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“If you want.” She glanced at Cade, who still had cards in his hand. “Did I interrupt a game?”

  “Yes,” Rosie said, “but that’s okay. Want to come in and join us?”

  Liam held his breath.

  “Well, sure, but I was wondering if I could borrow Liam for a few minutes first.”

  All four of them fell over themselves assuring her they didn’t mind and she could borrow Liam for as long as she wanted. Everyone else went in, but as sounds of rejoicing drifted out from the kitchen, Liam prayed they weren’t being premature.

  Her back ramrod straight, Hope faced him. “I don’t know how to say this.”

  “Take your time.” He was a wreck. She’d found her writing vibe. That didn’t mean she’d changed her mind about being with him. But it might mean just that.

  She dragged in a shaky breath. “A year ago a man took something very precious to me.” She met his gaze. “And you, Liam Magee, have given it back.”

  “I just gave you a nudge. You did the rest.”

  “But that nudge made all the difference.” She hesitated. “And I wasn’t very appreciative at the time. Now I know that you did it out of love.”

  He clenched his hands at his sides. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “I love you for that.” She took a step toward him. “But I also just plain love you.”

  He closed his eyes as the breath whooshed out of his lungs. “Thank God.”

  “And if you don’t kiss me this very minute, I might die.”

  Opening his eyes, he saw her standing there smiling and knew he was the luckiest SOB in the universe. “Can’t have you kicking the bucket.” He gathered her close. “You have a book to finish.”

  “Not just one.” She wound her arms around his neck. “Some cowboy told me I have dozens inside me.”

  “Smart man.” And a smart man would hold this woman to his heart and never let her go. As his mouth found hers, he vowed to do exactly that.

  Epilogue

  DELIVERING A SCULPTURE to a client in Buffalo, Wyoming, provided the perfect excuse for Grady to swing up to Sheridan and help Cade pick out artwork for his cabin. They’d talked about it during the wedding festivities, but they’d run out of time to drive into town. Apparently Cade needed to demonstrate more of a nesting instinct before Lexi believed he was ready for marriage.

  She was in Billings conducting a riding clinic, so she’d never have to know that Cade had brought in a consultant. Grady had suggested they meet at the Sheridan Art Barn, a recently opened artists’ co-op on the outskirts of town. He had no trouble spotting it. The converted barn had been painted deep purple.

  Cade was leaning against his truck as Grady pulled in. “Sure do appreciate this, bro,” he said as he walked over to Grady’s truck.

  “No problem.” Grady hopped down and grinned at him. “It’ll be fun.”

  “Easy for you to say.”

  “It will be.” Grady punched him lightly on the shoulder. “Buck up, pardner. You been in there yet?”

  “Not me! This is foreign territory for this ol’ boy. Thank God that Liam suggested you help me.”

  “What’s your budget?” They walked together toward the open double doors.

  “I have some cash and I also brought plastic. I guess my budget’s whatever my credit card limit is.”

  “We’re not going to max out your card. I’m sure we’ll find some good stuff that’s reasonable.” He paused next to an easel holding a sign listing the artists’ names. “Hey, Sapphire Ferguson’s part of this. We went to school with her and her sister.”

  “Yeah.” Cade peered at the easel. “I don’t remember her very well but her sister is a different story.”

  “Amethyst.”

  “Yep. I was blown away by her performance in the school musical and I remember thinking she was hot, too. Which I never told Lexi, by the way.”

  “I should hope not.” But Cade was right that Amethyst had been the flashier of the two sisters.

  Grady had thought Sapphire was more interesting, though. She’d been into art back then, too—delicate pottery that had sometimes shown up in the school’s display case. Her mom had been the art teacher, maybe still was. If he hadn’t been so damned worried about his manly image in those days, he would have taken Mrs. Ferguson’s class.

  “Are you cowboys coming in or still thinking about it?” A woman stood just inside the doorway. Her long auburn hair was pulled back on one side to show off an earring of turquoise feathers that dangled almost to her shoulder. Her sleeveless yellow blouse displayed a fair amount of cleavage, and she’d woven a colorful sash through the belt loops of her snug jeans.

  Grady wasn’t about to ignore an invitation from a beautiful woman. “We’re coming in.” He walked through the door, and once his eyes made the adjustment from sun to artificial light, he was able to see the color of the woman’s eyes. They were bright turquoise. “Sapphire?”

  She gasped. “Grady?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He touched the brim of his Stetson and tried not to stare. She was nothing like he remembered. Back in high school she’d had short hair and worn flowered dresses and almost no makeup. This far more dramatic Sapphire had on eye makeup, and her glossy lipstick was fire-engine red.

