One Wedding Night... (8 page)

He dragged his mouth from hers. “I have to protect you,” he told her, easing away. He leaned over her, and she heard him open a drawer, then heard the tearing of a packet. And then he was with her again, sliding into her, filling her with himself. She felt the impact of his full weight as his hands grabbed her hips and he shoved harder, deeper into the core of her.

“Ah,” she rasped, her teeth clenched. Earth-shattering pleasure filled her, and she wrapped her legs around his back and held on. Minutes later, her cry was quickly followed by his, and he collapsed on top of her. Their heavy breathing filled the room.

Russ stirred first, and Lynn felt cool air hit her skin
as he rested himself on his elbows and looked down at her. His gaze was hard, his jaw tight.

“I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

Blushing furiously, she looked away. “Neither did I,” she admitted, her voice raspy. He glared at her then, and she looked away and started to wriggle from beneath him. He moved and sat up, and as gracefully as possible, she scooted to the edge of the bed. Spotting her panties and jeans, she turned her back to Russ as she stood and began dressing, sliding both articles of clothing over her rear and hips in one fluid movement. “Don’t make a big deal out of this. Things just got out of hand.”

“Yeah, right. We just happened to fall into bed again.”

“So we’re physically attracted to each other. It doesn’t mean anything,” she assured him. “Since neither of us wanted this to happen, it won’t happen again.”

Russ moved off the bed and yanked his clothes in place, his movements agitated and awkward as he made his way to the bathroom. His heart hardened at her dismissal.

When he walked back into the room, she was running her hands through her hair, brushing it from her eyes. His gaze slid over her body, vividly remembering how it felt to be inside her. He looked away and reminded himself that he was playing a dangerous game by becoming more involved with her. Despite the warning, he felt himself harden.

Damn, he wanted her again.

Noticing his rigid stance, Lynn cleared her throat. “At least this time, we used protection.” That was only because of his self-control. She’d been begging
him to make love to her. Her body felt deliciously satisfied, and she trembled slightly. “I’d better go,” she stated, watching him. She wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but his dark look didn’t encourage conversation.

Russ nodded, but didn’t speak. She was awfully eager to be out of his company. He was damned if he was going to apologize for making love to her again. “I’ll try to get another test in the next few days. Or maybe we can get away together and pick one up,” he suggested.

“In a couple of weeks I’ll have my, uh…” she left the words unspoken, but she knew he picked up on her meaning by his expression. “It won’t hurt to just wait until then.”

“You’re sure?” He wasn’t convinced it was best to put it off. He’d feel better if he knew before Jake got back from his honeymoon.

“Yes. I’m sure I’m not pregnant. If I’m late it will be because of the anxiety from all that’s happened. Let’s just wait.” It was then that she remembered her conversation with Ashley. As much as she hated to bring it up, she had no choice but to tell Russ that she’d put a deadline on their imaginary nuptials. She stared at her feet, then drew in a deep breath and faced him. “Uh, there’s something kind of important that I should probably tell you.”

“I’m listening.”

“There’s a complication that I, well, I didn’t mean to, uh…” She stopped talking when she saw the wary look in his eyes. She was hesitant to go on, but forced herself to admit what she’d said. “What I’m trying to say is that I sort of told Ashley that we’d set a time
for the wedding.” She waited with bated breath for his reaction.

Russ’s brows lifted. “You what?”

“She pinned me down, and I didn’t know what to tell her.” As he approached, she inched backward.

“What exactly did you say?” he demanded, his expression guarded.

“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” she said quickly, reassuring herself more than him.

“Spit it out, Lynn.” Russ was losing his patience with her. She didn’t want a relationship with him, but she sure seemed as eager as he had to make love again. She didn’t want to get married, but she’d set a time frame for their wedding. She was confusing the hell out of him.

“All right, all right,” she answered, glaring at him. “Ashley was asking me if we’d set a date. I told her no, but she kept talking, going on about how hard it is to plan a wedding. I thought if I just gave in and told her that we’d talked about it, she’d let it go. So you see, I really did us a favor.”

“A favor? You did us a favor?”

“I didn’t set a date, really. More like a definite time frame.”

“And that is…” He waited, and the muscle in his jaw flexed.

“Six months.” Rather than being upset, he appeared puzzled. She stared at him, wondering what he was thinking.

“Six months?” he repeated, shaking his head. “We’re not waiting six months to get married.”

“We’re
not
getting married.”

