by Elle James
“Just because we’re married doesn’t mean you get to boss me around.” He took the stairs two at a time to catch up with her and patted her on the bottom.
“Hey.” She slapped at his hand, her cheeks reddening. “That’s mine.”
“We’re married now. What’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine.”
“You could have gone along with that rule last night,” she muttered.
He grabbed her, cupped the back of her head and nibbled on her ear. “Hey, babe, it’s all about the show.” Oh, but his body wasn’t getting the picture. Holding her this close, touching her bottom and kissing the side of her neck made him forget they were playing a game of charades. He wanted to take her the rest of the way up the stairs, find the nearest bedroom and make use of the bed.
But her mother was waiting, and her father was livid. This game wasn’t going to be a dunk.
* * *
Megan’s blood sizzled through her veins, her neck tingling with the touch of Daniel’s lips. Once she had him in her room and shut the door behind her, she rounded on him, her hands on her hips. “This is not going to work.”
“No? Your parents seem to think it’s all real.”
“I’m not talking about what my parents are thinking. I’m talking about you touching me, kissing me and patting my butt.”
“Liked that added touch of reality?” He winked. “I thought you’d want me to show a little PDA in front of your family.”
“PDA?”
“Public display of affection.” He entered the bathroom and switched on the water faucet. “Most newlyweds can’t keep their hands off each other. We’re supposed to be madly in love, thus the quickie wedding in Vegas. That would be one of the two reasons for getting married so fast.”
Megan leaned against the bathroom door frame. “And the other?”
“One of us being pregnant.” Daniel leaned over the sink and splashed water in his face.
If Megan wasn’t mistaken, Daniel was grinning beneath his hands. She grabbed a hand towel from the cabinet and slung it at him. “Well, we both know that isn’t going to happen.” Her eyes widened. “But my parents don’t know that. Crap. Do you think they think we’re...you know.” The thought of carrying Daniel’s baby warmed her insides at the same time it left an empty ache in her womb.
Daniel straightened, wiping his face with a towel. “I have no idea what your parents are thinking, other than my hand hurts and your dad hates me.”
“He doesn’t hate you. He hates the idea he’s not the main man in my life anymore. Did he crush your hand?” Megan shook her head. “He did that to every one of my dates. Scared them off.”
“I can see why.” Daniel shook his hand.
“How did you keep a straight face and not yell?”
Daniel twirled the towel and popped her with it. “I’m not a teenaged weakling. I work with my hands.”
“Sorry. I have nightmares about my father’s attitude toward the boys I met.”
“You’re twenty-eight. You can’t tell me he chased away all of them.”
“No.” Megan didn’t offer more. She didn’t see a need in enlightening Daniel about her prior engagement. Instead, she raised her brows. “Are you done? Think I might have a chance at that sink?”
“All yours.” He tossed the towel on the counter and stepped around her. The doorway was too tight for both of them to fit through at once.
Megan refused to give way. If he wanted by, he’d have to touch her, and to hell with his hands-off approach to their marriage.
Daniel turned sideways and started through the doorway. When his hip touched hers, she stared up into his eyes, challenging him. Yes, she wanted him, and she’d bet her best thong panties he could see it in her eyes.
Daniel paused, his hips pressed to hers. “You’re playing with fire, woman.”
“Yeah. Unfortunately, there’s no one here willing to put out the flame.”
For a moment, she thought he’d move past. But his hands shot out and grabbed her wrists, pinning them above her head. Her breath caught in her throat and her breasts jutted out, the nipples hardening against his chest.
“You’re making this more difficult than it has to be,” he grumbled.
“I know.” She swiveled her hips, her pelvis rubbing over the hard evidence of his desire. “That was the idea.”
“Damn, woman.” He bent, his lips crashing down on hers, stealing her breath away.
His tongue lashed out, darted between her parted lips and claimed her mouth, her tongue and her soul.
She tugged against his hold on her wrists, wanting to wrap her arms around his neck.
Daniel held firm, refusing to release her.
The frustration of not being able to touch him made her even hotter and more desperate to be one with the man. When he finally allowed her to breathe again, she was on fire with a need only he could satisfy.
“Wash up, sweetheart. Your mother is waiting.” He turned her toward the bathroom and swatted her behind.
Megan didn’t protest. She couldn’t. Her mind was in a lust-induced fog, too befuddled to let a coherent thought surface. She’d gotten what she wanted. A kiss to douse the flames. Only it had backfired and fanned the blaze instead, leaving her wanting more of the same.
Megan splashed water on her face and dried off with a towel, staring at herself in the mirror. Her lips were full and swollen from Daniel’s kiss. What was she going to do? The more she was with him, the more deeply she fell in love with her husband.
How long would they have to keep up the pretense of a loving marriage? And when it was all over, how would she continue to work with the man knowing what it was like to be married to him?
Megan pulled her hair back, secured it in a loose, messy bun and shook her head. Her mother was a fastidious dresser. Every hair had to be in place and her makeup perfect before she left her room each day. Though her mother tried to instill the same sense of style and confidence in her looks, Megan always fell short, opting out of wearing makeup and refusing to go to great lengths to fix her hair. She could be seen with a ponytail and a clean face most often.
