His words caused her to look at him. “I didn’t end up in your bed without your participation.”
Russ’s lips thinned. “Point taken.”
“And I didn’t mean for any of this to happen, you know. I was trying to save your job,” she reminded him.
Russ took the turn off the main road. “Next time, let me defend myself.” He was beginning to think that a beating by Ryder would have been less torture than being with Lynn all the time and not being able to touch her.
Hell, he was in for a ride. He hoped he was going to come out of this with his sanity intact.
“Don’t worry, I will.” His sarcastic tone annoyed
her. “You can start right now if you want to break the news,” she suggested as they drove into the yard and he pulled the truck up to his quarters.
Taking the key from the ignition, he hesitated. “Uh, on second thought, why don’t we wait until later.”
Lynn caught herself smiling at him. “Biding time?”
“Hell, yes,” Russ replied, and he grinned.
She gave him a relieved smile. “I’ll tell them to expect you for dinner.”
“Eloped?” Ashley jumped to her feet, and her chair scraped the floor as it was shoved back. Everyone at the dining room table stopped eating. Five pairs of eyes stared at Lynn and Russ.
Lynn blushed and looked from her sister-in-law to Russ, a smile frozen in place on her face. She hadn’t expected her sister-in-law to be happy, and apparently she’d been right. They seemed to have taken them all by surprise. “Um, yes.”
“Great!” Matthew grinned, obviously excited about the news of more family.
Ashley’s head swivelled in his direction. “It is not
great,
Matthew! It means we missed seeing them get married, honey.” She turned to face Lynn and Russ. “You really eloped? When?”
“This morning,” Lynn confessed, then felt her face get even hotter. “We drove to San Luis.” She stopped speaking for a moment. Their mystified expressions were almost funny. Almost. “We…we just decided not to wait.” Russ was sitting next to her, and Lynn reached over and covered his hand with hers. “Right, sweetheart?”
Russ clasped her hand. “I tried to talk her into waiting, but she wouldn’t listen.”
Lynn gasped. “You did not!” She tried to yank her hand back, but he held on to it and wouldn’t let go. Her eyes sent him a silent warning.
“Just kidding, honey,” Russ said, and he grinned with a devilish glint in his eye.
“But what about the wedding we were planning?” Ashley wailed. Disappointment shadowed her eyes.
“Come here, darlin’,” Ryder said, taking Ashley’s hand. He scooted his seat back and tugged his pregnant wife down on his lap. “We should be happy for them. Besides, it’s not the end of the world. Deke’s still single. You can throw a wedding for him when he gets married.”
“As if that’ll happen,” Jake quipped, then chuckled. He sobered when Ashley glared at him.
“I know we talked some about planning a wedding, but we really hadn’t decided anything definite, yet,” Lynn quickly reminded her. She looked apologetically at both Catherine and Ashley. “I, um, we appreciate all of the thought that you put into planning the wedding and that you wanted to make it really special, but we decided we wanted to be married right away.”
“Oh, I wish you’d told us,” Catherine said, her tone warm, but still disheartened. “We would’ve understood. Then we could’ve been there with you.” She got up and walked around the table. Lynn stood to meet her and they hugged tightly. “I’m so happy for you.”
Everyone got up from the table at that point, and Lynn and Russ accepted hugs and warm, heartfelt congratulations from them all. They all made their
way into the den, except Matthew, who thought playing on his computer would be more interesting than listening to the adults discuss the event. Catherine and Ashley wanted to hear every detail of their wedding, and Lynn and Russ did their best to relate the events throughout the remainder of the evening.
Later, as the conversation quieted and it was nearing time to go, Russ tackled the second hurdle of telling them that he and Lynn were moving off the Bar M. Feeling they wouldn’t like it, he didn’t look forward to seeing how Jake and Ryder were going to take the news.
He spoke to them all, but watched for Jake’s reaction. “There’s something else we need to tell you.”
“You’re pregnant!” Ashley blurted, looking at Lynn.
“No!” Both Russ and Lynn spoke at the same time. They looked at each other, then back at the group around the den.
“No, she’s not pregnant,” Russ said again firmly, and despite his best effort to prevent it, his tanned face darkened. It was the truth as far as he was concerned. He and Lynn really didn’t know if she was.
