The Trouble With Love (34 page)

Cassie hugged her then picked up her pastry wrapper and stood, "I better get out of here before you're late.  Ya'll have fun, sugar," she leaned down and kissed Sabrina's cheek, then walked to the door and left.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Although Cole had told her to wear shorts and flip flops, Sabrina decided to dress up for him.  They might be dining in...but they were
dining in
...and she wanted to look good for
Cole.  He'd never really seen her dressed up...other than her cowgirl gear.
  She dug through her closet and pulled out a sundress she hadn't worn in
a couple of
years.  It was yellow with red chili peppers on it and she had a pair of red high-heeled sandals she'd brought with her that looked great with it.
  Her red bikini would look perfect under it too.

This wasn't just any sundress, it was fitted at the top with a strapless neckline that wrapped from either side into a short swingy skirt that tied at her hip.  She had spent way too much on it in
Phoenix
, but it made her feel feminine and alive.  Pulling her hair up in a clip in the back, she added red dangly chili pepper earrings and a chunky necklace she'd bought to go with it.
  With the tan she'd gotten since she'd been in
Bowie
, since she wasn't afraid to be in the sun like she was in
Phoenix
, the dress looked spectacular.

She slid her feet into the strappy
red
four-inch sandals and then sat at the vanity to put on her makeup.  Keeping it light she just brushed on some mascara and a little blush then added some deep red lipstick.  Popping her lips a few times, she grabbed a tissue from the box and blotted them well,
then
grabbed her purse and headed downstairs.  Cole should be here any minute, and she couldn't wait to see him.

Luke was at the bottom of the stairs when she got there and he stopped in his tracks and whistled.  "You trying to give Cole a heart attack?"

She grinned, "Just trying to make the scenery interesting," she said lightly then stopped to kiss his cheek.  "Where's Cassie?"

"I made her a bath and I'm going up there to bring her some tea and a Pop Tart," his lips kicked up ruefully.  "I'm thinking about buying stock in that company."

Sabrina chuckled
and agreed,
"
You should
...s
he'll probably be eating a lot of them before the baby is born
!
" Sabrina loved
that
Luke was such a
thoughtful husband
and took such good care of her pregnant friend. 
One day, Sabrina
hoped her husband would be the same.  A vision of Cole in that role popped into her head and she smiled.
"
You better go,
you don't want to k
eep a girl and her Pop Tarts waiting."

The thought of Cole as a father made her smile.
..he'd be a great dad.  And an aw
esome husband
, she thought, taking the stairs carefully so she didn't trip in her heels.  Shaking her head, Sabrina pushed those thoughts aside, because that thinking was putting the horse before the cart
, and could get her to anticipating things that weren't going to happen
. 
Although
she and Cole had
made a lot of progress lately,
they
still had a lot to work out between
them.

Walking out on the porch, Sabrina decided to sit on the swing and wait for him. 
A few minutes later, she
saw him pull down the driveway on his motorcycle
. H
er mouth dried up at how sexy he looked
on the sleek black bike
, but she groaned and looked down at what she was wearing.  That was why he'd told her to wear shorts, she thought and slapped her forehead
, before standing up
.

He pu
lled up in front of the house
and
pu
t down the kickstand
, then
killed the engine
.  Throwing his leg over the
seat,
he took off his helmet then
walked up on the porch
and pinned his eyes to hers.
Without even a hello, he
walked across the porch holding her gaze
the whole way, then
jerked her body to his and laid a kiss on her that made her toes curl. 

"You are so fucking beautiful, it's like staring at the sun when I look at you," he
told her
reverently,
t
hen kissed her again.
  When he pulled back he grinned, "I probably should have mentioned I'd be picking you up on the bike."

She looked down at herself again then said, "Yeah...don't think I want to moon the driver's behind us...I'll go change."

"You'd keep Elmer bus
y..." he
chuckled
then swatted her behind, "Go
on
, I'll wait," he said then sat down on the swing.

Cole watched her walk back inside and hated that she had to change.  Sabrina really was the most beautiful woman he knew...but she was more than that.  She was tough, sassy and tenacious.  Life had dealt her lemons and she'd made sweet tea with it...the sweetest tea he'd ever tasted.  He was a happy man...and so damned lucky.  He couldn't wait to take her to the little island on the lake tonight.

Luke came out the front door looking tired, but smiling from ear to ear.  He was damned lucky too, Cole thought.  He and Cassie had the kind of relati
onship
Cole
wanted with Sabrina...the kind he would
have
with Sabrina. 
His friend sat beside him on the swing and slung an arm over the back then said, "Sabrina sure looked hot...why's she going change?"

Cole nodded toward the motorcycle then grinned at Luke.

"That would have been one hell of a ride, you should have let her go like she was.  I could've followed you to make sure you got there safely," Luke offered and grinned at him waggling his eyebrows.

