Chapter Twenty-Two
It had to be a sign.
Why else would he hold her hand during the wedding vows? Her heart was beating outside her body, and she was more certain than ever that her feelings were requited. From the way he curled his fingers through hers, to how he gently brushed away a tear, every gesture told her that he was ready for more.
Surely, this was a two-way street. Surely, there was more to them than great sex. She didn’t know if she could wait ’til tomorrow night. He squeezed her fingers harder and shifted his body closer. She fought hard to rein in a crazy grin. There was no way he’d touch her like this, at this time, if he wasn’t ready to change his stripes.
“And now may we have the rings,” the officiant asked.
She tensed briefly in anticipation as she turned to watch Chance lope down the makeshift aisle like a pro. Chance trotted happily, not speeding, and not lollygagging either, until he reached Smith and Jamie, who both patted his head at the same time.
Chance didn’t even need to be told to sit. He simply parked his rear on the ground and puffed out his chest, like a gymnast who’d nailed the landing.
“Good boy,” Smith said as he reached for the rings from the leather pouch. The dog lay down as the bride and groom finished their vows.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride,” the officiant intoned. That was Cara’s cue to call Chance over. With a low whistle and a clap, she brought him to her side as Smith and Jamie kissed. Everyone clapped and cheered, and joy floated through the air, infecting all of them. Even Travis, who brushed his lips against her cheek in a soft kiss. Her heart began to pirouette. He’d never kissed her like that in front of their friends. The night at the club was different. That was dirty, sexy, hot kissing. This was sweet, possessive, romantic kissing for all the world to see.
Twenty-four hours from now seemed too far away to tell him how she felt. She was ready to tell him any second.
Then it hit her—she had a mission to take care of this second.
So she tabled all her thoughts of tomorrow to focus on the here and now, and the little bitty problem she faced. She didn’t have a car. She’d ridden with Jamie and Megan in the limo. But she was supposed to bring Chance to the dog hotel where he’d be boarding, since Smith and Jamie were heading to Mexico for a honeymoon the morning after the fireman’s auction.
“Travis,” she said, her voice low and worried. “Would you mind terribly driving Chance and me to the Doggie B and B?”
His lips curved up. “You going home with Chance instead of me?”
She laughed. “Maybe. He is quite cuddly. And I hear he doesn’t hog the sheets.”
“Hey. I’m not a sheet-hogger either,” he said. “And I will even prove it to you tonight.”
Her damn heart started skipping. Okay, this was going far too well. He was giving her nothing but positive signs. He hadn’t spent the night at all during their affair. The fact that he wanted to tonight was another brick in the foundation of her certainty.
She gathered up the dog, let Jamie and Smith give him a quick good-bye hug, then headed to Travis’s truck. Chance sprawled out on the backseat, and they scurried the big guy off to the local dog B and B, a true haven for the vacationing beasts, since it boasted free run of the house for canines who were lucky enough to enjoy a cageless stay.
“That place is nicer than most hotels I’ve stayed at,” Travis said, pointing his thumb at the red door as the proprietor swung it shut behind them.
“Nothing but the best for Chance, and I’m sure you’d do the same for Henry, especially since he’s definitely going to nab you top honors tomorrow night,” she said, nudging him with her elbow as they returned to his car and buckled in.
He arched an eyebrow as he put the key in the ignition. “Yeah? You think it’s just the dog?”
She shook her head and placed her hand on his cheek. “Nope. The dog and the man are the full package.”
He looked her in the eyes, his gaze serious. He parted his lips but said nothing at first. Then he cleared his throat. “You say the nicest things to me. You really think we’re going to win tomorrow?”
She nodded, feeling a bit like she had an ace up her sleeve. “I can pretty much guarantee it.”
“It’ll all be because of you. Hell, without you my hair would be a mess and my dog would be humping legs.”
“Speaking of,” she said, letting her hand trail down his cheek, to his jaw, to his chest. Touching him like this turned her on.
“You want to hump my leg?”
She laughed. “No. But you’re getting warm.”
He groaned and gripped her hand. “What you do to me, woman,” he said, his voice low and husky, sending a hot shiver down her spine.
“You do the same to me.”
“Okay. You’re killing me. I’m not going to be able to make it through the reception now.”
