Country Brides (23 page)

She smiled up at Eric, she laughed, she talked, but with each breath she drew she could feel Luke's eyes on her, scrutinizing every move she made.

When the music stopped, Eric returned to their table and his drink, swallowing the remainder of it in one gulp. The music started again and he pulled Kate toward him.

“I think I'll sit this one out.” She hoped that would appease Luke, who looked as if he were about to rip Eric in two.

Her gaze fell to her lap and she folded her hands, concentrating on not letting him know how much a single glance from him affected her.

“How much have you had to drink, Wilson?”

While her eyes were lowered, Luke had come over to their table. His voice was controlled but unmistakably furious.

“I can't say that's any of your concern, Rivers.” For his part, Eric seemed nervous. He leaned back in his chair, balancing on two legs, and raised his empty shot glass.

“I don't agree,” Luke countered, moving closer. “From what I can see, you've had plenty. I'm taking Kate home with me.”

“Luke,” she protested, “please don't do this.”

“Your date's in no condition to drive.”

It was all Kate could do not to stand up and defend Eric. Unfortunately Luke was right. She'd known it even before they'd finished dinner, but she wanted to handle things her own way.

“I can hold my liquor as well as the next man,” Eric said, daring to wave his glass under Luke's nose. It was apparent to everyone that his courage had been fortified by whiskey. Few men would have taunted Luke in his present mood.

Luke turned to Kate. “You've got better sense than this, Kate.”

Kate did. But she had no intention of telling him so. “I think Eric knows his own limit,” she returned.

“Then you plan to ride home with him?”

“I'm not sure yet.” She wouldn't, but she wasn't about to give Luke an armful of ammunition to use against her.

Luke scowled at her with such fury it was difficult for Kate to swallow normally.

Slowly he turned to Eric. “If you value your teeth, I suggest you stay exactly where you are. Bob,” Luke called to the sheriff's deputy across the room, “would you see that this newcomer gets home without a problem?”

“Sure thing, Luke.”

“Kate,” he said, addressing her next, “you're coming with me.”

“I most certainly am not.”

Luke didn't leave her any option. He leaned forward and pulled her upright, as if she weighed no more than a bag of popcorn.

She struggled briefly but knew it was useless. “Luke, don't do this. Please, don't do this,” she pleaded through clenched teeth, humiliated to the very roots of her hair.

“Either you come with me willingly or I carry you out of here.” Luke's composure didn't falter. When she resisted, he swept his arms behind her legs and lifted her from the floor.

“Luke,” Kate cried, “put me down this instant. I
demand
that you put me down.”

He completely ignored her threat as he strode toward the door, his gaze focused impassively ahead of them. The waitress who'd served her dinner came running up to hand Kate her coat and bag. Her eyes were flashing with humor.

“Stick by your man, honey,” she advised. “That city slicker can't hold a candle to Luke Rivers.”

“Luke's the man for you,” someone else shouted.

“When you gonna tie the knot?”

Two men were holding open the lounge door for them. The last thing Kate heard as Luke carried her into the cold night air was a robust round of applause from inside the lounge.

“I
have never been so embarrassed in my life,” Kate stormed as Luke parked his pickup outside the house. “How could you
do
that to me? How could you?”

During the entire ride home, Luke hadn't spoken a word, nor had he even glanced at her. He'd held himself stiff, staring straight ahead. For all his concern about her riding with Eric, he drove as if the very devil were on their tail. Only when they entered the long, winding drive that led to the house had he reduced his speed.

“I'll never forgive you for this,” she told him, grabbing the door handle and vaulting out of the truck. She couldn't get away from him fast enough. By morning every tongue in Nightingale would be wagging, telling how Luke Rivers had hauled Kate Logan out of the Red Bull.

To her dismay Luke followed her into the house.

“I couldn't care less if you forgive me or not,” he said darkly.

“The women were laughing and the men snickering…. I won't be able to show my face in this town again.”

“As far as I'm concerned, the problem is one of your own making.”

“That's not true!” She'd had no way of knowing that Eric was going to start downing wine like soda pop. And she did
not
need a lecture from Luke Rivers. All she wanted him to do was leave, so she could lick her wounds in private and figure out how long it would be before she dared go out in public again.

Luke started pacing the kitchen floor. Each step was measured and precise. Clipped, like his voice.

“Please go,” she beseeched wearily.

“I'm not leaving until I get some answers from you.”

Gathering what remained of her dignity, which at this point wasn't much, Kate sank onto a chair. She wouldn't argue with Luke. Every time she tried, she came out the loser. Better to get this over with now rather than wait for morning. She sighed deeply.

“Who the hell is Eric Wilson and why were you having dinner with him?” Luke's heavy boots clicked against the kitchen floor as he paced.

