Agent's Admirer (Culpepper Cowboys Book 13) Read online

  “There’s a type that loves picnics?” she asked, a bit surprised.

  He nodded. “The same type that likes sappy movies like Notting Hill.”

  “Oh, stop. It wasn’t that bad.”

  “Probably not. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to tease you about it for a very long time.”

  “Oh? So you’re planning our future, are you?”

  He sighed. “No, I’m not planning our future. You sound like that crazy pastor now. He thinks we’re going to be married next week.”

  She smiled. “He’s certifiable. We haven’t been dating for nearly long enough to even start discussing marriage. I don’t know where he gets his ideas.”

  “You don’t think we’d be good together?” he asked, surprised. He was expecting to be on the defense with her ready to marry, and she was agreeing with him.

  She shrugged. “Maybe. I think we should just take our time and get to know each other, though.” She’d never believed that fast marriages were particularly smart.

  Bob frowned. “Are you seeing someone else too? Are you trying to decide between us?”

  Megan blinked a few times, trying to understand what his problem was. Shouldn’t he be glad she wasn’t in a hurry? “Of course not. I don’t have time to see two men every evening.”

  “Well, you could be seeing him every morning for all I know!”

  She sighed. “I’m not seeing anyone else. I promise.”

  “Then why don’t you want to marry me? Am I not good enough for you?”

  “You haven’t asked me to marry you! I got the impression you wanted to take your time, and I was just agreeing with you that it’s a good idea.”

  “So if I asked, what would you say? Would you turn me down because we don’t know each other well enough? Is that what you’re saying? Because I think we suit each other pretty darn well. We’re both a little odd, and we both need someone in our lives…”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know what I’d say if you asked. I want kids soon, because I’m already twenty-eight and ready for them, but I don’t want to rush into anything either. It’s probably best if we wait a few months to even think about it.”

  “And what if I don’t want to wait that long for sex? You already said I can’t have you until after we’re married. And the pastor in town did tell me to leave it in my pants.”

  Megan grimaced. “I feel like anything I say is going to just make you angry. I don’t know how to respond.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know why I’m getting so worked up, but suddenly, sitting here with you like this, I feel like the two of us getting married this weekend is the most brilliant idea I’ve ever had.”

  “I thought you wanted to put everything into starting your business for a while.”

  “Don’t throw my words back at me!” He rubbed his hands over his face. “I think if we were married I’d be able to put less time into being with you. We’d just go home to the same place, and I wouldn’t have to come up with new stuff for us to do every night.”

  Megan ate the last of her deviled eggs and shrugged. “Decide what you want. I’m out of this discussion.”

  “So if I tell you I want us to marry tomorrow, what will you say? If I say I never want to marry, what will you say then?”

  “Bob…Your panties are in a wad. You might want to take care of that.” Megan reached for the picnic basket to see if he’d packed anything for dessert, but he snatched it away from her.

  “Do you know I’ve sent people to the bakery, while they were on the clock, twice in the last two days? I don’t do that!”

  She stared at him for a minute, realizing that nothing she was saying was helping him calm down at all. She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him toward her, going up on her knees to press her lips to his.

  Bob wrapped his arms around her and kissed her for all he was worth. His hands roamed over her back, and one settled on her well rounded bottom. He pulled her even closer to him as his lips parted hers, deepening the kiss.

  Megan gasped with surprise at his ardor. Yes, he’d kissed her before, but never like this. She sank into the kiss, pressing as close to him as she could while her hands roamed over his back. For the first time in her life she wanted—more.

  After a moment, she pulled back, her eyes full of passion. “I think we should stop.”

  Bob nodded, swallowing hard. “We should, but I don’t want to.”

  “We have to. I’m not ready for more.”

  He groaned, rubbing his hand over his face and through his hair. “Marry me then.”

  “What? Bob, I don’t want to get married just so we can have sex.”