“So let’s visit Miner’s Road on the way back,” she suggested, feeling naughty and daring. Feeling so damn confident that everything was going her way.
“We haven’t been to Miner’s Road since after prom,” he said, backing up and pulling out of the lot. “And that’s about to change right now.”
Miner’s Road was a quiet street that dead-ended at a trailhead to the woods that had been closed down a few years ago. The hiking path was deemed too dangerous. But that only meant the end of the road was perfect for lovers.
He turned onto the curving road back to the winery as twilight sprinkled across the sky. She ran her hand along his leg as he drove. His breath hitched, and his throat made a rumbly sound. She traveled up to his erection, cupping him through his pants.
“I hate the thought of you walking around all night like this.”
“As do I,” he said.
“And I bet you’d be equally frustrated if you knew how I’d be walking around.”
“How?”
With her free hand, she inched up the skirt of her dress, revealing her thighs, then her panties.
He nearly swerved off the road when he saw the white lace.
“Cara,” he said, and she loved that certain moments rendered the man incapable of saying more than her name. She leaned her head back, played with the waistband of her panties, and whispered, “Say my name again.”
“Cara,” he said roughly, as he made a sharp right for their detour when they reached the lover’s lane.
She dropped her hand inside her panties. “Do you want me?”
“You know I do,” he rasped out as he gunned the motor. “You know I want you more than anything.”
He reached the end of the quiet road and cut the engine. He turned off the lights, moved out of the driver’s seat and into hers, quickly shifting her on top of him.
“I don’t want to mess up that pretty hair,” he said, gently brushing his hand along her chignon. “So you’re going to need to ride me.”
“I believe I’d be amenable to that,” she said as she slid off her panties. “Seems I’m all ready.”
He grabbed a condom from his pocket and pushed down his briefs. “Funny. Me, too.”
She bunched up her skirt at her waist and straddled him.
She gripped his shaft, thrilling at the instant reaction her touch elicited. He closed his eyes and groaned. She stroked him, savoring the feel of his rock hard cock. A fierce sense of possession wove through her—the deep belief that he was hers, and she was his, and that the two of them simply belonged together.
Their connection might have started here, on this road, long ago, but it ran deeper now and reached farther, stretching into a future together. She rolled the condom on him and lowered herself onto his erection, sparks of heat roaring through her as he buried himself in her. He groaned and gripped her ass, moving her up and down on him. Space was at a premium in his vehicle, but she didn’t mind being snug, her knees tucked up, taking him.
“Come closer,” he whispered. “Let me feel you.”
She lowered her chest to his, and they were gazing at each other, an intense line of connection like an invisible thread between them. “Hi,” she said, moving up and down on him, each thrust making her bolder, giving her confidence in the possibility of them.
“Hi,” he said, and he cupped her face. “Hi, you absolutely beautiful woman. I can’t stop looking at you.”
“So don’t,” she said, rocking faster, more fiercely, as they moved together in rhythm.
“I won’t,” he said, and his voice touched down deep inside her, setting off a chain reaction, pleasure surging through her, running over her skin, taking hold of her body. She blazed with need for him. With longing.
With love.
“I don’t want this to stop,” she moaned, and she wasn’t talking about the orgasm that started to overtake her body.
“I don’t either.”
She moved on him until he came too.
Maybe he did want the same things. All of them.
…
Two hours later, she was feeling pretty good. It was everything—from the sex, to all the ways he’d touched her, to the laugher, to their friends, to the love that was simply in the air.
Oh and, yeah, this glass of champagne played a role too. The bubbles tickled her nose as she took another sip. The waiters had poured the drink freely, and it was time for toasts. Jamie’s parents had toasted, her sister had said a few words, then Smith’s dad joined in, and even the reserved Becker had spoken about how glad he was to see the two of them together.
Cara held out her glass to Travis and clinked with him as Becker finished with a hearty “Congrats!” then handed the mic back to Jamie.
“How about Cara?”
Cara blinked and turned around to find Jamie, staring at her from the middle of the reception room, waving her over. “You found our dog, and the dog brought us together for real!”
Cara laughed, and shrugged.
Travis nudged her on. “Go say a few words. Make fun of Smith.”
