A Daring Proposal (6 page)

“You’re right. I can’t imagine what I was thinking.”

Jed could, but he kept it to himself as he turned into his uncle’s driveway. Pulling up in front of the house, he climbed out of the car and walked around to her door.

After opening it, he bent down. “You ready?” he asked, offering his hand.

“As I’ll ever be.”

Not exactly the glowing declaration he’d hoped for, but better than her refusing to come in with him.

“Dale doesn’t bite,” he told her with a grin. “Despite you being the competition as far as business goes, and the fact that he and Travis had some kind of grudge going, he likes you.”

Chaney laughed softly. “I’m not afraid of your uncle. Dale’s always been very sweet.”

“Dale? Sweet? How come I never saw this side?” He’d hooked her hand through his arm and they walked to the door.

“My guess is because you were making him pull all his hair out trying to keep you out of trouble with your pranks.”

“If I remember correctly you and Steve were involved in most of those pranks.”

She laughed again. “Yes, but you were older.”

Jed laughed himself. “Yeah, you married an old man.”

“Who’s there?” Dale’s voice preceded him from the kitchen. “Chaney McBride,” he answered himself.

“Sampson,” Jed corrected.

Dale’s eyes grew wide. “Well, damn, son. When you decide to do somethin’ you don’t waste any time.” He slapped Jed on the arm then hugged Chaney. “Welcome to the family, Chaney.”

“Thank you, Mr. Sampson.”

“Dale,” he told her. His smile widened. “I must be livin’ right. I got the two prettiest girls in Crescent in my family now. You boys have done me proud.”

The three of them laughed together realizing that Chaney and Belle had married into the same family. “Don’t spoil our surprise by telling them if they call before they get back.”

Dale held up his hands. “I promise. You two can have the honor of shocking the whole town.”

“Well the whole town can wait for a while. Right now, I have to grab my things and take this lady home. She’s worried about her cows.”

“Cattle,” Chaney and Dale corrected together.

“Yeah, those big dumb animals that don’t have sense enough to come in out of the cold,” Jed called as he walked down the hallway. He reappeared moments later with the two bags he’d carried into the house a little over a week ago. “I honestly don’t see what you guys see in them, but to each his own I say.”

“Are you sure you want this guy for a husband? He can’t stand ranch work, you know,” Dale teased.

“That’s perfect,” Chaney replied. “I don’t need a man coming in and telling me how to run my ranch. I’ve got a good system going. Jed can do his wood stuff and I’ll handle the real work.”

“Oh-ho,”
Dale and Jed crooned together.

“Real work. Have you ever bent over a saw all day, or sanded until your arms won’t stop going back and forth? I’ll give you real work. Riding around on a horse all day watching a bunch of cows walk in circles and eat grass. Now there’s real work,” Jed said rolling his eyes
.

He was really enjoying this. His uncle’s reception had been better than he hoped. Jed was starting to believe they might be able to pull this off as he realized Chaney had begun to relax.

“Boy, you’ve got your hands full,” Dale told Jed as he walked them out to the car.

“You’ve got that right,” Jed agreed after throwing his bags in the trunk and slamming it shut. He walked back to where Chaney stood beside the car. Slipping his arm around her, he pulled her close. “Full of a beautiful woman,” he said before dipping his head and stealing a kiss.

The quick brush of lips, simply meant to cement the realness of the marriage to his uncle was much more. It was a match to tinder. Jed wanted more. He hesitated only a second before taking Chaney’s lips in a much deeper kiss.

“Okay, Jed, I get the idea. You’re in a hurry,” Dale said. “And I don’t think it has anything to do with cows.”

Dale’s voice seemed so far away Jed barely heard it. Then the words registered and he forced himself to break the kiss. It was difficult to step away from Chaney but he did. Opening the car door, he helped her in before turning and telling his uncle good-bye.

“Don’t make plans for Friday. I’m having a big dinner to celebrate the honeymooners’ homecoming.”

Jed assured him they’d be there, then rounded the car. He didn’t relish the chewing out he was sure Chaney would give him as soon as they were out of his uncle’s ear shot. Climbing into the car, he gave her a quick glance. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips a deep dark pink from the pressure of his kiss. She was probably furious.

He started the car and turned toward the road.

And waited for the accusations to fly.

