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  “I’ll take care of everything, Ellie. Just stand by my side.”

  I nod as we walk hand in hand toward the house. At the door, Cooper kisses me soft and gentle and then we walk into our uncertain future.

  Mom is crocheting a pink blanket while Dad sits in his La-Z-Boy recliner with his shotgun resting across his lap.

  Cooper pushes me behind him and approaches my father. “Sir.”

  I peek around to see my father hold up his hand like a stop sign. He sets it back down on the shotgun and grips the stock. “When’s the wedding?”

  Epilogue One

  Cooper – Three Months Later

  I stand in the showers on the Hawkins ranch trying to figure out how lucky one guy could get. First off, Jack didn't shoot me the day I brought her back after I’d thoroughly loved her the night before. He intimidated me for sure. When his finger threaded across the trigger, I thought maybe that was it.

  I turned around and told Ellie that I loved her and she was worth dying for.

  “Right damn answer,” Jack said before he set the gun down.

  Ellie rushed around me and made sure the safety was on.

  Now it’s three months later and I’m one hour away from marching my woman down the aisle to meet the preacher. Well, not really an aisle, but a pathway I mowed through the sunflowers because that’s where Ellie wants to say I do.

  How lucky am I that a fourteen-year-old girl never lost her crush, and that I had the patience to wait and watch her grow into the beautiful woman she is today?

  The water rushes over me as I suds up and get ready to make her mine for life. I glimpse her blonde hair as she passes the wooden screen.

  “You’re not supposed to be here, Ellie. I’m not supposed to see you until this afternoon.”

  “Really?” She walks forward stripping off her clothes one piece at a time until she stands under the water naked with me. “Listen, cowboy. All good things started with this shower, and I think it’s a good way to start the rest of our life together.”

  Every word out of her mouth is like a swift pull to my cock. “I’m so glad you're a responsible girl and came to check out the pipes.”

  She rubs her naked body against mine and drops her hand between us to grip my cock in her palm. “I’m only interested in one pipe.”

  I make sure she gets every inch again and again and when she opens her mouth to scream my name, I cover her lips with mine. No sense in alerting the wedding party. It will be obvious enough what we’ve been up to when Ellie shows up late to our wedding with wet hair and kiss swollen lips.

  Epilogue Two

  Ellie – One year later

  Mom sits in her chair crocheting another baby blanket, her irritation toward me is palpable. “If you’d just tell me what kind of baby you’re having, I could use the right colors.” She sets the rainbow yarn and crochet needle to the side.

  “I’m having the kind of baby that you will love.” I pat my round belly. I’m the only one who knows the sex of our baby. I’ve even kept Cooper in the dark.

  He spent the first six months of our marriage getting to know everything about me. I had no more secrets, so I kept this one to myself. Truth be told, Cooper loves surprises, so this one’s for him.

  “I will love my grandbaby no matter what, but look around you.” Mom points to the piles of blankets and beanies and booties in every color of the rainbow. “Which one is your favorite?”

  She does this weekly. Always asking me to pick my favorite, but I never fall for it. If I pick the blue, she’ll assume it’s a boy. If I pick the pink, she’ll think girl. Instead, I pull the tiny green and yellow striped booties from the pile.

  “I like these.” I start a rocking motion that helps me get to my feet.

  “You’re impossible. I hope that husband of yours knows what a pain in the ass you will be.”

  “He knows.” I waddle into the kitchen to grab a glass of water and spy the coffee cake on the counter. It’s my favorite—this week.

  “Don’t eat too much of that or you’ll be as big as a house before you deliver.”

  I pull down the T-shirt that says eating for two. “I am as big as a house and my husband loves me anyway.” It’s true. Cooper’s love and attraction for me grows with every pound. He’s obsessed with my breasts and loves my big bottom.

  I’m halfway through the first piece when he and Brent and my dad walk inside the house.

  “How’s my beautiful wife today?” He wraps me in a hug and picks me up like I weigh nothing. I like that even though I'm big, he makes me feel dainty. When he sets me down, he falls to his knees in front of my belly. “How’s my beautiful baby?” He loves to rest his cheek on my stomach and feel the movement. Sometimes it’s like a roller coaster and sometimes it’s like a rippling wave.

  “All quiet today.”

  He kisses my stomach and stands. With a bite of cake in his hand he presses it to my lips. “Eat up, sweetheart. You’re going to need your energy.”

  I give him that cockeyed look that silently says, “Don't talk sex in front of my parents.”

  He gives me a smile that says, “You’re nine months pregnant, they already know we have sex.”

  “Good point,” I say out loud which throws everyone off but Cooper because he knows the silent conversation we had. We don’t need words to communicate. It’s always been that way, we were just too young to understand it.

  “Ready to go home?” He sets his hand on the small of my back and rubs the exact place that’s been aching all day.

  “Yes. I’m ready.” We walk past my parents, who have taken up their regular spaces in the living room. “We’re heading out. Cooper needs to check some plumbing at home.”

  “You need to get that fixed,” Dad grumbles while he flips through the stations. “You two seem to have lots of problems with your pipes. Call a plumber.”