  “I’ve been hoping I’d run into you sooner or later! You’ve done very well for yourself.”

  “Thank you.” That kind of comment always made him a little skittish, so he shifted the focus. “You remember Cade Gallagher.”

  “Of course I do.” She smiled at Cade. “I heard you were back.”

  “Back to stay this time,” he said, “which is why we’re here. I have a cabin that needs artwork.”

  “You’ve come to the right place. We have some wonderful local artists. Oils, watercolors, pastels, mixed media, fabric art, you name it.”

  “What about you?” Grady had a hard time imagining that this new version of Sapphire made dainty little teapots.

  “Still doing pottery. Love it. Although my style’s changed quite a bit.”

  “I know what you mean. I’ve noticed how different my newest pieces are from what I was doing a year ago. I—” He caught himself. He wasn’t here to have a discussion about art while Cade stood around twiddling his thumbs. “Anyway, we’d better start looking.”

  “I’ll start looking.” Cade clapped him on the shoulder. “I’ll yell for help when I get stuck.”

  “No, I’ll come with you.”

  Cade was already backing away. “I’m caught up in the spirit of adventure. You wouldn’t want to spoil that, now would you?”

  “Guess not.” Grady laughed. “I’ll be there in a few.”

  “I take it you’re supposed to advise him on what to purchase?” Sapphire looked amused.

  “He thinks he doesn’t know anything about art.”

  “I don’t!” Cade sang out as he continued down the aisle. “But I know what I like!”

  “Then you’ll be fine!” Sapphire called after him. She turned back to Grady. “As long as he’s giving us a chance to talk, I might as well tell you about the great idea I just had.”

  “What’s that?” Several interesting possibilities came to mind.

  “Next month we’re doing a charity event here at the barn.”

  That wasn’t one of them. “Oh?”

  “We’ll all spend the evening putting the finishing touches on our current project and invite the public to watch. There’ll be a silent auction for those works. Would you be part of it?”

  He wasn’t going to tell her what he’d bee
n thinking the moment he recognized her. It had nothing to do with charity and everything to do with getting to know her better. Much better. That was impractical on many levels, and so was this request.

  Besides being up to his neck in commissioned work, he needed to carve out time to make something special for Rosie in the next few weeks. Liam had passed on her request for a sculpture and he wanted to fill that request ASAP. The charity event might be only one evening, but he’d need to allow several days to set up his workspace and make enough progress that he could finish it during the event.

  She sighed. “Okay, it was a long shot, but I had to ask.”

  “I’ll do it.”

  “You will? Really?”

  “Sure.”

  “Oh, Grady, this is huge.” For a moment she looked as if she might hug him.

  He would have been okay with that.

  But instead she took a deep breath and gave him a brilliant smile. “Thank you.”

  He might have spent a lot more time gazing at that wonderful smile if Cade hadn’t yelled out that he was in desperate need of advice. Grady excused himself and went to do the job he’d promised. Cade ended up with some great stuff at a reasonable price.

  Before they left, Sapphire gave Grady the date and time of the event, and they exchanged email addresses so they could work out the details. He and Cade loaded everything in the passenger side of Cade’s truck as Sapphire stood in the doorway, watching.

  “A charity event, huh?” Cade said in a low voice. “What’s the charity?”

  “I have no idea.”

  Cade seemed to find that hilarious. “Gonna ask her what it is? She’s right over there.”

  “Don’t need to.”

  “Because it doesn’t matter, does it?” Cade grinned at him.

  He didn’t bother confirming. Cade already knew the answer. “See you at the ranch.” He walked over to his truck. Before getting in, he gave Sapphire a wave. She waved back. She was still in his rearview mirror as he drove off, so he tapped on the horn as a last farewell.

  He’d have to work his ass off to make up the time he’d lose while participating in an event to benefit some unknown cause. But as he pictured Sapphire Ferguson standing in the doorway, gazing after him, he had a strong feeling it would be worth every late night slaving over a hot blowtorch. That woman was dynamite.

  * * * * *

  Sparks are flying between Grady and Sapphire! Read their story in COWBOY UNTAMED, the next book in Vicki Lewis Thompson’s THUNDER MOUNTAIN BROTHERHOOD series, coming soon only from Harlequin Blaze!

  Keep reading for an excerpt from MAKE MINE A MARINE by Candace Havens.

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  Make Mine a Marine

  by Candace Havens

  1

  CHELLY RICHARDSON ROLLED down the window of her beat-up truck and breathed in deep. And then she banged her head on the steering wheel three times.

  This is not happening.

