BRANDED BY A CALLAHAN (15 page)

“I— Oh, Jace, don’t tell anyone, all right? I need to talk to Dante first.” She went running down the hall into the theater. “Five thousand dollars!” Ana yelled at the top of her lungs. “I bid five... What happened? Why is everyone standing around? Is the auction over?”

The entire roomful of women turned to gawk at her. On stage, Dante stared at her. The music had stopped and the room was silent as an empty cave, her loud announcement as she’d dashed into the room echoing to all four corners.

Dante took the microphone from his aunt. “Ana, is there something you want to tell me?”

Ana glanced at Ashlyn, shocked.

“I’m sorry, Ana! I had to do something!” Ash’s face wasn’t exactly apologetic, but she did look very worried. “It was tell the truth or pull the fire alarm, and I really didn’t want to go to jail at Christmas!”

The ladies burst into dismayed chatter as Dante left the stage. Seeing her big jackpot slip away, Fiona called, “Don’t leave unhappy, ladies! Luckily I have—” She quickly glanced around, her gaze falling on her nephews. “Galen, come on up! Jace, you, too! We’ve got women here who want a date with a handsome
unattached
Callahan cowboy, and fortunately, I can offer you two for the price of one! How’s that for an even better grand prize?”

Galen glanced at Jace, who’d stuck close to Ana as she’d dashed down the hall. “I spent enough time serving my country and going to med school that I can’t think of anything more wonderful than going out with a beautiful woman who wants to buy me. What do you think, Jace?” Galen asked.

Jace grinned. “I’m game. Look at all those hot ladies.” Then he yelled, “I say let the bidding begin!”

He hopped on stage and Galen followed with enthusiasm, and the room erupted in cheers. Fiona looked like she said, “Phew,” but Ana felt no relief at all as Dante bore down on her, his handsome face not happy at all. He finished buttoning his shirt up as he approached. “When were you going to tell me?”

“After Christmas,” Ana said.

“As we both went our separate ways?”

She put up her chin. “Seemed like the right thing to do.”

“The right thing to do,” Dante said, “is get married. Tonight.”

Chapter Sixteen

Poleaxed
wasn’t quite a good enough word to describe how Dante felt when Ash shouted out that he was expecting a baby. Fiona had nearly dropped her microphone, the entire room had gone up in a whoosh of “Oh, no!” and he’d nearly...well, he’d stood tacked to the floor. Poleaxed and dumbfounded.

Joy swept him.

Then annoyance. Ana hadn’t told him.

But then she’d rushed into the room, shouting that she was bidding five grand for him, and he’d felt a lot better.

He still wasn’t happy with her.

Ana glared at him, clearly not pleased with his proposal. “By the way, thanks for the bid. Appreciate knowing that you think so highly of me. Come on, beautiful, let’s get out of here. People are gossiping, and we really want their attention on Jace and Galen. Fiona’s got some making up to do, now that her grand prize defaulted.”

“Getting out of here is fine,” Ana said, “after I figure out who locked me into that room.” She frowned, displeased and cute, he thought. “Someone didn’t want me to win you.”

He grinned. “Can you blame them?”

She was in no mood to be teased as she swept out of the theater into the street. “Dante, I don’t want to hear another word about marriage. Let’s just get that straight right now.”

“You’re sweet, not wanting to tie me down and all, but don’t worry.” He smiled at Ana, his most winning smile. “This prince fully intends to ride to your rescue.”

“You don’t seem to understand,” Ana said. “I just rescued you.”

“And I appreciate it.”

“You didn’t look like you were suffering too much.” He followed her over to the barrels, where she checked the money “votes” in each of them. “If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought you were interviewing to become a stripper.”

“Oh,” he said, drawing her into his arms, “you’re jealous. No need to be, though. You’ve won me fair and square.” He looked down at her. “Are we really having a baby?”

“Yes,” Ana said, looking slightly irritated, “we are. I’m planning to name him Jonathan Dante, unless you have a different idea.” She wouldn’t look at him, and he thought that didn’t bode well for him.

“I don’t really care. I’m having a son.” He laughed out loud. “I’m having a son!”

“Yes, we are. Well, it might be a girl. But anyway, I wouldn’t have told you like this, but clearly Ash can’t keep a secret. Not that I can blame it on her.” She sighed. “I should have told you sooner.”

Ash came speeding around the corner, out of breath as she reached Ana. “I am so sorry! It was either disqualify my brother or pull the fire alarm, and I didn’t want to go to jail, so—” She looked at her brother. “You may have been on the way to a new record, brother. I was impressed, in spite of myself. I had no idea you could dance like that.”

“Yes,” Ana said, “I didn’t know, either.”

Oh, his angel cake was just a bit miffed that he’d been strutting for the ladies. “I knew you’d arrive any second to rescue me.”

“You didn’t,” Ash said, “you didn’t give her near enough money. Face it, you were going home with someone else.”