  He shook his head. “There’s so much more to it than that. I—It’s never felt so right when I kissed someone. I love being with you. I don’t want to spend another week alone.”

  She looked at him, biting her lip as she considered. “So you want to be married within a week? Didn’t we already say we weren’t going to follow that nonsense trend of Culpepper?”

  “Who cares what we said? I want to marry you. This weekend.”

  “But Brother Anthony won’t marry us until you’ve been to church, and I really don’t want to be married by anyone else.”

  “Then we’ll go to church Sunday morning, and he’ll marry us Sunday afternoon.”

  She sighed. “Let me call my parents and see if they can make it here for the wedding this weekend. If they can, then I’ll do it.” She pulled her phone out of her purse and scrolled to find her parents’ number. “Are you sure?”

  Bob nodded. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt as sure about anything in my life, except that I was meant to be a burger chef.”

  “All right.” Megan tapped the contact on her phone and listened as it rang. “Hi, Mom?”

  “Hey, Megan. Are you coming home this weekend? Or next? Your dad and I were just thinking we should go to a play when you’re here next. They’re doing Seven Brides for Seven Brothers at the community theater, and I know how much you love that one.”

  Megan smiled. “I do love that one, but I’m not coming home this weekend. I was hoping you and Dad and Erin would come here.”

  “Why do you want us there? What’s going on? You’re not sick are you?” Her mother’s voice held a touch of panic that made Megan laugh.

  “No, Mom, I’m not sick. I’m getting married.”

  There was silence on the phone for a full thirty seconds. “Married? You haven’t even mentioned a man.”

  “Sure I have. Remember I told you I was eating at a new restaurant in town a lot and that the owner was annoying and temperamental?” Megan’s eyes met Bob’s as she said the words, noting that there was a slight smile on his lips.

  “Surely you’re not marrying a temperamental burger chef. What are you thinking, Megan?”

  “I’m thinking he makes me happy, and I want to spend the rest of my life with him. We’re going to marry on Sunday afternoon, we think. We still have to talk to Brother Anthony.”

  “Talk to him and let me know when the wedding will be. You know we’ll be there, Megan. We wouldn’t miss it.” Her mother sighed loudly. “Are you sure you’re ready for marriage? Erin is talking marriage too, but she says she’s going to have some matchmaker set her up. Like make her meet him at the altar!”

  “Oh, I might have heard of the matchmaker. Is her name Dr. Lachele?”

  “It is! How did you know that?”

  “Because some of the girls here in town were set up with their husbands by her. They’re all happy, by the way. Erin will be happy too!”

  Her mother gave an exasperated sounding sigh. “You girls are going to be the death of me!”

  “You’ve been saying that for twenty-six years, Mom. Congratulations on living this long!”

  “Don’t get flippant with me!”

  “Sorry. I’ll tell Bob you’ll be here this weekend. If you come tomorrow night or Saturday morning, you can spend a little time with him before the wedding.”

&nb
sp; “We’ll be there. I don’t know how I’m going to tell John, but we’ll be there.”

  “Do you mind if I drive up to Laramie tomorrow and we find me a dress for the wedding? I know there’s no real hope of a wedding dress, but there must be something.”

  “Oh, absolutely. I even have an idea. We’ll talk tomorrow.” Her mother ended the call, and Megan stared down at it for a moment.

  “They’ll be here tomorrow night or Saturday. I’m sure they’ll call and let me know when.” Megan frowned at him. “Your mother won’t be upset that she couldn’t make it, will she?”

  He shook his head. “Nah. There are enough of us that it’s no big deal, I don’t think.”

  Megan shook her head. “I can’t imagine a mother saying that one of her kid’s weddings was unimportant, because there were others. You should at least ask.”

  “I’ll call her in the morning.” He reached for her, catching her hand and pulling her toward him for another kiss. “So, do you want to smooch more, or do you want to eat brownies with cream cheese frosting?”

  She grinned, giving him a quick kiss. “There! A smooch and then brownies.”

