ignite. Elise’s eyes flew open and she gasped inwardly at the look of raw hunger reflected in his eyes. She’d never been more turned on in her life at the mere mention of what he wanted but “wouldn’t” do to her…at least not tonight. She knew Colt would stand by his word no matter what she told him.

  Turning her face back toward the fire, she sighed in disappointment, then said softly, “As long as your arms are around me I’ll be happy.”

  He kissed the top of her head and tightened his hold around her whispering, “Me too, sweetheart.”

  Elise didn’t know how long they sat there in silence, but as her rapid heartbeat settled into a slower rhythm and her eyelids grew heavy from the warmth of the fire, she realized she’d never felt more at peace or in tune with another person in her life.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Colt awoke the next morning and knew a moment’s panic when he reached over to an empty bed beside him. Last night, holding Elise and not touching her the way he’d wanted to was pure torture. He’d wanted to lay her out on the carpet in front of the fire and make love to her until, out of sheer exhaustion, she begged him to stop. When she fell asleep in his arms, he felt a sense of fierce protectiveness steal over him. As he’d carried her to his bed, he knew in his heart…she was his. He realized just how tense he’d been as the end of the summer drew near when he’d taken Elise upstairs and laid her sleeping form on his bed last night.

  It was as if a heavy weight lifted off his chest as he undressed her, then stepped out of the rest of his clothes…as if his actions with Elise were a nightly routine. When he’d settled her naked body against his chest and pulled the covers over them, he seemed to breathe easier than he had in a long time.

  Now, in the light of morning, he realized that by bringing Elise into his home, into his bed, he’d opened up his life and his heart to her. Whether married or not, he knew he’d never let another man touch her, not while he still breathed.

  Sitting up, he threw his legs over the side of the bed, ready to go find her when he caught the scent of fresh brewed coffee and bacon wafting through the air. The inviting aroma, the smell of a true “home” made him smile, and he instantly relaxed as he rubbed his hands over his overnight beard and headed for the shower.

  After he’d showered and shaved, Colt pulled on a pair of jeans and went looking for his woman. Damn, that sounded good, he thought to himself at the feeling of rightness that settled around him as bit by bit he accepted his feelings for Elise.

  * * * * *

  Elise stood outside on the deck, cupping a mug of coffee in her hands, enjoying the warmth that seeped from the navy blue ceramic to her skin as she took in the breathtaking view Texas hill country had to offer. Cool moisture still hung in the air and while the wind blew against her damp hair, goose bumps formed on her arms. She smiled when the sun finally broke the horizon. Turning her face to the warm sunshine, she enjoyed the fact that the bright light no longer bothered her and her headache was gone. Running her fingers along the lapel of the navy blue robe she’d donned after finding it buried deep in Colt’s closet, she thrilled at the unusual fall-like weather that she knew would dissipate as soon as the sun rose high in the sky.

  The matching color of the robe and the mug made her smile. Apparently Colt liked navy. When she awoke early this morning, she’d risen from bed and watched him sleep for a few moments. He’d looked so sexy sprawled across his king-size sleigh bed. The crisp white sheets and navy comforter had slipped down past his slim hips, revealing his gorgeous tanned chest and rock-hard stomach. She’d had to tear her gaze away to finally get a look at his bedroom.

  It wasn’t a large room with its partially vaulted ceiling and exposed four-by-four wood beams, but he’d decorated well with the space he had. An old rocking chair—an antique she’d bet—sat near the extra wide picture window, a stack of paperback books beside it. The sleigh bed and a matching dresser were made of solid, sturdy oak as well as the chest at the foot of the bed.

  With its Spartan feel, it definitely was a man’s room, but Elise found she liked the simple style that said so much about Colt.

  A sudden tingling sensation zipping down her spine drew her out of her reverie. The sensation that she was being watched felt too strong. Elise turned and her breath caught at the sight of Colt leaning in the doorway to the house watching her. He had on a pair of faded jeans. The unbuttoned button at the top of his jeans drew her gaze to the sexy line of hair that veed beyond the waistband of his pants.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked from across the deck as if he couldn’t trust himself to come near her until he heard her answer.

  She smiled and said, “Great.” Her heart hammered in her chest as he approached, the look in his steel blue eyes intense and dark.

  Taking the mug from her hands, he didn’t say a word as he set it on the railing. Oh, but his eyes held hers and told her exactly what he wanted. Her stomach clenched as he took her hand and led her to the Adirondack lounge chair behind her. Elise sat down on the chair and leaned back as Colt straddled the chair facing her.