Bounty (Colorado Mountain 7)

He gave the back of my head a squeeze, filtered his fingers through my hair and stepped away.

I went to dump my coffee in a travel mug and get my purse and keys. I called my good-byes, walked out the front door and got in my granddad’s truck that someone somewhere along the way had driven back up to my place from the police station.

The last time I was in that truck, I was racing away, terrified of what had happened to me right along with being more terrified the guy was still around and could get to me.

I negotiated around Deke and Bubba’s trucks and didn’t give it more than a passing thought.

* * * * *

“Are you two boning?”

“Krystal!”

“What?”

“It’s kinda not any of your business.”

“Seein’ as I’m gonna be kickin’ some big white boy ass he doesn’t pull his finger out, it is my business.”

“Ladies,” I cut in and when I had two sets of eyes aimed at me, I shared, “He’s totally boning me. And it is seriously fine.”

Lauren, holding Breanne, grinned at me.

Krystal smiled huge and said, “Well, all right.”

Not all right.

Deke had tied my thighs together, fucked me hard, and through it, gave me three orgasms.

Totally not all right.

It was fine.

“Always wondered, he rough or can he be gentle?” Krystal asked.

“God, Krys!” Lauren snapped, cupping little Breanne’s head like she could understand a word we said even if she wasn’t right then fast asleep and all of about a day and a half old.

“Check and check,” I answered Krys before they could get into it.

“Best of both worlds,” Krystal muttered. “Surprising. Always figured Deke would fuck like a freight train.”

“And check,” I said, grinning at Krystal who grinned back at me.

“Lord,” Lauren whispered, her head bent to Breanne. “Don’t listen to your mommy. And you’ll be spending lots of time with Auntie Laurie so you can learn how to be appropriate. Though I’ll have to have a word with your Uncle Tate. He’s got a mouth on him. But I suspect he’ll curb it for baby girls.”

Krystal rolled her eyes at me, but otherwise she was apparently unoffended.

“So it’s good with you two?” she asked.

“Well, yeah, except he says we’re gonna have a talk tonight over Steph’s chicken.”

Lauren turned her attention to me. “Talk about what?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe the fact that he wanted me at arm’s length then lost his mind when I got attacked and wouldn’t let me out of his sight, including us sleeping together every night since that night, though no nookie until Sunday night. And now we’re all, ‘what’s for dinner’ and ‘pick up sandwiches’ without us even having a date.”

“Deke doesn’t date. He claims then he fucks,” Krystal told me. “Though, not sure I know a single woman who spent more than one night in his trailer.”

“Me either,” Lauren muttered.

“That said,” Krys carried on, “not sure more than a handful of women have even been to that trailer.”

That made me smile.

“Tate called it,” Krystal announced.

“He sure did,” Lauren agreed.

“Called what?” I asked.

“You,” Krys stated.

I was confused.

“Me?”

“You,” Krys repeated. “Tate said later, after you left that first time in Bubba’s, he saw Deke watchin’ you talkin’ to Bub and me. Said he also saw you lookin’ at Deke. Said you two had a spark even if you didn’t even share a look. Also said, if anyone could do it, it’d be a woman like you. Confident, got her act together, that would be the woman who could bring Deke to his knees. And he was right.”

I was feeling weirdly like I was about to hyperventilate.

“I didn’t buy it,” Krystal added. “Hippie rock ‘n’ roll chick did not say Deke.”

“I’m boho,” I corrected.

“Boho is hippie, just less goofy,” Krys returned.

She had me there.

But I had no interest in debating it anyway.

I was stuck on something else.

“Tate saw Deke watching me?” I asked.

“Says he did and Tate don’t miss much, obviously, you two boning and talkin’ over Steph’s chicken, whatever that is,” Krys answered.

Whoa. Whoa. And whoa.

Deke had been watching me?

“Are you nervous?” Lauren asked, taking me away from that happy thought.

“A little,” I told her honestly.

“About what?” Krystal asked.

“Well, I like orgasms and Deke handing me the key to his trailer without blinking. And bottom line, I like Deke. He’s…Deke,” I said, not knowing how to explain it better.

I got nods like they both understood me (which, since they’d known him longer than me, I figured they did).

I still tried to give them more.

“I’ve been around. It’s not like I’ve met every human being on the planet but there’s no one like him. He’s all…mountain man. And then he can be sweet. And he looks out for his friends. And he’s funny. And he thinks I’m funny. And there’s no denying he stepped up when shit got seriously crazy for me.” I shook my head. “I don’t want anything to fuck with that. Things have been a little bit rocky in my life lately. It’s nice to just be…happy.” I felt a tentative, hopeful smile curl at my lips when I finished, “Like, really freaking happy.”