“What is it then?” Catherine asked.
“We’re moving.” Russ didn’t miss the fact that both Ryder and Jake turned their full attention to him.
“Moving where exactly?” Jake asked, and his words sounded close to a demand. He leaned forward in his chair, his facial muscles tightening. “When?”
“Russ bought the Peterson place. That’s where we’ll be living,” Lynn told them.
Obviously pleased to hear his sister wasn’t going far, Jake sat back, his shoulders relaxing. “The Peterson place? That meets our property line. I was in
terested in the land myself and wondered if they’d sold it when they moved.”
“The timing was right, and Peterson and I made a deal before it went on the market,” Russ explained.
“What are your plans?” Ryder asked.
“To start my own horse ranch. I hadn’t planned on leaving the Bar M just yet, but—”
“Leaving?” Jake looked affronted at the idea.
“Well, not right away, but eventually, once I get some stock and get the ranch operational, I won’t be staying on here.”
“Hell, Russ,” Jake interrupted. “I don’t want to lose you, but stock isn’t a problem.” He nodded at Ryder. “We’ll give you enough horses to get the ranch off the ground as a wedding gift.”
Lynn was sitting in a chair, and Russ was perched on the arm of it beside her. His grip on her hand tightened as he shook his head. It was obvious to her that he wasn’t comfortable with the idea.
“No, I—”
“We won’t take no for an answer, will we, Ryder?”
“No way,” her other brother agreed.
“You don’t have to do this, Jake,” Lynn said, aware of the tension in Russ.
“Lynn, you own a part of this ranch. Essentially, you’ll be taking what belongs to you,” Jake informed her in his usual compelling tone.
His words caused her chest to tighten. Had she jumped into this marriage to Russ prematurely? Would Jake have signed for the loan she’d wanted if she’d have asked?
Well, now she would never know, would she? For the time being, she and Russ were married, and there
was nothing to do except make the best of it for a while until they could get out of it.
She looked at Russ, and his face was impassive. Jake spoke again and drew her attention.
“Russ, we’d like for you to continue putting in some time here for a while, if you think it’s doable.”
He nodded. “Sure. That’ll work out fine. I’ll continue to work here while getting things off the ground.” Glancing up, he caught Lynn’s eye. “You ready to leave?” he asked, hoping she was.
Lynn quickly got to her feet. “We’ll be moving everything tomorrow. All help will be appreciated.” She’d already packed a suitcase to take with her. Excusing herself, she went to get it. When she returned, Russ held his hand out to her as he took the suitcase from her.
“We’ll see you tomorrow.”
Everyone wished them well again, then they left and went across the yard to Russ’s quarters. Russ had discreetly moved some of his things to his ranch, and although the Petersons had left a few pieces of furniture, they’d taken the beds. So that meant he and Lynn would be sharing the night in his room.
“That didn’t go as bad as it could’ve,” he commented, opening the door for her and waiting for her to go inside.
Lynn smiled brightly at him as she walked inside. “No it didn’t. Oh my gosh, Russ,” she said with excitement, spinning around to face him, “can you believe that we’re gonna have horses? Our own horses?”
Russ censured her with a glare. “
You’re
gonna have horses, sweetheart.”
Looking offended, Lynn stared at him. “What?”
“They’re gonna be your horses, not mine.” He sat on a chair across from the bed.
“That’s ridiculous. They’re giving them to both of us.”
“No, they’re not,” he said adamantly. “Essentially, as Jake pointed out, you own an interest in the Bar M. I’ll help you train them, but don’t think for a minute that I own any part of the horses you’re getting.” Marrying her had been the right thing to do, and he’d do it all over again to protect her. But he hadn’t planned on Jake and Ryder giving them stock as a wedding gift.
It didn’t really matter. He didn’t consider them his. Lynn wasn’t in love with him, and this marriage was a long ways from being real. She didn’t want to stay married, and neither did he. Actually, when he thought about it, she was getting everything she’d wanted all along.
Lynn really didn’t need him at all.
