Brandi has known Colby Pennington for most of her life and has loved him almost as long. Getting married, though, is a serious matter. The whole love, honor, and obey thing might be more than she can handle.Marriage is about an equal partnership, not having to follow anyone else's rules. It is about having someone there whenever and wherever you want sex. Brandi is definitely okay with that part, especially with her sinfully handsome cowboy.But the obey issue, that Colby intends to take care of her in all ways - including occasionally warming her bottom...Well, it could be a deal breaker.
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EXCERPT
Brandi couldn’t go through with this. A wedding meant all kinds of serious: no more thinking only of herself, sharing a bed when she preferred stretching out all over it, acting civil in the morning before she even had half a pot of coffee, compromising, obeying…
She glanced at the outrageously expensive wedding gown hanging across the room used for brides in the church in which she’d grown up. Obeying. Love, honor and obey. Did she really have a grasp on what the word meant? Not according to her father. Not according to most people in town. She tended to go her own way about things…and sometimes had to pay a price for it. Considering that Colby had known her most of her life, he understood that she had trouble staying within boundaries. At least he should understand that, since he’d heard her complain numerous times about having gotten her bottom burned because she stepped into the “gray area.”
She wasn’t quite sure why all of a sudden she’d become obsessed with the three key words in the wedding ceremony. Maybe because they were really big words—okay, small letter-wise—but huge in meaning. She’d been too lost in the excitement of the moment last night at the dress rehearsal to think about the vows. She hadn’t even thought about them when Colby had teased her when he’d dropped her off at her father’s ranch. But now she remembered the hint of challenge in his dark eyes as he’d taunted her with “love, honor and obey.”
Had he been referring to a few weeks ago when she’d told him she wanted to cut off her almost waist-length blonde hair and dye it auburn? He’d said “Absolutely not!” to both the cut and the dye job. It had rubbed her wrong, so she’d done both. Okay, she really needed to stop being so obstinate. With the first cut of her hair, she’d nearly had heart failure, but it was too late to change her mind by then. She’d hated having red hair. Of course, Colby had been disgusted with her for going against his wishes. He’d been a little sympathetic when she’d shed a few tears about the shorter hair. But he’d turned her bottom red —like her hair— anyway for acting so impulsively. If she would just listen… If she would just not get her back up… Yada, yada, yada. Still, she’d bleached her hair back to almost the original blonde shade.
The truth was that she’d been born breach. She couldn’t even manage to “obey” (follow, really) the normal way of being born. And she’d spent twenty-six years disobeying her father’s rules whenever she pleased and then suffering the consequences. Marriages were about equal partnerships, not having to follow anyone’s rules. They were about adult relationships, about sex. She was definitely okay with the “sex” thing. Especially with Colby.
At the thought of the six-foot-three, sinfully handsome cowboy she’d known half her life, a familiar warmth curled inside her. She’d known him half her life but hadn’t really known him until the last six months. She’d come back to Hinkley, Kansas, after graduating from college with her masters, intending to open an accounting firm with only the guarantee of her father as a client. Now she had several ranchers as clients, including Colby. Their client-accountant relationship had gone many steps further, steps that had led to her bed, to his bed, and now soon to their bed. What that man could do in bed. She sighed. Oh yeah, what he could do!
“Time to get dressed,” Sarah announced as she all but bounced into the room, shoulder-length brown hair fluttering around her. Her best friend since childhood looked at the white dress with layers of satin and lace. She sighed in the same way she did every time she saw the dress. “You’re going to look just like a princess.”
Brandi hadn’t picked out the dress; her father had. He’d always called her “his little princess”—except when she was in trouble—and he wanted her to look like a princess on her wedding day. Colby hadn’t seen the gown yet, but he’d like it too. You couldn’t get more feminine than this dress. He was all about feminine, all about her being a lady. Okay, he wanted her to behave like a lady. Behave! Obey. Admittedly, she had problems with both words, both definitions. Maybe the dictionary needed to be updated, to include her interpretations of the definitions: follow societal or other’s rules if you so choose.
She looked at her friend, who rarely strayed into the “gray areas” and accepted the common definitions of those bothersome words. Maybe Colby should marry a woman like Sarah, someone who would almost never challenge him or give him grief.
