“Oh!”
“A sneezing fit, huh?” He shakes his head and laughs, taps the hood of the car. “That’s a new one. Be safe.”
And with that he walks back to his car and pulls away.
“I told you I had it covered,” she says with a smile. “Works way better than crying.”
“Are you pulled over often?” Geez, maybe I should pull her record to see what’s on it.
“No.” She shakes her head and then laughs. “Well, maybe.”
“Slow the fuck down and you won’t get pulled over.”
She parks the car in front of the park where we’re going to have our picnic and drops my keys in my palm when I hold my hand out.
“That was fun.” She grins.
“I’ll drive us home,” I reply and climb out of the car, pull the picnic basket from the trunk and lead her to a tree off the beaten path.
She spreads the red and blue quilt on the ground, kicks off her flip-flops and sits down.
“I’m starving.”
“Are you okay?” I ask. I still worry about her diabetes, but she is always on top of it.
“Oh, I’m fine. I’m always hungry.”
“Before we dig in,” I begin and rub my suddenly sweaty palms down my blue jeans, “I have something for you.”
“You do?”
“Yes.”
“Oh dear God.” Her face pales, making me laugh and shake my head.
“Not that something. And I can see by your reaction that you’re definitely not ready for that yet.”
“Oh.” She frowns for a second, almost in disappointment, making me grin again. Maybe she’ll be ready sooner than I thought.
But not today.
“We’re going to the club tonight,” I remind her.
She grins and nods, blushing beautifully.
“We don’t go very often,” she replies. “It’ll be fun.”
I nod and pull a small square blue box with a white bow out of the picnic basket and watch her eyes widen.
“You have good taste,” she whispers.
“I chose you.” I shrug and push my fingers through my hair, trying to decide what to say. “Have you noticed at the club that some of the submissives wear collars?”
“Yes,” she replies and frowns.
“In some cases, those collars mean as much if not more than a wedding ring between the Dom and his sub. It’s not just a symbol of ownership, but of companionship as well. For me, I’m not interested in seeing you wear a true collar, but…”
I hand her the box and watch as she tugs the lid off and gasps at the platinum chain inside. She pulls it out of the box and holds it up, examining the simple pendant of two linked hearts.
“I would like for you to wear this, as a symbol of being mine. I want you to be tied with me in every way, just as I’m tied to you.” I take the chain from her and clasp it around her neck and brush my finger over the two delicate hearts. “I want everyone to know that you’re mine, little one.”
“I am yours, babe.” She looks down at the hearts and back up into my eyes, smiling happily. “And I’ll wear it proudly. Thank you.”
She launches herself at me, pushing me onto my back on the hard ground and kisses me soundly. “It’s beautiful.”
“You’re beautiful,” I reply and brush my thumb over her lower lip.
“I’m hungry,” she reminds me and rolls onto her back, still admiring the hearts.
I’m so relived that she loves it. I sit up and pull our meal out of the basket, and when I glance back down at her, she’s staring at me with so much love and trust it steals my breath.
“Keep looking at me like that and it’ll be awhile before we get around to lunch, and there are children not far away.”
She grins and sits up next to me, kisses my shoulder and then my cheek. “I love you.”
“I love you back.”
THE END
The With Me In Seattle series continues in book seven. Don’t miss Mark and Meredith’s story in
Breathe With Me
Coming in summer 2014.
Want more steamy romance in the Montana mountains?
Turn the page to read on for a sneak peek of Kristen Proby’s Seducing Lauren.
Coming soon from Pocket Books
Seducing Lauren
Book Two in the Love Under the Big Sky Series
“Hey, Lauren.”
“Hi, Jacob, what can I do for you?” I ask with a smile, opening my front door wider for the friendly county
sheriff deputy.
“Well, I’m serving you.” He offers me an embarrassed smile and hands me a large envelope, then backs away. “Have a good day.”
Without moving back inside or shutting the door, I stare down at the envelope in surprise.
Served?
I rip open the envelope and see bright, flaming, inferno red as I read the court document.
“The fucker is suing me?” I exclaim to an empty room and read the letter clutched in my now trembling hands for the third time. “Hell no!”
I grab my handbag and slide my feet into flip-flops, barely managing not to fall down the porch steps as I tear out of my house to my Mercedes and pull out of my circular driveway.
I live at the edge of Cunningham Falls, Montana. The small town was named after my great-grandfather, Albert Cunningham. Ours is a tourist town that boasts a five-star ski resort and a plethora of outdoor activities
for any season. Thankfully, summer tourist season is over and ski season is still a few months away, so traffic into town is light.
I zoom past the post office and into the heart of downtown, where my lawyer’s office is. Without paying
any attention to the yellow curb, I park quickly and march into the old building.
The receptionist’s head jerks up in surprise as I approach her and slam the letter still clutched in my hand
on her desk.
“This,” I say between clenched teeth, “isn’t going to happen.”
“Ms. Cunningham, do you have an appointment with Mr. Turner?”
“No, I don’t have an appointment, but someone in this firm had better find time to see me.” I am seething,
my breath coming in harsh pants.
“Lauren.” My head whips up at the sound of my name and I see Ty Sullivan frowning at me from his office