“Can we please not argue about this?” She clamped her lips together. Eyeing the rumpled bed as the only other place in the room to sit, she picked up her suitcase and started for the bathroom.
“Fine by me.” Russ watched her walk into the bathroom and close the door. Seconds later, the shower came on. He didn’t want to think about what she was doing, but he couldn’t help it.
He wanted to be doing it
with
her.
R
uss’s gaze tracked Lynn’s movements as she walked out of the bathroom and approached the bed. She’d put her clothes back on, and all he could think about was taking them off of her.
She moved to the bed and worked at straightening the covers. “I guess we’re sharing, huh?” she asked, her expression hesitant.
“I guess.” It was only one night. He could keep his hands off of her for one night, couldn’t he? “Tomorrow, we’ll be moved in at the ranch.” If there had been a bed there, he’d have insisted that they spend the first night there instead of cooped up in his room together where she was close enough to smell, close enough to touch.
“Okay.” She sat on the edge of the bed. “I guess I’ll try to get some sleep.”
Russ nodded and reached over and turned off one
of the lamps in the room. “Go ahead. I’ll stay up a while,” he said, leaving the one closest to him on. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but he wasn’t going to get in that bed with her. Not while he was hard and ready for her and she was so damn enticing.
She gave him a slight frown, then lowered herself to the bed on top of the covers. Turning her back to him, she settled her head on one of the pillows. Her butt wriggled as she tried to get comfortable, and Russ thought he’d go insane watching it.
He closed his eyes, wishing he had someplace else to go. But he knew it would look strange if he left, so he kept his rear in the chair. Slouching down, he crossed his arms over his chest and tried to get comfortable.
It was going to be one hell of a night.
Lynn woke in the morning and discovered she was alone in Russ’s room. Her joints were stiff, and she stretched, trying to work out the soreness that she was sure she’d gotten from working on Russ’s house. She was also aware that her stomach ached. Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was later than she usually slept. She hadn’t eaten well the night before, so she probably just needed some breakfast.
Sitting up, she threw her feet to the floor, wondering where Russ was. Across the room, a pillow from the bed was on the chair. He must have spent the night there instead of sleeping beside her.
Despite her own stipulation that she and Russ wouldn’t engage in sex, Lynn had been tortured with fantasies of him joining her during the night, taking her into his arms, and making love to her.
Well, obviously he wasn’t that disturbed by keeping their relationship platonic because he hadn’t once tried to cross that line. She was discovering that it was
she
who was having problems staying on her side of it.
What a way to spend your wedding night!
Sighing with pent-up frustration, she wondered where he was, what he’d been doing, how long he’d been gone? She got up, went into the bathroom and washed her face, then quickly changed her clothes. The last thing she needed was for one of her sisters-in-law to notice that she’d slept in them.
After pulling on her boots and jacket, she stepped outside and started for the house. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Russ’s truck parked in front of it. It was loaded with some of the furniture from her bedroom!
Lynn covered the ground as fast as she could without running. As she started up the steps, Ashley and Catherine came out to meet her.
“What’s going on?” she asked, and there was no way she could disguise the shock in her voice.
“We knew you were gonna have an…um,” Ashley paused, glancing meaningfully at Catherine, “interesting night, so we thought we’d help you out by packing your things. We hope you don’t mind.” Her eyes were lit with excitement.
Catherine smiled at Lynn. “Russ, Ryder and Jake have already made one trip. They’re inside getting the rest of your things. We were careful with everything, and we labeled all the boxes. All you have to do is unpack when you get home.”
Lynn stared at them. It was obvious that both women thought that they’d been very helpful. She’d
never intended to move everything she owned to Russ’s ranch, only a little at a time, just enough to make it look real. Without causing suspicion, there was nothing Lynn could do but thank them.
“That was really, uh, nice of you.” She looked around them and saw Russ and her brothers coming out of the house with boxes in their arms.
“Hey, darlin’,” Ryder called, looking at Lynn. “We’re just about to go over to Russ’s room and put his furniture in the truck.”
Lynn swallowed hard, and her gaze quickly found Russ’s. He deposited a box in the truck, then promptly walked over to her.
“Morning, sweetheart.” Without hesitation, he put his hand behind her neck, then his lips came down on hers.
