[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

You were pretty loud and you sounded serious to me.
Mexican jails are easy to get into and hard to get out of. I had visions of us languishing down there
for months while Dad went nuts trying to get us out."
"My God! Why didn't you tell me that?"
"You didn't want to listen," she replied doggedly. "You were too busy telling me what an underhanded
little golddigger I was!"
He sighed angrily. "I know plenty about golddig-gers,"
he said defensively. "Until I married, I fielded them like baseballs."
"You never had to field me!" Pepi returned. She glared at him from the depths of her feather pillow. "I
looked after you when you needed it and I liked to think we were friends, but that's all it was," she
lied, salvaging what she could of her pride. "I never wanted to marry you!"
His dark eyes narrowed as he turned that statement over in his mind and examined it. He didn't believe
her. She'd been vulnerable to him before he'd hurt her pride so badly. If any feeling was still there, he
might be able to reach it if he was careful, and slow,
"I remember telling you once that I had nothing left of love in me," he said. "It felt like that, for a long
time. I got numb, I think, because of the guilt. I wouldn't let myself feel."
She lowered her eyes to his chest. "Yes, I can understand that," she said gently. "But I was never any
threat to you, C.C."
"Weren't you?" he mused, smiling faintly. "You were the most caring little thing I'd ever met. You
mothered me.
Funny, how much I enjoyed that after a while. Apple pie when I was broody, hot stew when I was cold,
unexpected things like puff pastries in my saddlebags when I went out to roundup. Oh, you got under
my skin, Pepi, right from the beginning. The miracle is that I didn't realize how far."
"You don't have to baby me," she muttered, glaring at him. "What you said when you found out we
were married was the truth. It was honest. I always knew you wouldn't want a fat frump like me "
"Pepi!"
"Well, I am one," she said doggedly, her fingers clenching in the cover. "Ugly and overweight and
country to the bone. Dad used to say that you were sophisticated enough for a debutante, and he was
right. Edie's just your style."
He leaned back in his chair. "Edie doesn't want a house in the country and two or three kids," he said
quietly.
So that was it. He couldn't have Edie, so he might be willing to settle for second-best for Pepi. She
lowered her eyes. She'd wanted him for so long that she was almost ready to take him on any terms,
even on the rebound. But she couldn't forget the things he'd said about her, and to her.
"You might be able to change her mind," she said.
He scowled, watching her. "I don't want to change it," he said surprisingly. "Pepi, we're married."
She colored. "That isn't a hurdle. I told you, I've already seen Mr. Hardy. All you have to do is sign the
papers on Friday and he'll get the annulment underway."
He felt that statement to his bones. He shifted in the chair, his gaze on her flushed face. "You haven't
considered the options. Your father is still just barely operating in the black. I could put the ranch back
on its feet for good.
You might find a few things that you wanted, too. After all, I'm rich."
"I don't care about your money," she returned, her pale brown eyes accusing. "I like having food in
the house and a roof over my head, but I couldn't care less about how much money I've got, and you
know it!"
His breath sighed out roughly. "Is it Hale?" he demanded. "Is he why you're in such a rush to get an
annulment?"
Her eyes dilated. " You're the one who was demanding a speedy end to the marriage!"
"Yes, well, I've had second thoughts." He uncrossed his legs and sprawled, one hand loosely grasping
the almost-finished cigarette as he stared at her. "If I'm already married, I won't have to fend off
potential brides, will I?"
he added.
She sat up straight in bed. "Now, you listen here, C.C, I'm not going to become a human sacrifice to
save you from the aitar! Marrying you sure wasn't my idea!"
"You could have called my bluff," he reminded her, his dark eyes faintly twinkling. "Why didn't you?"
"I told you! Because I didn't want to spend the rest of my life in a Mexican jail!"
"If I was drunk enough to pass out. I was too drunk to cause much trouble," he continued. "Besides, I
didn't have a gun."
She drew up her knees angrily and clasped her arms around them. "You've got all the answers, haven't
you?"
"Not quite all," he said. "But I'm getting there." He took his time, stabbing out his cigarette in the
ashtray. "You said once that you and Hale were lovers. Are you?" he asked, lifting his eyes back to
hers.
She gave him a wary look, hoping he hadn't seen through the lie. If he thought she and Brandon were
close, it might keep him at bay until she could decide how to cope with this newest complication.
"That's none of your business."
"The hell it's not. You're mine."
Electricity danced through her veins, but she didn't let him see the reaction in her eyes. "No, I am not.
You're only married to me because of an accident. That means Brandon is none of your concern."
He got up with deceptive laziness and put the ashtray back on the side table. "I'm making him my
business." He paused at her bedside, narrow eyes assessing, threatening.
"You aren't sleeping with him again," he said shortly.
"And no more dates, either. From now on, you'll stay at home where you belong."
Her eyes opened wide. "Who do you think you are?" she demanded.
"Your husband," he said, "Mrs. Tremayne." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]