“Yes, we are,” he told her, his tone set, his back rigid. “But we’re not waiting six months. We’re not
even waiting six weeks.” Marrying her would cause problems, but he’d never thought once about backing off from his word.

Lynn threw her hands up in frustration. Anger stiffened her spine. Squaring her shoulders, she exclaimed, “I can’t talk to you about this anymore.” She pushed past him and stomped toward the door.

“Running away won’t help,” Russ shouted back. “We need to settle this, here and now.”

“I’m not settling this, Russ. No way. I don’t want to get married to you. When I get married, it’ll be because I’m in love. Having sex with you again hasn’t changed anything.”

Russ’s gut twisted as her blunt words gouged his heart. He should have been prepared for the pain, but in some indescribable way, it hurt more coming from Lynn. Just like his mother, just like Candace, Lynn didn’t want him. “You can fight it all you want, but it’s going to happen. Sooner than you think.”

He wasn’t going to change his mind. She’d made it clear that she had relegated what happened between them as lust. He could live with that if she could. He wasn’t planning on staying married to her any longer than he had to—just long enough to protect her reputation and to make her brothers happy.

She opened the door and stomped out.

R
uss had thought about it long and hard, and eventually he’d decided to give Lynn a little time to settle down and come around to his way of thinking, but apparently she wasn’t planning on surrendering easily. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she was just as trapped as he was by this whole episode. Annoyed that she was holding her stand against marrying him, he concluded he might have to take a step to push the issue. By the way she was avoiding him, that wasn’t going to be easy.

She barely spoke to him, which caused even more friction between them. His gut tightened as he watched her dismount the horse she’d been training. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off the enticing sway of her hips as she moved around the animal.

He couldn’t remember a time in his life when he’d wanted a woman this badly. No, not just a woman. It
was Lynn he wanted. And though she might want to deny it, she wanted him just as much. But as she’d so bluntly put it, they weren’t in love with each other, nor did they want to be. It would be best if he stuck to his original plan and kept his distance from her. He hadn’t meant to make love to her again. It had just sort of happened. He’d kissed her and had lost his head. He’d have to be more careful in the future.

Swearing under his breath, he walked over to her and offered some advice on her technique. She listened intently as he spoke, looking him directly in the eyes. He had to hand it to her, she seemed to have more of a grip on her emotions than he did. She absently licked her lips, and Russ felt his chest squeeze.

“You’ve done a good job with him.”

Her head came up and she looked at him, caution in her eyes. “Do you mean that?” He’d never given her much indication of whether he felt she knew what she was doing. In the past, they’d pretty much argued about everything involving her training. She wasn’t sure if he was being sincere.

Russ eyed her with open speculation. He sensed that her confidence at this point was fragile, and he supposed that was his fault. He’d held back his encouragement because of Jake. She deserved to know that she was good, deserved to hear the truth. “Yeah, I mean it.” His lips curled into a half smile.

“I think I could’ve learned a lot faster if you’d given me the chance.”

“Jake wanted me to bring you along slowly,” Russ admitted. “He wanted to be sure you knew what you were doing.”

She stared at him, a look of distrust in her eyes.
“Why? Because he was hoping I’d change my mind?”

Russ didn’t corroborate her statement. “You take it up with him.” He gently patted the horse. “You had a lot to learn in the beginning, but you’ve come a long way.”

Lynn swallowed hard as she watched Russ’s big hand slide across the horse’s hide. Her memory of how those same hands had slid along her skin made her spine tingle. “Casper has good ‘horse sense.”’ He’d been given the name Casper because he used to spook easily. He was a different horse now, and she was proud of his progress. “He’s done most of the work.” Shifting her stance, she ran her hand down the horse’s mane.

“Don’t sell yourself short. You have a natural talent that I’ve just helped develop.”

She looked up at him then, and his gaze locked with hers. Dark and mysterious, it traveled over her body, making her insides turn to jelly. “Thanks,” she replied, striving to keep her voice from revealing her thoughts.

Russ tamped down on his urge to touch her. Still, his gaze dropped to her mouth, and he remembered how sweet she’d tasted, wanted very badly to taste her again. Trying to keep his mind on business around her was a challenge. He wanted to sweep her off her feet and carry her to his bed, wanted to bury himself inside her so deep that his hunger would be assuaged.

Damn, he was losing his objectivity.

“He’s ready to be returned to his owner,” Russ commented.

“I know. I hate to see him go,” she told him, her fondness for the horse showing in her eyes. She knew
he’d be in good hands. His owner was a nearby rancher who’d recently lost his wife and was left trying to juggle ranching and raise three small children. He had the Bar M training his horses because he no longer had the time.

