Part 20 (1/2)

”Sweetheart, you're taking a big gamble on him.”

She smiled faintly up at her brother. ”The biggest gamble I took was going to California in the first place.”

It seemed James held her gaze for the longest time before finally nodding. Then he reached out and captured her hand in his. ”I'll always be here for you, baby. I love you. You know that don't you?”

Colby wiped away the tears that misted her eyes. ”Yes, and I appreciate that.”

Then she reached out and hugged him. ”And more than anything, James Cameron Wingate, I appreciate you. And I love you, too.”

Colby stared out of the window and watched the car pull up in the yard and knew it was Sterling. Getting up from the table she hugged herself and rubbed her arms, feeling nervous and apprehensive. Her conversation with James had brought up uncertainties she didn't want to deal with. They were things she hadn't wanted to think about. But she knew sooner or later she would have to.

Taking a deep breath she walked out the door and stood on the porch. When Sterling got out of the car, he stood leaning against it and stared at her. She gazed into his dark eyes and saw him appraising her outfit, an old faded s.h.i.+rt and a pair of denim shorts. It wasn't an outfit a wife would greet her husband in, especially if that husband was Sterling Chandler Hamilton.

”Welcome home, Sterling.”

A huge smile tilted the corners of his lips and he slowly walked over to her. ”I'm glad to be home.”

Sterling started to tell her that the main reason he was glad to be home was because he loved her, but something held him back from saying those words. Instead he reached out and pulled her to him and placed a kiss on her lips.

”I'm glad to be home because I knew you were here, Colby.”

Those simple words he'd spoken in a deep, husky voice totally dissolved any apprehensions Colby had. Loving him the way she did wasn't wrong. And she had to continue to believe that given time, he would come to love her, too.

She placed her arms around him. ”I missed you.”

Sterling smiled and tightened his arms around her. ”I missed you, too.”

He picked her up and carried her into the house. Once inside he placed her on her feet and closed the door behind him with a soft click. ”I should have been here to do that when you first got here.”

”Do what?”

”Carry you over the threshold.”

Colby smiled. She wondered if he realized he was behaving like a happily married man, and not a man with every intention of ending his marriage some time in the future.

”Better late than never,” she said, smiling up at him. ”How's your mother?”

”She's progressing rather nicely.”

”And your brother?”

”Nicholas is fine, too. But I don't want to talk about them.”

”Oh? Who do you want to talk about?”

He pulled her into his arms, and moments before capturing her lips with his, he whispered, ”n.o.body.”

Colby couldn't sleep anymore. She slowly eased out of Sterling's embrace, taking care not to wake him. He needed his rest.

He had tried to be tender when he'd made love to her, but she had shown him she hadn't wanted his tenderness. What she had wanted, and what she had needed, was exactly what he'd eventually given her, his complete possession, and the sharing of his heated pa.s.sion.

She wondered if it would always be this way, whenever he returned home after being away-that overwhelming need to be joined as one with him in the most intimate way, where the only thoughts that could cloud her mind were those of him.

Over and over he had made love to her. Then she had fallen asleep in his arms only to be awakened later by the feel of his warm breath on her neck, and the feel of his hand moving slowly over her body, causing her flesh to become hot once again.

Finally, after neither of them could handle any more pleasure and survive the experience, they had fallen asleep exhausted and their strength totally consumed.

But something had awakened Colby. Something had pulled her back into consciousness. It hadn't been a sound that had awakened her, but a sudden thought, an alarming realization. She felt the need to think about it, work it out in her mind and come to terms with it. That need increased her urgency to be alone for a while.

Slipping into her robe, she walked barefoot across the room, opened the French doors and stepped out onto the dark balcony. She drew in a deep breath of the clean, crisp smell of the mountain air, wis.h.i.+ng it could somehow cleanse her soul.

The great irony of it was that she had known from the very beginning what she was getting herself into. Sterling hadn't made any promises to her. He had made it clear up front that he wasn't looking for a permanent wife. But she had let herself believe she could make a difference in his life; a difference he would soon come to accept. Now she wasn't sure that would happen.

”Colby?”

Sterling's voice startled her. She'd thought he was still inside sleeping. She slowly turned around to him. ”Yes?”

”Are you okay?”

She only hesitated a moment before answering him. ”Yes, I'm fine. I'm just enjoying the night air.”

”Would you like some company?”

”Sure, but I thought you were sleeping.”

He came to stand before her. The musky scent of him combined with the potent smell of pine needles and mountain laurels, stirred her senses and made her even more aware of him.

”I was asleep, but I woke up and reached out for you and you weren't there.” He put his arms around her, drawing her closer to him.

Colby leaned against him, absorbing his strength. She so desperately needed it now. He always managed to convey an aura of cool confidence. The only time she'd seen that confidence waver even just a little was when he had told her about Angeline Chenault's visit. It was during that time that she had seen straight through Sterling's pretense at being cool, confident and nonchalant.

”Do you want to tell me what really drove you out here?” he asked softly, as he leaned down and caressed her face with b.u.t.terfly kisses.

”Talk to me, baby. Tell me what's bothering you.” Then he drew her deeper into his arms as his hand smoothed gently across her shoulders and back.

”James came to see me today,” she finally said, knowing he'd been waiting patiently for her to answer.

He eyed her thoughtfully before saying, ”This sounds serious.”

Colby nodded. ”He found out about that Morton Industries stock you gave me. Homer Morton visited him and accused James of marrying me off to you to save Wingate Cosmetics.”