The Wanted Bride (A Contemporary Romance) Read online

  This morning the air was frosty and cold enough for her to see her breath. She reached over and with practiced ease, stirred the embers in the fireplace and added a new log. The flames flared to life, and heat radiated from the fire.

  Matt let the twins lead him to the windows.

  “Snow.”

  “Yes, that’s a lot of snow. We got at least three feet last night,” he said, pointing out the icicles to the kids.

  “And still no power.” McKenzie walked down the stairs in her robe. “I’m going to start breakfast.”

  “Nope,” Matt replied, turning from the window. “I promised to cook Valerie breakfast last night if I couldn’t find my picture. It’s still missing.”

  McKenzie stared in amazement and looked between the two of them. “You’re still speaking. I was afraid to leave you two alone last night. I didn’t know who would be the lone survivor.”

  “I’m sure you lost sleep over it.”

  “Not hardly,” McKenzie replied, getting out a pan for her brother. She glanced over at Valerie. “One of the reasons I like you is because you can hold your own with my big brother.”

  “Hey, did you think that maybe I need protecting?” Matt asked, indignant as he carried the children away from the window. “She could have ravished me in my sleep.”

  Valerie rolled her eyes. “In your dreams.”

  “Well, you did throw your leg over me.”

  “The act of a sleep-deprived woman seeking warmth.”

  “Oh, I see how it is. You used me for my body heat, and now this morning it’s over. We’re finished, and I didn’t even get an ‘it was good for me; was it good for you?’ speech.”

  Valerie tipped her chin in his direction and cocked a brow. “The warmth was great, but you’re right. It’s over.”

  Even with the lack of sleep, Valerie felt saucy this morning. The night had been fun, but this morning she needed to put distance between her and Matt. There was an attraction there and she couldn’t pursue it. Slowly

  she began to roll up the sleeping bags.

  “Wanna play,” Austin declared, tugging on his uncle’s hand and pointing outside. Matt glanced at the toddler. “After breakfast, sport. Then we’ll see about building a snowman.”

  Austin looked at him, a questioning expression on his young face.

  “Trust me buddy, it will be fun. But first let me cook some smiley-face pancakes.”

  Matt kept the kids entertained with a pancake shuffle while he cooked their breakfast. He tossed the pancakes into the air, catching them with a plate. The twins giggled and then picked the blueberries from their pancakes to show their uncle they’d found the hidden treasure.

  It took well over an hour for breakfast to be completed, and Valerie enjoyed watching the interaction between Matt and the twins. If she were looking for a husband, a good father, she had no doubt he would be the perfect catch.

  But she wasn’t in the market for a man and definitely not a husband. Though sleeping next to him last night had put her erogenous zones on high alert. Matt was a temptation she didn’t need.

  It took another thirty minutes to bundle the twins in their snowsuits and for everyone to gather at the door.

  The first step into the freezing temperatures gave Valerie a moment’s pause. It was colder than a well digger in Montana.

  For a brief moment, the cold seemed to freeze the air in her lungs as she adjusted to cold. The sun shone brightly, but with the temperature hovering in the upper twenties, the snowy reflection of ice crystals showed no signs of melting. The outing would last until her fingers went numb.

  “Come on, Austin, help me make the snowman,” Matt said, leading the toddler into the fresh powder.

  Valerie watched as Matt showed Austin how to roll the snow into a big ball. Soon he had the little guy rolling a ball almost the same size as him around the yard. McKenzie and Ashley were busy making snow angels while Valerie gathered sticks for the arms of their snowman. She snuck a peak at Matt.

  He was so patient with his nephew that it almost made her heart ache. Of all the lawyers she’d known, none of them played like Matt. None of them were as patient and kind, and none of them made her realize what she’d missed growing up an only child.

  Someone seeing them for the first time might have assumed that Austin and Ashley were Matt’s children. He couldn’t take the place of his brother-in-law, but he had helped McKenzie create a family atmosphere for her children. A safe, warm, and loving home to nurture these little people into competent, happy adults.

  The kind of place that Valerie could not remember ever having experienced in her life. An atmosphere she hoped to recreate with a man as good as Matt when she was ready to reconsider marriage.

  “Hey,” Matt called, throwing a snowball and hitting her squarely in the chest.

  With a splat, a shower of cold snow snapped her out of her thoughts. Matt laughed and she whirled around, marching toward the house.

  “Hey,” he called.

  She heard him running after her and knew he thought she was upset. Snow lay piled on the railing of the porch, and she hurried toward the fresh powder. When he was almost upon her, she scooped a handful of snow, turned, and splattered him.

  “Hey, yourself,” she said, watching him sputter as the snowball hit him smack in the lips.

  He wiped the snow off his face. “You did that deliberately, didn’t you?”

  “Of course.”

  “It’s war,” he cried, reaching down to scoop up a handful of snow, pack it, and hurl the frozen ball at her.

  She ran, but the snow hit her in the back. He machine-gunned her with snowballs, pelting her as fast as she ran. She took cover behind his completed snowman, knowing he wouldn’t destroy Austin’s first attempt.

  “Hey, you two, I’m taking the kids in the house. They’re getting cold,” McKenzie called.

