Colorado Mountain series by Kristen Ashley

“Okay,” she whispered.

I looked in her eyes, saw she was settled and wasn’t going to bolt. Then I looked at Jim-Billy and he smiled at me so I smiled back. Then I walked to the door of the church and saw Bubba, looking far more nervous than Krystal, Tate at his side at the front of the church. I grinned at Tate then nodded my head at the organist. She started playing Pachelbel’s Canon.

I darted away and grabbed Krystal’s bouquet from Holly and handed it to her then Holly handed me mine then she dashed down the hall to enter the sanctuary by a side door.

I went to stand in the doorway and held my flowers in front of me. In my strapless, pale green, to-the-knee, skintight, way-too-sexy-for-a-church-wedding dress (but Krystal insisted), I walked down the aisle smiling at Bubba then smiling at Tate.

After I arrived at the front, the organist trailed off with Canon and started playing the wedding march.

Everyone stood. Krystal and Jim-Billy walked down the aisle. I felt tears sting my eyes.

After the pastor declared them husband and wife and told Bubba he could kiss his bride, Twyla shot straight up from her pew and shouted very, very loudly, “Yee ha!”

I burst out laughing but Bubba and Krys made out through Jim-Billy jumping up and adding, “About time!” Then Nadine jumped up and yelled, “Woo hoo!” And others shot up, catcalling and shouting encouragement and screaming out cheers.

Bubba quit kissing Krys and they turned to face the congregation and, to be heard over the clapping and shouting, the pastor had to yell his introduction to the new husband and his wife.

Krys and Bubba walked down the aisle having to stop to shake hands, receive tight hugs and weather hearty back slaps.

Tate came to my side and grabbed my hand, I leaned into him, grinned up at him and then we followed.

We had to stop too as Krystal and Bubba accepted a variety of biker-type congratulations and I felt Tate’s mouth at my ear.

“Ace, have I told you how much I f**kin’ love you in that dress?”

I kept my eyes glued to Krystal and Bubba’s back as my br**sts swelled and my mouth murmured, “Um… no.”

“Minute we’re home, that skirt’s around your waist, baby,” Tate whispered, mouth still at my ear.

My ni**les got hard and my neck twisted. “Tate, we’re in a church,” I hissed and his brows shot up.

“You sign the marriage certificate?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I answered.

“So did I so I figure God doesn’t mind. Fuck, babe, he made you that hot.”

I glared at my old man.

Then I burst out laughing.

* * * * *

I was naked, straddling Tate, his c**k still hard inside me and he’d just come (though I’d come earlier, twice).

I bent and pressed my torso to his, tilting my head back to kiss the underside of his bearded jaw.

“Jesus, Ace,” he muttered, his arms going tight around me.

“What?” I asked.

“Danced all night, drank yourself stupid and you still rode me hard.”

I lifted up to look down at him. “I didn’t drink myself stupid,” I objected.

“Baby,” he whispered, his eyes dancing. “You’re hammered. You just let me do things to you that –”

I smiled because I had and the things he’d done were fabulous.

“It’s my birthday and all day I’ve been at someone else’s party. What? I don’t get my own party?” I asked.

“Yeah baby, you can have your own party every f**kin’ night, you wanna party like that.”

“Excellent,” I breathed and heard him chuckle.

Then he rolled, pulling out of me, taking me to my back, him mostly on top of me and he reached out toward the nightstand. He pulled open the drawer and came back with a square box wrapped in pale blue paper and tied with a wide, see-through, darker blue ribbon.

“Happy birthday, Ace,” Tate whispered and I looked from the box to him then I grabbed the box, pushed up so my shoulders were to the headboard, Tate pulled up too, so he was resting on his elbow in the pillow and I ripped off the bow and paper.

The box said bangles and I couldn’t wait to see them. Tate more than occasionally brought me custom-made silver jewelry he got from a talented jewelry designer in Gnaw Bone by the name of Jenna. Since Christmas, he’d added so many pieces to my stash that I’d lost count. They were all one-of-a-kind and they were all fabulous.

The paper fell away and I opened the top of the glossy, cardboard jewelry box and in it I found a big, black key fob and on the key fob was an unmistakable insignia.

I blinked at it then I hooked the ring with my forefinger, pulled it out of the box and tossed the box to the floor beside the bed to join the paper and ribbon.

“What is this?” I asked.

“Escalade Hybrid. It’s parked at Wood’s garage. We’ll go down tomorrow to get it.”

I blinked again and stared at him.

“You bought me an SUV for my birthday?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he answered.

“You spent tens of thousands of dollars on a Cadillac SUV for my birthday?”

“Uh…” he mumbled, “yeah.”

“Tate!” I screeched.

“Babe,” he whispered, his eyes going to the door before coming back to me, “keep it down.”

“Are you nuts?” I hissed and watched his face go hard.

“No,” he answered.

“You are. That’s… a Cadillac… it’s… insane!”

“Your f**kwad ex buy you that Lexus?” he asked and I stared hard at him.

Then I answered, “Yes.”

“Then that’s it, it’s gone. I’m puttin’ you in a caddy that’s far safer on mountain roads than that f**kin’ Lexus that dickhead bought you. We get rid of it and there’s nothin’ left of him and your old life. It’s just us. You, me, Jonas –”

I cut in. “And a Cadillac.”

His face went soft and he grinned. “And a Cadillac.”

“Tate, you don’t even drive that fine of a ride.”

“Yeah, babe, but I put scum in my truck,” he informed me and then went on firmly. “You’ll be puttin’ you and my kid in yours and you’ll be drivin’ with Jonas around Carnal in a f**kin’ caddy.”

Jesus, I loved this man.

“Okay,” I gave in and it was his turn to blink.

“Okay?” he asked.

I curled my fingers around the key fob and said, “Yeah, okay, cool. When can we go get it? First thing?”