  “Am I ever going to come before your sweets?”

  “Absolutely not!”

  5

  Megan woke at her normal time, but since she had no appointments for the day, she dressed to drive into Laramie to see her mother. She hoped her solution for a wedding dress was a good one. She didn’t need a white dress with all the trimmings, because she wasn’t someone who’d dreamed her whole life of the perfect wedding, but at least something dressy would be nice.

  She was on her way to Laramie before ten, hating that she would have to miss the most recent incarnation of the taco burger. She wondered if he’d tried a pita pocket filled with taco meat, cheese, and Fritos. That might work.

  As she drove, she couldn’t help grinning. Why she was so excited about marrying Bob, she didn’t know, but she was. He was a good man and one who seemed just right for her.

  When she arrived at her mother’s house, she pulled into the driveway behind the compact car her mother drove and walked to the door, not bothering with the bell. Her mother would be offended if she didn’t walk right in.

  She found her mother in the living room, a bunch of white fabric on her lap. “Mom? What’s that?”

  Her mother held up the dress that Megan had only seen in family photos. “It’s the dress I wore when I married your birth father.”

  Megan sat down and took the dress in her hands, studying it. It was old fashioned, but it was beautiful. Megan slowly smiled, nodding. “If it fits, I want to wear it.”

  Her mom smiled. “You’re the exact size I was at your age. I can’t imagine it wouldn’t fit. Hurry, let’s get it on you and see how it looks.”

  Twenty minutes later, Megan stood in front of the full-length mirror in her childhood bedroom, looking at herself. She twisted first one way and then the other. “Do I look okay?”

  Her mother laughed. “It fits you perfectly. Your Bob isn’t going to know what hit him.”

  Megan grinned. “You really don’t mind if I wear it?” She looked down at herself, worried she would somehow mess up her mother’s beautiful dress.

  “I’m not. Now tell me about your Bob. How long have you two been seeing each other?”

  “Just since Monday. I’m not really sure what happened, but he asked me to go dancing when I was there for lunch on Monday. We were supposed to go tonight, but he called Monday afternoon and asked if I’d go Monday night instead. We’ve seen each other for lunch and every evening all week. We’re going dancing tonight.”

  “Is he from Culpepper?”

  Megan shook her head. “No, he’s from Texas somewhere. He’s been in Culpepper for a couple of months, but he’s been concentrating on getting the Burger Barn up and running.”

  “Burger Barn? Does he really call his restaurant the Burger Barn?”

  “Bob’s Burger Barn. Yup. It’s silly, but I do like the alliteration.”

  Her mother rolled her eyes. “Sounds like something your dad would do. John’s Joint or something equally silly.”

  “Yeah.” Megan shrugged. “His family sounds like ours with more kids. His dad died in the line of duty when he was little, and his mother remarried when he was five.”

  “Line of duty?” her mom asked with a frown. “That’s how your dad died!”

  “Weird, huh? Dad’s been my dad for so long, I don’t even think about that anymore.” She realized she hadn’t even thought to tell Bob that she was being raised by a step-father.

  “I married him before you turned a year old. Your dad died before you were even born.”

  “How come he never adopted me?” Megan asked softly. It was something that had plagued her for years. She’d always had the utmost respect for John Krol, the man who had married her mother and raised her from the time she was a toddler, but the fact he hadn’t adopted her and given her his name had made her wonder.

  “We talked about it. He said that the only thing you still had of your father’s was his name, and you should have that to remember him by. At least until you married. Are you going to take Bob’s last name?”

  Megan shook her head. “Probably not. I’ve built my whole business around my name. It would be too hard to change at this point.”

  “Do you wish he’d adopted you?” Her mother squeezed her hand, trying to give her comfort during the difficult conversation.

  “I did. I guess I always felt like the odd man out with a different name than the rest of the family, but now that I know why, I understand the reasoning. Kevin sounds like he was an amazing man.” She’d never been able to think of her birth father as Dad, because John filled that roll and had for as long as she could remember.

