Defying Destiny (44 page)

“Are you sure about this?” Nash

asked. “They’ll know what we’re up to.”

“Will that bother you?” she asked,

pausing and looking up at him. Perhaps he

regretted his offer. Maybe he hadn’t been

serious about taking a hotel room.

He laughed. “I was just thinking of

your potential embarrassment. I’ll mate

with you in the middle of the road if you

want.” His amber eyes were narrowed

dangerously, the feral look that made her

weak with need.

She pictured the pair of them making

love in the middle of the muddy road and

flushed. “We’d be arrested.”

“Better not then,” he teased, smiling

his irresistible crooked grin.

She moved forward again, pulling him

along by his hand. He was offering no

resistance. “Hurry,” she urged, “before my

impulsiveness gets the better of me at risk

of arrest.”

“Ah, Maralee,” he murmured behind

her. “What would I do without you?”

She didn’t want to think about that.

They entered the inn hand in hand and

paused at the front counter, waiting to be

greeted by the proprietor. Gordon Smithy

appeared behind the counter and looked at

her in surprise.

“Miss Decatur! Back already?”

She nodded. “We need a room.”

“Two rooms?” Smithy questioned,

looking from the young lady to the

dangerous looking man she had in tow.

“One room,” Nash entered and

Maralee felt her face redden with

embarrassment.

So

this

was

the

humiliation Nash had been trying to

protect her from.

“We…we just got married,” she said.

Smithy looked from Nash to Maralee,

not looking surprised by her news, but

rather suspicious. “Is that so?” he asked,

his tone condescending.

“Are you calling my wife a liar?”

Nash asked him, his hand circling

Maralee’s waist possessively.

Smithy looked from Maralee to Nash

and shook his head. “Of course not. One

room then. Will you be checking in now?”

he asked.

“Yes, right now,” Nash said, in that

low growl that always made Maralee’s

nipples harden with anticipation. She

shuddered, clinging to his thigh with one

hand.

“Do you have any luggage?” Mr.

Smithy asked.

“N-no,” Maralee admitted.

Smithy shook his head again. Their

story was rapidly falling apart.

“We came to get supplies from the

store,” Nash explained, “and became so

weary from the journey that we decided

we needed a rest before we make the long

trip home.”

Smithy handed over the key to a room

and the pair of them headed for the stairs

without further hesitation. “
Kids!
” the old

man bellowed, not realizing that Nash was

almost twice his age.

Maralee fumbled with the lock while

Nash began to fill his hands with her

always eager flesh. “Wait,” she gasped,

when his hands covered both breasts and

he placed an open-mouthed kiss on the

side of her neck. They were at the top of

the stairs in plain sight of the foyer below.

“Can’t wait,” he growled into her ear.

She dropped the key.

“Damn,” she muttered, kneeling down

to retrieve the key. Nash followed her to

the floor, hands running down her ribcage,

waist. She pressed her forehead against

the door, grasping the key, but unable to

think well enough to stand up and use it.

“Uh…um…e-excuse me, please,” a

timid, feminine voice said.

It seemed that they were blocking the

passageway from the other rooms to the

stairs. Nash stood up, removing his

distracting hands and lips from Maralee’s

person, before helping her climb to her

feet. The young woman sidled past them,

eyes downcast, face scarlet.

“Don’t mind us,” Maralee called after

her. An immaculate, coiled bun of

chocolate brown hair disappeared from

view as the young lady vanished into the

dining room below. “I don’t think we

made a very good impression,” she told

Nash.

“I’ve never been one to make good

first impressions,” he said, retrieving the

key from the floor and attempting to

unlock the door.

It finally swung open, but before he

could usher Maralee inside, the front door

of the inn opened and a man stepped into

the foyer. He glanced up the narrow

staircase and Maralee paused. She

recognized the visitor at once.

“Maralee,” Jared called in greeting,

his gentle blue eye brightening with

pleasure at seeing her.

“Jared,” Maralee greeted in return.

“What are you doing here?”

“Interviewing,” he said.

“Interviewing?”

“For the nurse’s position at my

practice.”

“Oh,” she called down to him. “I’d

forgotten about that.”

“Perhaps we should go downstairs so

you don’t have to shout,” Nash murmured

in her ear.

She turned to glance at him. Her

insatiable need for him had vanished, but

she was certain it wouldn’t take much for

it to return.

“It seems that you’ve changed your

mind,” Nash commented, while Jared and

Gordon’s voices echoed up the stairs as

they exchanged greetings. “What is it

about that man that makes you turn cold all

of a sudden?”

“I don’t know,” she said flustered.

“Looking at him is a total turn off for some

reason.”

Nash chuckled. “For the first time

since knowing you, I’m happy you’re

turned off.”

“Hey, Maralee,” Jared called up to her

again. “Why don’t you come down and

join me for breakfast? This interview

shouldn’t take long. Bring your…er…

friend.”

“Do you mind, Nash?”

Nash shrugged and she smiled at him.

“We’ll have more energy for later,”

she whispered.

“I suppose.” He sighed.

She took his hand and led him

downstairs towards the dining room.