“And all your money is in Tighe’s barrel,” Ana said. “He said he wanted to win this part of the evening, too.”

He touched Ana’s cheek. “He didn’t win anything. I’m having a baby.” Then he laughed. “This is awesome. I can’t believe it.”

“Congratulations.” His sister thumped him on his back. “Really didn’t know there was so much wild man left in you anymore.”

“Yeah, well.” He wasn’t sure what to say to his sister’s ribbing. Ana didn’t look impressed, so he hoped she’d drop that thought and move on.

“Ash,” Ana said, “someone locked me in the theater prop room so I couldn’t bid on Dante.”

Ash’s eyes went round. “Are you sure?”

“The door was locked.”

Dante shook his head. “Let’s not focus on that right now. Let’s focus on getting married.”

“Dante, I’m not marrying you,” Ana said, her voice sure.

“Well, here’s where I disappear,” Ash said. “Glad you got out of the prop closet in time to... Oh, never mind,” she said, when Ana and Dante glared at her. “I’ll go see if Jace and Galen are holding up the family rep.”

His sister drifted off. “Come on, beautiful. Let’s dance, at least, okay?” He drew her into his arms. “You know, Cinderella left the ball at midnight, and left her shoe as a calling card. The prince had to search high and low for her.” The music from the theater and the ongoing auction spilled onto the street, which was lit with lovely white lights. Christmas wreaths hung in every shop window. “I’m not going to let you get away from me, even if you are being a stubborn thing.”

Ana gasped. “Your auction was at midnight!”

“Yeah. It’s twelve-thirty now. Why?”

She glanced down at her dress as if to make sure it was still on her. “I—just wondered.”

He blinked. “Wait a minute! You’re wearing the magic wedding dress!”

She nodded. “Yes, I am.”

His gaze swept her. “That dress
disappeared
.”

“It was in my closet. Somehow.”

“But it disappeared. Poofed right out of my hands.”

She looked confused. “Your hands? What do you have to do with my gown?”

“Fiona sent me upstairs to put it in the closet. This was after we saw you sprinting across the yard. You were crying, weren’t you?” It felt so good to hold Ana in his arms. He’d waited a long time to hold her close, dance with her, talk to her. Now she was going to have his baby. How lucky could a guy get? “What made you cry that day, babe?”

“Fiona told me I’d see the man of my dreams, that one man who was right for me,” Ana said, her voice soft. “But I didn’t see anyone. And then this gown turned red!” She looked up at him. “It’s beautiful, fairy-tale, perfect for tonight, but it’s not my idea of a dream wedding gown. And I was kind of hoping I’d see my handsome prince.”

“I don’t know what to say to that.”

“It’s a Callahan tradition, you know. You should have more idea about it than I do.”

He danced her into a more private enclave where not as many people milled about. “The good news is that the way the legend works is that when a baby is in the picture, it doesn’t matter if you saw your prince or not. You’ve already got him.”

“That’s sweet,” she murmured, “but I don’t know if it’s true. I think you’re just saying that. You were all ready to ride off into the sunset and hit the rodeo circuit again.”

“Yeah, because I didn’t know you were crazy for me.” His heart felt as if it was going to beat out of his chest. “You are, aren’t you?”

“Dante, I don’t know if we’re meant to be. That’s the hardest part of this. A baby doesn’t make it love.”

This was true. He got that she was worried that he was just saying things to convince her to marry him. Wasn’t that what all the Callahans did? Ran real hard to catch their lady—when they finally realized they wanted to be caught themselves?

“Maybe we give it some time. Like maybe until tomorrow,” Dante said, and Ana laughed, and he felt better. It would all work out. They were meant to be together, and it didn’t matter about legends or magic or anything. They were right enough together to make a baby. “I can’t believe I’m going to be a father.”

“You’re not even going to ask me about the fact that we always used a condom, are you?”

He shook his head. “I’m quite capable of keeping you as pregnant as you want to be. I look forward to the challenge. Nothing better than a grail for a man to pit himself against.”

“There is never a time when Callahan ego is at low ebb, is there?”

“Not often.” What did a man have beside his pride, the psyche inside him that strove for courage? He wanted to hold her closer than he could at the moment, but he thought he was feeling a bit of resistance from her, too. That was all right. He knew how to be patient. Oh, patience was hard, when he was as crazy about Ana as he was. In the end, believing she would come to him because she trusted he was the man for her would make everything that much more perfect. “I’d invite you back to my place, but you’ll have to marry me first. Make an honest man of me.”

She gasped. “Did you just do something to my zipper?”

He shook his head. “No, gorgeous. But I will be happy to do something to your zipper if you want me to—”

Her eyes were huge. “Dante, I need to go.”

“Okay, I’ll—”

“No, you have to stay here by the barrels. When your brothers’ auctions are done—any minute now—the guys and ladies who are finalists will come out to see who won. You’re going to have to judge which of these barrels are most full for the guy, and one for the girl.”

