Oh, Baby! (The Townsends Book 2) Read online

  Oh,

  Baby!

  The Townsends

  Book 2

  Angie

  Campbell

  Copyright 2016 by Angela Campbell

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or events is merely coincidence. Any unauthorized distribution of this work or its characters is not permitted.

  Cover by:

  Erin Dameron-Hill

  Award-Winning Cover Artist

  www.edhgraphics.blogspot.com

  Table of Contents

  Prologue – Wednesday, May 16 – Graduation Day

  Chapter 1 – Friday, July 6 - (five years later)

  Chapter 2 – Thursday, July 12

  Chapter 3 – Tuesday, July 17

  Chapter 4 – Wednesday, July 18

  Chapter 5 – Thursday, July 19

  Chapter 6 -Friday, July 20

  Chapter 7 – Saturday, July 21

  Chapter 8 – Thursday, August 30

  Chapter 9 – Thursday, September 6

  Chapter 10 – Saturday, September 8

  Chapter 11 – Thursday, September 27

  Chapter 12 – Saturday, October 20

  Chapter 13 – Wednesday, November 21

  Chapter 14 – Thursday, November 22 -Thanksgiving Day

  Chapter 15 – Saturday, December 8

  Chapter 16 – Tuesday, December 25 – Christmas Day

  Chapter 17 – Saturday, December 29

  Chapter 18 – Tuesday, January 1 – Mindi and Luke’s Wedding Reception

  Chapter 19 – Thursday, January 17

  Chapter 20 – Thursday, January 24

  Chapter 21 – Friday, January 30

  Chapter 22 – Thursday, February 14

  Chapter 23 – Friday, March 1

  Chapter 24 – Saturday, March 16 – Wedding Day

  Chapter 25 – Friday, May 3

  Excerpt from the Rodeo Star’s Return :

  Prologue – Wednesday, May 16 – Graduation Day

  “Hey, wake up. You’re not supposed to be sleeping. It’s your graduation party,” James said with a grin. “You’re supposed to be having fun.”

  Lisa sat on one of the picnic benches, pressed up against James’ side. He had his arm around her and she would be asleep if it wasn’t for the fact he kept shaking her awake

  “Everybody’s opinion of fun is different. Right now, what I think is fun, is sitting her with you, and taking a nap.”

  “Sleeping is fun? That’s a stretch, don’t you think?” he asked with a chuckle.

  “Not at all. I’m quite happy to sit here taking a nap on your shoulder,” she said, hiding a smile against his shirt.

  “Here, sit up. I’ve got something for you.”

  “I told you, I don’t need any gifts. You weren’t supposed to buy me anything.”

  “This isn’t exactly a gift. I wanted to give it to you before you left for college,” James said, sounding a little nervous.

  She stretched and yawned. “I thought I told you I wasn’t leaving for college. You can give it to me anyway,” she said with a grin, as she snuggled back into his side.

  He sat up straighter, and turned to look her in the eyes. “You’re not going to college? Lisa, you need to go to college,” he said, sounding a little too much like her parents.

  “Yes, I’m going to college,” she said giving him a dirty look. She threw his one hand off her shoulder, and wrapped her arms back around his waist so she could snuggle back into his side once again. “I’m just going to stay here and go to the local college. I’m not leaving home. Are you going to give me my present? What is it?”

  “I told you, it’s not exactly a present. I thought your parents wanted you to go to a bigger city to go to college,” he said, now sounding confused.

  “They only do that, if we’re not certain we want to stay in Sapphire Springs for the rest of our lives. We have to be able to convince them we know what we truly want,” she said, frowning at him. “It almost sounds like you want me to leave.”

  “Why do you want to stay here to go to college?” he asked, half hoping she would say because of him, but not really believing that he had anything to do with her decision.

  “I have my reasons,” she said, turning her face away so he wouldn’t see her blush.

  “And no, I don’t want you to leave. I would have missed you like crazy. I’m just surprised,” he added with a big smile. “Pleasantly, I might add.”

  He really didn’t want her to leave, but he also believed it would be easier if she were leaving if she said no when he asked her to marry him. Now he wasn’t sure he could do it. If she said no, and he had to look at her every day, it would kill him.

  “James, can we please stop talking about it. I want to dance.” She wanted to tell him the truth, but she wasn’t sure he was ready to hear it. She loved him, and she just couldn’t stand the thought of having that many miles between them. She needed to stay close, where she could see him every day. She was just hoping if she dragged him out to dance, he might actually kiss her.

  “Okay, come on,” he said with a grin. “This is your party. You might as well get what you want.” He stood up and pulled her to her feet, so he could drag her out to the middle of the yard with everyone else. All her friends from the graduating class, and a few from the lower grades were there, and the backyard was packed. There wasn’t a whole lot of room left on the portable dance floor.

  “We’ll see if I really get what I want before the night is over.” She wasn’t even thinking about marriage. She was just thinking about the immediate future.

