His Unexpected Mail-Order Bride (Historical Sapphire Springs Book 1)

by Angie Campbell

  He gave her a strange look. He snorted and shook his head. “Jenny, you don’t have to lie. I heard your reaction when I got too close.”

  “Oh, that had nothing to do with your size. That was my radar going into overdrive,” she answered with humor in her voice that was aimed at herself.

  “What do you mean by radar?” Mark asked, sounding puzzled.

  At least he doesn’t sound hurt anymore. “You’re the only one it happens with,” she said, turning her back to him. “But I can literally feel you when you walk in the room.”

  He just stood, staring at her back, wondering what that could mean. “You feel me, how?”

  “You give me chills up and down my spine. Please, don’t laugh at me. It’s a physical reaction, and I can’t help it.” She pulled a movie out at random, without looking to see what it was, and walked over to the TV and DVD player. She just put the disc in the player before going to sit down on the black leather couch.

  “I’m not going to laugh at you. I am a little mystified though.” He stood there staring at her for almost a full minute, wondering what it could all mean.

  She decided she was going to do her best to shake off the feelings caused by what she had just told him. She picked up the remote from the coffee table, and sat back, patting the seat beside her. “Come on, sit down.”

  Once the movie started, her expression turned sour. She wished she had been paying more attention. It turned out to be one of the sappiest romantic dramas that her parents owned. She hated sappy movies. She was an action junkie, through and through. Mark had finally moved over and sat down beside her, and now he was laughing at her.

  “What?” she snapped, turning her sour expression on him.

  “I know you. Were you not watching what you were doing? You hate these kind of movies,” Mark said, trying hard to stop his laughter.

  “Fine. You pick something.” Because of her already vulnerable emotions, she ended up snapping at him more harshly than was necessary. That just caused her expression to get even more sour, and now Mark was turning red with the effort it took him not to laugh.

  “Okay, I will,” he said, humor still in his eyes. Even if he did try to give her a reassuring smile before standing to his feet.

  When he stood up, the hairs on his leg brushed her knee, and she gasped. It had been the softest feeling she had ever felt, but the jolt it sent through her was anything but soft. She sat there staring at his back while he removed the DVD from the player. She was still feeling dazed when he returned to the couch and sat down by her. It was all she could do not to jump away from him. She was still trying to process what had happened.

  When the movie started, she was barely aware of what was going on. All she was able to register was, it was an action movie. One of her favorites. There was a strong part of her that wanted to touch him again, just to see if it would happen again. She was trying really hard to think of some way to brush his leg with hers, and not look too obvious. She needed to know if it had been real or just her imagination.

  If she had any idea what was going on in his head right then, she probably would have jumped up, and ran from the room immediately. It was crystal clear to him all of the sudden what her chills had been trying to tell her, and he realized he felt the same way. He was wondering how hard she would punch him if he leaned over and tried to kiss her.

  The only reason he had done better with selecting a movie, was he was concentrating really hard on the task. Once he got sat back down, he wasn’t able to pay any attention to the dialog at all, and the pictures seemed hazy to his mind. His concentration was focused totally on her, and the fact that she seemed to have gotten really jittery all of the sudden.

  The harder she tried to think the more nervous she got. Finally, the nervous energy got to be so bad that she jumped up. She tripped over his foot and fell backwards, landing in his lap. It had defiantly been real she thought, as she lay there looking up at him, blinking from surprise. She closed her eyes, hoping she would be able to think more clearly. Instead, it made her more aware of his strong, solid body under her. When she opened her eyes, and looked up at him once again, she seen the same emotions she was feeling reflected back at her.

  She heard him groan, and then the next thing she knew he had pulled her tight against him and ran his fingers through her hair. When his mouth came down on hers, she almost blacked out. It was all too much, but she couldn’t stop herself from kissing him back. She brought her arms up around his neck and wove her fingers in his hair, holding on for dear life.

  When his mouth moved away from hers, she felt a moment of panic until she felt his lips graze her neck. She wasn’t anywhere close to ready to stop. Nothing she had ever felt had prepared her for how she was feeling right at that moment. He had kissed his way up her neck and was now working along her jaw. She was still trying to catch her breath when his mouth claimed hers again.

  At first, when he started working his way back down her neck, she didn’t realize they had shifted positions, and that she was now laying on the couch with him raised above her. All she could feel was his hot mouth as it moved down her neck once again. She had a vague thought that she needed to stop him when she felt him move lower, brushing his lips over the swell of her breast. But she was so overcome with the sensations he was creating, she couldn’t form the words.

  It took his warm hand coming up under her shirt, and brushing the sensitive skin of her belly, for her to realize they were getting way out of hand. She was going to have to stop him. “Mark,” her voice broke over his name. “We have to stop. What are we doing?”

  She heard him groan. And when he raised up, he took her with him. He had his face buried in the curve of her neck and had her pressed so tightly to him, she could barely breath. He seemed very reluctant to let her go.

  When she tried to push away, he groaned again, and raised his head to look down at her. “Please, not yet. Just let me hold you.” She could see the desire and passion still raging in his eyes. She understood how he was feeling. She was still feeling the same way herself. She brought her arms back up around his neck and buried her face in his chest. She really didn’t want to let go of him either.

  Chapter 1

  Wednesday, July 3 (four years later)

  “Jenny, Mark’s already left for the day, and this is corporate on the phone.” Jane managed to get Jenny’s attention just before she walked out of the office door. She was the lead secretary, right under Jenny, in the office at Mark’s hardware store. “Since you were still here, I haven’t tried to call him yet.”

