Spring Texas Bride (The Brides 0f Bliss Tx. Book 1) Read online

  Spring wasn’t surprised. Summer had always been a schemer. But she just couldn’t figure out why she had gone to all the trouble. She turned back to him. “But why would she do that?”

  “She wanted to make sure her little sister wasn’t working for a jerk.” He paused. “And she wanted me to talk you into going back to Houston. She misses you.”

  Spring couldn’t have been more shocked. Or happier. She knew her sister would miss her eventually. Her plan had worked. But that wasn’t what made her the happiest . . . or the most relieved. Waylon and Summer weren’t dating. Although, after reading the messages, they probably should be. It was obvious that they had a lot in common. The only thing standing in their way was Spring.

  “But you like her, don’t you?” she said. “And I get why. She’s smart and dedicated to her job. And she loves sports and knows the difference between a run and a score. And she’s organized and focused.”

  “But can she make coffee?”

  “What?”

  “Can she make coffee?” He took a few steps closer. He’d taken off his hat, and the streaks of blond in his brown hair glistened in the moonlight like rivers of gold. “And can she help Mrs. Miller find a babysitting job to keep her from getting so lonely? Or help Jonas get through his grieving so he can move on? Can she step into a room and brighten it with just a smile? Or make me laugh when I thought I’d forgotten how?” He took her hand and tugged her closer. “And can she make me burn from the inside out with just the brush of her thumb?”

  Spring blinked. “I make you burn?”

  “Oh, baby, you set me on fire. And I can’t fight the flames anymore.” He lowered his head and kissed her. It was as feverish and intense as the first kiss. But this time, he wasn’t drugged. This time, he knew exactly what he was doing. And whom he was doing it with.

  “Spring,” he whispered as he slid a hand around her waist and pulled her close enough to feel the bulge beneath the fly of his jeans. He hadn’t lied. She did make him burn. And she wanted to make him burn even hotter.

  She slipped her hands into his hair and took charge of the kiss, molding her lips to his and teasing his mouth with her tongue. They stood in the middle of the road tasting each other like the most decadent of desserts until Waylon finally pulled back and nibbled his way down the side of her neck.

  “Come home with me.”

  She tipped her head, giving him better access to her neck. “What about office policy?”

  He nipped on her earlobe. “Fuck office policy.” He released her and took her hand, tugging her behind him. His long strides ate up the ground, and she had to jog to keep up with him. When they reached his SUV, she pulled back. “I need to tell Dirk and Gracie. They’ll worry if I leave without a word. I’ll meet you at your house.”

  He didn’t look happy about it, but he nodded. “Hurry.”

  When she got inside the barn, she looked around for Gracie and Dirk. She expected to find them on the dance floor. Instead, she found them in a stall at the back of the barn. They were cuddled together on a pile of hay, fast asleep.

  “I hope you’re not planning on waking them. They look like they could use the sleep.”

  Spring turned to find Ms. Marble standing there. She was the last person Spring wanted to run into. Ms. Marble had a way of looking right through a person. And if she looked through Spring all she’d see was lust.

  “Hi, Ms. Marble,” she said. “I wonder if you could let Dirk and Gracie know that I went home.” Realizing that they’d be even more worried if they went home and she wasn’t there, she added. “To my trailer.” Ms. Marble’s piercing blue eyes settled on her, and Spring caught herself fidgeting. “I haven’t been there in a few days and I want to make sure . . . an armadillo hasn’t taken up residence.”

  An armadillo? If Ms. Marble couldn’t read through that hokey story, she wasn’t as smart as everyone thought. But if she had seen through the lie, she didn’t act like it. She merely smiled.

  “Armadillos are squatters. One moved into my gardening shed and I didn’t have the heart to make him leave.” She glanced at the stall. “I’ll be sure to let Dirk and Gracie know that there’s no need to worry.”

  Spring thanked her before she headed for the door. It felt like it took forever to get to Waylon’s house. He must’ve felt the same way. When she pulled up in his driveway, he was standing there waiting for her.