Daniel didn’t seem to mind, and the horses didn’t care. Why should she?
Megan smoothed the wrinkles out of her dress and left the bathroom.
Daniel held out his arm. “Ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” They descended the staircase and entered the sitting room in which her mother had entertained many of the social elite including several political figures and movie stars. The Talbots were as well-known in California as the Coltons were in Oklahoma.
Christine sat on the sofa beside Megan’s mother, chattering away about a mutual acquaintance.
“Oh, there you are.” Mrs. Talbot rose and waved a hand toward another sofa facing the one she and Christine sat on.
It didn’t strike Megan as odd that Christine was so chummy with her mother. Close in age, Megan and Christine had spent quite a few summers together on the Triple Diamond Ranch. They both loved the horses, and they enjoyed the outdoors. Christine’s father had taken her and her mother to New York City to live. Not until her mother died of cancer and her father in a car wreck four years ago had she returned to California for good.
Mrs. Talbot took her seat on the sofa and lifted a pitcher of lemonade. “I have hot tea, but I thought as warm as it is outside, you might prefer iced lemonade. And I had the cook make up a tray of sandwiches in case you two are hungry.”
“Thank you, Mother. We didn’t stop for lunch on the way over.”
Daniel helped himself to a triangle of bread and deli meat. “Thank you for thinking of it.”
Her mother’s smile filled the room. “We’re just happy you’re finally here.”
Megan bit into a sandwich and chewed. She wanted
to get outside and check on her horses, but she didn’t want her parents to think that was the only reason she’d come home. She didn’t want her father to know how much his threat had shaken her.
“Christine was regaling me with stories of her life in LA,” Mrs. Talbot said.
“How is your acting career taking off?” Megan asked politely.
Her cousin smiled. “I had a callback from a commercial audition last week. I’m waiting for my agent to contact me.”
“Are you going to continue acting after you’re married, dear?” Mrs. Talbot asked.
“Yes, of course.” Christine glanced at Megan. “Josh is behind me.”
“Will he have a decent job to support you while you’re pursuing your career?” Megan’s mother asked.
“He’s in real estate. He’s quite good at it. Right now he’s on his way back from a convention in Nevada. He should be here for dinner, so you can meet him.”
“That will be nice,” Megan said, wishing her cousin wasn’t there and feeling bad that she had such thoughts. What she wanted was time alone with her mother so she could question her about her father. Alas, Christine was there to stay and completely oblivious to a mother and daughter’s need for a private conversation.
Daniel polished off another triangular sandwich and drank a glass of lemonade.
Megan picked at a sandwich and sipped at the lemonade, counting the minutes until she could politely escape.
“Mrs. Talbot, like Megan mentioned, we have been cooped up in a plane for the last few hours. Would you mind if we went outside to stretch our legs?” Daniel asked.
“But of course you should. You can stroll in the garden behind the house or see the horses.”
“Megan tells me the Triple Diamond Ranch has some of the best quarter horses in the country,” Daniel said.
Her mother shrugged. “That’s Frank’s pet project. I wish he’d just sell them and concentrate on staying well and healthy.”
“Daniel is a horse breeder. He’s working on his own breeding program in Oklahoma.” Megan rose to her feet, glad of Daniel’s segue into getting out of the house. “I’d like to show him the barn.”
“Oh, darling, should you be out there? Those horses are so big and spirited.”
“I’m a biologist. I work with animals.” When Megan’s mother wasn’t swayed from her fears, Megan sighed and added, “Daniel will be there to protect me, Mother.”
Something akin to a snort erupted from Daniel, and a smile tilted his lips upward on the corners.
Megan elbowed him in the side. “Besides, I want to check on Father.”
Daniel wiped the smile off his face and offered, “I’ll keep your daughter from undue harm caused by the horses, Mrs. Talbot.”
“It’s just that Megan is our only daughter and, well, I don’t want her to be harmed.”
“Mother, I’ll be fine with Daniel,” Megan assured her mother again.
“Oh, let them go.” Christine stood beside Mrs. Talbot and slipped an arm around her aunt. “They’re newlyweds. They probably just want time alone together.”
Megan gave Christine a smile. “That’s right. We want some time alone. And I want to make sure Father is okay.”
Megan led Daniel out through the back of the house. They skirted the glistening swimming pool and a pool house and followed a stone path through a rose garden before they emerged on a paved road leading to the stables.
“The last time I was here, my father had been in the hospital for prostate cancer. They think they got all of it, but he’s been going through chemotherapy to kill any remaining cells,” Megan said.
“I’m sure he’s happy to have you here,” Daniel said.
She smiled, her chest swelling for the handsome man beside her. He was the kind of man her father couldn’t scare easily, and for that she was grateful. “I’m happy you’re here with me.” Her attention returned to the stable and the surrounding fields. “I don’t see any of the horses.”
“Don’t borrow trouble. They’re probably inside or out behind the stable.”
