Finding Home (4 page)

“They’re beautiful.”

“Claire and Coop are expecting their
first together…a boy this time.”

“You sound like a proud Uncle.”

“I am…Claire and the girls went
through hell when Tom died…aneurism.  It hit fast and he was just gone,
right there in front of them all.”

“Oh, how awful!”

“The girls were five and just barely
three.  AnnaKate barely remembers him.  Olivia doesn’t remember him
at all.  I was on a mission when it happened.  I resigned my
commission as soon as I heard, lived with them while this house was being
built.  Coop had gotten shot on a mission.  He came to visit while he
was recuperating and he and Claire hit it off.  Was a big relief to me,
knowing that they would be taken care of.”

“I bet so…you have a beautiful
family.”

He brushed his hand over her
ponytail, causing her to look up at him.  For several moments he looked
down into her eyes.  She could see several emotions working behind his
warm brown eyes, compassion and kindness most of all.

“Are you hungry?  I’ve been out
in the sun all day, I’m starving.”

“I could eat.”

He held his hand out to her then
laced his fingers with hers when she placed her hand in his.

“Let’s go.”

She smiled up at him and Colt thought
he’d never seen a more beautiful sight.  She had a great smile, it lit up
her whole face and made her eyes shine as bright as diamonds; it was what had
first drawn him to her yesterday. 

He led her back through the house to
the garage and opened the door to the truck for her.  Before she could
climb up, though, he pinned her between the seat and his body, placing a hand
on the back of her neck.

“Colt,” she whispered just before he
claimed her mouth in a kiss that left her breathless and clinging to him.

“Couldn’t resist,” he said, quickly
kissing her again, then stepped back so that she could get inside.

She watched him walk around the front
to the driver’s side and climb in, feeling her heart accelerate when he winked
at her.  His hair was still slightly damp from his shower and curling
around his neck.  He wore an Atlanta Braves T-Shirt and black athletic
shorts.  His legs were tanned and muscular, and very masculine. 
Everything about him was exceedingly male.  He made her feel so small, and
for the first time in her life, she felt feminine.

He glanced over at her and did a
double take when he noticed her gazing at his profile.  She smiled and
looked away, feeling a blush flood her cheeks.  His hand cupped the back
of her neck and gave a gentle squeeze, pulling her gaze back to him.  He
smiled at her and gave her a wink, then stroked his hand over her
ponytail.  His hand skimmed down her hair, to her shoulder and down her
arm to capture her hand in his.  They didn’t speak, but he gave her hand a
squeeze and continued to hold it. 

He took them to a local sandwich shop
for a quick late lunch, and then surprised her by driving out to the marina at
the lake.  She was only momentarily puzzled but when he took a cooler from
the back of his truck and motioned for her to follow him to the boat docks.

“Thought you might like a spin out on
the boat,” he said, leading her to a boat that was at the end of the
dock.  He stepped on board, put the cooler down, and then held his hand
out to help her onto the boat.

“I’ve never been out on a boat
before,” she told him.

“No? Well, first time for everything,
right?”

“Looks like.”

“Have a seat and I’ll get us out on
the water.  There’s sunblock under the right hand seat, as well as life
jackets.”

She sat in the seat just in front of
the captain’s chair and watched him untie the boat and expertly navigate it
away from the dock.  He took it slow until they were well away from the marina
and then hit the gas.  Sarah held tight to the rail on the side of the
boat, but after the initial adrenaline rush brought on by the speed, she
settled back and enjoyed the ride.  She was glad she had her hair pulled
back so that it wouldn’t be a tangled mess when they were done. 

Colt watched Sarah as he kicked the
speed up a few notches.  She grasped the side rail like a life-line but
that was her only outward sign of discomfort.  After a few minutes she
even seemed to relax and enjoy the ride.  He watched her turn her face
into the wind and close her eyes, just soaking up the sun and the wind. 
Her long tanned legs were stretched out in front of her and crossed at the
ankles and had his mouth watering.  She was a natural beauty and he knew
she had no clue just how alluring she was; he found that absolutely
refreshing.  Truth be told, he found everything about Sarah
refreshing. 

