by Jeanne Allan
He wished they were wrapped in each other’s arms on the ground, wearing nothing but the blankets.
That’s what came of kissing her.
The improvisational wail of a single saxophone faded away, the last haunting notes lingering on the night air. Elizabeth sighed with quiet contentment. “Beautiful.” She tipped back her head. “Look how bright the stars are.”
He’d rather look at her, but he obediently looked up. The Big Dipper and Arcturus shone brilliantly in a crystal clear night sky. Worth searched for and found the twin stars of Gemini. Once he’d wanted to be an astronaut. Go to the moon, travel in space.
Be released from earth’s gravity.
There’d been times in his late teens and early twenties when he’d felt as if the entire gravity of earth pulled at him alone. Times when he’d been so afraid his sisters would realize the older brother they depended on to be a sturdy oak tree was only an insubstantial twig.
The final number, played with a swinging rhythm and fresh, spontaneous beat, met with a burst of applause, and the concert ended. Around them people packed up coats and blankets and streamed toward the parking lots. Zane collected Hannah, and Davy struggled sleepily out of the sleeping bag. Everyone said quiet goodbyes, then, hand in hand, his sisters and their husbands and children joined the homeward-bound crowd.
Worth and Elizabeth followed. Ahead of them Quint pulled Greeley close and whispered in her ear. Her soft laughter floated back to Worth as the couple stopped and kissed.
“You’re not newlyweds anymore,” Worth grumbled as he walked around them. “Can’t you wait until you get back to Cheyenne’s?”
“You’re just jealous,” Greeley said, abandoning Quint to press a kiss on her brother’s cheek.
He wasn’t jealous.
Maybe it would be nice to go home and crawl into bed with Elizabeth. It wasn’t going to happen.
He’d admit to an inconvenient physical attraction to a certain redheaded woman. It was nothing more than a temporary loss of sanity. It would pass.
When he married, when his traveling days were over, he planned to marry a woman like his mother. Calm, levelheaded, and easygoing. Mary took life in her stride. Not in a million years could he picture his mother standing in the middle of someone else’s kitchen wearing sexy green pajamas and yelling at a man she barely knew.
Mary would fight like a tiger for her kids, but Worth was pretty sure she’d never owned a pair of green pajamas.
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE pickup’s twin beams pierced the dark as they drove back to the ranch. Catching a glimpse of the Roaring Fork River between the trees, Elizabeth imagined starlight dancing on the rapids. She hugged the beauty to her, wishing she could box it up and take it back to Nebraska with her.
She knew it wasn’t the scenery she wanted to keep forever. What she would sorely miss was being part of the Lassiter family circle. They’d welcomed Elizabeth into their midst, making her feel as if she belonged, even if it was to be only for these two short weeks.
Back in Nebraska her empty house waited. Silent. Filled not with love and laughter, but with painful memories.
They’d bought the house shortly after they’d married. Lawrence had initially been against the move, had wanted them to stay in his apartment, but Elizabeth persuaded him that buying a house was a better investment than renting.
If Lawrence hadn’t hated finances and budget details and paperwork so much, if he hadn’t trusted Elizabeth so much, he wouldn’t have allowed her to handle the financial side of their marriage. He would have known if one died, the additional insurance she’d purchased paid the mortgage so that the house belonged free and clear to the survivor.
Lawrence hadn’t expected to die.
After his death everyone told Elizabeth she’d been wise to get the additional insurance. She hadn’t told them it was the only smart thing she’d done when it came to her marriage.
Now the house seemed a trap. A sinkhole of apathy and depression and failure.
She didn’t have to stay there.
She could sell the house. Or change it. Paint it inside and out. Make it her and Jamie’s home. Remove any trace of Lawrence.
Maybe Mary could tell her where to buy cowboy posters for the walls in Jamie’s room. She stiffened her spine. She and Jamie would manage just fine.
“Did you enjoy the evening?”