“I hope so.” She hated to think her father had made good on his threat and sold her horses. Then her marriage to Daniel might still help snag him a deal with the Kennedys, but on her end, it would have been for nothing.
The door to the stable stood wide-open, the interior dark compared with the bright sunshine outside.
Megan stepped through the door and inhaled the familiar scents of hay, horses and manure. A whinny sounded from one of the stalls and another answered, followed by several more.
Daniel leaned close to whisper in her ear, “Seems your horses are here and they remember you.”
Joy filled Megan’s heart and she ran to the first stall, long ago designated as Misty Rein’s. The beautiful bay mare tossed her head above the gate and whinnied again.
Thank God. Her father hadn’t sold her horses, yet.
* * *
Daniel followed Megan to the first stall and ran an appreciative gaze over the animal. She had good conformation, and from what he could see of her teeth and her coat, she was healthy and well taken care of.
His belly tightened at the smile spreading across Megan’s face.
She ran her hand along the mare’s nose and pressed her tear-stained cheek to the side of the animal’s face. “They’re still here.”
“Of course, they’re still here.” Her father appeared out of the shadows. “They were my only bargaining chip to get you back to the Triple Diamond.”
Megan turned toward her father, color rising in her cheeks. “You tricked me into coming back?”
“I had to do something. You broke your mother’s heart when you left.”
“I never wanted to hurt you two. I just couldn’t live the way you wanted me to. I’m happy in Oklahoma. Happier than I’ve ever been.”
Frank Talbot’s eyes narrowed. “Then I guess you didn’t come home to stay.”
“No. I came home to tell you of my marriage to Daniel.” She slipped her arm around Daniel’s waist and leaned into him.
Daniel liked the feel of her body next to his. The casual hug warmed his heart and heated other places inside. But mostly, it made him feel good, and he wanted that feeling to go on forever.
Mr. Talbot shook his head. “I wish you had told us before.”
Megan tensed. “Before I got married? Why? So that you could talk me out of it?” She reached for her father’s hands. “I love Daniel. He understands me, and we have the same dreams.”
“And what are those?”
Daniel straightened at the man’s challenge. “I’m building a horse-breeding program at the Lucky C Ranch.”
“It’s hard to make a living with horses.”
“Daniel is doing great. His horses are receiving national attention.”
Daniel squeezed her arm. “But you’re right, sir.”
Megan glanced toward him, her brows puckered.
“It is hard to make a living at breeding horses. But I have acquired some excellent stock, and I’m hoping to improve my herd by investing in semen from a national champion stud from Kennedy Farms.”
Megan’s father’s brows rose briefly and then lowered. “You talk the talk, but Kennedy isn’t an easy man to work with.”
Daniel forced himself to relax. “I’ve noticed. But I’m working on him. I have a meeting scheduled with him at the Symposium on Equine Reproduction in Reno in a few days.”
“He granted you a meeting?” Talbot shot a glance at his daughter. “Are you going?”
Megan nodded. “I am.”
Her father scowled. “Your mother never wanted you working around the horses.”
Megan gave him a soft smile. “You knew I was all along, didn’t you?”
“Someone had to keep an eye o
n you. You had a mind of your own and a tree far too close to your bedroom window.”
Her eyes widened. “You knew I was sneaking out?”
He nodded. “I’d have done it, too.”
“Then why didn’t you just give me permission to be around the horses?”
“Your mother never knew, and it was better that way.” Her father reached out to run his hand along the mare’s neck. “Your mother had three miscarriages before she was able to carry a baby almost to full term.”
“And I was a preemie.” Megan’s face softened.
Her father’s hand stilled on the horse. “She almost lost you, too. I have to tell you, I don’t ever want to see your mother that sad ever again.”
Megan’s arm tightened around Daniel. “How awful to lose three children and almost the fourth. No wonder she’s overprotective. I can’t imagine losing even one child.” Her eyes misted.
Daniel hugged her close.
“Well, now you know why I had to get you back. Your mother was sad.” Frank Talbot shook his head. “I will not allow her to be sad.”
“But, Dad, I can’t stay. My life is in Oklahoma.”
“Now that she knows you are happily married, she might be okay with you living so far away.” Mr. Talbot stared hard between Megan and Daniel. “You are happy, aren’t you? This man didn’t twist your arm to marry him, did he?”
Megan laughed. “Not at all. We’re...” She ducked her head, her cheeks suffusing with color.
“I asked Megan to marry me because I couldn’t imagine life without her. We love each other,” Daniel finished, leaning down to kiss her temple.
For a long moment Mr. Talbot studied them, and then he nodded. “Okay. But please don’t tell your mother you’re working with the horses in Oklahoma. She’ll be hard-pressed to come to grips with the fact that you’re happily married. Sure as I breathe, she’ll worry herself into an early grave if she thinks you’re going back to work with the breeding program.”
“But that’s what I do,” Megan protested. “There’s a bigger chance of my dying in a car wreck than of being hurt by one of the horses at the Lucky C.”
“You let me work it out with your mother. In the meantime, she wants me to sell all of the horses.” He stroked the mare’s neck.