When he slowed, she looked over her
shoulder at him giving him such a bright, sweet smile it caused his heart to
stutter.  He knew he couldn’t wait a minute longer to be close to her, so
he motioned to her with a crook of his finger to come to him.  She stood
and rounded the wheel to stand beside him.  He shifted back in his seat
and spread his legs wide, patting the exposed seat between his knees.

“Have a seat and I’ll let you drive,”
he told her.

She smiled and sat before him and he
was immediately aware of how small she was compared to him…and how perfect she
fit against him.  Her back was pressed into his chest, the top of her head
just under his chin.  He realized, with her curvy little backside pressed
against his groin, that he was chancing shocking the heck out of her when she
felt his arousal, but he needed to be close to her and in the limited space, it
couldn’t be helped.  Telling her to put her hands on the wheel, he reached
around her to cover hers and show her what she needed to do to speed them
up. 

“I don’t know about this,” she said,
biting her lip.

“Nothing to it,” he assured
her.  “There’s not a lot of traffic out here but if we come across another
boat just slow her back down and I’ll take over if you want.  Deal?”

She nodded and carefully began
increasing their speed.  When he felt she was comfortable at the controls,
he eased his hands from the wheel and placed them instead on her ribs,
beginning a slow, sensuous exploration of her body.  At his first touch
she stiffened slightly, but after a few moments, she relaxed.  Colt lost
himself in the sensation of touching her body, but kept his hands from any
intimate places, such as her full breasts or the hidden wonders between her
legs.  Instead, he skimmed the sides of her breasts, trailed his hands
down her flat stomach but shifted to her thighs any time he ventured lower.

He used his chin to push her ponytail
away from her neck, and skimmed his lips over the sensitive flesh there,
smiling when goose bumps erupted over her arms.  He nuzzled her hair,
taking in the luscious smell of her shampoo, and ran his tongue along the shell
of her ear.  She allowed it for a while, then slowed the boat until they
were idling.  She turned her head to look up at him over her
shoulder.  Colt wasted no time taking advantage of that, sealing his lips
over hers, loving when one of her hands clutched his knee while the other
wrapped around his neck to let her fingers bury themselves in his hair. 

Sarah was overwhelmed.  His
hands had completely turned her into a mass of aching need…and he had yet to
touch her anywhere significant!  His hands roamed her abdomen, and the
sides of her breasts but not her actual breasts.  Every time she thought they
would slide low and touch the apex of her thighs, he’d slide them over to the
tops of her thighs to her knees.  He felt so large and masculine behind
her, even before he started touching her, just the feel of his muscular chest
against her back was enough to have her breath coming in gasps.  When he
began kissing her neck and running his tongue along the shell of her ear, she
knew she had to stop the boat or risk wrecking them.

Looking into his eyes,  she
gasped at the desire she saw in their brown depths.  He cupped her jaw in
his hand and tilted her head up to receive his kiss and Sarah was lost. 
She would have given him anything at that moment, and while that frightened her
some, she decided she wasn’t going to over-analyze or limit herself. 
Relationships were non-existent in her world so she decided she was going to
embrace this and ride it out for all it was worth.

Colt groaned and wrapped both arms
around her, pulling her fully onto his lap and forcing her mouth wide with his
tongue.  Sarah could barely breathe around the kiss and found she really
didn’t care.  All that mattered was this moment and this man.  She
could feel his arousal pressing against her hip and it thrilled her to know she
could cause that in such an incredibly sexy, handsome man.

After what seemed like hours, he
pulled back from the kiss and pressed his forehead to hers, each panting as if
they’d just sprinted the length of a football field.  Sarah was surprised
to see she had his shirt balled in her fist and released it, smoothing her hand
over the wrinkles in his shirt.

“You take my breath away, Sarah,” he
said against her ear. 

“As you do to me,” she replied, “I
can’t…wow, yeah.”