Blood
surged up to Cole's head and he ground his teeth then slugged Luke in the arm, "You keep your eyes to yourself, Slick.  That one's mine."

Luke slugged him back and said, "Yours huh?  Since when?"

"Since I'm going to ask her to marry me tonight," Cole said then looked everywhere but at Luke.

"Oh, yeah?" Luke asked seriously then add
ed, "Bout damned time, buddy...good luck, Cole
," then he snickered and said, "
She's
good for your ugly ass
.  C
an't figure what she sees in you though
.
"

Cole grunted, "Must be my charm."

"Just don't do that thing that Jenny Parsons complained about in eleventh grade," Luke teased him and stuck out his tongue wiggling it.  "Wouldn't want to scare her off."

Cole's eyebrows pinched together and he said, "Haven't had too many complaints since then, Slick." Cole grinned and told him, "Jenny was just..
.Jenny," then he asked, "
She still a lesbian?"

"That's not something that changes man
...
could explain
though
why she didn't take to you too well.  You got
ragged for that for a long time
,
"
Luke told him and then belly laughed.

"Still do, evidently..."
Cole
gave Luke a glare
then looked up to see Sabrina come out the front door
.
 

His
jaw flapped a few times when he saw what she'd changed into, a
pair of cutoffs and her red boots
, with a red bikini top as her only covering up top
. "Holy shit, I think you're still going to keep Elmer busy..." he told her then teased, "I better call and give him a heads up."

Luke pushed up off the swing and winked at her then slapped her ass when he passed by on the way inside.  Cole vaulted up off the swing to go after him, but Sabrina put a hand on his shoulder holding him back, "He's just messing with you, darlin'."

"He needs to keep his damned hands to hi
m
self," Cole growled clenching his fists
staring at the
big red
door
.

"Let's go, sugar," she said then leaned up and kissed him. 

Cole looked down into her deep blue eyes and huffed out a breath, "Jesus, darlin...you take my breath away," then leaned in to give her a gentle kiss on her full lips, putting his hands on her ass to pull her closer to him.

She swatted his hands and stepped back
, then said in a low sexy whisper,
"
I'll do more than that if we could get on the road, sugar.  That bike of yours does something for me.  Remember last time?"

"Oh, hell yeah...not something I'm likely to forget." Cole grabbed her hand and pulled her across the porch and down the steps to where he parked the bike.  She'd almost made him wreck the bike last time with her wandering hands, "Just be careful not to like it too much, sugar, or we might wind up in a ditch."

She chuckled then waited for him put his helmet on and get on the bike, then she did the same and slid in behind him and put her hand
s around his waist.
 
They made it to the lake house
right before sunset,
without him ditching the bike, but just barely.  Sabrina's hyperactive hands had him so hard, he thought he might bust out of his
Levis
. 
He
was damned uncomfortable.  And she was goin
g to pay for it.

Cole got off the bike and yanked off his helmet
then
got tired of waiting for her to unsnap her
s,
so he reached up and flicked the snap then slid it off for her.  "You're in big trouble, lady," he growled and she gave him a playful grin, then slid off the bike to stand in front of him.

"How much trouble?" she asked with excitement in her tone.  "I
've been a bad girl,
maybe
you need to spank me, cowboy," she said suggestively with a wiggle of her eyebrows.
 
Cole's
blood pressure skyrocketed, and he grabbed her hand and d
ragged her to the front porch.

When
he
got her inside, he slammed the door and pushed her up against it, then his mouth crashed against hers in a punishing kiss.
  She slid her arms around his neck and moaned, lifting her leg up his thigh, kissing him even harder.
  His hands went to the snap on her shorts and he had them and her bikini bottoms off of her in seconds, then he reached for the snap on his jeans and undid th
em as well, sliding them down.

Pushing her up against the door
with his hands under her thighs
,
Cole
growled and
lifted her
t
hen
entered her w
ith one swift stroke
.
His fingers bit into the underside of her thighs and she felt a tremor pass through him.  S
abrina moaned and leaned her head on his shoulder to absorb the wonderful feeling of having him inside of her
so suddenly
.  She was more than ready for him. 
Her
body was still buzzing from the motorcycle ride, and the teasing she'd done while she'd been behind him on the bike
.  All those
heady
sensations bombarded her
at once
making her breathing come in short gasps
.

Cole moved his hips and
he started a rough, but steady pace inside of her.  Her heart rate ratcheted up and she moved with him,
clutching her thighs tighter around his
waist with every inward stroke trying to absorb all of him.  She felt her inner muscles tightening around him and that started a new buzzing inside of her, one that was ramping up with each stroke.
 
"Oh, god, Cole..." she said brokenly and threw her head back against the door, putting her hands on his shoulders.