Worth’s question provided a welcome distraction from her thoughts. “You’re lucky to have such a close-knit family. Zane told me tonight your mother used to barrel race and that’s how she met his mother.”
Worth nodded. “Zane and I grew up together. We even cut ourselves one time and mixed our blood so we could be blood brothers. We saw it on TV or something.”
“And now he’s married to your sister.”
“For his sins,” Worth said lightly.
“He told me about those, too. How he messed up with Hannah’s mother and left Allie practically standing at the altar.” She hesitated. “Did you really cut him out of your life for five years?”
“Yes.”
The clipped answer told Elizabeth a great deal. “It must have been painful for you. Losing your best friend that way.”
“Allie’s my sister.”
The simple, uncompromising statement spoke volumes about the depth of Worth’s family loyalty. Zane claimed Worth was the kind of man who would die for his family. No wonder Worth’s sisters concerned themselves with his happiness. They knew he’d been there for them. They wanted to return the favor.
Even if they were wrong about what Worth needed.
She gave Worth a quick glance. “Your sisters are not happy with you.”
“I saw Cheyenne and Allie pounce on you while I was buying dinner. I’ll bet Cheyenne is gnashing her teeth in frustration about how I outsmarted her.”
“I wouldn’t exactly say that.”
Worth gave a long, resigned sigh. “What’s on their pea brains now? You might as well tell me what they’re planning. I’ll find out sooner or later.”
“It’s not so much what they’re planning…” She let the end of the sentence fade away, deliberately teasing him.
After a few minutes, Worth said in a brooding voice, “That smug note in your voice makes me nervous.”
“You’ve never been nervous in your life.”
“You make me nervous.”
“I’ll have you know, Worth Lassiter, I am just as good as you at keeping secrets. I didn’t say one word to your sisters about why you don’t want to get married now.”
“I didn’t say you did.”
“You said I make you nervous. What else could you possibly mean except you’re worried I’ll give away your big secret?” Turning her back to him, Elizabeth stared out the window, angry he didn’t trust her. She could feel him looking at her.
“Green pajamas,” he said at last.
She whipped her head around. “Green pajamas?”
“You look too good in green pajamas. I start wondering how you look out of them and that makes me real nervous. I’ve never had any trouble resisting forbidden fruit before.”
He wanted to sleep with her? He couldn’t possibly want to sleep with her. “I’m puny. You called me puny.” To her chagrin, her voice squeaked on the last word.
A crooked smile bent his mouth. “Unfortunately for me, puny and sexy as all get-out are not mutually exclusive.”
“You think I’m sexy?”
“You have a mirror. It can’t come as a revelation.”
No one had ever called her sexy. She knew she cleaned up well, and she’d heard herself referred to as attractive and nice-looking, but never sexy. Worth Lassiter, considered by his sisters to be the world’s most eligible bachelor, thought her sexy? It was crazy.
Common sense called a halt to her vain and foolish thoughts before she could totally humiliate herself.
Worth no more thought she was sexy than he thought she was the cowboy Russ bragged she was. “You need to be a littl
e more careful with your joking,” she said, “or some woman who doesn’t know you as well as I do will believe you, and you’ll be a married man before you know what hit you. Your sisters won’t need to find you a wife.”
The cool night seeped through the pickup’s windows, chilling Elizabeth. Stretching her feet under the heater in search of its paltry output of warmth, she huddled deeper into Mary’s coat. A rabbit showed its terrorized face in the truck’s headlights, froze momentarily, then abruptly turned and bounded away from the road.
Worth cleared his throat. “You never told me what Cheyenne had to say.”
Elizabeth had spent the evening anticipating the moment she’d tell him what she’d learned. For whatever reason, the tale no longer seemed so amusing. “You were right about them immediately assuming you couldn’t possibly be interested in me.”
“I don’t think I ever said that.”
His exact words weren’t worth debating. Not when everyone agreed on the absurdity of coupling Elizabeth with him. “As you expected, they concluded you’re trying to teach Cheyenne a lesson. As instructed, when asked why I was cooperating, I hinted at blackmail, and they dropped it.”
