Battling the sweetest kind of exhaustion that a man could ever wish for, Matteo fell back on the king-size hotel bed in the throes of waning euphoria. With his last bit of strength, he threaded his arm around the woman who had so quickly become the center of his universe and drew her even closer to him.
“Wow,” he gasped when he could finally suck in enough air to form words. “You’ve completely worn me out, woman. You keep that up and I’m not going to live long enough to make it to the wedding.”
Grinning, Rachel turned her body into his, glorying in his sensual warmth.
“I’m afraid you brought that on yourself by being such a stud. But if you’re having trouble keeping up, we could always postpone the wedding. That way, you can build up your strength.”
“Postpone the wedding?” he echoed. “And risk you changing your mind? Not on your life.” Running the back of his hand along her cheek, Matteo grew a little more serious. “How did I get to be so lucky?” he asked in a whisper.
Rachel’s eyes crinkled. “Funny, I was just thinking the same thing.”
“Now all I need is an unlimited supply of vitamins to keep up with you, and I’m all set.” He tightened his arm around Rachel just a little more. “Tell me, what do you think about the summer?” he wanted to know.
Rachel pretended to think over his question seriously. “It’s usually a little hotter, but in general, it’s a nice season.”
He laughed and shook his head. She was one of a kind, and he adored her. “I meant for the wedding, wise guy.”
“Spring, summer, fall, today, tomorrow night, whenever you want to do it is fine with me.” The important thing was that he loved her. Everything else was a distant second.
“We’re going to need some time to get everything ready,” he pointed out, nibbling a little on her shoulder. The woman had the sexiest limbs he’d ever come across. Everything about her just drove him wild.
“I’m ready at any time,” she responded.
Any time did not leave time for all the trappings that went with a wedding. “The words wedding gown, wedding cake, wedding invitations, reception hall mean anything to you?” he wanted to know.
“Yes, headaches. They mean headaches,” she underscored. “I don’t need all that as long as I have you.” And she meant that from the bottom of her heart. He was all she required for her happily-ever-after.
Matteo looked at her in amazed disbelief. “I thought it was always the woman who wanted something big and fancy.”
She spread one hand, indicating herself. “You got the exception.”
“So did you, I’m afraid,” he countered. He liked the idea of a big wedding, of showing Rachel off to the entire universe. “My father is very traditional. He likes to see his kids get married with all the trimmings.” Matteo paused for a moment, studying her expression. And then it came to him. “You’re worried about inviting your family, aren’t you?”
Rachel shrugged one shoulder in halfhearted semi denial. “Not worried, exactly, but it’s been five years since I’ve seen any of them.” What if they all turned down the invitation? She tried to tell herself it wouldn’t matter—but it would.
“Don’t you think it’s about time to put that all behind you, start fresh?” Matteo suggested. “Clean slate and all that stuff?”
“Is that why you insisted on bringing me here to Austin?” She’d wondered about that ever since he’d told her that he’d booked a suite at the Hilton Hotel right outside Austin. Wondered and worried, as well.
“I brought you here because this is the best hotel I know of. The fact that it’s located in Austin is just a coincidence. Not that I mind. Coming here lets me see the city that’s responsible for raising a beauty like you.” He felt as if her eyes were boring straight into him. “Why are you staring at me like that?”
“I’m waiting for your nose to grow,” Rachel said with a perfectly straight face.
His expression, on the other hand, was seductively wicked. “I’m lying here naked next to you,” he pointed out. “That’s not the part of me that’s being affected.”
She laughed and kissed him, then raised herself up on her elbow so she could get a better look at his face. “I’m being serious.”
“So am I,” he said, cupping the back of her head and bringing her mouth down to his.
“I can’t say no to you when you do that,” she told him, her words escaping on a breathless sigh.
“Lucky me,” he murmured just before he began making love with her again.
* * *
Bemused, so in love she could hardly stand it, Rachel feigned being asleep and watched her fiancé head to the shower through barely opened eyes.
Matteo hadn’t bothered putting anything on as he left the bed. For the hundredth time, she thought to herself that he had a truly magnificent body, the kind that created goose bumps in its wake.
She was very, very happy and luckier than she’d ever thought possible.
The bathroom door closed. She heard the sound of water being turned on. She was tempted to get up and surprise Matteo by joining him in the shower.
But first she had something else to do.
Though he hadn’t said it in so many words, she knew that Matteo had brought her back to the city where she had grown up for a reason. He wanted her to make peace with her father, to reconcile their differences because he felt that she wouldn’t have any peace until she did.
He knew her so well, Rachel thought now, smiling as she pulled the blanket over her.
Drawing the hotel phone over to her on the bed, she pressed a series of keys on the keypad. She surprised herself as her father’s cell-phone number came back to her so easily.
The pit of her stomach quivered a little as she heard the phone on the other end ring. It tightened into a complete knot when she heard the deep male voice say “Hello?”
“Daddy? Daddy, it’s Rachel,” she said. “I’m here in Austin. Can I come by the house? I need to talk to you.” Rachel paused for a second, then added, “It’s about the Fortunes.”
* * * * *
Don’t miss the next chapter in
THE FORTUNES OF TEXAS:
COWBOY COUNTRY
Cisco Mendoza is used to getting what he
wants—by any means necessary. But when a
lucrative job assignment puts him at odds with
innocent Delaney Fortune, he has to choose
between money—and love. Can Cisco find a way
to have it all?
Look for
THE TAMING OF DELANEY FORTUNE
by Michelle Major
On sale April 2015, wherever Harlequin books
and ebooks are sold.
Keep reading for an excerpt from A CONARD COUNTY BABY by Rachel Lee