Hartley (Mail-Order Brides For Christmas)

“You know, when I told you why you were brought here, I was kind of an ass. Because I only thought about myself. Not what might be bringing a woman to meet and marry a man she’s never met. I’m guessing it’s not usually under happy circumstances.”

She exhales, taking my hand. “But I was happy to have this chance,” she says. “And I know I mentioned signs earlier, but when Holly told me I’d be coming here and marrying you on December first, I saw it as another sign.”

“How so?”

She looks at me with bright eyes, and a wide-open heart. “My parents — they died when I was a baby, but they married on December 1st, and so did Grandma and Grandad, some thirty years earlier. So it felt like destiny. Like maybe you were the way out of a really dark time.”

My chest tightens as I realize why she was crying so hard when I got off the phone. “You wanted to marry me today, specifically. Didn’t you?”

She nods, a tear falling down her cheek. “I wanted this to feel like fate. Marrying you like this meant giving up so many of my dreams for a picture-perfect wedding… but I thought maybe, just maybe, it would be okay. That you would meet me and want me. That I wouldn’t just be a crazy idea that your mom had. But that I might be a crazy idea that was also your dream come true.”

“Fuck, Hattie,” I say, drawing her to me. “I want that. I want you.” I pull her to my chest, tipping up her chin. She is fucking gorgeous and doesn’t seem to have a clue. My cock can’t stop twitching because she’s all I fucking want.

“You mean it?” she asks, her words a whisper.

“I do.”

She smiles. “I do too.”

“With that pair of I do’s it sounds like we just got hitched,” I say with a side smile.

“Stop it,” she laughs through her emotions. “I thought you were supposed to be this grumpy mountain man. Now you go and start acting all sweet?”

“I want to make you happy,” I tell her. “You deserve that.”

“And what do you deserve, Hartley?” she asks. It’s a question I’ve never gotten in my whole damn life.

“I know I sure as hell don’t deserve a woman like you.”

She licks her lips, crawling up in my lap and wrapping her arms around my neck. She fits here so damn well. So damn right.

The air shifts between us, the heat rising, the need for her growing. I know she feels it too, and she lets out the tiniest of whimpers to let me know she is right here, in this moment with me.

“But if you did?” she asks. “What if we both deserve what we got?”

“Then I wouldn’t waste our wedding night,” I tell her.

“Is that what we’re calling this?” she asks as I lift her from the couch to take her to my bed.

“Yes,” I tell her. “And right now, I’m carrying you over the threshold.”

6

Hattie

I must admit, I did not expect my connection with Hartley to flip so fast… but now that we are in his bedroom, his hand on my hips and our eyes locked… I want to give us a chance. I want this to work.

And as crazy as it sounds, considering I just met this man, I think he wants it to work too.

“I’m in no rush,” he tells me, his thumb brushing against my cheek. “We can stop any time you like.”

“I don’t want to stop,” I tell him. “I want to go all in. With you.”

He leans down and kisses me then. A kiss I will never forget in all my life… because when he kisses me, I feel it. A deep in your bones, I’m forever changed after spending my life dreaming of feeling this way, kiss.

A kiss that has me kissing him back, with fervor and need. My entire body heats up as his hand holds the base of my neck, drawing me ever so slightly closer. Our lips part and his tongue slips against mine, and I let out the smallest moan — but a moan nonetheless. A moan that says, yes, please. That says, don’t stop. A moan that says, more.

He understands the sound I make because he lifts my sweater by the hem, and draws it off my body. My bra is pure white, and so are my panties. I push down my pants, wanting him to see me. All of me. I am giving myself to this man I just met and I have never felt more confident.

“Fuck,” he groans.

“You have to give me more than that,” I tell him. “I’ve never been with a man before.” He gives me a half smile, a dimple in his right cheek, and I swear he fights back tears. “What?” I ask, knowing how insecure I must sound.