“And?”
“It was just interesting, the way they positively leaped, with hardly any help from me, to the conclusion that you were blackmailing me.” She paused, but he didn’t admit anything, so she continued. “Apparently, it was quite an easy conclusion for them to reach. Based on your past history and fondness for blackmail.”
Worth made a disgusted sound. “Let me tell you something, Red. I have three sisters with more hair than brains. I used whatever worked to keep them in line.” After a minute, he added brusquely, “No matter what they accused me of, I only used blackmail as a last resort. And it worked.”
His confidence in his own judgment was as arrogant as it was unwarranted. “Allie said by the time they were in high school they knew you’d never go through with your blackmail, no matter what you threatened, because you’d never hurt them.”
“They talk big now, but let me tell you, they shaped right up then,” he said with satisfaction.
It was a pleasure to set him straight. “So I understand. It seems Cheyenne had read some psychology book, and based on that, she said it would be bad for your self-esteem if they let you know they considered your blackmail empty threats. So they buckled under for your own good.” Elizabeth waited for him to take offense and insist she’d heard wrong or his sisters had lied to her.
Worth’s deep laughter filled the pickup. When his last chuckles died away, he shook his head. “Sisters.”
A woman could learn to love a man who knew how to laugh at himself.
Worth could take a joke as well as the next man, but Cheyenne was carrying this foolishness too far. He scowled across the Peters’ yard at Cheyenne and Elizabeth. The significance of half a dozen unattached males at the barbecue Zane and Allie were hosting for the bridal couple hadn’t hit him at first. He got the picture about the time Cheyenne had hauled the third sucker over to Elizabeth for an introduction.
He wondered cynically if Cheyenne touted Elizabeth as an eligible widow or if his sister was trying to be subtle. Subtlety wasn’t exactly her strong suit. The men were so busy drooling over Elizabeth’s red hair and trim curves, they probably hadn’t realized Cheyenne was baiting a marital trap for one of them. With Elizabeth as bait. There was nothing like green eyes to shut down a man’s brain.
Which was fine with him. Elizabeth needed a husband and Jamie needed a father.
At least finding Elizabeth a husband diverted Cheyenne’s attention from Worth.
He frowned. That part bothered him. It wasn’t like Cheyenne to give up so easily when she was convinced she was right.
Maybe she could only handle one difficult challenge at a time. Finding Elizabeth a decent husband wasn’t going to be easy. Not if these were the best candidates Cheyenne could dig up. Worth knew most of them. Nice enough men, but not men who would interest Elizabeth.
Like the man who’d just driven up. He managed a bar. And had to be at least a year younger than Elizabeth. She already had one kid to take care of.
Cheyenne immediately captured the poor sap and dragged him to Elizabeth’s side. Worth caught Zane’s eye. His brother-in-law smirked at him from by the barbecue grill. Which meant Allie knew about Cheyenne’s plan, and was probably actively supporting it. Couldn’t any of these men control their wives?
Worth had had enough. Somebody had to save Elizabeth from Cheyenne’s clutches, and apparently no one else had the good sense to stop his out-of-control sister. Cheyenne ought to have better sense. Elizabeth had been a widow for barely more than a year. She wasn’t interested in finding another husband.
Stalking over to the group of three, Worth muttered a greeting to the baby-faced bartender and said, “Jimbo wants his mother.” He took Elizabeth’s arm in a firm grip and hauled her away.
He didn’t care if they all knew it was a lie. The last time he’d seen Jamie, the little boy had been happily playing with the other children under the watchful gaze of several women.
“I apologize for my sister’s bad taste,” he said tersely, stopping out of everyone else’s earshot.
Elizabeth gave him an amused look. “What’s so bad about it? I think the lawyer’s awfully good-looking. He’s divorced, but he keeps in very close contact with his daughter. He loves kids.”
Worth snorted in disgust. “He lives in Aspen and his daughter lives in Chicago and he sees her maybe one week a year. He actually told you he loves kids?”
