After Sundown (18 page)

“Kit, I will take care of you, I promise. I’m sorry I was such an ass earlier. Please, let’s see if we can work this out.”

Chapter Nineteen

“Does this mean
they’re
getting married?”
Brandon
asked his wife, as he stood with
Susan
in Kit’s kitchen. It was Christmas Eve and earlier that evening they were surprised when Cole and Megan showed up, although it was
obvious,
Kit was
expecting him.

Cole arrived with
a mountain of gifts, most
ly
for Megan and Sarah. The girls squealed with delight, dancing around excitedly and spent the next thirty minutes inspecting the packages Cole had placed under the Christmas tree in the living room.

“
Apparently, he’s
staying her
e
tonight, and the girls are going to open their presents together on Christmas morning,” Susan told her husband as she filled a platter with cookies to bring out to the living room.

“That’
s not like Kit to have a man sleep over,”
Brandon
frowned.

“Well, they did make a point of saying he was staying in the guest room,”
Susan
told him, putting the lid back on the tin of cookies.

“So,
I’m
asking again, does this mean they are getting married?” When he asked the question, he glanced at the doorway leading
to the dining room
. He could hear the sound of Christmas carols drifting in from the living room stereo.

“She told me last night
that
he asked her to marry him, but she hasn’t made up her mind.”

“I still can’t believe she didn’t tell him about the baby.”
Brandon
snatched a cookie off the tray and started to eat it, as he stood alone with his wife in the kitchen.

“And I can’t believe you slugged him,” Susan scolded.

“Well, I’m just happy they are getting married,”
Brandon
said.

“I told you, she
said
she’
s thinking about
it,
”
Susan reminded.

“She’d be foolish not to marry him.”

“I thought you didn’t like him.”

“I never said that.”

“Ever since we found out about the
pregnancy,
you’ve been ranting about that
son of a
bitc
h,
” Susan reminded.

“Well, I didn’t realize Kit hadn’t told him about the baby. Cole isn’t a bad guy. Plus, he can take care of my sister, and I won’t have to worry about her and Sarah making ends meet. I didn’t know how in the hell she was going to do it on her own, with a new baby coming.”

“Like I said, she hasn’t agreed to marry
him,
” Susan reminded again. She picked up the tra
y of cookies, and started toward the living room, her husband in tow.

They found Cole and Kit sitting quietly in the living room, watching Sarah explain the origin
s
of the various Christmas ornaments on the tree. Susan noticed Kit seemed almost shy, refusing to look over at
Cole,
who sat on the leather recliner while she sat primly on the small sofa. Kit’s eyes fastened on the girls, while Cole barely took his eyes from Kit. Susan wondered what he was thinking.

That
morning,
Kit had called Cole on the phone to tell him she would accept his marriage proposal.
They hadn’t told the girls, or Brandon and Susan
, yet
. Nor had they discussed their upcoming marriage, since
the brief phone conversation.

Cole reflected on the events of the past few days. In spite of the stark
contrast
between
Connie and Kit, he couldn’t suppress the feeling that history was repeating itself. Once again, he had gotten a woman pregnant – a woman who had no desire to marry him.

As the night progressed, Cole found himself drinking a little too much brandy. He wasn’t noticeably intoxicated, yet his mind was racing, jumping from one thought to another. There were several pluses to the marriage, he told himself. Having Kit in his bed was a major bonus.
Then
he
remembered
that
marr
iage didn’t guarantee physical
intimacy, it
certainly
hadn’t with his first wife.

Kit
was also great with Megan and his daughter adored her.
Allowing a woman to step in as a mother figure to his daughter never seemed feasible – until Kit.
He also enjoyed those quiet family moments he shared with Kit and the girls,
which surprised him. It would be nice to have a real family to come home to after a long day at work.

Kit’s brother and sister-in-law
said their goodbyes around
8 p.m.
, just after
they tucked the girls into bed
.
Brandon and Susan
planned to spend Christmas morning at church and then
celebrate
the remainder of the holiday
with Susan’s side of the family. Kit, Cole and the girls would be spending Christmas day
together.

“I want to sleep with you,” Cole told Kit when she showed him into the guestroom. His words surprised her.

“I thought we agreed you’d stay in the guestroom tonight. You can’t sleep with
me,
” Kit told him as she tried to keep her voice low, so as not to wake the girls.

“I thought you agreed to marry
me,
” Cole asked her. His eyes fixed on Kit, making her nervous.

“I don’t know what that has to do with me sleeping with you.”

“
I realized something tonight,” Cole told her.
“The circumstances of this marriage may be similar to my first one, but I refuse to do that again, and especially not with you.”

“What are you talking about?” Kit asked, confused.