Grimly, she said, “I think this might be a bad idea.”
Sarah was already reaching to take the dress down and glanced curiously in her direction. “Bad idea? What are you talking about?”
Perched on the window seat overlooking the parking lot where guests were already arriving, Brandi pulled her legs up and hugged her knees. Still wearing jeans, she rested her chin on the comforting denim. “This whole marriage business. I’m not sure if it’s really my kind of thing.”
“You’re kidding, right? You’re about to wear this absolutely stunning gown, walk down an aisle lined with gorgeous white roses, and take the hand of The most studly man on earth in marriage. It doesn’t get any better than that.” Sarah looked at her as if she were an alien who’d taken over her best friend’s body. “Oh, don’t tell Thad what I said about Colby. Thad’s studly too. Just in a different way.”
Brandi couldn’t deny that Colby Pennington was “studly.” Actually a lot of the women in town called him Super Stud Cowboy behind his back. Yes, she’d started it, and yes, he knew about it and that she’d been behind the nickname. He’d warmed her bottom when he’d found out, which still irritated her. You’d have thought he’d have been proud of the nickname!
“No, I won’t say anything to Thad.” He was okay looking, but hardly “studly.”
Putting aside all studly thoughts, she looked at the gown. She didn’t really care about the dress or the roses. Sarah’s mention of Colby’s hand had brought back to mind that whole behaving matter, the whole obedience issue which she’d been mulling over the last few minutes. She’d already experienced a number of spankings from the man who’d been her lover for the last couple of months and who’d merely tolerated her as his best friend’s kid sister for years before that. She’d also already had a number of lectures from him on professional behavior because she tended to keep sporadic work hours and came and went as she pleased. He’d also had a word or two to say about her unladylike behavior, wearing jeans to work instead
of dresses or suits. And he’d hinted that he expected to be the head of their household. He hadn’t gone into specifics and she hadn’t asked. Blind lust, evidently, had kept her thoughts focused in more interesting areas. But now she was having a serious back-to-reality moment.
She faced Sarah, nerves twisting within her. “I need to talk to Colby.” Panic seemed to be taking over her mind. “Now. Right now.”
Sarah blinked in horror. “You can’t see him until the ceremony! It’s bad luck.” She shook her head. “No. No, no, no. Absolutely not.”
Brandi wasn’t a superstitious person. She knew what she needed. She needed to see Colby. Panic moved up another level, and her voice was harsher than she intended when she said, “There won’t be a ceremony unless I talk to Colby.” She pointed to the door Sarah had closed on entering. “Please. Just go get him.”
“But—“
Brandi raised her chin, battling tears. “Get Colby.”
Colby struggled with his tie while his long-time friends stood around him, harassing him about finally getting married. He was about to give up on the tie and toss it in the trash when Sarah raced into the groom’s dressing room. Brandi’s best friend’s face flamed in embarrassment as her gaze darted around taking in her surprised fiancé Thad, Brandi’s father, and the other two men. It was plain she would rather be anywhere else but here. He had a bad feeling about this.
“What’s up?” Colby asked when she hadn’t spotted him in the far corner. His bride-to-be was up to something. Hell, she was always up to something. She would be a trial in his life for the next fifty or so years, but he felt damn lucky about that. He didn’t really mind her going nose-to-nose with him on things
every now and then, it kept their relationship interesting. He couldn’t marry a woman who “Yes’d” him all the time, like Sarah did Thad. He liked a woman with guts…most of the time, anyway. ‘Course when she’d decided to cut all that long, silky hair off… Well, he hadn’t liked that so damn much.
Still, as troublesome as she could be at times, he loved Brandi clear to his long, skinny toes. For every irritating trait she had, there were more that pleased him. She could be seriously grumpy first thing in the morning, but he could live with that. She had a tendency to be far too casual with her work appearance and with her work habits. She was still struggling to stop being the college kid and be the career professional. They’d already talked about that. He would help guide her with that. Some of his “guidance” would involve taking her over his knee as part of their domestic discipline agreement. Not
that she’d be thrilled to continue getting her bottom warmed as a married woman, but she’d allow it. Another reason he loved and respected her. She trusted him. He would not let her down; he would not abuse their agreement.
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