He pulled back and smoothed his hands
over her hair, cupping her face in his hands and giving her a quick, tender
kiss.

“How about a movie tonight?” he
asked, tracing his thumb over her lower lip.

“OK,” she sighed.

“Why don’t you look up show times
while I take us back to the marina?”

She nodded and started to stand but
couldn’t resist giving him one more quick but searing kiss.  The low growl
that sounded deep in his throat sent shivers down her spine as she stepped away
from him and settled on the seat beside him.

The rest of the day and evening, they
both took a big step back, seeming to agree that things moved a bit too fast
out on the boat.  They went to an action movie and spent hours sitting out
on his back deck by a fire in his patio fireplace just talking and getting to
know one another.  When Sarah finally left that night she felt like she
was walking on the clouds.  Colt had walked her out to her car and kissed
her breathless before opening her door and helping her inside.  He told
her he had plans to spend the day with his nieces tomorrow but would call or
text her often during the day.  She couldn’t freaking wait!

Sarah had barely made it out of his
driveway before Colt’s phone started buzzing in his pocket.  He dug it out
and then sighed when the display read
Claire Calling.
  Sometimes,
living next door to his sister was not always a good thing.

“What’s up?” he answered.

“You tell me!  Do you know how
hard I had to fight with the girls to keep them from running over to your house
when they saw you sitting outside by the fireplace?”

He headed back around to his back
patio and sank down on the outdoor sofa, pulling a beer from the cooler next to
him.

“I’m sure it wasn’t easy. 
Thanks for that, though.”

“What is the story with the woman who
was over?”

“I’m really tired, sis, can we
–“

She cut him off.  “Uh uh. 
No way.  Spill it, Colt.  You haven’t really gone out with anyone
since you moved here.  Who is she?  How did you meet her?”

He really didn’t want to get into all
of this now with her but knowing his sister, he knew he wasn’t going to be able
to get away with not answering.  So he told her about how he met Sarah and
how they met for dinner and again at the baseball game and that he took her out
on the boat and to a movie.

“Wow.  That’s a lot in a short
amount of time.”

He sighed.  “Yeah, I know. 
That’s why I told her I was spending the day with the girls tomorrow. 
Don’t want to overwhelm her.”

There was silence on the other end
for a few minutes, to the point that he was beginning to wonder if Claire was
still there.  Then he heard her take a deep breath.

“Give me a couple of minutes.  I
want to come over and talk to you face-to-face.”

“Claire, come on.  It’s been a
long day.  I’m tired.”

“I don’t care.  The girls are
asleep.  I’ll be there in two minutes.”  She hung up and he hung his
head, knowing he wasn’t going to avoid her when she was determined like that.

True to her word, two minutes later,
he heard his gate open and then Claire was coming to sit across from him.

“So, her name is Sarah.  You saw
her at lunch, paid for her lunch and then sent her roses after overhearing her
name and the name of where she works.  You took her to Diamondbacks. 
You took her out on the boat and to a movie and then back here where y’all sat
out here by the fire for how long?”

He glanced at the time on his
phone.  “About four and a half hours.”

“What did you talk about?”

He let his head fall back on a
groan.  “Claire.”

“Talk to me, Bubba.  The girls
were spying on you non-stop.  Coop was spying on you.  In all the
times they were watching and Coop and I were watching, we only saw you kiss her
twice.  The rest of the times you were talking and laughing.”

“Yeah…she’s easy to talk to.”

“So, what did you talk about?”

“Hell, I don’t know.  A little
bit of everything.  What I did in the Army.  What she was like
growing up.  She was adopted.  Her parents were older and passed away
within months of each other when she was eighteen.  She has no other
family.  She doesn’t know her birth family.  She’s been all alone
since she was eighteen.”

He could see compassion shining in
his sister’s eyes.  She knew too much about loss and he knew she would
empathize with Sarah.

“So, it’s been twenty-four
hours.  You aren’t seeing her tomorrow because you don’t want to overwhelm
her.  I take it you really like her, then?”