  Neither of them moved or acknowledged her. Valerie heard him approach the snowman. She peeked out from behind the ice creature only to find herself being lifted in his arms.

  “Put me down.”

  “No problem!”

  He dropped her onto the snow and proceeded to cover her with the loose powder. She dragged him down with her, and the two of them rolled together, stuffing snow in any available opening, laughing and squealing.

  The ice slithered down the front of her coat, causing her to shriek with glee and shiver, though not from the cold.

  Her body tingled, hot with desire that should have had the snow vaporizing.

  She landed on top of him. While he tried to put more snow down the inside of her jacket, she yanked the zipper down on his coat and pushed some inside his shirt. Her glove connected with his bare chest, and she plastered him, wiping the grin from his face.

  “Agh, that’s cold.” His voice seemed strangely tense as he stared at her, his pupils dilated, his breathing heavy, and his eyes exuding sultry warmth. She stopped her fist in midair as his gaze melted the ice from her heart.

  Though the temperature outside was cold, inside, her body thermometer spiked. She lay on top of him, her hipbone to his, her thighbone connected to his, her breasts against his chest. Her breath shallow and fast.

  “Do you dare go lower with that snowball?” he taunted, glancing briefly at the snow in her hand.

  “Maybe I should cool you off with it?” she responded, her voice deeper and breathy.

  “That little snowball doesn’t stand a chance. You’re going to need a whole platoon of snowmen.”

  She could feel his erection beneath her, and that both frightened and excited her. Though Valerie wanted to deny her reaction, she knew her breathing gave her away. Yes, she was so hot for him that she feared getting burned. How had she let herself get in such a precarious position?

  “We better go in,” she said, feeling the urge to run.

  His hand reached up and brushed a lock of her hair away from her face, the tender action almost her undoing.

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right. It
’s either go in or have sex right here in the front yard. I don’t think my sister would approve, and since her neighbors are my clients, I guess we’d better think of somewhere else to have sex.”

  What was she doing? Nothing about her situation had changed, and by being with Matt, she was playing with fire. He was talking about sex like it was inevitable.

  She knew he was half-serious, half-teasing, but it reminded her of all the reasons why they could never be together. They could never kiss again. They could never have sex.

  “Think again.” She pushed off him and rose from the ground. “Sex is out of the question.”

  Without looking back, she strode into the house, dusting snow off her as she went.

  Focus, Valerie. The goal is to leave Springtown, not find a lover. It didn’t matter that Matt left her hot and needy. It didn’t matter that her body craved his. No men. No lovers. No Matt.

  #

  Two days later, Matt couldn’t help but remember the morning he had awoken with Valerie snuggled beside him. The feel of her body nestled against his, her leg intimately thrown over his own, had brought forth a hunger in him that food could never quench.

  Not to mention she could make flannel pajamas look like a Victoria’s Secret commercial.

  That morning he’d been awake listening to the sound of her breathing, enjoying the feel of her body, the weight of her leg thrown over him.

  Sometimes he saw such wistfulness in her eyes that he wondered at the source. Flirty and receptive one moment, she could turn colder than a blizzard in a nanosecond. Like the click of a switch, she could turn off and on the charm with an ease that had him flip-flopping worse than a politician.

  So much so that he wondered if that was the reason why he still didn’t believe she’d told him everything about herself. For the moment, he was willing to wait, to give her the opportunity to tell him why she resisted this attraction between them. Why she’d arrived in Springtown on a bus.

  Today would be the first time he’d seen her since they awoke in each other’s arms and spent the day playing in the snow until the subject of sex came up. Then she’d bolted like a scared doe in hunting season.

  Still, he was anxious to see her. He wanted to hold her, kiss her, and tell her whatever troubled her they would resolve together. But for now, he waited impatiently.

  The outside door opened.

  “It’s just me,” she called.

  Unable to stop himself, he hurried to greet her. “Hey, how are you?”

  “I’m great. How about yourself?”

  “Good. I see you survived our worst snowstorm in three years,” he said, standing in front of her, his arms crossed over his chest. God, he wanted to fidget so badly, but he refused to let his nervousness show.

  “Yes,” she said, her answer short and succinct. “How much work do you have for me today?”

  Once again the walls between them were resurrected, and he hated having to scale them every time they came together. The all-work Valerie stood before him, and he so wanted the teasing, playful girl to return. He wanted the girl who had relaxed enough to let the walls she’d erected come down. He wanted the sexy, soft, pliant Valerie.

  “Not much. You took good care of things while I was gone, and well, until I hear from Denver, we’re kind of slow.”

  “Even the café is slow.”

  “Let’s take the day off and go skiing,” he offered, so wanting them to have fun again.

  “No, I don’t think so. I’ll just see if I can catch a ride to McKenzie’s.”

  “What do you mean, catch a ride?”

  “Well, I don’t have transportation of my own, so I think that means either walk or hitchhike.”

  The thought of her hitchhiking was frightening. “No, let me get my coat. I have to run an errand, and I’ll take you home after I’m done.”

  “Where is this errand?” she asked, fidgeting.

