Libby was surprised at how quickly her little ladylike hand uncoiled from her proper stance and unerringly slapped his handsome face, only inches from hers. The noise it made was like a gunshot, and he flinched as he stepped back, his own hand going automatically to his cheek.
“You’re right, Mr. Diamond. I’m not in love with Carlton Ridgeway. The most I had to look forward to was a scrap of respectability—if not for myself, then for my parents. Now, that, too, is gone. So, the only choice is to go forward from this point and—and make the best of things between us. But I will not be used, any more than I have been already, Mr. Diamond.”
“Nick,” he corrected unthinkingly. “And we—can get an annulment, if that’s what you want.”
Libby’s smile held all the promise and danger that was stored in the reckless wildness of her spirit.
“I wouldn’t dream of disappointing you so, Nick,” she said sweetly. “No, we’ll make our dreams come true together,” she continued. “A home of our own, filled with children and, of course, true love.”
His lips quirked at her words. “That sounds pretty damn good to me, Libby. Uh…you do know what makes babies, don’t you?”
Though she only had a vague idea of how it was done, she wouldn’t give him the upper hand. She nodded sagely. “Oh, yes. And I’m looking forward to it.”
As if he knew her secret, Nick Diamond had the audacity to laugh aloud at that. Her face burned.
“I believe you’ll enjoy it more with me than you would have with Ridgeway.”
She moistened her lips and tried to settle the frantic pounding her heart had begun. “Well, then. Perhaps we should—start—immediately. With our family. Our baby.”
Nick stood silent as she floundered. Finally, he said, “Let’s have some dinner first, shall we? I’ll have the bellboy lay a fire for us so we’ll be comfortable when we come back from eating. You’ll need your strength for tonight…when the ‘baby making’ begins. I have a hell of an appetite—for good food and…good sex,” he added wickedly.
Libby couldn’t help the gasp that seemed to draw in the air of the entire room. For him to say that word to her—to make it sound so wicked, yet so…exciting…
He cocked an eyebrow at her, then shook his head, laughing again.
It was all she could do to gather her bravado about her and mutter, “As do I, Mr. Diamond. As do I.”
****
Libby’s false courage seemed to wax and wane, Nick thought, as he sat across from her over a dinner of tender beefsteak, mashed potatoes, and gravy.
A small corner table in an anteroom of the downstairs dining area near one of the large fireplaces was a perfect setting to take their meal. They would be able to speak of private things between them, yet people could see them together as the happily married couple.
Nick watched as Libby took a delicate bite of the steak he’d ordered for her. “Good?” he asked.
“Yes, it is.” She smiled at him. “I’ve only had steak one time. Papa believed paying for a meal like this was sinful.”
“Why’s that?” Nick sipped his wine.
Libby looked down. “I suppose he believed that money should go to the church.”
“So…money spent for pleasurable things is sinful?”
Libby’s lips curved upward. “It’s not my belief, but, yes.” She nodded at her wine glass. “This is dreadfully sinful.”
Nick’s heart twisted. Libby must have been raised in an austere home, but she seemed to keep a spark of rebellion in her soul that would not be defeated. Nor did he want to quash it. Instead, he found he wanted to encourage her determination and independence. And he wanted to give her all kinds of “sinfully wonderful” things.
“Libby—”
As if she sensed that he was about to say something he might regret, she quickly rushed on. “Oh, Papa always saw to it that Mama and I had all the necessities of life. We never wanted for anything in that way.”
There was longing in her voice that she didn’t even recognize. But Nick heard the wishful tone that spoke of a deep want for more than needs to be met, even if the occasion was a rare one.
He understood it, because he’d had it taken away from him—by Dawson Ridgeway, Carlton’s scheming father.
Nick thought of the happy days he and his brothers had shared growing up at the Double D. There had been plenty of hard work, but lots of good times, as well. The memories filtered into his consciousness now, with Libby’s words. He’d gotten his own pony when he turned six, though he’d been riding with his father since before he could walk. A necessity, for a rancher’s son, but what a thrilling moment that had been for him. Had Libby ever had something she wanted—anything that hadn’t been completely necessary?
“If you could have anything in the world, what would it be, Libby D.?”
She smiled. “Why do you call me that?”
He swirled the last of his wine in his glass. “Liberty Dawn, right?”