His kiss shot fire through her veins, and she pressed closer to him. Before she had time to think, the kiss ended. He looked directly into her eyes. “Run ahead of us and get your things together,” he said, and there was a warning in his eyes.
Lynn blinked, then went into motion, turning and hurrying across the yard. Damn! She didn’t want her brothers to walk into Russ’s room and discover that he’d spent the night in a chair!
Rushing inside, she threw the pillow from the chair onto the floor, then stripped the bed and tossed the covers on the floor with the pillow. She gathered her things and stuffed them in her suitcase. As she was closing it, the door opened and the men walked inside.
There was a discernable look of relief in Russ’s eyes as he glanced around the room, and his gaze connected with Lynn’s. She gave him a smile that
looked sweet, but he knew her well enough to know that she felt the same way he did. Neither of them wanted her brothers to be suspicious of their marriage.
“All ready.”
The men made quick work of moving the remainder of Russ’s furniture to the truck. Ashley and Catherine had made Lynn promise to invite them over in a few days to see the place. Lynn drove her own truck behind Russ, and her brothers followed in Ryder’s. By lunchtime, everything had been unloaded and placed in their new home, and Ryder and Jake had left.
Standing beside Russ in front of the house, Lynn watched her brothers drive away. “How on earth did all this happen?” she asked.
Russ chuckled. “I’ve got a better idea now of what you meant when you called Ashley and Catherine barracudas,” he told her, and he couldn’t help but laugh. “They got the idea that you’d want all of your things here right away, then put both of their husbands to work. I had to go along with it. I had no choice.”
Lynn giggled. “I told you what they were like.”
“Yeah, you did.” He looked at the house, then at Lynn. Without thinking about what he was going to do, he swept her up in his arms.
“Russ!” She squealed and held on to his neck.
“Maybe this isn’t like the real thing, but you deserve to be treated like a bride, so I’m gonna carry you inside.”
The two-story farmhouse was old, but it had been well kept. The outside needed a little work, but had it really been her first home away from the Bar M, Lynn couldn’t have been more happy with it.
“You don’t have to do this,” she told him, her tone husky.
“Yeah, I do,” he answered, then proceeded to the door. He leaned down so Lynn could grab the handle of the screened door, then as she opened it, he shouldered it aside and crossed the threshold with her in his arms.
They stared at each other in silence, and electricity sparked between them. Russ’s gaze dropped to her mouth. He’d known he was tempting himself by touching her, but he’d spent half the night watching her sleep in his bed. He couldn’t take it any longer. He had to have a taste of her.
Just a taste, he promised himself.
He touched his mouth to hers, and she gasped, then made a sound of pleasure deep in her throat. Her hands, secured behind his neck, tightened. He deepened the kiss, touching her tongue with his.
Continuing to kiss her, Russ slowly lowered her legs to the floor, then slid his arms behind her back. Her hands rested on his chest, her palms flat against it and applying slight pressure.
Aware of her hesitation, Russ lifted his mouth from hers. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
Lynn shook her head. “It’s not that. I mean, I liked the kiss. I’m just not feeling too well. I didn’t eat anything this morning, and my stomach feels upset.”
Letting her go, Russ stepped away. “I don’t think there’s anything here to eat. Why don’t we go into Crockett and get something? We can shop for groceries while we’re there.” He didn’t want to go back to the Bar M. Crockett seemed safer, even if by now half the town would have heard rumors of their marriage.
“Okay. Let me just use the bathroom, and I’ll be right back.”
He watched her leave, then went into the kitchen. Hell, he was kidding himself. He wanted to make love to her. Right now and for as long as they were in this make-believe marriage. He wanted to satiate himself with her.
Maybe then he’d be able to come to terms with what it was going to feel like when the day came for them to part.
He was used to women leaving, wasn’t he? Lynn wasn’t any different. Sure, she was attracted to him, but her attraction didn’t go beyond physical desire. He couldn’t forget that. He wasn’t going to do anything foolish, wasn’t going to give her his trust.
Russ looked up when he heard Lynn walk into the room. Her face was colorless, her eyes teary. “You okay?”