  “We’re just dropping off some paint on the way to McKenzie’s.”

  “Okay.” She slipped her coat back on.

  Matt grabbed his coat, hat, and gloves, and they strode out of the office. The temperature hovered below freezing, and the snow glittered in the bright sunshine.

  Valerie climbed into his Jeep. “Are you sure you don’t mind driving me home?”

  He shrugged. “Not at all.”

  Matt started the car. His frustration and disappointment at her attitude overcame him, and he deliberately goaded her. “You’re acting weird. Is it because we spent the night together? Do you always act this way with a new man in your life?”

  She turned on him, her blue eyes sparking with fire. “First of all, we did not spend the night together, and second, you are not the new man in my life.”

  He grinned. It was almost too easy to get a rise out of her. He turned the car onto the highway that led out of town.

  “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” she demanded a few minutes later.

  “But I could be the new man in your life.” He spoke the words in a teasing way, although he was completely serious. His attempt to keep the situation light and funny wasn’t working.

  “Before you make that kind of statement, you should talk to the last man in my life. You might want to reconsider.”

  Matt took his eyes from the road. “Why? What did you do to him? Break his heart?”

  “No, nothing quite so simple.”

  “Hmmm, take his money?”

  “Hardly,” she responded.

  He raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. “Oh no, you didn’t!”

  She stared at him, perplexed. “What?”

  “Tied him up and left him!”

  “I wasn’t given the opportunity, or I might have considered that one.”

  He chuckled. “So are you going to tell me?”

  She paused a moment, toying with him the way he had toyed with her earlier, capturing his interest and holding him hostage.

  “Nope. I’m not going to tell you. I just wanted to plant a seed and let your mind germinate for a while.”

  “Sounds kinky.”

  “Hardly.”

  Valerie frowned at him. “Matt, when I leave, you’ll realize it was for the best we didn’t get involved.”

  “Are you going somewhere?”

  “Eventually, I will leave town.”

  “Unless I convince you to stay. I’m a determined man. I’m not giving up.”

  “You can say that again. You know you were easier to control when you were trying to run me out of town.”

  Matt paused for a moment and considered her. “Control. That’s an interesting word choice.”

  She gave him a smile. “The word completely turns off some people. Especially when you use it concerning them.”

  She was trying to rile him into backing off. “Yes, it does. Fortunately, I’m not one of those people.

  He turned off the main highway and traveled an unplowed road. He put the Jeep in four-wheel drive.

  “We’re not going to get stuck are we?”

  “We could, but I never have yet.”

  The road began a gradual ascent up the mountain. He watched as she gripped the armrest.

  “Relax, it’s safe.”

  “I’m perfectly fine,” she said, leaning as far back as her seat allowed.

  “Well, you’re leaving fingernail marks in the leather of the armrest.”

  She yanked her hand up, and he laughed as fingernail indentions slowly unfurled.

  They topped the mountain, and a white meadow filled with pine trees and aspens came into view. Matt stopped the car in front of his half-finished log home.

  “Whose house is this?”

  “Mine.” He switched off the Jeep, and for a moment they stared at the cabin.

  “Very impressive,” she commented.

  “Thanks. The outside work is done, but the inside is not complete yet. Most of the contractors work for the county in the winter and drive the snowplows part-time. I just hope they’re finished by spring.”
/>
  He opened the car door and lifted the paint cans from the back. “Come on and let me show you the place while I drop off this paint.”

  Before he could come around and help her, Valerie opened her door and jumped out.

  They strode up the wooden front steps and across the porch. The wind whispered through the pines, a gentle, yet cold breeze with the trees showering fallen snow from their branches. Opening the door, they walked into a foyer area that stepped down into a sunken room with a huge rock fireplace. He set the paint cans down just inside the door.

  “Oh my, this is beautiful.” Valerie strolled around the room admiring the spacious living area that opened to the kitchen. She wandered through the kitchen and returned to the front room. “This will be a great for entertaining guests. What’s upstairs?”

  “My office, the master bedroom, and three other bedrooms.”

  “Seems like a lot of space for just you.”

  “For now,” he commented. “Someday I would like to get married and have a half-dozen kids.”

  “Half a dozen?”

  “Well, I’m open to discussion on the number.”

  “I’m sure the woman you marry will be glad to hear that. Show me your office?” she asked, changing the subject.

  Why was it whenever he told her anything serious, she abruptly changed the subject? He’d planned on bringing her here eventually, when he felt more certain they had a chance at being a couple.

  He wanted to see her reaction to the house he was building. It was a test to see if there was a possibility of anything between the two of them working. He’d kissed her, he’d slept next to her, he knew they had fun together, and they had this awesome attraction. But before he made a complete fool of himself, he wanted to judge her reaction to living in the middle of God’s country.

  He followed her up the stairs. When they reached his office, he opened the door for her. Windows along the west wall gave a gorgeous view of the Rocky Mountains. The room was big enough for a large desk, and built-in bookshelves lined one wall.

  “Wow,” she said as she strolled into the room, her footsteps echoing on the bare floors. “This is nothing like your office in town.”

  “Do you like it?”

  “The view alone is fantastic, and the room has some great possibilities.”