He turned out of the driveway toward Chaney’s house. Jed began to think she’d better say something soon, it didn’t take that long to get from his uncle’s to her house.

Nothing.

Okay, that must mean she was so furious she couldn’t speak. A rarity for Chaney, Jed knew from experience.

“I’m sorry, Chaney. It just seemed the right thing to do. After . . . well, I didn’t want to stop. There. Okay?”

She stared out the passenger window. “Okay,” she said quietly without turning.

“Okay? That’s all you’ve got to say?”

Chaney shrugged her shoulders. “I didn’t exactly push you away,” she admitted. “Besides, people are going to expect us to kiss. We’re newlyweds.”

Aiming the car down the long drive to Chaney’s house Jed decided this was going to be a very long year. Could a man honestly survive on only kisses from his wife? Jed seriously doubted it if that wife were Chaney. He swallowed the groan of frustration that threatened to erupt as he pulled up in front of the house.

“Well. Here we are,” she said as the car stopped.

“Anything I should know before we go inside?”

“Like what?”

“How about if anyone else knows why we got married? For example, will I be stepping on the toes of a hired hand? That will do for starters.”

“If there were any toes to be stepped on, why would I have asked you instead of them?” she returned with a cocked eyebrow. “As to other people knowing, only Martha and Belle.”

“Are you talking about the same Martha that chased me and Steve out of the house with a broom?”

“The same,” Chaney answered, a slight smile turning up the corners of her lips.

Jed was glad he’d asked if for no other reason than the banter had seemed to ease some of Chaney’s recurring nerves. “I’m dead.”

“Martha’s mellowed,” Chaney told him reaching for the door handle.

“Right.” He climbed out of the car and jogged around, catching hold of the door before Chaney fully opened it. “I believe that’s my job.”

“I can’t believe you still insist on opening doors for women.”

“From the time I was old enough to pull a door open by myself, my father told me it was the polite thing to do. I don’t think mom ever opened one herself if one of us was with her.”

Chaney stared at her new husband. It surprised her that there were things she didn’t know about him. She and Jed had been close even before they dated. They had been best of friends. The only topic that had b
een off limits was his parents.

At the time, she’d thought maybe they’d had a bad relationship and he was dealing with typical childhood guilt that they were gone because he’d been bad. As they got older, she was so used to Jed being around it was as if he had always lived with his uncle. There didn’t seem to be a
need to talk about his parents.

Now she realized how much he must have missed them. That it had hurt t
oo much to talk about them.

“I wish I could thank him,” she heard herself saying.

A grin pulled at his lips. “He would have liked you.”

Chaney felt a blush rise on her skin. “Thank you.”

Hooking her hand in his arm, she took a deep breath. Dusk was starting to fall. Most of the hands would be in the huge dining area they’d built to make it easier on Martha feeding such a crew. “We might as well get this over with.”

They entered the house and started walking toward the back.

“Where’s Chaney?” she heard her foreman ask. “I need to talk to her about something. She hasn’t been around all day.” Dave’s typical grumbling ground on her last nerve.

“Chaney’s right here,” she told him as she and Jed stepped into the room.

Whistles filled the air as every head turned. “Knock it off, boys. You’ve seen me in a dress before.”

“Never,” several chorused.

Chaney smiled at the good-natured teasing. Most of her hands were okay guys. They worked hard and played hard. As long as they didn’t get in trouble, she left them alone. Her foreman was the only difficult one.

“Who’s that?” Dave asked, jutting his chin in Jed’s direction.

“That there’s Jed Sampson, Walker,” one of her older hands told him. “Don’t you remember – nah, that was before your time.”

“Sampson? As in Dale Sampson?”

Dave’s eyes narrowed and Chaney prepared to dress him down. Dave and Dale had almost come to blows a couple of times. Before she could say anything, though, Jed answered.

“Dale is my uncle.” His quiet even tone might not worry anyone else in the room, but Chaney remembered that voice. It was the one Jed used before he started throwing punches when he was young. She’d watched quite a few boys go down in high school after hearing that voice. She prayed his control had matured as much as his body.

“Well, you can just turn your fancy pants around and get off this land. Tell Dale Sampson we don’t need his kind over here.”

This time Chaney took the lead. “This is my ranch, Dave, not yours. As long as that’s the case, I will have whomever I choose to have in my house. Fact is you’d better learn some manners and quick because you’re going to be seeing a lot of Jed around.”

