Bestselling Authors Collection 2012

by Trish Morey; Day Leclaire; Natalie Anderson; Brenda Jackson; Ann Voss Peterson

  He chuckled. “Trying to send me home to an empty bed isn’t right, either. Why don’t you just accept my proposal? We can get married the same day. No waiting. And then,” he said, leaning closer to begin nibbling around her mouth, “we can sleep under the same roof that night. Just think about that.”

  Bella moaned against the onslaught of his mouth on hers. She was thinking about it and could just imagine it. Oh, what a night that would be. But then she also had to think about what would happen if he got tired of her like her father had eventually gotten tired of her mother. The way her mother had gotten tired of her father. What if he approached her about wanting an open marriage? What if he told her after the first year that he wanted a divorce and she’d gotten attached to him? She could just imagine the heartbreak she would feel.

  “Bella?”

  She glanced up at him. “Yes?”

  Jason Westmoreland was such a handsome man that it made her heart ache. And at the same time he made parts of her sizzle in desire so thick you could cut it with a knife. She thought his features were flawless and he had to have the most irresistible pair of lips born to any man. Staring at his mouth pushed her to recall the way their tongues would entangle in his mouth while they mated them like crazy. It didn’t take much to wonder how things would be between them in the bedroom. But she knew as tempting as it was, there was more to a marriage than just great sex. But could she really ask for more from a marriage of convenience?

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay tonight? I could sleep on the sofa.”

  She shook her head. Even that would be too close for comfort for her. “No, Jason, I’ll be fine. Go home.”

  “Not before I do this,” he said, leaning down and capturing her mouth with his. She didn’t have a problem offering him what he wanted and he proved he didn’t have a problem taking it. He kissed her deeply, thoroughly and with no reservations about making her feel wanted, needed and desired. She could definitely feel heat radiating from his body to hers and wasn’t put off by it. Instead it ignited passion within her so acute she had to fight to keep a level head or risk the kiss taking them places she wasn’t ready to go.

  Moments later she was the one who broke off the kiss. Desperately needing to breathe, she inhaled a deep breath. Jason just simply stood there staring and waiting, as if he was ready to go another round.

  Bella knew she disappointed him when she took a step back. “Good night, Jason.”

  His lips curved into a too-sexy smile. “Tell me one thing that will be good about it once I walk out that door.”

  She really wasn’t sure what she could say to that and in those cases she’d always been told it was better not to say anything at all. Instead she repeated herself while turning the knob on the door to open it. “Good night, Jason.

  He leaned in, brushed a kiss across her lips and whispered, “Good night, Bella.”

  Bella wasn’t sure what brought her awake during the middle of the night. Glancing over at the clock on her nightstand she saw it was two in the morning. She was restless. She was hot. And she was definitely still bothered. She hadn’t known just spending time with a man could put a woman in such an erotic state.

  Sliding out of bed she slipped into her robe and house shoes. A full moon was in the sky and its light spread into the room. She was surprised by how easily sleep had come to her at first. But that had been a few hours ago and now she was wide-awake.

  She moved over to the windows to look out. Under the moon-crested sky she could see the shape of the mountains in their majestic splendor. At night they were just as overpowering as they were in the daylight.

  She was about to move away from the window when she happened to glance down below and saw a truck parked in her yard. She frowned and pressed her face closer to the window to make out just whose vehicle was parked in her yard and frowned when she recognized the vehicle was Jason’s.

  What was his truck doing in her yard at two in the morning? Was he in it?

  She rushed downstairs. He couldn’t be in a truck in front of her house at two in the morning. What would Marvin think? What would the police officers cruising the area think? His family?

  When she made it to the living room she slowly opened the door and slipped out. She then released a disgusted sigh when she saw he was sitting in the truck. He had put his seat in a reclining position, but that had to be uncomfortable for him.

  As if he’d been sleeping with one eye open and another one closed, he came awake when she rounded the truck and tapped on his window. He slowly tilted his Stetson back from covering his eyes. “Yes, Bella?”

  She opened her mouth to speak and then closed it. If she thought he was a handsome man before then he was even more now with the shadow covering his jaw. There was just something ultrasexy about a man who hadn’t shaved.

  She fought her attention away from his jaw back to his gaze. “What are you doing here? Why did you come back?”

  “I never left.”

  She blinked. “You never left? You mean to tell me you’ve been out here in the car since I walked you to the door?”

  He smiled that sexy smile. “Yes, I’ve been here since you walked me to the door.”

  “But why?”

  “To protect you.”

  That simple statement suddenly took the wind out of her sail for just a moment. Merely a moment. That was all the time she needed to be reminded that no one had tried truly protecting her before. She’d always considered her parents’ antics more in the line of controlling than protecting.

  She then recovered and remembered why he couldn’t sit out here protecting her. “But you can’t sit out here, Jason. It’s not proper. What will your family think if any of them see your car parked in front of my house at this hour? What would those policemen think? What would—”

  “Honestly, Bella, I really don’t give a royal damn what anyone thinks. I refuse to let you stay here without being close by to make sure you’re okay. You didn’t want me to sleep in the barn so this is where I am and where I will stay.”