  She tried the ignition again. Nothing. Her already awful twenty-four hours had hit a new low. After driving straight from Nashville to Corpus Christi, Texas, she was exhausted. When she couldn’t get her new roommate to answer she’d taken a long nap at a truck stop located just outside of town. When she still couldn’t get her friend to answer, Chelly picked up a paper and decided to hit some estate sales around town. That was what she did when she was nervous or upset. She went on a treasure hunt.

  That was how she’d ended up in front of this plantation home, complete with a picturesque wraparound porch, where Old Joe—her truck—had decided to quit on her.

  “I will not cry,” she whispered. Even though she willed them away, tears threatened.

  Why isn’t Lila answering? That feeling Chelly sometimes had when things weren’t right niggled at her. When Chelly had called Lila on Wednesday, her friend had invited her to stay at her place for as long as she would need. Chelly was looking for a fresh start, away from Tennessee. Away from her ex, who’d become a little too attached to her. To being an almost-stalker. When he’d appeared at the diner where she was working and created a scene, she’d given her notice, packed what few belongings she had and booked it out of town.

  She didn’t need that kind of drama. New life. New dreams.

  Except now she couldn’t get Lila to respond, and she didn’t even have the address of her friend’s house. Never one for planning much, this time her free-spirited ways had backfired.

  I’ve been in worse jams.

  Not really.

  Oh, shut up. Anywhere was better than Nashville, where her ex had made her life miserable.

  “Ma’am, are you okay?”

  She glanced up from the steering wheel to find the hot guy from the estate sale looking in her passenger-side window. He was tall. At least six-three with a blond buzz cut that made her think he might be military. The bulging muscles under his T-shirt hadn’t escaped her notice when she’d been looking through the high-end treasures at his sale. Treasures that she would have been more than happy to take off his hands if she’d had more than a hundred bucks to her name. His prices were way below market value, even for a quick sale.

  She forced a smile.

  “I’m fine,” she said. “Thanks.”

  “Uh-huh. I saw you try the ignition but it didn’t turn over. Didn’t make a sound. Could be the battery, but may be the alternator.”

  Alternators were expensive; even a battery would take the last of her funds. Her throat clogged with emotion.

  Oh, yay. This day just keeps getting better and better.

  “If you pop the hood, I can take a look,” he said.

  Here was a guy, who quite obviously had better things to do, and he wanted to give her a hand? His kindness was her undoing. A lone tear escaped down her cheek and she brushed it away fast with the heel of her hand.

  So dumb. I never cry.

  “Hey, now. It’ll be okay.” His voice was deep and smooth, like a good whiskey. “Don’t get upset. I’m pretty good with all things mechanical. I can help you, I promise.”

  She forced another smile. “Sorry. Just having a
bad day. And Old Joe decided to remind me of Murphy’s Law and has to be all stubborn because that’s going to make a bad day even better.” She sighed.

  “I’ve been there,” he said. “But it’s gonna be all right. We’ll get the truck running. Like I said, there isn’t much I can’t fix.”

  Maybe he wasn’t military; he might be a mechanic. Or a superhero.

  “Young man,” an older woman interjected, waving at the hot guy. “How much do you want for the étagère?” She was pointing toward the Chinese Chippendale étagère that had left Chelly salivating.

  Hot Guy took his aviators off, and she caught a glimpse of his beautiful dark green eyes. Wow. Total wow. He was gorgeous.

  “Uh,” he said. “How much do you want to pay?”

  What? Did this guy not have a clue as to what he had here?

  Before the woman could answer, Chelly was out of the truck and walking toward her. “It’s five hundred, and that’s final,” she said.

  The guy’s eyebrow went up, though he didn’t say anything.

  “That’s fair,” the woman agreed. “Deal.” She took five one-hundred-dollar bills from her purse and gave them to Chelly.

  Then the woman turned back to Hot Guy. “Young man, can you please help me load the piece into my van?” She gestured at a pristine luxury SUV parked in front of the next house.

  “Yes, ma’am. I’ll be right there.” To Chelly, he said, “No way that bookshelf is worth that much.”

  She smiled. “Not a bookshelf. It’s an étagère and it’s Chippendale. Retail it would go for around seventeen hundred.”

  He blew out a whistling breath. “And here I was going to sell it for twenty bucks, or whatever she offered.”

  Chelly almost choked. Hot Guy was absolutely clueless.

  “Why did you have an estate sale if you don’t know what you’re doing?” She realized the words sounded harsh. “Sorry.” She quickly backtracked. “I mean, there are companies who can do this for you.”

  He shrugged. “I assumed it wouldn’t be this hard, and I didn’t see why I should give a company twenty percent just to sell a bunch of junk.”