  Jenny turned around and looked at her with a look of confusion, and mouthed, “Corporate?”

  “Yes,” the older lady nodded. “Something about an emergency meeting,” Jane said, shrugging her shoulders. “They wouldn’t say anything else. I’m obviously not high enough up the food chain.”

  “Okay, I’ll take it in the office,” Jenny said on a sigh. She had a feeling she wasn’t going to be happy about this.

  Five minutes later she slammed the phone down with a disgusted look on her beautiful face, slouching down in her chair. “Boy, do they know how to screw up one of a girl’s favorite holidays.”

  She pushed back from her desk, making her way across the room to stick her head out the door. “Jane, can you try to get Mark on the phone?” she asked, doing her best to remember this was neither the secretary’s or Mark’s fault. “Try his home phone and cell both if you have to.”

  “Okay,” Jane said, and turned back toward the phone.

  A few minutes later, Jane buzzed Jenny in the office. “Jenny, he didn’t answer either one. What do you want me to do?”

  Jenny breathed out a heavy sigh. “Nothing. I’ll go find him. There’s not enough time. We have to be in Vegas tomorrow. Why they think having a meeting in Vegas is going to stop it from ruining everybody’s fourth, I don’t know. I think they’re crazy. Either that, or they just want a few days in Vegas for themselves.”

  The older woman
looked at her like she had lost her mind. “Vegas?”

  “Yes, crazy isn’t it?”

  Jane shrugged her shoulders, giving her a friendly smile. “Well, I don’t know about crazy, but what kind of emergency would require you to go to Vegas for a meeting?”

  “I don’t know. They didn’t tell me, either,” she grumped. “Apparently, we’ll be told when we get there. I was just told at least we had Vegas to look forward to.”

  “Okay,” the other lady whistled low. “That’s the crazy part.”

  “Exactly,” Jenny mumbled. “Make sure you’re prepared for a day without me and the big boss tomorrow before you go home tonight. Call my cell if you need anything. You and the other two can run this place without too much fuss for the day. Hopefully there won’t be any hiccups with the fourth of July sale tomorrow.”

  Jane chuckled, herding her out of the office. “We’ll be fine. You and Mark we’re only supposed to be on standby tomorrow, anyway. Go find the big guy and tell him the good news.”

  “Yeah, he’s going to be so happy,” Jenny snorted, waving over her head on her way out the door.

  “You might be surprised,” Jane whispered with a soft smile, watching the beautiful, young woman leave the office. They just might come back married, if Mark has any say in the matter.

  Five minutes later she was crawling into her car, headed for his house. The thought of being alone with him there was making her more than a little nervous. They had a hard-enough time stopping when they knew they could be walked in on. There would be very little chance of that there, and she knew he would never pass up the opportunity to kiss her silly.

  She had fretted about it so much, by the time she knocked on the door, she was all but shaking. She ended up knocking again before she heard him holler, “Just a minute. I’m coming.”

  The first thing out of her mouth when the door came open was, “It’s work related. So, can we deal with that first, before you try and make... me... crazy.” Before she had finished, her words had started to trail off. She had been so absorbed with her thoughts, it had taken a few seconds for her to realize he was standing there in a towel.

  He just grinned at her, crossing his arms over his massive chest, and asked, “Why didn’t you just call?”

  “We tried, but there isn’t time to try all night. You must have been in the shower,” she mumbled to herself, blushing to her roots.

  “Actually, I was in the tub, using the jets. Working with you all day tends to wind me up pretty tight. It’s really hard not to grab you and kiss you when we’re alone in the office,” he said with a grin, watching her cheeks turn even redder. “I may have been in there longer than I realized.”

  “Do you often answer the door dressed in nothing but a towel?” she asked, getting even redder when her eyes strayed downward. She was finding it very hard to keep her eyes focused on his face.

  “Nope. I looked out the window before I answered the door. I knew it was you,” he said, looking at the clock. “What’s this about? You mentioned something about not having enough time to call all night.”

  “You and I have to be in Vegas by, at the latest, one tomorrow,” she answered, finally managing to shift back to business mode. “I figure any later than that and we’re going to run the risk of being late for the meeting. It’s at three.”

  “What meeting?”

  “Corporate called after you left. I don’t know what it’s about. They said they’ll let us know at the meeting.”

  “Yeah? Do they not realize it’s the fourth of July?” Mark asked, his voice heavy with irritation.

  “That’s the reason they’re having it in Vegas. They don’t want to ruin everybody’s fourth. I think they’re crazy,” Jenny said, irritation dripping from every word. “Do they think everyone in the known world likes to gamble? There are some people who have better things to do with their time, and money. Like spend time with their families. We’re going to miss Thursday night family dinner,” she grumbled, adding him, knowing he would have been there too, if not for this stupid meeting.

  Mark just laughed. “I guess you’re here to work out travel and overnight arrangements.”

  “Yeah. Do you think you could put some clothes on first? I need to be able to concentrate, and I’m going to be worried about you losing that towel the whole time if you don’t,” Jenny said, once again looking down, and flushing all over again. Then she said, a bit too honestly, causing herself to flush even more. “And thinking about taking it.”

  Mark reached down like he was going to pull it off, giving her a mischievous smile. “I’ll give it to you.”

  “Mark, behave yourself, please. Go put some clothes on,” Jenny said, somehow managing to get even redder than she already was. She was starting to feel like a giant, boiled lobster. She was certain she had to have heat radiating off of her skin.

  Mark just laughed and headed back down the hall.