Gordon watched them as they passed

through the foyer with a wary look on his

face. Jared was already seated in the

dining room across from the young lady

who they’d met upstairs. Her back was to

the entrance. Jared smiled at Maralee

when she entered the dining room. She

smiled back and Jared’s gaze moved to

Nash. The young doctor’s uncharacteristic

glare of contempt was unmistakable.

“Who is this?” Jared asked.

“This is…this is…” She couldn’t very

well say that this was Nash, since he knew

that she had a “dog” by the same name.

“I’m her husband,” Nash cut in.

“Husband?” Jared echoed.

Maralee smiled nervously. “Didn’t I

tell you that I was married?”

“No,” Jared said flatly. “I think I

would have remembered that.”

“This is my husband…uh…”

“Nash,” Nash supplied.

“Nash?” Jared echoed, looking at

Maralee, obviously stunned. “Isn’t that

your dog’s name?”

Maralee’s palms were sweating. She

hated to lie. She wasn’t good at it. “Um…

yeah…I named my dog after him.”

Jared gave her an appraising look,

before his trusting nature allowed him to

accept her lies. “I only have a few

questions for Miss Jewel. Would you

mind waiting just a few minutes and we’ll

join you for breakfast?”

“Sure. Is that all right with you,

Nash?” she asked.

He shrugged, looking more out of sorts

than she’d ever seen him.

“Just have a seat at the next table and

we’ll join you in a moment,” Jared told

her in a polite tone. He glared at Nash

when he thought Maralee wasn’t looking.

Nash and Maralee sat down beside

each other at the next table.

“So, Miss Jewel,” Jared was saying to

his prospective employee, “what made

you decide to go into nursing?”

“Well,” she answered, her voice soft

and timid, “I have always had the desire

to help people, and being a nurse allows

me to help many, many people.”

“I see,” Jared said, chewing on the end

of his fountain pen thoughtfully as he read

over the paper in front of him. “For

someone so young, your résumé is

spectacular.”

Maralee started when Nash took her

hand and began to kiss her fingers with

more passion and noise than was entirely

necessary.

“Nash,” she whispered, drawing her

hand away. “Not here.”

Jared was watching them, entirely

distracted from interviewing the young

nurse across the table from him.

“Then where?” Nash murmured,

leaning closer to kiss her neck. “Here?”

“You know that’s not what I meant,”

she said, trying to feel exasperated with

him, but wishing that they were alone so

she didn’t feel compelled to stop him.

“I only have two years of experience,”

Miss Jewel entered, trying valiantly to

regain the doctor’s attention, “but my

references are excellent and I’m a hard

worker. I really care about my patients.

All of them.”

“That makes the job more difficult,

you know,” Jared said, drawing his gaze

from the couple at the next table to look at

her.

She nodded in agreement. “But it’s the

only way I know how to work.”

Jared smiled, and Maralee noticed the

nurse flush. She took a moment to examine

the young woman. Miss Jewel was quite

lovely, in a meek sort of way, with large

brown eyes and hair of the same shade.

She was especially adorable when she

blushed, which she did whenever Jared

paid her any attention. He seemed

oblivious to her reaction.

“I’m the same way,” he admitted. “I

guess we’d make a fine team of

emotionally

involved

health

care

providers.”

Miss Jewel smiled, her small mouth

curving upward with pleasure. “Does this

mean I’m hired?”

“Can you start tomorrow?” he asked,

extending his hand to shake hers. “I’m

really short-handed.”

She hesitated before she placed her

fingertips in his hand. “I can start today,”

she said, looking pleased with herself and

even more pleased to be employed by Dr.

Jared Sabin.

“Excellent,” he said. “You’ll join us

for breakfast I hope.”

Miss Jewel blushed. “I don’t want to

intrude.”

“I insist,” Jared said.

The young woman hesitated, and then

nodded.

His obligations fulfilled, Jared’s

attention turned at once to Maralee and her

newly identified, mysterious husband who

had a keenly intelligent dog named after

him. Jared rose from the table and moved

to sit across from Nash. Miss Jewel rose

slowly and seated herself beside Jared,

looking out of place. Maralee offered her

a friendly smile.

“So, Miss Jewel, wasn’t it?” Maralee

worked at breaking the ice.

Miss Jewel glanced up from the hand

she was staring at. “My first name is

Emerald, but you can call me Emma,” she

insisted, her eyes darting from one

stranger to the next.

Emerald

Jewel?
Maralee bit her

lower lip. It wasn’t as if the poor thing

had named herself.

Emma

reminded

Maralee

of

a

frightened, little bird and imagined her

heart must be beating in her chest like

fluttering wings.

“Emma,” Maralee started over. “Are

you from Sarbough originally?”

“No, I’m from Relwood,” she said.

“Pleasant town. I was there the month

before last,” Maralee said, happy to find

some common ground and a safe topic.

“I know,” she murmured nervously. “I

saw that pile of Wolves you killed.”

“Oh,” Maralee gasped and glanced

anxiously at Nash. Not so safe, after all. A

muscle was twitching in Nash’s jaw, but

he

seemed

to

be

ignoring

their

conversation. He was more intent on

winning the glaring contest between

himself and Jared.

“The need for medical care has

declined in Relwood since the threat of