“I’ve contacted Dan Blake and arranged for him to come on Monday morning.”

She broke eye contact with him. “I won’t be here on Monday morning. Can you make it in the afternoon?” Turning away, she began unsaddling the horse.

Russ frowned. “What’s so important that you can’t be here?”

She shrugged, her back still to him. “I have plans in Crockett.” Though she’d told him about her desire to start her own horse ranch, she didn’t think he’d like the news that she’d stepped up her plans and was meeting the banker. She hadn’t planned on going into it with Russ. It wasn’t a concern of his, and she didn’t need his interference.

He picked up on her evasive tone, and he wondered what she was hiding. “Change them,” he ordered.

Lynn rounded and faced him squarely, putting her hands on her hips. “I
can’t
change them.” She could tell from his stance that he didn’t like her answer. This was the Russ she knew, obstinate and thoroughly uncooperative. He made her want to scream.

“Then you won’t be here.”

“That’s not fair,” Lynn complained, her lips thinning. “I should be here. I’m the one who trained Casper. Can’t you ask Mr. Blake to come in the afternoon?”

“Give me a good reason why I should.” His tone was uncompromising. He wanted to know what she
was up to, and he planned to force the issue until she told him.

Lynn struggled to hold on to her temper. “If you must know, I have an appointment with Linwood Finney at the bank to talk with him about a loan.” She grabbed the saddle and pulled it from the horse, then struggled to get a better grasp on it.

Russ wrestled the saddle from her. “So that’s what this is all about.” He should have figured as much. He’d given her a couple of days to settle down, and instead of her coming around to his way of thinking, damn her, she’d gone ahead with her own plans for her future.

“Yes, I called him a few days ago and made an appointment to talk with him on Monday morning.” She followed him as he started walking away from her.

“And have you spoken to your brothers yet?” He tossed the saddle down in the barn. A puff of dust and tiny bits of hay flew into the air.

“You know I haven’t. Jake isn’t due back until Saturday, and I want to talk to him and Ryder together. I decided I’d talk to Mr. Finney first, get the loan, then tell Jake and Ryder of my plans.” Though her brothers loved her, they’d never agree to letting her live on her own. Not unless she could show them she was prepared and ready.

Russ grunted. She had it all figured out, and she’d cut him from her plans like he meant nothing to her. He should have felt relieved. So why wasn’t he? Why was he annoyed as hell that he didn’t matter to her?

“Do what you want, but I’m not changing the appointment,” he snapped.

“Sometimes you are the most stubborn man!” Her
eyes were full of fire as she regarded him. How in her right mind had she ever let herself become involved with him?

“Well, hell, sweetheart, you sure aren’t always a picnic!”

Lynn stared into his icy gaze. “Fine, I’ll change the damn appointment.” She stalked to the door and left without saying another word.

Later that evening, she watched from the office window as Russ came out of his room. He was still dressed in jeans, and he had on a gray T-shirt. He settled a Houston Astros baseball cap on his head as he walked toward his truck. Her heartbeat quickened as he climbed in and started it.

Where was he going? To see a woman?

Did he have a female companion in town, or possibly in San Luis? Well, so what if he did? It was really no concern of hers. They weren’t a couple. They were…well, she wasn’t sure what they were. She fingered the diamond on her hand, then raised it to her face to study it.

They were engaged.

Her chest ached. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen him leave the ranch at night. Before she’d wondered where he went, but now she was downright curious. Was all that talk about getting married to protect her reputation lip service after all? Because of the situation they were in, he really had no business going out with other women. Not until this whole engagement mess was over and behind them.

Lynn watched his taillights disappear from view, and she reminded herself that she had her own
agenda, and it didn’t include Russ. It shouldn’t really matter to her where he was going. She shouldn’t care.

But she did.

It was then she knew she was getting in too deep where Russ was concerned. She needed to take a step back and distance herself emotionally from him.

Before it was too late and she lost her heart to him.

“Married?” Catherine McCall squealed, hugging her son, Matthew, to her. She and Jake had just returned from their honeymoon, and everyone was gathered around them on the front porch. “Really? You’re serious?”

Russ had seen the newlyweds arrive in the Cessna six-seater, and figuring it wouldn’t be long before the news of his engagement to Lynn reached them, he’d walked up to the house to join in greeting them. Ashley, bless her heart, hadn’t even given Jake and Catherine time to get into the house before she had blurted out the news of Russ and Lynn’s engagement.