  “He was a good man. We were married for such a short time when he died. Just long enough for me to be carrying you.” Her mother sighed. “I’m so glad I had you to get me through.”

  “And John.”

  Her mother smiled. “John was different from Kevin in almost every way. Kevin was athletic, and he’d known he would be a fireman from the time he was a boy. John never was into sports. He was happy to be a real estate agent. John loved you from the first time he picked you up and you spit up all over him. It was like you were his.”

  “He never made me feel like I was a step-daughter. Even after Erin was born, I knew that I belonged to him the same way Erin did. I was his daughter.”

  Her mom’s eyes misted. “Yeah, he did everything with you. I can say with no reservation that John has had a bigger part of your life than Kevin ever would have.”

  Megan heard her dad shout from another part of the house, and she rushed to the living room to hug him, not saying a word.

  Her dad’s arms came around her automatically. “What are you doing in a wedding dress? You know I’m not ready for this! Tell him I’m insisting on a thirty-year engagement!”

  “Not happening, Dad!” Megan kissed his cheek. “When are you guys heading to Culpepper?”

  He sighed. “I thought we could drive down tomorrow and have lunch at his restaurant, and then we’ll drive back. We can come back on Sunday for the wedding. Do you have a time for it yet?”

  She shook her head. “Let me call him and see if he has one.” Her heart pounded as she called Bob, realizing it was the first time she’d called him. Why did it feel so strange? Her mother had taught her to never call boys, but being engaged to the man and twenty-eight years old surely made it okay.

  “Bob here.”

  “Hi, Bob, it’s Megan.” Suddenly she was sure he was going to call it off. With the way he’d proposed was a spur of the moment thing, and he wasn’t ready to be married to her.

  “Hi, you. I talked to Brother Anthony this morning. I worry about that man. He asked me if I’d managed to see your panties yet!” His voice was filled with exasperation, which is how most people felt about the town’s pastor after they’d spent a bit of time with him.


  Megan laughed. “I hope you told him no!”

  “I did. But I added it wasn’t for lack of trying, and if he didn’t marry us on Sunday, I was sure to find a way.”

  “What did he say to that?” Megan shook her head at him. She knew the strategy was probably the best one for getting their wedding on Sunday, though.

  “Wedding’s at two. I called Culpepper Confectionary Creations, and they’ll have the wedding cake ready for us. I’m also having them serve three different flavors of kolaches. I figured snack foods would be enough for the wedding, since it’ll be right after lunch.”

  “Sounds good to me. I just called to see what time the wedding was. My dad wanted to know.”

  “Are you with them now? I hate that you won’t be here for lunch. It’s going to seem strange eating without you.”

  “Yeah, I’m with them. I have a dress for the wedding all set.”

  “Sounds good. I guess that means I’m going to have to wear a suit. Have I ever told you how much I hate suits?”

  She grinned. “We could do a cowboy wedding, and you and Dad could wear jeans, button up shirts, cowboy boots, and hats.” She was half-joking, but she wouldn’t mind if that’s what he wanted.

  “You wouldn’t mind?”

  “Not a bit. Plan on that. I’ll see you tonight. I should be back in town by five or so.”

  “Come to the Burger Barn for supper, and we can leave from there to go dancing.”

  “All right. I’ll do that.”

  “See ya.”

  He ended the call and she stood there for a moment holding her phone. She wished he’d told her he loved her, but she knew he didn’t feel it yet. She wasn’t even sure if she did. She was ready for lovemaking, but did that mean she was in love? How was she supposed to even know that?

  She walked back to her parents who had stood listening to her side of the call, without trying to hide it at all. “Wedding is at two on Sunday. You guys should be there by one at the latest.”

  “Will you serve lunch at the reception?” her mother asked.

  Megan shook her head. “Nope. Bob said we’d have kolaches and wedding cake. I’m surprised we’re not having a taco burger,” she said, rolling her eyes.