  It was a slow song, so she stepped into his arms and brought her hands up behind his neck. With the heels she had on, she was tall enough she could lay her head on his shoulder. She just snuggled into him and closed her eyes.

  As the song was coming to an end, she lifted her head, and looked up at him. When their gazes locked, they slowly came to a stop, her breath catching in her throat. Everyone else was still moving around them, but they never even noticed when the song changed to a much faster one.

  “James,” she breathed out. “What are you thinking right now?”

  “I want...”

  He never managed to tell her what he wanted. One of her friends from her graduating class danced over with a cheery smile. “Hey you two. What are you doing just standing there? This is a good song. Come on, dance,” Marie said, grinning at them, not realizing what she had just interrupted.

  Lisa was almost certain she had been about to get that first kiss she had been wanting so bad. Now the moment was lost, and she was even more frustrated than before. She just nodded at her friend and picked up the pace.

  *******

  “James, did you ask her?” Luke asked, whispering and elbowing him in the side to get his attention. “What did she say?”

  “I didn’t ask her. I panicked.”

  “What? That rings been burning a hole in your pocket all night. Ask her already,” Luke said, a bite of irritation in his voice.

  James stood there following her around the yard with his eyes. “She’s not leaving for college.”

  “I know. I heard that, but what does that have to do with anything?” he asked, giving him an irritated look. “That just means you don’t have to wait as long to get married. She’ll be here.”

  This time when he answered, he finally turned and looked Luke in the eyes. “If she said no, it would be easier to deal with if she wasn’t here.”

  “James, she’s not going to say no.” Luke was feeling like he needed to speak to the genius like he was a toddler.

  “You don’t know that.”

  “Did you at least finally try and kiss her?” Luke
was starting to get exasperated, and it was starting to show in his tone. “I saw the way you two were looking at each other after that first dance. Please, tell me you at least kissed her finally.”

  “No. If she doesn’t feel the same way, it’ll ruin our friendship.”

  “Did you not see the look on her face. She wanted you to kiss her.”

  “What if you’re reading everything wrong? She may have just been confused by the way I was acting. She probably thought I was acting strange.”

  “James, you’re getting nowhere fast. She feels the same way for you that you do for her. Ask her to marry you already.” Luke let out a frustrated sigh. “The only time Mindi and I can carry on a civilized conversation is when we’re talking about you two. And she keeps saying what I already know. Lisa loves you.”

  “What if her parents don’t approve?” James asked, shaking his head. He really was terrified, and he didn’t want her parents to run him off. He needed to be around her too much. “I don’t think I could handle that either.”

  “Are you serious? Her parents love you. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have let her hang out with you as much as she does. You guys have been going to the movies alone since she was sixteen. You guys are practically with each other all the time.” Luke was seriously thinking about trying to beat some sense into the guy.

  “I know they don’t object to us being friends, but that’s not the same as us being married.”

  “Why do you think they would have a problem with you marrying her?”

  “I’m black,” James stated, rolling his eyes.

  “Really? I hadn’t noticed that,” Luke said in a very dry tone. “You know Carl and Jamie better than that. They don’t care that you’re black. They already consider you part of the family. They love you just as much as they do me.”

  “Married is still not the same as just friends.”

  “James, I can almost guarantee you, they know you want to marry her. Have you not noticed how quick Jamie figures people out? She’s almost faster than I am. And with her own kids, and with those of us they spend most of their time with, she is. I’m sure they realize I’m in love with Mindi.” Luke stood there shaking his head. “If they object to anything, it’ll be her age. They might ask you two to have a long engagement, so she can get through at least some of her college first, but that’s it. And I really don’t even think they’d do that.”

  Just then Lisa walked up behind James and wrapped her arms around him from behind. “Hi, I need a hug.” She noticed they had stopped talking when she walked up so she asked, “What were you two guys talking about?”

  “The future,” Luke said, giving James a frustrated look. He knew how much James wanted to ask her to marry him, and it was making him almost as crazy as it was the big guy himself.

  James just stared at him, giving him a dirty look.

  Lisa laid her head against his back and slid her hands down his sides, just wanting to touch him. When her hand ran over his front right pocket, she felt something hard and square. “James, what’s in your pocket? Is that what you were going to give me? Let me have it.”

  “No. Stop that.” She had tried to stick her hand in his pocket, but he was too fast. He managed to grab her hand and pull it back just as her fingers slid under the denim of his pocket. Now she was thinking she shouldn’t have said anything.

  Chapter 1 – Friday, July 6 - (five years later)

  Lisa slipped the four-inch heels on her feet and started pacing back and forth in her bedroom, yet again. She came to a stop and looked at herself in the full-length mirror for the hundredth time that night. She had decided to dress up for their movie night. She had even bought a new dress for the occasion. She normally wasn’t that nervous about her appearance. She knew James liked her the way she was, but he always made sure to tell her how beautiful she looked when she made a special effort. She was a nervous wreck. She needed the extra encouragement tonight.