  “What took you so long?” he asked as he pulled her out of the truck and into his arms. Somehow she ended up plastered against the door of his truck with her dress and bra rearranged and his mouth on her breast. When he pulled the tip between his lips, heat ricocheted through her and her knees buckled.

  He caught her before she slipped to the cement. He swept her up and carried her into the house. He bumped the front door closed with his shoulder, then released Spring in a slow slide down his hard body.

  “I like your dress,” he muttered against her lips as he gathered the hem in his hands and stripped the dress over her head.

  “I like your shirt,” she muttered back as she slipped her fingers in the open collar of his shirt. She tugged and the snaps popped open. She slipped her hands inside and ran them over the smooth steel of his muscles. It was something she’d fantasized about for weeks, but the reality was ten times better.

  “And I love your body,” Waylon voiced her exact thoughts as his hands slid over her back to her butt. He gently caressed her butt cheeks as she traced the rippled ridges of his abdomen. They continued to kiss as their hands explored soft skin and hard muscle.

  There were beds upstairs, but they never made it to one. Right there in the foyer, bra and panties were slipped off and jeans and boxers tugged down. She stroked him to a steely need, and he fingered her to a heated blaze. A condom appeared and was rolled on. And with only a hike of her leg and a slight adjustment, Waylon was inside of her.

  For a brief second, time seemed to stop. Their hands stilled, their lips froze against each other’s, and their breath caught and held. The only things that continued to move were their hearts. One beat. One perfectly harmonized beat. Then Waylon started to move, and the desire they’d been denying took charge and burned out of control.

  But long after the sparks had fizzled and Waylon had carried her up to his bed, it was that one synchronized heartbeat that kept her awake.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Ugh! You were right.” Spring crinkled her cute nose and handed the mug back to him. “That has to be the worst coffee I’ve ever tasted in my life.”

  Waylon took a sip and shrugged. “And this is one of my better pots.”

  “It’s disgusting. I don’t know how you drink it.”

  He set the mug on the nightstand. “I wouldn’t have had to if you’d taken pity on me and gotten out of bed and made me some.”

  “I’m not walking down to the kitchen naked. Especially with your dog right there staring at us. It’s bad enough that we had sex in front of him.”

  Waylon glanced over at Sherlock, who for once was wide awake and watching them from beneath droopy eyelids as if he couldn’t quite figure out what Spring was doing in Waylon’s bed.

  He knew how the dog felt.

  When he woke up this morning and found Spring cuddled next to him, he’d felt a little confused himself. He had never brought a woman home in his life. As he lay there, he’d tried to figure out what made Spring different from the other girls he’d dated. But before he’d found an answer, she’d woken up. And the question had been shelved as he lost himself in the warmth of her delectable body.

  He slipped under the covers and moved closer to that delectable body. “We didn’t have sex in front of him. He was sound asleep in the kitchen when you ravished me against the front door.”

  “Me? You were the one doing the ravishing.”

  He grinned evilly as he pulled her closer. “And I’d like to ravish you again.”

  She melted into his kiss for only a few seconds before she pulled back and glanced at th
e clock. “I have to go. I told Dirk I was going to spend the night in my trailer. If he stops by to check on me and sees that the trailer is—” She cut off abruptly. “Sees that I’m not there, he’s going to get worried. Besides, I promised Gracie I’d go to church with her this morning.”

  “I’m sure Gracie won’t mind if you don’t show up. And just tell Dirk I called you in to help me with some paperwork.” He took a nibble of her soft shoulder. “I have a lot of paperwork that needs your attention, Miss Hadley . . . a lot of paperwork.”

  “I’m sure you do, Sheriff Kendall,” she said in a breathy voice that made him as hard as steel. But before he could put that steel to good use, she stopped him. “But I need to go.”

  He read the stubborn look in her eyes and released a sigh. “Fine. I’ll take you back to Dirk’s so you can get ready for church.” He rolled to his feet and headed for the bathroom. She appeared in the doorway only a second later with a sheet wrapped around her and trailing the floor.

  “You can’t take me back to Dirk’s. He’ll know I lied.”

  “Then I’ll take you back to your trailer.”

