Ultimate Romance Collection. Rebecca Winters

graduating from college, the two of them were married. I was born three years later.”

      “No wonder your parents were so understanding about allowing you to have the career you wanted. They’d faced the same challenge.”

      “Yes, but my paternal grandparents weren’t as understanding. They thought Dad was throwing away his legacy. Especially since my father was their only child.”

      He paused to take another sip of coffee. “I’m told that my mom’s pregnancy with me was difficult. At one point, they thought she would die. My father was even told he might have to choose to either save his wife or his child. He picked his wife. But a top specialist arrived and assured my father he could save us both. He did. However, I think I was still a stark reminder to my dad of how close he came to losing Mom.”

      Bristol frowned, and he thought it was cute. “Surely, he didn’t hold you responsible and mistreat you in any way.”

      “No, not at all. Dad was good. However, my parents’ relationship took a turn. They were always close, but I think nearly losing Mom freaked Dad out. After that he was determined to spend every moment he could with her...for the rest of their lives. They take more trips than I can count every year, and they have a tradition of spending the holidays together somewhere—usually with friends in England. Like I told you before, I’ve never spent the holidays with my parents. I’ve always spent them with my grandparents on their ranch. And trust me, I had no complaints. My grandparents were the greatest. I loved being out on their ranch.”

      “Did you ever feel resentful of your parents for not spending time with you?”

      He knew it was hard to understand his relationship with his parents, but for her he wanted to try to explain. “It’s not that my parents never spent time with me, Bristol, because they did. They were very active in my life while growing up and there were a number of trips we took together.”

      He took another sip of coffee. “Thanks to them, I saw most of the world before my sixteenth birthday. There was never a time I didn’t think my parents loved me. However, I always knew they loved each other more.”

      “And you didn’t have a problem with that?”

      “No. I had friends whose parents didn’t even like each other, couldn’t stand to be in the same room together. Some of their parents divorced as soon as they finished school and my friends knew they had been the glue that held their parents’ unhappy marriages together. That wasn’t the case with my parents. There was never any doubt in my mind that Dad and Mom loved each other to the moon and back.”

      He didn’t say anything for a minute, then he added, “When they thought I was dead, they went bonkers. I think they got even closer, if such a thing is possible with them. When I was found alive, they refused to let me out of their sight at first. They even questioned if I should continue being a SEAL. I knew they were worried, but I wasn’t used to all the attention, at least not from them. I couldn’t wait until I finished my recuperation period to return to work.”

      She spun her cup in her hands and asked, “What happened to your grandparents’ ranch?”

      “They willed it to me, although they were fully aware of my career as a SEAL. But my grandparents also knew I would manage the ranch as well as become a SEAL. For the ranch, I hired the right people to take care of it until I retire from the military, which will be in about six years. Some of the men working at the ranch for me used to work for my grandparents and can be trusted.”

      She nodded. “What kind of ranch is it?”

      “It was always a cattle ranch but thanks to Bane’s family, the Westmorelands, I’ve added horses. Several of his family members own a horse breeding and training company. They needed another holding depot before shipping the horses off to be trained. That’s where my ranch comes in. So, I guess my ranch is a horse ranch, as well.”

      “Do you go there often?”

      “Not as much as I would like. When I do go there it’s mainly to check on things. My men have everything pretty much under control.”

      “I’m glad.”

      A part of him believed she was, which made him say, “I want to show you and Laramie my ranch one day.” He would tell her that much. He wouldn’t tell her yet that he planned to make it his primary home for whenever Laramie visited.

      She smiled and he felt a stirring in his stomach. “I’d love to see it, Coop. I know Laramie will, too. He loves horses.”

      “Then it’s settled. I will take the two of you there after the holidays.” Standing, he said, “I’ve kept you from your work long enough.”

      She smiled, standing, as well. “I’m okay. I was about to come to a stopping point anyway.”

      “You do this every night? Paint while Laramie sleeps?”

      “Not every night. Just whenever the urge hits.”

      Funny, she should mention urges. At that moment, he was swamped with another urge. “Speaking of urges, Bristol,” he said, setting his cup aside.

      “What about them?”

      “I feel one coming on myself.”

      She smiled. “You want to try your hand at painting?”

      He chuckled. “No. It’s not an urge to paint.”

      “Oh? What kind of urge is it?”

      He leaned over and whispered in her ear. She smiled and placed her own coffee cup on the table. She moved closer and wrapped her arms around his neck. “In that case, I think we need to deal with these urges of yours.”

      “I agree.” He swept her off her feet and headed toward her bedroom.

       Sixteen

      Coop felt something poke him against his nose and he snatched his eyes open. He saw a miniature pair of eyes and a little hand right in his face. “You in my mommy’s bed,” his son all but accused.

      Yes, he was in Laramie’s mommy’s bed. Before Coop could open his mouth to assure his son that everything was okay, Laramie had pulled himself up on the bed and crawled over him, saying, “Move over, Daddy.” The little boy then planted himself in the middle of the bed, unceremoniously separating Coop and Bristol like the parting of the Red Sea.

      “Laramie!” Bristol said, quickly sitting up after coming awake. “Be nice.”

      “He in your bed, Mommy.”

      Bristol yawned and ran a hand through her son’s curls. “I know and it’s okay. Good morning, Laramie.”

      He wrapped his arms around his mother’s neck. “Good morning, Mommy.”

      Then, as if satisfied, Laramie slid beneath the covers and closed his eyes.

      Bristol glanced over at Coop and smiled. “Sorry about that.”

      “Hey, don’t apologize. I take it he does this every morning.”

      She nodded, pushing a mass of hair back from her face. “Yes. And as you can see it’s not quite six o’clock. He comes in here, gets in my bed and will go back to sleep for another hour or so, then he’ll wake up hungry. That’s how we start our day.”

      For Coop that was a bummer because he’d planned to start his day by making love to her. Now, thanks to their son, those plans would be canned. But son or no son, Coop intended to get a good morning kiss. He leaned over and placed a kiss on her lips. “Good morning, Bristol.”

      She smiled. “Good morning, Coop.”

      He returned her smile. He’d liked waking up with her while in Paris and he liked waking up with her now. Even after making love to her multiple times last night, he still had a lot of sexual energy to work off and he