He scrubbed his hand over his
face.  “She fascinates me,” he admitted.  “I can’t help but think
there’s more to her than just what’s on the surface.  She’s smart and
she’s beautiful and I think she has a big heart, and a lot of potential.”

“Oh, my gosh!  You really do
like her.”

“God, what are we, in junior high?”
he groaned.

“I want my brother to be happy, is
there anything wrong with that?”

“Just do me a favor and don’t say
anything to Mom about her, OK?  Like you said, it’s only been twenty-four hours.”

“OK, I won’t say anything…yet.”

“Promise, Claire,” he demanded.

“Fine.  I promise.”

“And tell the girls not to say
anything, either.”

“That is easier said than done, you
know.”

“Yeah, I do, but tell them anyway.”

His phone buzzed, drawing both their
attention.  He lifted it up and saw it was a text from Sarah.

Made it home.  Just wanted to
thank you again for a wonderful day.  Have fun with your girls tomorrow…or
later today, as it were.  Good night.

He smiled as he read it, tipping
Claire off as to who it was from.  She leaned over and kissed his cheek.

“Good night, Bubba.”

“G’nite, Sis,” he said, watching her
walk back over to her yard.

He put out the fire and then went
inside, settling into bed before texting Sarah.

I can still feel you in my arms
and taste you on my lips.  Sleep isn’t going to come easily for me
tonight.  Every time I close my eyes I see you on the boat, the wind in
your hair.  My dreams, when I finally do go to sleep, will definitely be
sweet.

Settled into her own bed, Sarah felt
her heart literally skip a beat when she read his text.  Today had been
like a dream for her.  Truth be told, she could still feel his lips
against hers, his tongue in her mouth.

‘blushing’…I swear you’re too good
to be true.  I keep thinking any minute now I’m going to wake up and
realize the last twenty-four hours were just a really, really good dream. 
I’ve never felt so relaxed around a guy before.  I can’t believe it’s only
been twenty-four hours.  It feels like I’ve known you much longer.

She held her breath, waiting for his
reply.  When it came, she all but melted.

Makes you believe in the whole
concept of past lives, doesn’t it?  I looked into your eyes across the
restaurant yesterday and felt like I’ve known you for years.  Today when I
held you on the boat, it felt like I was finally home, and I certainly didn’t
want to let you go tonight when you left.  I’ve never believed in love at
first sight…but you have me challenging many of the things I thought before.

“Oh.  Wow,” Sarah cried out
loud. 

I wish you were here with me
now.  I wish I could fall asleep in your arms.  Is that crazy? 
We just met.  But I can’t help how I feel.  When I was sitting in
front of you with your chest against my back and your arms around me, I’ve
never felt so safe. 

Instead of an answering text, her
phone rang, startling her when she saw
Colt Calling
on her ID.

“Hello?”

“If I were with you now, I’d spread
your hair out on your pillow and stroke my hand over your collarbone,” his
deep, rich voice said without preamble.

“Colt,” she gasped.

“I’d run my fingertips over your neck
and run my tongue along your lower lip, then suck it into my mouth.”

“Oh God,” she moaned.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you,
baby?”

“Yes,” she breathed.

“Are you in bed?”

“Yes.”

“What size is it?”

“My bed?”

He chuckled.  “Yeah, baby, what
size is your bed?”

“It’s, um, a Queen.”

“Headboard, footboard?”

“It’s a sleigh bed.”

“Light wood, dark wood, white?”

“It’s dark.”

“What color are your sheets?”

“Red.”

“You have red sheets?” he asked, his
voice almost a groan.

“Yes.”

“Are they satin?”

She laughed.  “No, they’re
cotton, but a high thread count, so they’re really really soft.”

“Are you wearing a gown or pajamas?”

She felt a blush creeping into her
cheeks.  Her nighttime lingerie was one of her indulgences, even though
she hadn’t had a boyfriend since her early college years.

“A gown.”

“Yeah?  Describe it to me.”