  “No!” She suddenly seemed nervous. “I mean I can just drive myself.”

  He studied her as a thought hit him. “Are you saying you don’t want to spend more time with me, Spring? Are you saying this was a one-night stand?”

  She shook her head. “I’m not saying that at all. I’d like to spend a lot more time with you, Waylon.”

  His shoulders relaxed. “Good. Because I want to spend a lot more time with you too.”

  She smiled that contagious smile of hers. She had bad bedhead and makeup was smudged under her wide blue eyes. Her lips were puffy from all his kisses and she had whisker burns on her neck . . . and probably between her legs. Looking at her, he felt an overwhelming possessiveness that he had never felt in his life.

  The question he’d been thinking about earlier that morning came back to him. What made Spring different from the other girls he’d dated? Was it the way she brightened up a room with just a smile? Or her quirky sense of humor? Or her beautiful blue eyes that hid nothing? Or her delectable body? Or her caring nature?

  He realized he was staring when she reached up and smoothed her hair. “I know I don’t look so hot in the mornings. Autumn always looks beautiful when she wakes up. I look like I just crawled out of a hole.”

  Her insecurity with her sisters broke his heart. She had nothing to be insecure about. She was perfect. Just like that, he got the answer to his question. Spring was perfect. She was perfect for him.

  He’d been looking for a companion. Someone he could not only talk to, but also have great sex with. And he’d found her. He liked her body, but he also liked her brain and her personality and her caring nature. He trusted her to keep his professional life professional and his private life private. That’s what made her different from all the other women. They had all been missing something. But Spring wasn’t missing anything. She was the total package. His total package.

  He pulled her into his arms and tucked her close to his heart. He rested his chin on her head and took a deep breath of the scent that was uniquely Spring. “You’re perfect just the way you are. So go home and change and I’ll save you a seat at church.”

  She pulled back. “But if we sit in church together, people will think we’re a couple.”

  He brushed the blue-tipped strand of hair from her eyes. “I realize that things are moving a little quickly. And I don’t want to push you into anything you’re not comfortable with. But the thing is, after last night, I kind of feel like a couple.”

  Her eyes widened. “But what about the gossip?”

  “People gossip all the time about one thing or another. It gives them something to do. I’m not too worried about it.”

  “But if it gets too bad, you could get fired.”

  “As long as someone doesn’t catch us having sex on my desk, I think we’re good. Although I don’t know how I’m going to resist. The desk fantasy has been riding me hard ever since you brought it up.” He grinned. “And maybe a little before you brought it up.”

  “I knew it!” She pointed a finger at him. “You wanted me, Sheriff Kendall.”

  He tightened his hands on her waist and kissed her finger. “Correction. I want you, Miss Hadley. Badly.”

  Her eyes filled with heat, and she smiled. “How badly?” She released the sheet, and it slipped to the floor.

  They were both late getting to church. But the phenomenal shower sex was well worth the censorious look the pastor gave them when first Waylon slipped into the back pew, and then a few minutes later, Spring joined him. She had changed into a flirty pink dress that reminded him of spun cotton candy. And during the rest of the service, he couldn’t stop thinking about taking a bite and letting Spring’s sugary sweetness melt in his mouth.

  When they stood for the last hymn, he covered her fingers with his as they shared a hymnal. He hadn’t been to church since becoming the sheriff. He’d looked forward to having his Sunday mornings free of watching out for the townsfolk. But as he stood next to Spring singing, he glanced up at the wooden cross over the pulpit and had an epiphany.

  He couldn’t keep every citizen in town safe every second of every day. No matter how good of a sheriff you were that was an impossibility. All he could do was his job and try to keep the townsfolk safe to the best of his ability. The rest he needed to leave to a higher power.

  As the congregation was dismissed, no one seemed to care that he and Spring were together. They greeted both of them with cheerful smiles and comments on how well the dance went before they continued on their way down the aisle. The only one who stopped was Ms. Marble.

  “It’s been a while since you’ve come to church, Waylon James.” She glanced at Spring. “Atoning for sins?”