“I’m sure not picking Tighe,” he said, “even if he did get all my money.”

Ana looked desperate. He couldn’t figure out what was going on with her. “Is something wrong, Ana?”

“I’m not sure.” She glanced down at her dress, then gasped. “Dante, I have to go!”

“Where?”

“Home,” she said, and then she took off running.

“Holy smokes,” Dante muttered. “Talk about giving a guy a complex.”

Tighe walked by, then punched him in the arm. “Talking to yourself?”

“A little. Not as much as I might be in a moment.” He glanced around, realizing the partygoers were spilling forth from the theater.

“Did you run Ana off?”

“I don’t think so.”

“You don’t know?” his twin asked. “Either she was giving you good vibrations, or you were getting bad atmospherics from her. Which was it?”

“I’m not sure,” Dante said, not happy.

Tighe shook his head. “Dude, is that a shoe?”

He looked where his twin was pointing. In the road, in the middle of the square was, indeed, a golden pump. Ana’s. “That’s odd. No woman runs off without her shoe. Ladies prize their shoes as if they are actually gold.”

“She must have
really
wanted to get away from you,” Tighe observed. “It’s funny, isn’t it? Women run to me, they run away from you.”

Dante picked up the shoe, not sure what to make of the mother of his child being so anxious to get away from him that she took off barefoot, especially in the snow. “When I marry her, I’m going to make her wear cowboy boots with her wedding dress. She can’t slip out of cowboy boots that easily, not without making a heckuva scene.” He laughed, and Tighe sighed dolefully.

“You are so weird you deserve everything you get,” Tighe said. “I’ll man the barrel contest and pick the winners. You go after Ana before her case of second thoughts gets set in stone.”

“You want to oversee this to make sure you win,” Dante said, and Tighe said, “Yeah, but do you really care?”

He really didn’t. “Knock yourself out. Pick a female winner, and a male winner, and good luck. With Sawyer, that is.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t know,” Dante said. “Just feels like bad juju to be mixed up with anybody related to Storm. But good luck with that.” He loped off after Ana. Maybe if he hurried, he could catch her in time to talk her into staying in the hot gown and heading to Vegas with him for an early morning, presto-change-o hitching.

Nothing would make him happier.

* * *

I
N
A
PANIC
,
A
NA
RAN
into her room at Rancho Diablo, trying desperately to shrug out of the magic wedding dress. Something was happening to it. She could feel the fabric shifting, as though it might disappear any moment, leaving her naked. She’d felt the seams sort of quivering, and the zipper somehow warming, as if it wanted to melt away at the masquerade ball. When she’d looked down and realized the hem was evanescing and the golden pumps vanishing, she’d known she had to get home before the magic completely deserted her.

Gasping, she barely made it into her bedroom and slammed the door before the gown filtered away completely. Gone.

She grabbed a robe and kicked off the one pump, which was no longer gold and beautiful. “Oh, no,” she murmured, sadly eying the remnant of the splendid shoe. “You were only a mirage, after all.”

She pulled off her mask, laying it on her dresser. The enchanted evening was over. Dante knew he was going to be a father. When had she realized how much she loved him?

When they’d been kidnapped and forced to walk to get away from their captors. He’d been so kind and considerate.

Of course, he also loved to tease her. His raffish side was one of the things she liked most about him.

She’d never dreamed she could become pregnant. And with him, it had been so easy.

Almost magical.

But she wanted to be with him forever. She wanted to marry Dante, be his wife, love him, take care of him, raise their baby together. It was such a beautiful dream that it put tears in her eyes.

A knock on her door sent her grabbing for jeans and a shirt. “Who is it?”

“Dante. Can I talk to you for a minute?”

She opened the door. “Hi.”

“Hi.” He smiled, and her heart jumped wildly. “You forgot this,” he said, handing her the golden pump that had fallen off as she’d run to escape finding herself nude in the town square.

“Thanks.” She took it from him.

“You left really fast.”

“I know.” She didn’t know what to make of the fact that the dress had disappeared—what was the meaning behind that? So she didn’t say anything else.

“You know, in the fairy tale, when the prince found Cinderella and brought the magic slipper to her, they lived happily ever after.”

She looked at him. “It’s not quite the same. You didn’t have to search for me.”

He shrugged. “Feels like I’m always searching for you.”

“I’m right here. I’ve been at Rancho Diablo for over a year, nearly two.”

He tipped his hat back. “Yeah, but strangely, it seems that whenever I get remotely close to you, you disappear. Or the dress disappears. We get kidnapped.”

“None of that is generated by me. Except for when I went home, but I hadn’t been home in a while, so you can’t really hold that against me.”

“All right.” He picked up her hand, brushed it across his lips, sending a tingle all over her. “Let’s prove that nothing else is going to come between us.”

She took a deep breath. “You’re going to say we should head to Vegas and get married.”