Instead of answering, Kate asked, “What's happened to us?” She gazed sorrowfully up at Luke. “Do you remember how much fun we used to have together? Tonight wasn't fun, Luke. Just a few weeks ago I could laugh with you and cry with you. You were my friend and I was yours. Suddenly nothing's the same, and I don't understand why.” Her voice quavered slightly. She fought an overwhelming desire to hide her face in her hands and weep.

She didn't win. Tears of pride and anguish spilled on to her cheeks. She brought her hands up, trying to hide her distress.

Luke knelt in front of her and pried her hands away. His fingers tenderly caressed her face. “Everything has changed, hasn't it, Princess?”

She sucked in a shaky breath and nodded.

“You're confused, aren't you?” His hands cradled her face and he eased forward to press his warm mouth over hers. Even as she kissed him back, her confusion grew. He'd been so angry with her, more furious than she'd ever seen him. Yet, when he kissed her, he was achingly gentle.

Luke seemed to believe that her ready response to his kiss would answer the questions that haunted her. Instead it raised
more
questions, more qualms.

“Do you understand now?” he asked, his voice a husky murmur, his eyes closed.

How Kate wished she did. She shook her head, bewildered and still uncertain.

Luke stroked her lips with his index finger. His most innocent touches brought her nerves to life with a prickling, wary excitement. Refusing to think about her own impulse, she held his hand to her mouth and brushed her lips across his callused fingertips.

“Oh, love,” he moaned, and bent forward, caressing her mouth with his once more. “We 've got to put an end to this madness before I go insane.”

“How?” she gasped, as she braced her hands against his broad chest. He felt so good, hard muscle and warm flesh, and so strong, as if nothing could stand in his way once he determined a course. Not heaven. Not hell. And not anything in between.

“How?” He repeated her question, then chuckled, the sound rumbling from deep within his chest. “We 'll have to do what you suggested.”

“What I suggested?”

His mouth continued to tease hers with a series of small, nibbling kisses that seemed to pluck at her soul. “There's only one way to cure what's between us, Kate.”

“One way,” she echoed weakly.

“You'll have to marry me. There's no help for it and, considering how I feel right now, the sooner the better.”

Kate felt as if he'd dumped a bucket of ice water over her head. “Marry you,” she shrieked, pushing him away so quickly that he nearly toppled backward. “Your answer to all this confusion is for us to get married?”

“Kate, don't be unreasonable. We're perfect for each other. You need me now more than at any time in your life and I'm here for you.”

“Luke, please—”

“No.” He stopped her with a look. “You 're about to lose everything in life that you thought was secure—your father and your home. I don't have any intention of taking over Devin's role, but the way I figure it, I'd make you a decent husband.”

“What about
love?
” Kate cried.

Luke sighed in frustration. “We 've gone over that ten times. You already love me—”

“Like a brother.”

“Princess, sisters don't kiss their brothers the way you just kissed me.”

He apparently believed that was argument enough. Not knowing how else to respond, she shook her head. “I love Clay! You keep ignoring that or insisting I don't—but I do. I have for as long as I can remember. I can't marry you. I won't!”

“For heaven's sake, forget Clay.”

“It's not so easy!” she shouted.

“It would be if you'd try a little harder,” Luke muttered, obviously losing patience. “I'm asking you to marry me, Kate Logan, and a smart woman like you should know a good offer when she hears one.”

So much for love. So much for romance. Luke wasn't even listening to her, and Kate doubted he'd understood a single thing she'd said. “This conversation isn't getting us anywhere.”

“Kate—”

“I think you should leave.”

“Kate,” he said, firmly gripping her shoulders, “how long is it going to take you to realize that I love you and you love me?”

“Love you? How can you say that? Until a few weeks ago I was engaged to marry Clay Franklin!” Angrily she pushed away his hands and sprang to her feet.

“Yes. And all that time you were going to marry the wrong man.”

Luke didn't seem to find that statement the least bit odd, as if women regularly chose to marry one man when they were really in love with another. Kate shook her head, releasing a harsh breath.

“It's the truth,” he said calmly.

She glared at him. Reasoning with Luke was a waste of time. He repeated the same nonsensical statements over and over, as if his few words were explanation enough.

“I'm going to bed,” she said, turning abruptly away from him. “You can do as you like.”

A moment of stunned silence followed her words before he chuckled softly, seductively. “I 'm sure you don't mean that the way it sounds.”

As Kate expected, the small community buzzed with the news of her fiasco with Eric Wilson. Neighbor delighted in telling neighbor how Luke Rivers had swooped her into his arms and how the entire Friday-night crowd at the Red Bull had cheered as he'd carried her off the dance floor.