“You sellin’ out to that good for nothin’ uncle of his?” Dave demanded.

“No,” Chaney said staring the man to silence. She slipped her hand under Jed’s coat and around his waist. His arm automatically circled her shoulder. “We got married today.”

Dave’s jaw dropped open. Several chairs scraped across the floor as men stood, hootin’ and hollerin’ their congratulations. Some slapped Chaney on the back as if she was one of the guys and they all shook Jed’s hand firmly. Everyone except Dave.

When the noise died down Chaney turned to him. “Is there a problem?”

Dave stood at the head of the table and glared at Jed. “I won’t work for the likes of him.”

“You won’t be,” Jed told him. “I’m not a rancher.”

“Bull, you married her for the same reason every other single male has been trying. You want the ranch.”

Jed took a step toward the man. “If you knew anything, and that’s obviously a huge if, you would know I am the last man that would want this ranch.” His hand balled into a fist at his side. “I do, however, take exception to your insult to my wife.”

Chaney stepped between them, casting Jed a stiff smile before turning to face Dave. “I think it’s past time for you to get your stuff and leave, Dave. You can give Martha a forwarding address for your check.”

“You can’t fire me,” he yelled indignantly.

“I just did,” Chaney said, not the least bit cowered by his antics. Dave was all bluster.

He threw his chair back. “You’ll regret this. I know things,” he threatened pointing a finger at her as he stomped out the door. “Oh, yeah, you’ll regret this.”

***

Chapter
Four

Chaney’s dismissal of the foreman had little effect on the spontaneous party the rest of the hands put together. Unless it livened things up a bit. She knew Dave had been hard to work with, but her father had insisted he did a wonderful job, so she’d kept him on even after her father’s death. His in her face insult had been the last straw in a pile of straws that had been growing for a long time.

If she were honest, firing him had taken a huge weight off her shoulders. Many of the problems with orders and supplies had started when she had hired him. Granted, they had recently stopped, but she still suspected he had something to do with them. She hoped firing him meant they wouldn’t start back up. For the first time in over a year, Chaney felt relaxed and happy as the evening turned into a very festive affair.

Several hours later, the men had all gone down to the bunkhouse and Martha retired to her room. Chaney looked out the screen door as Jed pulled his things from the back of the car.

She had to admit he’d been wonderful with the men, taking a ribbing for not being a rancher without a hint of aggravation. He’d even been sweet to Martha. There had been music and he hadn’t grumbled or been difficult when she was passed from one man to another dancing with them all. Well, except Smitty. He, being her father’s oldest employee probably felt she had betrayed h
er father.

Chaney hadn’t let that thought ruin the evening then and she wasn’t now. Her mind quickly returned to mulling over the evening’s festivities.

At first, Chaney had been a bit miffed that Jed didn’t at least pretend to be jealous. Then she had noticed that his eyes were always on her. He never let her out of his line of sight. The realization had sent heat coursing through her body bringing with it an expectation of the night ahead.

Now that night was upon them. How would she truly react when they were alone in her bedroom? How was he going to react when he found out they would have a
real
marriage? Doubts assailed her as he strode toward the porch. His body had only gotten better with age. Hers? A shiver ran from her head to her toes.

Chaney didn’t kid herself. Men didn
’t drool over a body like hers. She was in shape but she wasn’t womanly soft. Her muscles were hard, her hands roughened from working on the ranch. Then there were the scars. Even without mentioning the hum-dinger on her leg from surgery, her arms and hands had scars from barbed wire and tree branches. She definitely wasn’t the pretty, delicate female of men’s dreams.

Like Belle?

“So, where should I put these?” Jed asked standing on the other side of the screen door. “Should I make up a chair out here or are you going to let me at least stay in the guest room?”

Chaney snapped out of her reverie. “Sorry,” she said pushing the door open and holding it for him. “Upstairs, first door on the right.”

Jed crossed to the stairs and Chaney followed him up. He stopped abruptly in the doorway to the room. So abruptly, she bumped into him, making him stumble inside.

“This is your room.”

“Yep.” Very smooth, she thought rolling her eyes. I’m sure my witty repartee has impressed him.

“I’m staying in your room.”

Chaney could hear the question in his words though he’d said it as a statement. “It would look pretty strange to Martha if you were sleeping somewhere else.”