She nodded. “Yes, but it sounds so…intimate sometimes—the way you say it.”
He gave her a slow grin. “Well, darlin’, that’s what marriage is…a whole bunch of intimate. There’s that word again.”
She cleared her throat. “Yes, I suppose you’re right.” Her brows furrowed. “Anything in the world?”
Nick nodded, feeling an odd sense of anticipation as he waited for her answer. Would she confide in him? Or would she laugh it off?
“I—” She looked away.
“Too sinful to wish for something that isn’t necessary?”
She shot him a quick glance, but didn’t rise to the bait. Instead, she laid her fork and knife down. “I want to be happy. Truly happy. I want to be loved and cherished—they aren’t always the same thing, you know.” She toyed with her fork. “I want to have children with a man I love, who loves me—and make a home—an honestly happy home.”
“With penny candy for the kids, and picnics at the riverbank—”
“Yes.” She nodded eagerly.
“Maybe buy them a pony to learn to ride, and travel some with them—”
“My cousin in Boston traveled to New York City just last year.”
Libby’s voice cut Nick’s heart with the mixture of yearning to do such a thing, all the while trying to be happy for someone else who made the trip Libby so longed for.
“Sweet Lord, Libby—it sounds like you’ve got all kinds of guilty pleasures stored up in your dreams,” he murmured.
She nodded her head. “Oh, yes, I do, Nick. I have a million wicked, sinful ways I’d love to live my life. But one thing I’ve always wanted to do more than anything else is to—”
He waited for her to continue, but she broke off and sank her teeth into her delectable lower lip, refusing to continue.
“Is to—what?”
She shook her head, tears filling her eyes.
“Ah, Libby…There’s nothing wrong with wishes and wants, honey. I’ve got a few of my own.”
She dabbed at her eyes with her napkin. “You do?”
“You think I’ve got everything I want in my life right now? Think there’s nothing that I haven’t done that maybe I’d like to do?”
“I guess I believed since you’re a man, those things are more reachable for you than for me.” She shook her head, then looked up to meet his eyes again. “But that’s not always true, I suppose. No one has everything they’ve always dreamed of, do they?”
“No.” He reached across the table and took her hand. “But Libby, if you’ll let me, I promise you, I’ll—”
****
“How charming.” Carlton Ridgeway’s voice echoed through the cozy atmosphere, chilling Libby’s heart like the winter frost.
Nick released her fingers, half-turning his chair back toward the wall. He gave Ridgeway a faint grin, as two of Ridgeway’s men came to stand beside the cattle baron, their hands close to their guns.
“You know, Ridgeway, most people would have enough manners to leave a newlywed couple in peace when
they’re sharing their nuptial dinner.”
Ridgeway sneered. “Most people wouldn’t steal another man’s fiancée at the altar. I didn’t even realize you were back in town.”
He glanced at Libby, and it registered with her how twisted and ugly anger made his features.
“You must’ve worked fast to get this little whore into your bed—”
Before the words were out of his mouth, Nick leapt from his chair and took him to the floor. The two henchmen drew their guns.
Libby came to her feet quickly. Dear Lord, they had planned this! They were going to kill Nick. But if she screamed, she might break his concentration and Carlton might gain the advantage.
“Huh-uh,” a calm male voice stated from the entrance. “Drop ’em, boys. That’s hardly fair, is it?”
Libby’s head came up swiftly, and the two men slowly dropped their weapons on the floor with a clatter.
The man who had gotten the drop on them stood, almost casually, by the right wall of the entryway.
Libby’s gaze was drawn back to the two combatants as they rolled and cursed on the floor. A knife appeared, held in Ridgeway’s grasp, but Nick’s hand quickly wrapped around Ridgeway’s grip.
There was a muffled curse as Nick hit Ridgeway’s wrist sharply on the floor, finally numbing his fingers enough to make him relinquish his hold. The knife skittered across the floor.
Libby shot the man at the door a beseeching look. “Do something!”
He grinned, and in that moment, she recognized him as Jake Diamond, the youngest of Nick’s brothers. “Shoot him, you mean?”
“Yes! Something!”
“Which one of ’em should I put out of misery?”
Before she spoke, she clamped her lips shut. He was joking, at her expense, of course. She would not say either of their names.
