Authors: Darah Lace
“Did I?” When she wouldn’t answer, he framed
her face in his hands and tipped her head back.
“What if I said you were the one who won? You got
what you wanted and proved I was no different than
any other man you’ve known.”
Charlotte grabbed his wrists. She couldn’t let
him believe she thought that of him any longer. “But
you are. You’re a good man, Marcus. You’re honest,
loyal, devoted to those you care about.” She was
rambling, but now that the words were coming, she
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couldn’t stop them. “I’ve never allowed myself to look
for those qualities in a man because I didn’t believe
I’d find them. But you made me want to see them.
You made me want things I never thought I could
have—commitment, marriage, children. You made
me want
you
. I fell in love with you.”
She blanched as the words left her lips. Her
throat constricted. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said
that.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to complicate things any more than
they already are.”
He brushed the tears from her cheeks with the
pads of his thumbs. “You mean with Natalie?”
“Yes. She suspects something happened but
from all she said, I think she’s willing to overlook it.
You can still work things out.”
“Charlotte, baby, there never was and never will
be anything between me and Natalie. It was a
teenage girl’s infatuation and my own stupidity in
not dealing with her sooner. She told me why you
left the church after I asked you to wait. I hate that
she said those things to you, but even more I hate
that you believed them.”
He lowered his hands to her shoulders and
pulled her closer until she was flush against his
chest. “Yes, I’ve been out to the ranch a lot lately.
But only to work off my frustration. I’ve mucked out
more stalls in the last two weeks than I have in my
whole adult life. There are three hundred yards of
new barbed wire fencing and seventeen horses with
a brand new set of shoes. If Nat was around, I didn’t
notice. I was too busy missing you.”
The pain in his dark eyes testified he spoke the
truth, and for a fraction of a second she let herself
rejoice. He missed her. Most importantly, he wasn’t
in love with Natalie. Snow White had lied about
everything.
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Darah Lace
Well, not everything.
Marcus might have missed her, might even have
feelings beyond the attraction they shared. But that
didn’t change who she was. Or who she had been.
Either way, her past was still her past. She shook
her head to ward off the need to forget her doubts
and reach for the happy ending. “Even so, I’m not
the right woman for you. I’m not—”
He placed a finger over her lips. “Good enough?
Charlotte Reese,
you
are the only woman for me, the
only one I want. I don’t care if you wear your clothes
too short or too low or too tight because no matter
what you wear, you make it look good. And I don’t
care if you’ve slept with the every man in Houston,
which you would no doubt have me believe, though I
wouldn’t for a minute so don’t even try. As long as
I’m the one you sleep with every night from here on
out.”
“What are you saying?”
“I love you, Charlotte.” His lips brushed hers so
tenderly it made fresh tears burn her eyes. Then he
pulled back. “Will that be enough? Will you trust me
to love you forever? I will, you know, whether you’ll
have me or not.”
From the time she’d come to understand her
parents’ relationship, she’d hidden behind the
pretense of fast and loose, afraid to let a man near
enough to hurt her, determined never to let him
control her the way her father did her mother. And
yet, her actions of defiance had given the very man
who had caused her distrust more control than if
she’d simply lain down and let him walk all over her.
It had taken Marcus’s persistence in Aspen to
make her see that. She’d thought it was too late, and
she was still afraid, but for the first time in her life
she felt free to embrace love and all that came with
it.
“I’ll have you,” she said, sniffling.
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Bachelor Auction
A grin split his face. “Good, because from now
on, you can have me any way you want me. I’m not
fighting it ever again.”
Charlotte winced. “I really am sorry about that.”
“I’m not. Making love to you is just that.
Another way to show you how much I love you.” He
nibbled her lower lip. “I’d like to spend the rest of my
life showing you.”
She looped her arms around his neck. “That
could be arranged.”
“Really? Then I should warn you.” He lowered
his voice. “I’ve got some scarves at home with your
name on them.”
“Such a control freak,” she teased even as
excitement pulsed through her veins at the thought
of being tied to his bed. Releasing an exaggerated
sigh, she toyed with the hair at the back of his neck.
“Just one of the many things I love about you.”
“I thought you hated it.”
“Maybe I just like making you lose control.”
A low groan vibrated against her lips as he
kissed her, showing her as he’d said he would how
much he loved her. Applause erupted at the other
end of the short hallway, and Charlotte pulled back
just in time to see one of the nurses herding the kids
back inside the game room.
Sarah wrapped an arm around Amy. “See, our
Charliss cured Marcocius.”
Amy shook her head. “I knew all along Marcus
wasn’t a beast.”
“What about you?” Marcus asked, drawing
Charlotte’s attention from the disappearing children.
“You think I’m still a beast?”
She thought about the scarves and smiled. “I’m
counting on it.”
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Darah Lace
About the Author
Barbie was Darah’s first heroine--Ken, the ever
faithful hero. The three of them spent hours
enacting dramatic scenes from stories in Darah’s
head. She hated to let them go, but time can’t be
stop and real life called, along with real boyfriends.
It was time to grow up
It wasn't until her last child came along that she
decided reading just wasn't enough to satisfy her
need for a romance. She needed to write it. In 1999,
she gave birth to my first novel,
Under One
Condition
, a very, very long historical that will never
see the light of day.
She lives in Texas with her husband and three
children. She enjoys a crackling fire in the fireplace,
a bar of chocolate now and then, and of course, the
company of good friends.
Visit Darah's website at www.darahlace.com
Contact Darah at [email protected]
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