  She had left her hair down, and it hung in soft brown curls. The longer she looked at herself, the more she thought she should have gone ahead and put it in a ponytail like normal. She didn’t want it to be too obvious she was making a special effort. She picked the brush up off the dresser and started brushing through it, and pulled it back into a tail at the back of her head, then looked at herself once again. She prayed he wouldn’t be able to see how nervous she felt.

  “Oh, this is crazy.” He was waiting for her to get ready, so they could leave for the movie. They always went to the movies on the first Friday night of the month. She was going to have to pull herself together. It was just the thought of kissing him for the first time was making her both, a little nervous and a lot more excited.

  She had been planning this for a while now. Ever since she had heard about Mindi kissing Luke the first time. It had given her the idea. Mindi had even suggested it. Maybe she could take the initiative with her relationship with James. She wanted them to move past the friendship stage they had been stuck in for so long.

  Her biggest concern was they all could be reading the signs wrong. What if he wasn’t in love with her, too? Jenny and Mindi kept insisting he was. Just like the whole family had been insisting Luke was in love with Mindi. Mindi had even told her Luke was saying James was in love with her, and she knew he would be the one to ask. Between his almost scary way of being able to read people and being James’ best friend, he would know.

  The longer she paced, the more nervous she was making herself. She was going to have to stop pacing and get out there. She really needed to do this. She wanted to know what if felt like to kiss him. It was making her crazy. She was dreaming about it, and her gut was telling her she was the one that was going to have to make the first move. She knew if she was going to do this, she was going to have to buck up. So, she took a deep breath, walked to the door and flung it open.

  She smoothed her hands down the front of her new green dress, and started down the hall. She heard him holler out, “Hey, what did you want to watch tonight? There are a couple of good ones.” She didn’t bother answering. She couldn’t. She was afraid her voice would crack if she tried to speak.

  When she got to the end of the hall, she saw him turn and look at her. “Hey, are you alright? I don’t know why you would be, but you look a little nervous.”

  She still didn’t answer. She was still too afraid to speak. And of course, he was going to be able to tell she was nervous. He had known her for nearly all her life, and he spent more time with her than he did with Luke and Zane. She was just going to have to push through it.

  Once he got his first really good look at her, his face lit up with obvious appreciation. “You look amazing. Is that a new dress? I’ve never seen it before.”

  Without giving herself time to think about what she was about to do, she walked over and dropped herself down in his lap. She heard something clatter to the floor when his arms come up around her in surprise. Her mind had vaguely registered it was probably the satellite remote he’d had in his hand when she ambushed him. He had been flipping through the channels out of boredom.

  He’d clutched her tightly to himself when she landed in his lap. So tightly, it was making it hard for her to draw air to breathe. She was so okay with it, that she gave him a dazzling smile. It gave her the encouragement she needed to go on.

  She sat there just staring at him for a few seconds. If she wasn’t careful, she would get lost in his soulful brown eyes. She could always tell what he was thinking just by looking in them. Right now, he was looking rather surprised. His eyes were one of the things she loved most about him. That and his gentleness.

  His hands were so large, hers always disappeared when he held it. One hand could cover the small of her back, and he always touched her like he was afraid she would break. Sometimes it felt like he thought she was made of glass.

  James was a tall man, over six foot, with shoulders wide enough you would almost swear they were three feet across. He was built like a defensive lineman with th
e face any Hollywood actor would be jealous of. He was the sexiest man she had ever met, and she had felt that way ever since high school when she realized she was in love with him.

  She could see it in his eyes. He was trying to figure out what she was up to. Using his moment of shock to her advantage, she placed her shaking hands on both sides of his shaved head, and brought her mouth down to his, sucking his full bottom lip into her mouth.

  She had been praying he wouldn’t dump her out in the floor. She realized she had nothing to worry about the second their lips met. She heard him groan, and she didn’t know how it was possible, but she felt him pull her tighter to himself. When she parted her lips farther and ran her tongue over his bottom lip, she felt him start to shake. Or maybe she was the one shaking. All she was sure of, was this kiss was far more intoxicating than she could have ever imagined.

  His hand came up and gripped her ponytail at the back of her head while he used his other arm to keep her firmly pressed against him, he pulled her head back, giving himself better access to her mouth. When she gasped with reaction, he ran his tongue over her lip, coping her actions, and then kissed her harder. She could feel him growing more passionate with each passing second.

  He tugged her ponytail again, causing her head to drop back farther. His lips skimmed over her chin and started moving down her neck. She knew they were getting out of control. They needed to slow down, but she wasn’t sure how to go about it, but she wasn’t ready to stop yet. She pulled his head back up, wanting to bring his mouth back to hers. He groaned, but he gave her what she wanted.

  She was already panting so hard, when his mouth locked onto hers this time, her head started spinning, and her control slipped another notch. She had never done anything like this before, and she had nothing to compare it to. All she seemed to be able to do, was hang on.

  When his mouth started moving along her jaw, she could hear herself gasping for air. Her body was on fire. She tried to turn into him more fully, needing to press herself against him.