  “It’s just one pipe, and I know exactly what to do with it,” Cooper says.

  He gives my ass a little pat and leads me to the truck. “You sure are one cocky cowboy.”

  “Only for you, sweetheart. Only for you.”

  When we get home, Cooper takes his pipe out and puts it to work. If he keeps this up, the first thing all of our children will come out of the womb screaming is “Cooper.”

  While he makes us a quick supper, I climb into the shower. My damn back has been aching for days, and it’s getting worse.

  I’m halfway through when a thick band of pain squeezes my insides. I climb out of the shower and call for my husband. “Cooper, I need you.”

  “Already?” he calls from down the hallway. His footsteps get louder as he gets closer. “You have an insatiable appetite, but I’m game.” He comes in the door with a wide smile on his face and loses it the minute he finds me on my knees gripping my stomach.

  “Cooper, I need you to help me up and take me the hospital. You’re about to be a daddy.”

  My man is fast and efficient when motivated. The big gush of water that follows my request gets him moving. He calls the doctor, calls my parents, and gets me to the truck.

  By the time we arrive at the hospital my feet are propped up on the dashboard, and I’m panting like an overheated puppy. My contractions are coming like an eight on the Richter scale. A new earthquake is erupting the second I recover from the last.

  Dr. Perry meets us at the hospital entrance with a gurney and a set of scrubs he tosses to Cooper. “Put these on and meet us in labor and delivery.”

  Cooper gives me a quick kiss. “I’m about to have a baby,” he calls out to anyone listening.

  I grip his hand and squeeze as the next contraction passes. “You don’t get to take the credit for birthing,” I grind out through gritted teeth.

  “I love you,” he says. He runs toward the locker room while Dr. Perry chases the gurney to the delivery room. “He said he was going to have a baby. You still haven’t told him?”

  I shake my head back and forth. “He loves surprises.” I clench the gur
ney as another wave of pain floods my body.

  I’m fully dilated and pushing when Cooper runs in to take my hand.

  “Sweetheart, are you okay?” He wipes my sweaty brow and kisses my lips.

  I pant out a hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo for the next two hours and then the first cry erupts from the delivery room, and it isn’t from our son. It’s from Cooper and it happens the very second he sees his baby boy.

  Little Coop belts out a huge scream and is handed off to a nurse. I wince again and squeeze Cooper’s hand until his knuckles turn white. I bear down, and seconds later our daughter is born. Her name is Lily after my second favorite flower because naming her Sunflower would be ridiculous.

  “Two?” Cooper walks to the end of the bed and looks between my legs as if expecting more.

  “Surprise!” I call out just as our babies are placed into his arms.

  He cradles them to his body. “Look at them, Ellie. They’re perfect just like their mother…” His lips curl into a sly smile. “…and their father,” he finishes.

  Once I’m in the recovery room, my parents rush in. My mom is carrying handfuls of blankets and bonnets of various colors. Our babies are fast asleep in the side-by-side basinets.

  “Oh sweetheart, they are so beautiful,” Mom says as she tucks one of her creations around each grandchild.

  My dad pats Cooper on the back as if he’s just given birth, and by the look of shock and awe on his face it would seem he did. “Your mom made enough baby stuff for another dozen kids.”

  Cooper turns to me and gives me his I-love-you smile. “When Ellie’s up for it, we’ll work on the next batch. If we can push them out in twos, we can have a dozen in half the years.”

  Cooper beams with pride, but when he glances at me and sees the I’m-going-to-kill-you look he says, “Or maybe we’ll stop at two. It’s really up to Ellie, my beautiful wife.”

  He’s my cocky cowboy, and he’s smart too.

  Copyright © 2017 by Adele Hart

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Also by Adele Hart

  Alphas and Virgins Titles

  Thrill Me

  Tempt Me

  Take Me

  Choose Me

  Kiss Me

  Devour Me

  Make Me Titles

  Make Me Yours

  Make Me Crazy

  Make Me Wet

  Make Me Wild

  Make Me Happy

  Make Me Love You

  High Stakes and Hot Heroes Titles

  My Toy Boy

  My Cocky Cowboy

  My Naughty Professor

  Bad Boys and Good Girls

  Slow, Hard Puck

  Fast, Hard Ride

  Boxsets

  Alphas and Virgins Volume One

  Alphas and Virgins Volume Two

  Make Me Volume One

  Make Me Volume Two

  Foreword

  Hey Girl,

  Recently, I took a trip, and my flight was delayed. I sat in a restaurant corner and made up stories about people. You know the game. The one where you see the younger woman and the older man together and think… sugar daddy? Escort? Yeah, that one where you have her making a hundred bucks an hour in your head.

  So, I’m in the corner sipping my first glass of wine. (Okay, my third glass because it’s a long layover—two hours.) Anyway, I see this cute girl. Not cute like a puppy, but cute like someone who’s young enough to still be filled with hopes and dreams of finding the one.

  She’s got her head in a book, and it’s an awful book because it doesn’t have a shirtless man on the front. So I’m pretty sure it’s a complete waste of time. Then, this man comes up to her, and he asks if he can join her. By the time they call my flight number, the couple is kissing and… well, of course I had to write their story.