She stepped around him and opened the closet and a couple of drawers in the bureau.

“I thought you said Martha knew about this.”

“She knows my father said I had to marry before my thirtieth birthday. She doesn’t know it’s temporary. I didn’t tell her that part. She still believes marriages last forever no matter how they start out.”

Chaney watched Jed’s eyes scan the room. They stopped on the bed. He stared at it for a long minute still holding his suitcase and garment bag. When his gaze left the bed, it zoomed in on where she stood.

“We’ll be sharing a bed.”

“Looks that way.”

His intent gaze never left her face. Chaney started to feel like a bug under a magnifying glass. Very, very hot. “Look if you don’t want to sleep with me --”

“That’s not the problem,” he said. His voice sounded as rough as the gravel under the truck’s tires in the driveway.

“I don’t understand,” she told him. The moon cast a soft glow through the sheer curtains on her window. She hadn’t thought to flip the light switch when she stepped around Jed. Now with everything lit by a silvery shimmer Chaney had the feeling she was in a dream.

Jed set down his suitcase and bag and walked to stand only inches away from her. The surreal quality only heightened with his nearness. Chaney’s heart rate skyrocketed.

“Honey, there is no way I can sleep in that tiny double bed with you and not make love to you. I am just a man.”

His breath was warm as it whispered across her face. She had to fight to keep her eyes from closing as a shiver ran over her body. The intensity of his gaze grew hotter. “I-I didn’t expect you to.”

Jed lifted his hand to her cheek. His fingers brushed back the hair at her temple. He leaned forward and pressed his lips along the same path as his fingers. His breath against her skin superheated it. “Are you sure?” he whispered as he pulled back and looked straight in
to her eyes.

Chaney couldn’t think. It had been so long since anyone scrambled her senses this way. She continued to stare into his hot, but steady gaze. Could she do this? She had to. No, she wanted to do this. If she was going to get pregnant, she had to start by finding out if she could convince herself to have sex again. Then, maybe, in a few months, she would tell him and they would go from there.

With both of his hands cupping her jaw, she gave in to her desire. Her yes inaudible as Jed’s mouth closed over her own. It was a long, slow, deep kiss. It was the kind of kiss that curled your toes and hair at the same time. Chaney grasped the front of his shirt to hold herself upright, certain her legs would give out any minute.

Jed’s hands traced down her neck and over her shoulders. He drew her closer and deepened the kiss. Chaney’s arms slid up his chest and around his neck doing her part to bring them as close as possible. Breaking the kiss, he buried his head in her hair as his hands found the zipper tab at the back of her dress.

“I’ve wanted to do this all day,” he growled pulling the tab of the zipper down.

The night-air cooled her super-heated skin until Jed’s hands spread over where the fabric had been. He stroked up and down her back sending shocks of sensation through her entire body. “Jed,” she breathed.

He took her mouth again. This time in a greedy kiss, but Chaney was with him stroke for stroke. It had been so long. So very long. Her body, starved for attention, screamed, “Take me now.”

Jed had
other ideas.

Instead of slipping the dress from her shoulders, he started gathering the side of it up in his hand feeling for the hem. When he found it, he slipped his hand underneath and caressed her thigh. He encountered lace.

“Oh, Chaney girl, you’re killing me here,” he groaned. “You do know how sexy stockings are, don’t you?”

She shook her head. “I just don’t like pantyhose.”

Jed found it difficult to continue at the slow lingering pace he wanted. Her voice was coarse like a blues singer of old. It sent chills up his spine. He found the honesty of her statement even more appealing than the stockings.

Gliding his hand from the stocking top to the leg of her panties, he probed beneath the band and found her hot and moist.

“Chaney.” He forgot about lingering, dropped the hem of her dress, and then quickly slipped the shoulders of it down her arms and over her hips. When it pooled at her feet he lifted her against him and carried her to the bed, never breaking the kiss.

Grabbing the top cover, he threw it back. Pillows and blankets went flying he didn’t care. Chaney was in his arms again and he was going to enjoy every minute of it. He eased them down on the bed together, the heat of her body seeping through his shirt and pants. He was on fire and not sure how long he could hold out.

He unhooked her bra, pushed it aside, and molded her in his hands. Chaney wasn’t big by any means, but her breasts were soft and rounded and the peaks so sensitive to his touch he couldn’t resist them. He teased them with his lips and tongue. His hand found other tempting territory to investigate.