But that wasn’t her style. She wasn’t a roaster at toasts. She weaved through the crowd under the twinkling lights and took the mic. She scanned the room quickly, cataloguing a sea of friends, of family, of all the people in Hidden Oaks who she adored. This was her town. Her home. The place where she was meant to be. Destiny or fate had brought her from Nevada to here years ago, and the need to be close to her family had called her back last year. Now, as she rested her gaze on Travis, she knew that all she wanted was in this town—she’d waited and longed for a love like this.
And it had been him, right here, all these years.
She didn’t plan on blurting out her feelings in front of everyone. That would be the height of tacky to steal the floor at a friend’s wedding, but she could start.
“I just wanted to say that Jamie and Smith have always been perfect for each other. I’ve known that. Anyone who spent any time with them could see it. In fact, I even told Smith a few years ago that it was obvious that he was madly in love with her,” Cara said, locking eyes with the bride and groom, and they knew exactly what she was talking about—those two dates she went on with Smith that made it clear to her that he was hung up on another woman. That was fine by her, since she and Smith were better off as friends, and since she too was hung up on someone else. Always had been, ever since their first date in high school. “In any case, when Smith asked me last year to help him find a dog for Jamie, that’s when I knew it was true love for both of them.”
A chorus of oohs and ahs emanated from the attendees. Smith tugged Jamie in for a kiss.
“See?” She pointed at the bride and groom, locked in a kiss. “This is what I’m talking about, right?” Cara tossed the question out to the crowd, and was met with a collective yes. “And my take is this—sometimes a dog can bring two people together.” Her gaze stopped to settle on Travis, hooked into his from across the room. Her heart filled with warmth; hope and nerves flooded her bloodstream. Still, she pressed on. The undercurrent of her toast was for him. “I suppose a dog, like Chance, or even a pair of dogs, can kind of be matchmakers. I like to think they have a way of bringing two people who were meant to be together even closer. Here’s to dogs and love.”
Travis tipped his water glass to her, the crowd raised their drinks, and Jamie thrust her champagne flute high in the air. “I think we need to dance,” the bride declared.
The DJ took the cue, cranking up some music, and Cara set down the mic on the table and returned to Travis.
“Want to dance?” he asked, and she said yes. They moved to the dance floor and swayed. “Nice speech, by the way.”
His gorgeous blue eyes, like an azure stream, never strayed from hers. In his eyes, she saw such passion, such honesty, such vulnerability. She wanted to be the woman he trusted, the woman he was willing to make a go of it for, because he was the man for her. Screw waiting. She didn’t need to surprise him at the auction to let him know how she felt. There was no time like the present.
“It was about you,” she said softly.
“What?” He tilted his head to the side, as if he hadn’t quite heard her.
“The part about two people who were meant to be together. That was you and me. Us, Travis, us,” she said, and it was as if she’d swallowed a dose of sheer terror, and it was coursing through her body right now. But on the other side was hope, and possibility, and all her dreams coming true. She shoved her fears behind her and didn’t look back.
“It was?” he asked, furrowing his brow.
What the hell? Was this complex math to him? “Yes,” she said in a clear, firm voice. “It was about you. You didn’t realize that?”
He shook his head. “No. I thought it was about Smith and Jamie,” he said, slicing a hand through the air as if he could eliminate the possibility that she’d been talking about him.
Okay, time to spell it out. “Travis, I’m just going to say it. I thought I could get you out of my system with this arrangement we had, but I can’t and there’s a reason. Because you’re not supposed to be out of it. You’re supposed to be in it. And in my life. I thought I had to make all the smart and wise choices, because I didn’t come from a place of smart and wise choices. But I’ve learned that some things can’t be planned perfectly, and maybe it’s better if they’re not planned. So I’m letting go of all those things I told myself I had to have, because I don’t want to lose you.” She gripped his shoulders the whole time, needing something solid to hold as she poured out her heart. “And I know you don’t believe in serious relationships, but I’m not asking for the white picket fence, or a ring. I tried to plan my life down to the day, and I’m not doing that anymore. All I’m asking is if you’d like to try something more. If you’d like for this fling to be more than dog training and sex, because I feel so much more for you. And I would really like to bid on you tomorrow night, and take you off the market, because I can’t stand the thought of any other woman having you,” she said, taking a breath after all those words tumbled out.
“Because I am in love with you.”