Now they were all standing on the wide front porch. Russ’s chest tightened when he stepped closer to Lynn, a feeling that was becoming all too familiar when he was around her.

He wasn’t sure how Jake was going to take the news. If his first reaction was anything like Ryder’s, Russ wasn’t going to leave Lynn alone to defend her actions. Of course, now they had the benefit of Jake not finding them in bed together, a detail he would no doubt be told eventually.

Russ stood behind Lynn and possessively put his hands on her shoulders. She glanced back at him and gave him a slight smile, and her expression told him she was glad that he was there. He gently squeezed
her shoulders as he felt the full force of her oldest brother’s speculative gaze.

Apparently, Lynn had also. As she faced Jake’s suspicious stare, she inched backward into Russ’s embrace, aligning her back against his chest, tucking the curve of her rear against him. The warmth of her body, the smell of her, enveloped him.

“That so?” Jake asked, and his tone held a trace of disbelief. It was obvious his question was directed at Russ and not Lynn.

Unintimidated, Russ returned an unwavering stare. “Yes.” He wrapped his arms around Lynn, locking his hands together in front of her, and he pulled her closer.

“I can’t believe it.” It was obvious to everyone that he was having a difficult time dealing with the unexpected news. “You’re in love with Lynn?” His tone was incredulous.

Russ suppressed his annoyance. Lynn was sweet, smart and downright pretty. Despite the fact that he’d been trapped into this fiasco, he couldn’t understand why everyone seemed to find it difficult to believe he could have fallen for her. Or maybe they were having a hard time reconciling the fact that she was in love with him. That made more sense.

“As a matter of fact, I am,” he stated. He was determined to protect her. If it wasn’t for him, they wouldn’t be in this predicament. To drive his point home, he nuzzled Lynn’s neck. She trembled in his arms.

Catherine chuckled. “I told you, didn’t I?” she said to Jake, drawing his attention. She looked at Lynn, her eyes twinkling with delight. “I
knew
something was happening between you two, and I even
mentioned it to Jake while we were gone. I’m so happy for you.”

Russ let Lynn go as Catherine hugged her. She made a point to kiss his cheek, as well, then he put his arm around Lynn’s waist.

“Um, thank you.” Lynn could barely get the words out. Her entire body felt smothered by Russ’s presence. She’d been surprised when she’d seen him come across the yard, more so when he’d come up behind her and held her against him.

“I guess congratulations are in order,” Jake said, looking at Lynn. He turned his eyes on Russ. “I’d like to have a private word with you.”

“Oh, no you don’t,” Lynn stated, and she held on to Russ’s arm when he started to move away from her. “You don’t have a thing to say about this, Jake.”

“Yes, I do.”

“I’m old enough to know what I want,” she insisted.

“It’s okay.” Russ cupped the back of Lynn’s neck, drawing her attention.

“But—”

“I’ll handle it,” he told her, stroking her skin with his thumb. She turned toward him, her expression worried. “We’ll be right back.” He kissed her briefly on the lips, then stepped away from her and followed Jake down the steps toward the corral. Ryder went along with them. Matthew, who considered himself included, was clearly unhappy when he was asked to stay with the women.

Ashley grabbed Catherine’s hand. “There’s a lot of planning to do. Lynn wants to get married within six months. I told her how excited we’d be to plan a
wedding, since both you and I had a spur-of-the-moment affair.”

“Oh, yes!” Catherine smiled, excited about the prospect. “This will be so much fun.” They took off together, and Lynn had no choice but to follow. She glanced back at Jake, Ryder and Russ, who were standing beside the corral talking, and she wondered exactly what her brothers were up to.

“Have you decided on where you’re going to have the ceremony?” Catherine asked, then before Lynn could answer, she went on, “What about a dress? Have you looked for one, yet?”

Shaking her head, Lynn trailed behind them into the large den. “No, I—”

In her excitement, Catherine didn’t give her the chance to answer. “Great! I want to go with you to shop for it. I know a really wonderful place. There’s a new shop that’s just opened in San Luis. If we don’t find one there, we can go to San Antonio.”

“Well, I—”

“Oh, and the cake! Are you going to use Mrs. Cherry or buy it somewhere else?”

“I haven’t decided where—”

“I made some notes,” Ashley said, interrupting her. “I know we’ve always used Mrs. Cherry because there’s no bakery in Crockett, but there’s that new place that opened near Ozona. I think we should see what they have.”