Kate needed every ounce of courage she possessed just to walk down Main Street. Her smile felt stiff and false and she was convinced she had the beginnings of an ulcer.

To worsen matters, all the townsfolk seemed to believe it was their place to offer her free advice.

“You stick with Luke Rivers. He's a far better man than that city slicker,” the butcher told her Saturday afternoon.

Blushing heatedly, she ordered a pork roast and left as soon as she'd paid.

“I understand you and Luke Rivers caused quite a ruckus the other night at the steak house,” the church secretary said Sunday morning after the service. “I heard about the romantic way Luke carried you outside.”

Kate hadn't found being carried off the least bit romantic but she smiled kindly, made no comment and returned home without a word.

“What's this I hear about you and Luke Rivers?” The moment Kate entered her classroom Monday morning, Sally Daley appeared.

“Whatever you heard, I'm sure it was vastly exaggerated,” Kate said hurriedly.

“That could be,” Sally admitted with a delicate laugh. “You certainly know how to keep this town talking. First Clay's wedding reception, and now this. By the way, Clay and Rorie are back from Hawaii, and I heard they both have marvelous tans.”

“That often happens in Hawaii,” Kate said, sarcastically, barely holding on to her composure.

No sooner had Sally left than Linda showed up. “Is it true?” she demanded, her eyes as round as quarters.

Kate shrugged. “Probably.”

“Oh, good grief, the whole thing about squelching rumors backfired, didn't it?”

Miserably Kate nodded. She was afraid she'd dissolve in a puddle of tears the next time someone mentioned Luke's name. “After what happened to me Friday night, well…I just don't think it's possible to feel any more humiliated.”

“I thought you said you hadn't met Eric,” Linda said, clearly puzzled.

“I hadn't when you and I talked. Eric and I ran into each other at the grocery not ten minutes after you mentioned his name.”

Linda slumped against the side of Kate's desk. “I try for months to meet a new man and nothing happens. It doesn't make sense. A few minutes after you decide to look, one pops up in front of you like a bird in a turkey shoot!”

“Beginner's luck.” Except that Friday night could in no way be classified as lucky.

“Oh, Kate, you've really done it now.”

“I know,” she whispered in a tone of defeat.

Kate's day ended much as it had begun, which meant that by four o'clock she had a headache to rival all headaches. After school, she stopped at the pharmacy and bought a bottle of double-strength aspirin and some antacid tablets.

When she left the pharmacy, she headed for the library, wondering if Rorie would be back at work so soon after her honeymoon. Her friend's smiling face greeted Kate the instant she walked through the doors.

“Kate, it's so good to see you.”

“Hi, Rorie.” Kate still felt a little awkward with Clay's bride. She suffered no regrets about bringing them together, though it had been the most painful decision of her life.

“Sally Daley's right,” Kate said with a light laugh as she kissed Rorie's cheek. “You're so tanned. You look wonderful.”

Rorie accepted the praise with a smile that shone from her dark brown eyes. “To be honest, I never thought I'd get Clay to laze away seven whole days on the beach, but he did. Oh, Kate, we had the most wonderful time.”

“I'm glad.” And she was. Rorie radiated happiness, and the glow of it warmed Kate's numb heart.

“I was just about to go on my coffee break. Have you got time to join me?” Rorie invited, glancing at her watch.

“I'd love to.” Kate crossed her fingers. She hoped Rorie hadn't heard any of the gossip—no doubt colorfully embroidered by now—about what had happened Friday night. At the moment, Kate needed a friend, a good friend, someone she could trust to be objective.

While Rorie arranged to leave the library in the hands of a volunteer assistant, Kate walked over to Nellie's Café, across the street from the pharmacy. She'd already ordered their coffee when Rorie slipped into the red upholstered booth across from her.

“What's this I've been hearing all day about you and Luke? Honestly, Kate, you know how to live dangerously, don't you? And now Luke's buying the Circle L and your father's marrying Mrs. Murphy. We were only gone seven days, but I swear it felt like a year with everything Mary had to tell us once we got home.”

Kate tried to maintain a stoic expression, although the acid in her stomach seemed to be burning a hole straight through her. There were no secrets in this town.

“To tell you the truth, Luke and I haven't been getting along very well lately,” she admitted, keeping her eyes lowered so as not to meet her friend's questioning gaze.

Rorie took a tentative sip of coffee. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Kate nodded. She felt embarrassingly close to tears and paid careful attention to the silverware, repositioning the fork and the spoon several times.

“Luke was so good to me after you and Clay became engaged. He couldn't have been a better friend. Then…after the wedding I was feeling lost and alone. Luke had been dancing with me and I felt so…secure in his arms, and I'm afraid I suggested something foolish…. And now Luke keeps reminding me of it.”