Free Second Chance Bride (Montana Born Brides) by Trish Morey

one place to go.
    He felt her go, felt her body tense and still and erupt around him like a fireball, consuming his last shred of control as he followed her.

    “I just knew you’d be good at that.” Sweat-slick and replete, she lay panting by his side, her head against her shoulder, his arm holding her snug against his body.
    He kissed the top of her head. “Do I need to tell you how good you were?”
    “Yes please.”
    He chuckled, more like a rumble, and she liked it. “You’re amazing. In fact, so unbelievably amazing, that I can honestly say, that you are, without exception, the best Buck I ever had.”
    “Hey!” she said, sitting up and smacking at him with her hands, “quit it with the Buck jokes.”
    He laughed and grabbed her wrists. “Make me,” he challenged, and she pulled at her hands and wriggled, jiggled and growled and made him laugh all the more until she stilled and said, “I know how to make you shut up anyhow.”
    “Yeah?”
    “Yeah.” And she used his arms for supports and dropped herself over his chest and teased his mouth with a nipple.
    Oh, yeah, he thought, as he opened wide to accept this unexpected gift, that’d do it

Chapter Six

     
     
    They got away early the next morning on time, a seventy -minute hop to Perth before a short break for the connection to Broome that would have them there around mid-afternoon. Flights were still moving while the tropical storm continued to hover directionless off the north-west coast.
    “Damn,” she said, as they passed through clouds and the view disappeared. He watched as she flicked through the flight magazine and found the puzzle page and dug out a pen.
    “How much have you seen of Australia?”
    “Not a lot.” she said, as she started jotting down numbers. “A bit of Perth. Kalgoorlie.”
    “That’s it?”
    She shrugged. “I’ll see Broome. That’s a bonus.”
    “So why Perth? Most people would head to Sydney, especially when they’ve come from the States.”
    “Well, I didn’t exactly come to be your traditional backpacker-type.”
    “No?”
    “No. So... Perth suited me.”
    “Okay, are you going to tell me why?”
    She screwed up her mouth. “You really want to know?”
    “Scarlett, give.”
    She looked at him, her lips tight. “Only it’s not something I’m real proud of or anything.”
    “Scarlett!”
    She pouted. “Okay, seeing you insist ’n’ all. It’s like this. I came to g—” and whatever else she said was masked under her hand as she turned her head towards the window.
    He captured her chin with his hand, and pulled it around. “You came to get what?”
    Green eyes sent out an SOS. “You really want to know?”
    He was impervious to SOS ’s sent by green-eyed minxes “Yes. I really want to know.”
    “Okay. I came out to get married. Well, I thought I was going to get married.”
    “Seriously? Who to?”
    “Just some guy I met.”
    “What? In Marietta?”
    “Well, kind of. I was in Marietta, at any rate.”
    “Oh Scarlett, tell me you didn’t find this guy on the internet?”
    “So?”
    “You’re kidding me. You fell for that?”
    “He was nice! And we started out as just friends. We chatted. He told me about Perth, and I told him about Montana. It was fun. He was like a pen pal.”
    “And so you came out on the strength of that?”
    “No! Do you think I’m nuts?” Her fingers flicked at the corners of the magazine, her eyes watching them work. “No, we’d been talking for a while and we were getting to be more than friends. We Skyped every Sunday. He told me I was his soulmate. He told me he loved me. That we belonged together. But it was impossible for him, he said, because he worked such long hours. He couldn’t see a way for us to be together just yet. But we would be, just as soon as he could get leave.”
    Her eyes flicked up to his. Big green eyes that still bore the hurt. It didn’t take much to know it hadn’t ended well.
    “It was his birthday coming up and I wanted