That Night in Texas - Delores Fossen Page 0,19

goes for you. Pressing charges creates paperwork, which in turn causes gossip. I see no need for Amelia and Harley to have to deal with such talk. Do you?”

That “do you?” came out as a very threatening challenge. The kind a person might ask while aiming a baseball bat at your head. Leyton wouldn’t do anything like that, but for a nice guy, he sure could go all mean cop.

“I won’t file charges,” Marty said, and that was followed by a grumble from Patrick where he stated the same.

Leyton nodded, pointed to Marty. “You’ve got some other place to be. Go there right now.”

Marty shrugged as if that’d been his plan all along, and he strolled off in the direction of his cabin.

“You two also have some other place to be right now,” Leyton continued, talking to Harley and Amelia. “I’m guessing that’ll involve some kind of personal celebration that’s none of our business. You can get started on that if you want.”

Amelia shook her head. “But what about my parents?”

“Your mom, dad and I are going to have a little chat,” Leyton assured her. “Maybe at the café behind the reception desk. I’m going to suggest counseling, which I hope they’ll consider since they obviously love you. They probably love each other, too, and I’m going to say that they shouldn’t throw the good out with the bad...and other crap like that. They’ll listen because of that whole part about loving you and each other.”

In the next few seconds, a lot of glancing went on. Amelia to her parents. Her parents to her and each other. Harley even got a few of those glances, including a glare from Patrick. Harley wasn’t going to hold that against him. It was practically a duty for a father to want to murder anyone who’d had sex with his daughter. After all, Amelia was still his little girl.

“I’d be willing to go to counseling,” Nadine admitted.

Patrick opened his mouth, and his expression made Harley think he might lash out at Nadine. That he might remind his wife that she was the one who’d cheated. But the man looked at Amelia again and nodded.

“Counseling,” Patrick agreed.

This time, it was Amelia who initiated the group hug, pulling both of her parents into a family celebration of sorts. She caught on to Harley’s shirt, hauling him into the mix. Yeah, it was awkward. Maybe it always would be with her folks, but Harley would make it work for the simple reason that Leyton had said. Because Harley loved Amelia, too.

“Let’s go to the café and give Harley and Amelia some alone time,” Leyton suggested as soon as the group hug ended.

Both Amelia and her mother had tears in their eyes, but Harley thought those were happy ones. Patrick still shot him another glare, which was decidedly not happy, but then offered his hand for Harley to shake.

Harley accepted it.

If Patrick squeezed a little too tight and if he still had that murderous look in his eyes, Harley accepted that, too.

There was another round of short hugs, murmured goodbyes and only a smidge of awkwardness left by the time Leyton led Amelia’s parents in the direction of the main house. If anyone could get Patrick and Nadine to bury the hatchet and work on their marriage, it was Leyton.

Once Amelia and he finally had the porch and yard to themselves, Harley slid his arm around her waist. “Are you okay with not being pregnant?” he asked.

She looked at him, nodded. “I’m all right. And I’m all right with you, too.” She added a smile that let him know she was a lot more than just okay.

He tightened his grip on her and coaxed her inside. That way, he could kiss her, touch her, tell her how much he loved her.

And get her naked.

Thankfully, Amelia was on the same page he was because she started the kissing and getting naked part the moment they were inside his house. While nakedness and sex were indeed the end goals here, Harley stopped her from unzipping him.

“I’m waiting for an answer to my question,” he reminded her, and had to speak through his gritted teeth when her nimble fingers located his erection pressed against the front of his jeans. “Will you marry me?”

She stopped fondling him and looked into his eyes. “But I’m not pregnant.”

He checked his watch. “Plenty of time left in the day for that.”

She laughed, and mercy, it was a good sound to hear. A good expression to see, too, on her face. In fact, it was so good that Harley just had to sample some of it. He kissed her long and deep. The kind of kiss that led to shower sex.

And a future together.

“Yes, Harley,” Amelia said, whispering the word against his mouth. “I’ll marry you.”

* * *