  Grab a glass of wine and a book by Chaucer because hey, let’s be honest, you don’t want anyone to know you’re reading about romance and sex and love and sweetness and of course wine. Open the classic, and tuck this baby inside it because hey, sometimes we have to live on the edge and be reckless.

  Peace Out,

  Adele (Drops mic and guzzles her wine before the flight attendant takes it away.)

  One

  Katy

  “Katy, you look great.” Lisa reaches up and pulls my hair over my shoulders so the wavy strands sit on top of my boobs. “I love this look on you.” She tugs on the half-shirt until my breasts nearly pop out of the top. No matter how I wear the strip of fabric, something is going to show. It’s virtually a decorative ace bandage. Worn too high, and I show my stomach. Worn too low, and the dusky pink of my nipples are at risk of exposure.

  As she tugs the shirt down, I tug my skirt up and mentally chastise myself for letting her give me a makeover. “Are you sure this looks good?” I stare down at my outfit, which is better suited for a shift serving beers at The Tilted Kilt than a trip back to college.

  Lisa scans the surrounding crowd. “The guy at three o’clock can’t keep his eyes off you.” She looks to her left. “Nine o’clock is lusting after those legs.”

  I take a quick look at three and nine. She’s right, their eyes are on me, or rather my boobs, and the place where my skirt hits mid-thigh. “I’m sure they’re just waiting for the peep show to start.”

  She pulls her finger to her chin. “Now, that’s a thought. Maybe you can swirl those hips or bend over and give someone a peek for dollars. I know a lot of girls who have done worse things for tuition.” She moves her hands down to my skirt, and she gives it a tug so my midriff shows.

  I swat her hands away. “I’m on scholarship. I’m not dancing for dollars.” I glance at Mr. Nine O’clock and watch him pull out his wallet. Mortified that he’ll toss me a single, I yank my sister behind the flight departures sign.

  “You look beautiful.” She looks at me like a proud parent, and in all honesty, we basically raised ourselves. I’ve always looked up to her for guidance. “Seriously, Katy, it’s your senior year of college. You’ve had your face buried in books for the last three years. You need to have fun. Getting a makeover is part of that fun. Take your new look, and make some heads turn.”

  She walks with me toward security. I have to admit that the new look does turn heads. I take a quick glance at my reflection in a store window just to make sure there isn’t something on my face. I have to concede I look pretty good when I’m fixed up. When my glasses aren’t perched on the end of my nose. When my hair isn’t in a messy bun on top of my head held up by a chewed on pencil.

  Men seem to like the expanse of my leg, the curve of my breasts, and the highlights on my hair. On the outside, Lisa has turned me into a semi-hot college co-ed. She picked clothes that would accent my strongest features. Big boobs, small waist, and wide hips. That’s her job as a stylist. She makes people look their best, but what happens when the outside is at complete odds with the inside?

  “I feel weird having all this attention.” We stop in front of the TSA line to say goodbye. It’s a short flight from Shuttlesworth to Atlanta and then I'm on my way to Denver. The next time I see my big sister will be at graduation, provided I actually get to graduate, which isn’t a certainty at this point if I don’t pass my writing class.

  “You feel weird good or weird bad?” The last thing Lisa would ever do is intentionally make me feel like less when she’s worked so hard to make me feel like more. What I feel now is something completely foreign to me.

  I rub my lips together, spreading the shiny crimson gloss around.

  “I feel pretty.”

  Her face lights up with a wide grin. “You are pretty. Promise me you’ll have fun this year. Step out of your comfort zone. Try something new. Be carefree and a little careless.”

  “You’r
e asking a mouse to become a lion,” I say.

  “Not at all. I’m asking my sister to not take things so seriously. Let loose. In fifty years, when you reflect back on this time in your life, you’ll be glad you did. No one on their death bed says, I wish I would have studied harder for that test.”

  I laugh because she's right. “If you could go back and do something different in school what would it be?”

  Lisa chews her lip for a second. Her eyes grow wide, and she gives me a cat ate the canary smile. “I would have slept with the Benson twins.”

  I pull my hand to my mouth and gasp. “Both… at the same time?”

  She nods her head with so much enthusiasm I’m sure she’ll have whiplash by nightfall. “Why not? Live on the edge.”

  I pull my sister in for a big hug. “I’ll think about it.”

  She whispers in my ear. “Think hard and long.” She pulls back and waggles her brow. “While you’re thinking, that elusive big O remains elusive.”

  I push back and shake my head. “I should have never told you that I’ve never…” I look back and forth and all around us to make sure no one is listening. “...you know.”

  “Come,” she says way too loud. When people turn to stare at us, she finishes with, “now, Katy, you don’t want to miss your plane.”

  I want to hit her over the head with my backpack, but I draw her in for another hug and tell her goodbye.

  She gives my strip of cloth another tug and pushes me toward the TSA line that winds around like a snake. Once I’m through security, I lift up on my tiptoes to see her final wave.

  Less than an hour later, I’m in Atlanta heading for my next gate when a voice over the intercom announces that because of inclement weather, all flights to Denver have been cancelled.