  She frowned. “You’re being difficult.”

  “No, I’m being a man looking out for the woman I want. Now go back inside and lock the door behind you. You interrupted my sleep.”

  She stared at him for a long moment and then said, “Fine, you win. Come on inside.”

  He stared back at her. “That wasn’t what this was about, Bella. I recognize the fact just as much as you do that we don’t need to be under the same roof alone. I’m fine with being out here tonight.”

  “Well, I’m not fine with it.”

  “Sorry about that but there’s nothing I can do about it.”

  She glared at him and seeing he was determined to be stubborn, she threw up her hands before going back into the house, closing the door behind her.

  Jason heard the lock click in place and swore he could also hear her fuming all the way up the stairs. She could fume all she wanted but he wasn’t leaving. He had been sitting out there for the past four hours thinking, and the more he thought the more he realized something vital to him. And it was something he could not deny or ignore. He had fallen in love with Bella. And accepting how he felt gave his proposal much more meaning than what he’d presented to her. Now he fully understood why Derringer had acted so strangely while courting Lucia.

  He had dated women in the past but had never loved any of them. He’d known better than to do so after that fiasco with Mona Cardington in high school. He’d admitted he loved her and when a new guy moved to town weeks later she had dumped him like a hot potato. That had been years ago but the pain he’d felt that day had been real and at seventeen it had been what had kept him from loving another woman.

  And now he had fallen head over heels in love with a Southern belle and for the time being would keep how he felt to himself.

  An hour later Bella lay in bed staring up at the ceiling, still inwardly fuming. How dare Jason put her in such a compromising position? No one would think he was sleep
ing in the truck. People were going to assume they were lovers and he was sleeping in her bed, lying with her between silken sheets with their limbs entwined and mouths fused while making hot, passionate and steamy love.

  Her thighs began to quiver and the juncture between her legs began to ache just thinking of how it would probably be if they were to share a bed. He would stroke her senseless with his fingers in her most intimate spot first, taking his time to get her primed and ready for the next stage of what he would do to her.

  She shifted to her side and held her legs tightly together, hoping the ache would go away. She’d never craved a man before and now she was craving Jason something fierce, more so than ever since he’d tasted her there. All she had to do was close her eyes and remember being stretched out on her kitchen table with his head between her legs and how he had lapped her into sweet oblivion. The memories sent jolts of electricity throughout her body, making the tips of her breasts feel sensitive against her nightgown.

  And the man causing her so much torment and pleasure was downstairs sleeping in his truck just to keep her safe. She couldn’t help but be touched that he would do such a thing. He had given up a nice comfortable bed and was sleeping in a position that couldn’t be relaxing with his hat over his eyes to shield the brightness of the lights around her yard. Why? Was protecting her that important to him?

  If it was, then why?

  Deep down she knew the reason and it stemmed from him wanting her land and Hercules. He had been upfront about it from the beginning. She had respected him for it and for accepting the decision was hers to make. So, in other words, he wasn’t really protecting her per se but merely protecting his interest, or what he hoped to be his interest. She figured such a thing made sense but…

  Would accepting the proposal Jason placed on the table be in her best interest? Did she have a choice if she wanted the hold lifted on her trust fund? Was being legally bound to Jason as his wife for a minimum of a year something she wanted? What about sleeping under the same roof with him and sharing his bed—she’d accepted they would be synonymous—be in her best interest? Was it what she wanted to do, knowing in a year’s time he could walk away without looking back? Knowing after that time he would be free to marry someone else? Free to make love to someone else the same way he’d make love to her?

  And then there was the question of who was responsible for throwing the rock inside her house. Why was someone trying to scare her off? Although she doubted it, could it be her parents’ doing to get her to run back home?

  She yawned when she felt sleep coming down on her. Although she regretted Jason was sleeping in his truck, she knew she could sleep a lot more peacefully knowing he was the one protecting her.

  Bella woke to the sound of someone knocking on her door and discovered it was morning. She quickly eased out of bed and slid into her bathrobe and bedroom shoes to head downstairs.

  “I’m coming!” she called out, rushing to the door. She glanced out the peephole and saw it was Jason. Her heart began beating fast and furiously in her chest at the sight of him, handsome and unshaven with his Stetson low on his brow. Mercy!

  Taking a deep breath she opened the door. “Good morning, Jason.”

  “Good morning, Bella. I wanted to let you know I’m leaving to go home and freshen up, but Riley is here.”

  “Your brother Riley?” she asked, looking over his shoulder to see the truck parked next to his and the man sitting inside. Riley threw up his hand in a wave which she returned. She recalled meeting him that night at dinner. Jason was older than Riley by two and a half years.

  “Yes, my brother Riley.”

  She was confused. “Why is he here?”

  “Because I’m going home to freshen up.” He tilted his head and smiled at her. “Are you awake yet?”

  “Yes, I’m awake and I know you said you’re going home to change but why does Riley have to be here? It’s not like I need a bodyguard or something. A rock got thrown through my window, Jason. Not a scud missile.”