“Connie kicked me out of her bed the minute her father forced us to the
altar
. I didn’t really mind, because by that
time,
I realized what a selfish bitch she was.

“I refuse to enter into another celibate marriage, and especially not one with someone like you.”

“Someone like me?” Kit asked with a frown.

“Since the first time we
met,
I wanted your clo
thes
off. I wanted you
in my bed.
I refuse to live the rest of my married li
f
e looking for someone to screw, when the woman I can’t stop thinking of is my wife who refuses to let me into her bed.”

“You think I want a celibate marriage?” Kit asked, wondering just
how much brandy
he had
consumed. He wasn’t behaving like a sloppy drunk, yet his rant was peculiar.

“When I came here
tonight,
I fully intended to marry you. But,
now I realize, I won’t
if it is in name only.”

“But didn’t you say, if it didn’t work out I could divorce you?” Kit asked, recalling his initial proposal.

“I’m taking that back. I don’t want a marriage with an expiration date. For one thing, that won’t be good for our girls or our baby. If we get married, I expect us to work like hell to make this marriage work, and I expect you in my bed.”

“And if I refuse to marry you?” Kit asked with a serious voice, watching his reaction closely. Cole didn’t answer immediately
. T
hey both stood in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Finally he spoke.

“Then I will support you and the baby, and I will expect to be part of the child’s life. I will demand it. I won’t like the arrangement, but I would prefer it to a half ass marriage.”

“What about Brenda?” Kit asked suddenly.

“Brenda?” Cole frowned.

“I had barely been out of your bed when you were with another woman. I had no idea you were in a relationship when we…well…you know…”

“Brenda and I never had a relationship in that way.” When Kit scowled at his explanation as if she didn’t believe it, he rephrased his
words
. “Yes, we had a sexual relationship, yet it was not a commitment on either part. When I met you at After Sundown, Brenda was out of the country, and I imagine enjoying the company of other men.

“Before I ever met you, she invited me to th
at
damn Halloween party. She just showed up at my house that morning.
When I woke up and found you gone, I was pissed. But when Brenda showed up unexpectedly, I’ll confess I was relieved you weren’t there.

“I never went to the party with her.
I told her at breakfast that morning that it was over.
I fully intended to go with you and the girls on Halloween.

“If you intend to marry me, and commit to a real marr
iage, I want you in my bed now.”

“Why do I feel as if I am suddenly in high school, and the boy is
saying,
prove you love
me?
” Kit asked, finding the situation more amusing than alarming.

“Because,” Cole stepped closer to Kit, grabbed her by the hips and pulled her close to him. “When I am with
you,
I feel like that randy teenage boy who can’t think of anything but taking your clothes off, and sinking into that sweet body.”

“And what about me, the person?” Kit asked with a trembling voice.

Cole studied Kit’s expression for a moment, seriously considering her question
.

“I love the person. I love
you,
Kit Landon, with all of my heart. I would want to marry you even if
you weren’t carrying my child.
I can’t demand you give me your heart as a condition of marrying me, because I understand that is an impossible request. But I will demand your body as a condition. Someday, I hope you will offer me your heart.”

Kit just stood there a moment, looking at him, noting the sincerity of his expression.

“Foolish man,” Kit
said at last. She wrapped
her arms around his neck
and pulled him toward
her, as she stood on her tiptoes
. “Before you ever claimed my body, you had my heart in your possession.”

Unable to suppress his
emotions,
Cole began to laugh. Wrapping his arms around her, Cole gave Kit a tight hug while
kissing her face
. It didn’t take him long to strip off her clothes, especially since she was fully cooperating.
They managed to wake before the girls on Christmas morning, which was something of a miracle, an
d before the New Year, the
pair went willing
ly
to the
altar
, exchanging
vows,
not for a maybe marriage – but for a lifetime commitment. 

Excerpt from

Anna J. McIytre’s
Lessons

From
The Coulson Series

Prologue

Alexandra
Chamberlain considered breaking Jimmy Keller’s other leg. Perhaps she would finish what the motorcycle accident failed to do; she would kill him. She warned him not to attempt the dangerous jump, yet he refused to listen. In truth, she was relieved the o
nly damage was one broken leg.
Although she was begrudgingly grateful Jimmy survived the foolish stunt, he inadvertently left her without a date for the senior prom.

"Things happen for a reason, Alexandra, even bad things." Grandma Sarah's words did little to
soothe
the disappointed teenager, who stood before the floor-length mirror holding her prom dress in front of her already-clad body. The midnight blue gown, cut from soft velour, had an empire cut bodice and plunging neckline, revealing a daring amount of cleavage for a seventeen-year-old girl in 1972. Alexandra would not be wearing it now; or so she thought.