She nodded, but it was obvious she wasn’t. He approached her, but she stepped away from him. Frowning, he put his hand on his hip and studied her.
“What is it?”
Lynn felt as if her throat was clogged. Her hand went there and massaged it. “I’m not pregnant.”
“You’re not?” Russ sounded confused, then it dawned on him what she meant. “You mean you—”
“Yes,” she answered, realizing now that her cramping stomach was her period starting, not hunger liked she’d assumed. Trying to keep her composure, she forced a laugh. “I guess the joke’s on us, huh?” She didn’t know what was wrong with her. She should have been feeling relieved, even happy, that she wasn’t having Russ’s baby. Instead, she had to
fight the tears that threatened to expose her true emotions.
“Damn.” Russ leaned against the kitchen counter. He didn’t know what to say. She’d told him nerves and anxiety could cause her to be late, but he really hadn’t believed it. He did feel relieved, he admitted silently. At least he wouldn’t have to face her family and admit that he’d gotten her pregnant. He was also relieved that when he’d stated that she wasn’t pregnant, he hadn’t been lying.
“Yeah.” Despite her best efforts, a tear escaped the corner of her eye. She nervously wiped it away as she watched for his reaction. It hurt to see that he was obviously relieved.
Disappointment filled her. She hadn’t faced her true feelings, hadn’t accepted that she was possibly falling in love with him. She realized now that all of her feelings toward Russ had been hidden. Having been overly concerned about being pregnant, she hadn’t realized she was losing her heart.
Though she’d fought him on getting married, she’d actually been fighting her feelings for him. In fact, she’d gone ahead with the marriage because she was in love with him.
All of her hopes and dreams could have come true right here in this house with Russ, if he loved her.
But he didn’t love her.
He’d married her because he’d thought she was pregnant, because he wanted to protect her reputation, because he didn’t want to be the laughingstock of Crockett.
She could see all of that in his eyes.
He doesn’t love you.
Lynn sniffed and wiped at the tears continuing to slide down her cheeks, hating that she was showing so much emotion in front of him. Gathering herself together, she looked at him. “We need to rethink our options.”
His eyes darkened. “What do you mean?”
She gestured around them. “This is your home, not mine. I don’t belong here, especially now. I’m thinking of coming clean to Jake and the rest of my family.”
“Coming clean?” He straightened, but didn’t move toward her.
“I think we should tell them everything. You know, that we’d never planned to marry at all, and that we’re going to get an annulment.”
“We’re not telling anyone anything!” he ground out through clenched teeth. Furious, he stalked toward her. “Hell, your brothers would kill me. And the gossips in Crockett would be laughing at our expense. Maybe it wouldn’t bother you, but I’ve been the butt of town jokes before, and I’m
not
gonna let it happen again. We’re married, and we’ll stay that way until all this dies down.”
Russ felt like a fool. She’d only just learned that she wasn’t pregnant, and she was ready to call an end to their arrangement. Well, he wasn’t gonna let that happen.
Not yet.
“Well, exactly what do you want to do?” she demanded. “We can’t just go on living together.”
“We were going to do that anyway. Your not being pregnant doesn’t change anything. Besides, we’re not living together, we’re
married.
I told you I was going
to marry you regardless. You were the one who didn’t accept that. It’s done.”
“For how long?”
“As long as it takes.”
“Meaning?”
“Hell, I don’t know, Lynn. As long as necessary.”
“And you get to decide that?” she argued, her tone forceful. Was this how it was going to be? Russ making the decisions, controlling her life? It made her want to scream.
“I’m not saying that, but we have to give it some time. I’ve gone along with just about everything that you’ve dragged me into. The least you can do is wait for a while on this. What’s it going to hurt?” he demanded.
She shrugged, unable to come up with an argument that made sense. “All right. We’ll do it your way,” she conceded grudgingly. “For a while.”
A week later, they’d just about settled into their new home, though they were still waiting for their phone to be hooked up. It had taken a few days to unpack, but together they’d gotten all of the boxes emptied and everything put away. Russ had insisted on putting his bedroom furniture in one of the smaller rooms because his bed was smaller than hers. Lynn had argued with him, but she’d quit when he put her bed together in the master bedroom.