  He merely kept smiling at her while leaning in her doorway. And then he said, “Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you look in the morning?”

  She stood there and stared at him. Not ready for him to change the subject and definitely not prepared for him to say something so nice about how she looked. She could definitely return the favor and ask, had anyone ever told him how handsome he looked in the morning. However, she was certain a number of women already had.

  So she answered him honestly. “No one has ever told me that.”

  “Then let me go on record as being your first.”

  She drew in a deep breath. He didn’t say “the” first but had said “your” first. He had made it personal and exclusive. She wondered what he would think to know she had drifted off to sleep last night with images of him flittering through her mind. Memories of his mouth on her probably elicited pleasurable sighs from her even while she slept.

  “Doesn’t Riley have to go to work today?” she asked, remembering when he’d mentioned that Riley worked for Blue Ridge Management. She’d even seen his name on one of the doors when they’d exited from the elevator on the fortieth floor.

  “Yes, but he’ll leave whenever I get back.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “And what about you? Don’t you have horses to breed or train?”

  “Your safety is more important to me.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  He lifted a brow. “You don’t believe me? Even after I spent the entire night in my truck?”

  “You were protecting your interest.”

  “And that’s definitely you, sweetheart.”

  Don’t even go there. Bella figured it was definitely time to end this conversation. If she engaged in chatter with him too much longer he would be convincing her that everything he was saying was true.

  “You will have an answer for me in four days, right, Bella?”

  “That’s my plan.”

  “Good. I’ll be back by the time you’re dressed and we can do breakfast with Dillon and Pam, and then I want to show you what I do for a living.”

  Before she could respond he leaned in and kissed her on the lips. “See you in an hour. And wear your riding attire.”

  She sucked in a deep breath and watched as he walked off the porch to his truck to drive away. The man was definitely something else. She cast a quick glance to where Riley sat in his own truck sipping a cup of coffee. There was no doubt in her mind Riley had seen his brother kiss her, and she could only imagine what he was thinking.

  Deciding the least she could do was invite him in, she called out to him. “You’re welcome to come inside, Riley,” she said, smiling broadly at him.

  The smile he returned was just as expansive as he leaned his head slightly out the truck’s window and said, “Thanks, but Jason warned me not to. I’m fine.”

  Jason warned him not to? Of course he was just joking, although he looked dead serious.

  Instead of questioning him about it, she nodded, closed the door and headed back upstairs. As she entered her bedroom she couldn’t ignore the excitement she felt about riding with Jason and checking out his horse training business.

  Jason had grabbed his Stetson off the rack and was about to head out the door when his cell phone rang. He pulled it off his belt and saw it was Dillon.

  “Yes, Dil?”

  “Pam wanted me to call and verify that you and Bella are coming for breakfast.”

  Jason smiled. “Yes, we’ll be there. In fact I’m about to saddle up one of the mares. I thought we’d ride over on horseback. We can enjoy the sights along the way.”

  “That’s a good idea. Everything’s okay at her place?”

  “Yes, so far so good. The sheriff has increased the patrols around Bella’s house and I appreciate it. Thank him the next time the two of you shoot pool together.”

  Dillon chuckled. “I will. And just so you know, I like Bella. She has a lot of class.”

  Jaso
n smiled. That meant a lot coming from his older brother. While growing up he’d always thought Dillon was smart with a good head on his shoulders. Jason’s admiration increased when Dillon had worked hard to keep the family together.

  “And thanks, Dillon.”

  “For what?”

  “For being you. For being there when all of us needed you to be. For doing what you knew Mom and Dad, as well as Uncle Thomas and Aunt Susan would have wanted you to do.”

  “You don’t have to thank me, Jason.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  Dillon didn’t say anything for a moment. “Then you’re welcome. Now don’t keep us waiting with Bella. We won’t start breakfast until the two of you get here. At least all of us except Denver. He wakes up hungry. Pam has fed him already,” Dillon said.

  Jason couldn’t help but smile, and not for the first time, as he thought of one day having a son of his own. Being around Denver had the tendency to put such thoughts into his head. He enjoyed his nephew immensely.

  “We’ll get there in good time, I promise,” he said before clicking off the phone.

  Bella glanced down at her riding attire and smiled. She wanted to be ready when Jason returned.

  Grabbing her hat off the rack she placed it on her head and opened the door to step outside on the porch. Riley had gotten out of the truck and was leaning against it. He glanced over at her and smiled.

  “Ready to go riding I see,” he said.

  “Yes, Jason told me to be ready. We’re having breakfast with Dillon and Pam.”

  “Yes, I had planned to have breakfast with them as well but I have a meeting at the office.”

  Bella nodded. “You enjoy working inside?”

  Riley chuckled. “Yes, I’ll leave the horses, dirt and grime to Jason. He’s always liked being outdoors. When he worked at Blue Ridge I knew it was just a matter of time before wanderlust got ahold of him. He’s good with horses, so are Zane and Derringer. Joining in with the Montana Westmorelands in that horse business was great for them.”