Her response when he stroked lightly over her was unbelievable. He dipped his finger inside her moist heat. “Honey, you’re so hot,” he murmured before taking her mouth in an intense kiss. He stroked her deeply and held her as she pressed against his
hand and moaned into his mouth.

Breaking the kiss, he continued to stroke her. Jed watched in awe as she came undone before his eyes. He wrapped her in his arms and held her until the tremors stopped.

Chaney pulled his head to hers and kissed him deeply. When their lips parted, she whispered, “I think you need to take some clothes off.”

Jed rose up on one elbow as he trailed a finger down between her breasts and over her belly. “Chaney, I never expected this. I’m...” he looked into her eyes. “I’m not prepared.”

Her sensual smile did nothing to alleviate the ache below his waist that he was trying to ignore. An ache he wanted desperately to ease, but wouldn’t risk getting Chaney pregnant, knowing she didn’t plan on staying married.

She cupped his cheek with her small hand. “I took care of it,” she said then started unbuttoning his shirt.

Jed didn’t need more of an invitation. He pushed off the bed, toed off his shoes, and shucked his clothes in record time. She was so damn sexy with nothing but her panties and those stockings on. He rid her of the panties but didn’t waste time on the stockings.

Jed stretched over her. He hovered holding himself a hair’s breadth above her. It would kill him if he had to stop now, but he had to ask one more time
.

“Chaney,” he said bringing her gaze to meet his. “Are you sure?”

To answer she slid a hand down his torso and wrapped her fingers around him. “Now, Jed.” She guided him to her heat. Then she moved against him and Jed was lost in the cacophony of sensations assaulting his system.

It was mere moments before they exploded over the edge of ecstasy. As the stars shooting before his eyes slowed, Jed slipped an arm around her and rolled until she lay sprawled over him. Her hair fanned across his chest as she rested her head on him. He wasn’t sure how she could stand it, his heart pounded
in his chest like a base drum.

With one hand, he stroked up and down her spine. He would be completely happy to stay right where they were for the rest of his life. “Chaney, girl,” was all he could say.

“Mmmm,” Chaney murmured.

“My sentiments exactly.” He smiled and closed his eyes. Even with his feet hanging off the end of the bed that was too short, he couldn’t remember ever feeling so complete.

***

Chaney smiled against Jed’s chest, delighted with the way his heart raced. They lay twined together until the air conditioning kicked on and started blowing cold air on their bare bodies. With a groan of regret, she slid off Jed and reached down for the covers. She pulled them with her as she skooched up to the top of the bed. On her way, she took her time looking at Jed’s body.

She had been right. His body had only gotten better with age, and so had his lovemaking. With his first touch, Chaney had forgotten her fears. All she could think was how wonderful it felt to be in Jed’s embrace.

His hand reached over caressing her hip. “You’re beautiful, Chaney.”

That burst her bubble. She knew better. Belle was beautiful. Chaney was okay, but not beautiful. She pulled the covers up to her chin. “Right,” she said, knowing the truth.

Jed snuggled close. “I see you still don’t take compliments very well.”

“I don’t need lines, Jed. After what just happened, it’s pretty obvious the bedroom part of this marriage isn’t going to be a problem.”

“Chaney, I don’t use lines. Even if you decided this was the first and last time we’re together, I would still think you’re beautiful. I always have.”

Hearing but refusing to believe him, Chaney didn’t comment. How could he say that when he’d left her high and dry?

She stopped her negative thoughts. Tonight she wouldn’t start a fight. She wanted to slip back into the make believe world of only sensation. Jed’s roving hand was doing a good job of sending her there, too. It stopped suddenly.

“If you’re mad about earlier, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to start trouble with your foreman. I know you don’t think I have the right, but I couldn’t stand there and let him talk about you like that. I’ll talk to Dale tomorrow and see if he knows anyone--”

“Don’t bother. This has been brewing for a long time. Dave only said that because he wanted the ranch.” Chaney knew what Dave had said was basically true. No one was interested in her without the ranch as collateral. Knowing it and hearing someone else say it were two very
different things.

Jed’s hand started to move again. “He’s wrong, Chaney. Any man would be lucky to have a woman like you, with or without this ranch.”