  Waylon felt his cheeks heat as he replied. “I’m sure I have plenty that I need to atone for.”

  Ms. Marble smiled. “Don’t we all.” She winked at Spring. “Now if you two will excuse me, I’ve got some baking to do.”

  Once she was gone, Spring released her breath. “I think she knows.”

  Waylon took her arm and led her out of the church, nodding a greeting to people as they passed. “If she does, she doesn’t look too upset about it.”

  “Because she’s thinking we’re going to get married. She doesn’t think we’re just enjoying a . . . spring fling.”

  Waylon laughed. “Is that what we had last night?”

  She glanced over at him as they walked out into the parking lot. “What word would you use?”

  He only had to think for a moment before he found one. And not just one, but a thousand. “Amazing. Phenomenal. Mind-blowing. Awesome. Incredible.” He smiled. “Should I go on?”

  She flashed a bright smile. “It was all those things, wasn’t it?”

  He had never wanted to kiss a woman as badly as he wanted to kiss Spring at that moment. He wanted to pull her into his arms and cover those pretty lips with his, and he didn’t care who saw him do it. But before he could reach for her, Tucker pulled up in his patrol car and rolled down his window.

  “Hey, Sheriff. I’ve been looking all over for you. Did your phone die?”

  “No. I left it at home.” He winked at Spring. “Someone told me that I needed to take a day off occasionally.”

  Tucker looked at Spring and blushed. “I hope you aren’t mad at me for last night, Spring. I guess I was just feeling my oats. And I wanted to make it up to you by taking you to the Blake Shelton concert in Austin next month. I got me two tickets, front row and center—”

  Waylon cut in. “Why were you looking for me, Tucker? Is there a problem?”

  “We got us a 10-79, sheriff.”

  “A bomb threat?”

  Tucker’s eye turned confused. “No, I thought that was the code for vandalism. Anyway, some high school kids got a little full of themselves last night after the dance and painted some graffiti on the side of Tom Alford’s ba
rn. He said it looked just like a big—” He stopped and shot a glance over at Spring before he cleared his throat. “He caught the boys red-handed and identified them before they raced off. Do you want me to haul them in or do you want to do it?”

  A month ago, he would’ve wanted to haul the boys in himself so he could read them the riot act before turning them over to the juvenile courts. But that was when he was still trying to act like a big bad sheriff. When he was still trying to fill his daddy’s shoes. But truth was that his dad never would’ve hauled in young kids for just letting off some steam. He would’ve found a more appropriate way to teach them a lesson.

  “I don’t think hauling them in will be necessary,” he said. “Let them sweat it out for a day, and then I’ll stop by their houses tomorrow and have a little chat with them and their parents.”

  “But Tom’s madder than a hornet. He wants to press charges.”

  “Why don’t you call Tom and see if he’ll change his mind if his barn gets sanded and painted for free? That should keep those boys out of trouble for a while.”

  Tucker grinned. “Yes sir, Sheriff. I’ll let you know what he says.”

  “Not today. Call me tomorrow. Like I said before, I’m taking today off. I trust you and Jonas can handle things.”

  Tucker saluted. “Yes sir.”

  When he was gone, Spring smiled at him. “It’s about time you took a day off. Are you going fishing?”

  He winked. “Yep. And I hope I catch what I’m fishing for.”

  She caught onto his double entendre immediately. “Oh, no. I’m not going to let you spend your only day off in bed. Especially on a beautiful spring day like this.” She hooked her arm through his and pulled him toward his truck. “We’re going on a picnic.”

  They picked up sandwiches, potato salad, and some of Ms. Marble’s oatmeal raisin cookies from Lucy’s Place Diner and headed out of town. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining. The bluebonnets were blooming. And Spring was here . . . sitting right next to him.

  He planned on taking her to Whispering Falls. As a kid, he had gone swimming there with Raff, Zane, and Cole. It was a pretty spot on Arrington land with lots of shade trees and a clear creek that cascaded over a rocky ledge in an impressive waterfall. This early, the water would be too cold to swim in, but it was a perfect place for a picnic. And maybe a little snuggling.