“Colt,” she whispered.

“I want to picture you lying there in
your sleigh bed on your red sheets.  What does your gown look like?”

“It’s pink.”

“Yeah?  Silk? Cotton?”

“Silk, with spaghetti straps.”

“Can you take a picture and send it
to me while we’re on the phone?”

“I…think so.”

“Hold the phone up over your head and
take a picture.  I wanna see you.”

Sarah bit her lip, then took a deep
breath and released it slowly.

“OK.  Hang on just a minute.”

She switched him over to speaker then
pulled up her camera and held it up.  She fanned her hair out over her
pillow the way he described then took a picture before she could chicken out.

“Did you take it?”

“Yes.”

“Did you send it?”

“Yes.”

He was quiet a moment, then she heard
him groan.  “You are so beautiful, Sarah.  Are you able to FaceTime
on your phone?”

“Yes,” she answered, her heart
pounding.

“Hang up and call me on
FaceTime.  I want to see you.”

“OK.”

She ended the call then hit FaceTime
on his contact info.  When he answered, she was immediately aware of two
things: he was shirtless in bed, and he had an elaborate tattoo on his left
pectoral.

“You have a tattoo,” she stated,
making him smile.

“I do…and you are gorgeous.”

“Not so bad yourself, sparky,” she
laughed.

“I love your laugh,” he told
her.  He was leaning back against his headboard, which was also dark wood,
pillows propped behind him and he had one arm behind his head looking very much
like a cover model for a romance novel.  His chest appeared to be smooth,
with either no hair or very little of it and he was heavily muscled. 
Forget the six-pack abs, he looked to have a well chiseled eight-pack going
on. 

“So, what’s the story on the
tat?  It looks awesome, by the way.”

He absently rubbed his hand over the
intricate scrolls on his chest.  “I got it after I left the Army. 
Was just something a few of us did after we got out, kind of a way to
commemorate our service and remember a couple of fallen friends.”

“Is it just on your chest?”

“It wraps around my shoulder to my
back.”

“That had to have taken a long time.”

“About six months…how long is your
gown?” he asked, abruptly switching back to his original subject.

She bit her lip.  “It hits
slightly higher than mid-thigh.”

“Show me,” he demanded.

Sarah’s heart began pounding
again.  “Colt,” she whispered.

“Show me, Sarah,” he repeated.

Taking a deep breath, she smoothed
the lacy hem on her thighs and then slowly panned the eye of the camera down
her body so he could see exactly where her gown hit on her thighs.

“Beautiful,” he breathed.  “Show
me more.”

“What?” she asked, trying not to
sound too shocked but knowing she didn’t succeed when he chuckled.

“Take your free hand and run it
slowly up your thigh and pull the hem of the gown up with it.  Show me
your hip…just a hint of your panties.”

“Oh, my god!” she moaned, turned on
just by his words.

“Come on, baby, play with me.”

“Okay,” she submitted.  With one
hand holding her phone above her body, she slowly did as he asked, trailing her
hand up her thigh, hooking the hem with one finger as she continued higher to
her hip, showing just a tease of her matching pink lace panties.  His
resulting groans of pleasure emboldened her and she slid her hand slightly over
to her lower belly, giving him a bit more of a glimpse of her panties before
bringing the phone back to her face.  She caught her bottom lip with her
teeth when she saw him, his hand stroking over the obvious bulge of his arousal
under his navy blue sheets.

“Did you like that, Colt?” she asked.

“Oh, hell yeah, baby.”

“I can’t believe I just did that,”
she confessed.

“Why not?  It’s not like you
showed anything more than I would see if you were wearing a swimsuit.”

“True.  So, what about you?”

“What about me?”

“What do you have on under that
sheet, Colt?”

The smile he flashed to her made her
heart skip a beat.  It was a sexy grin, his tongue caught between his
teeth that let her know whatever he was about to say was going to set her on
fire.

“Maybe I should just show you,” he
said.

“Bring it on, big guy,” she
encouraged.