“Of course not. Cheyenne did.”
“I used to give my sister credit for having some smarts,” he said grimly.
“The gentleman who works for Thomas is fascinating,” Elizabeth continued, as if Worth had any interest whatsoever in the man. “Thomas has two hotels in New York City, and that man is next in line to manage the small, intimate one on Central Park. Your rancher friend is very nice, but all he talks about is horses.”
“It is unbelievably insensitive of my sister to shove eligible bachelors down your throat before you are ready. If anything happened to Thomas, she’d shoot anyone who suggested what she needed was a husband to take his place.”
Elizabeth stared at him. “You think Cheyenne’s trying to find me a husband?” Her voice rang with astonishment.
“Welcome to the family,” he said ungraciously, annoyed with her failure to recognize Cheyenne’s heavy-handed matchmaking. Jamie could have figured out what was going on. “She’s finally accepted I’m off-limits, and she’s married off her sisters, so you’re all that’s left.”
Elizabeth dissolved into laughter. Worth saw nothing humorous about the situation. He glared at her. Which caused her to laugh harder. Crossing his arms in front of his chest, he waited.
The fact that he wasn’t laughing with her finally penetrated Elizabeth’s thick skull. “Not me,” she gasped. “You.”
“Don’t be an idiot. She hasn’t introduced me to a single woman this afternoon.”
Elizabeth hiccupped. “That’s because she’s coming at you from a different direction.”
“You’re talking hogwash.”
She shook her head, her eyes brimming with silent laughter. “I can’t believe you didn’t see it coming. It’s brilliant.”
Worth gave her a blank look.
“She started by putting eligible women your way. You countered with me. She told me you were using me. You blocked that move by having me admit to being blackmailed. After thinking that over, since she’s not the least bit worried you’ll actually carry out whatever threats you’ve made to me, she’s bombarding me with men.”
Elizabeth’s patient explanation which explained nothing set his teeth on edge. “Exactly how did you reach the ridiculous conclusion that her fixing you up has anything to do with me?”
“Don’t you get it? If she finds someone for me, you’ll have to quit pretending you’re already taken. Even if she doesn’t find someon
e, she hopes to distract and entertain me. Either way, you’ll be left defenseless. You have to admit, it’s a masterful plan. No wonder Cheyenne scares you. She’s a genius.”
Perhaps she’d gone a little far with her praise. The way Worth’s mouth thinned with annoyance suggested he didn’t share Elizabeth’s admiration of Cheyenne’s strategy. He frowned across the yard at his sister, then turned back to Elizabeth, a thoughtful expression on his face. “You’re close, but wrong. Cheyenne isn’t trying to get you out of the way. In her own convoluted way of thinking, she’s decided I’m interested in you, but I don’t know it. So she’s giving me a helpful little shove, trying to make me jealous.” His eyes narrowed. “I think my sister the meddler has just played right into my hands.”
Not liking the way he appeared to be assessing her, Elizabeth shook her head. “I don’t know what you have in mind, but the answer is definitely no.”
“We have a deal,” he reminded her softly.
“I think I’m changing my mind about that.”
“And break my sister’s heart? I don’t think so.” He smiled tenderly at Elizabeth. “You shouldn’t be out here without a hat. You’ll burn.” He trailed a thumb along the top of her cheekbone.
His sudden concern for her welfare made her nervous. And stole the stiffening from her knees. “I’m okay,” she said breathlessly. “I’ll just go sit on the porch in the shade. In a little while.” Her legs refused to obey her command to walk away. She couldn’t move.
Not if he was planning to kiss her.
Worth slid his hand over her shoulder, then pulled her arm around his waist and tucked her snugly against him. The day’s heat lingering in the ranch yard felt cool compared to the warmth radiating from his body.
Elizabeth knew without a doubt he wanted her. His desire sizzled between them.
Then he smiled into her eyes, and an astonishing discovery sent her stomach zipping to her toes. More than lusting after her body, Worth Lassiter cared about her.