“Put an end to it!” she pleaded instead.
“Yes, ma’am. My brother’s been a sore spot with me lately anyhow…” He took careful aim.
“No! Not Nick!” she gasped.
In the next instant, Nick had the knife in his hand and held tightly under Ridgeway’s throat.
“I’ll do it, you son of a bitch.”
“I know,” Ridgeway muttered. “You’ve won this round, but watch your back, Diamond. The Double D is mine now, and I don’t plan to give it up.”
“But you will, Ridgeway. It’s only a matter of time.”
Ridgeway’s face twisted in disgust. “Could you remove yourself from my person? You seem to be—ah—bleeding on my waistcoat.”
“Stay clear of me, Ridgeway.” Nick stood lithely, still turned away from Libby and Jake.
But Jake gave a muttered oath and stood straighter, his attention captured by something Libby couldn’t see.
“What is it?” she whispered.
He spared her a quick glance. “He’s hurt. Your wedding night may have to wait.”
****
As Nick’s brother escorted Ridgeway and his hired guns out the door of the hotel restaurant, Nick turned slowly to face Libby.
Blood stained the front of his shirt, just below his ribs on the right side.
She gave a muted cry of dismay and hurried to him. “Nick!”
“Hey.” He let her hug him, but was careful not to touch her with his bloody hands. The crowd that had gathered at the entryway broke up, and in a moment, Jake came back through the door.
He gave a low whistle as his eyes met Nick’s over Libby’s head. “You need the doc?”
Nick shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
Libby looked up at him. “Oh, Nick, please. Let Doc Lattimer have a look. What could it hurt?”
“I’ll go get him,” Jake said, turning for the doorway.
“Let’s go on upstairs and wait,” Libby said, “so you can lie down.” She gave him a faint smile. “You’re outnumbered in this. I don’t want to be a widow on my wedding night.”
****
There was no way Nick could’ve refused her when she’d said that. And now, he lay on the bed that had been turned back by the staff in anticipation of their night of wedded bliss. The fire burned in the small fireplace across the room, taking the winter chill from the air.
Libby, practical Libby, had hurried to put a towel down on the bed to protect it from the blood that flowed from the cut Ridgeway had given him. She’d pulled his boots off, carefully putting them beside the bed.
Then she’d sent for hot water, more towels, and a pint of whiskey to be brought up.
Nick watched as she poured some of the fresh water from the pitcher into the basin on their wash stand and dipped a clean cloth in it, then wrung it out.
She came to sit beside him on the bed, careful not to jostle him. He wouldn’t have felt it if she had. His thoughts never strayed far from the relief in her eyes and the spontaneous hug she’d given him as Carlton Ridgeway was being shown the door.
She had run to him. Not to Ridgeway. And she’d done it with no thought.
She carefully wiped the blood away from his forehead where the ring Ridgeway wore on his left hand had split the skin. Laying the rag aside, she began to unbutton his shirt. His skin tingled with pleasure, in spite of the pain of the knife wound. Maybe it was a little deeper than he’d first believed.
But as Libby’s gentle fingers skimmed his chest, he knew no hurt in the world would be great enough to keep him from having her tonight.
The minute she realized she was undressing him, her fingers slowed, then stopped. She raised her eyes to his, and his heart nearly came to a halt at the look of uncertainty he saw in her face.
“Don’t stop,” he said roughly, and she colored as the words dangled between them in ambiguous innuendo.
“Libby…” Nick barely managed to breathe her name. He wanted to reach out and pull her down to him, to kiss her again as he had earlier in their wedding ceremony. But he would not touch her—not with Carlton Ridgeway’s blood on his battered knuckles and his own on his palms.
She gently slipped the next button through the buttonhole, her knuckle grazing his navel. He flinched and drew his breath in sharply.
“Did I hurt you?” Her eyes were wide and blue as the summer sky. He felt like he was looking up into heaven.
He managed to shake his head, giving her a reassuring half-smile.
“No—I just—Libby, I want you so damn bad I can hardly stand it.” The words were out before he could stop them.
She moved to the next button without saying a word. Her hands were cool against his heated flesh. Awkwardly, he held his arms away from her and the bed, his self-control at the breaking point.
“Does ‘wanting’ mean your heart pounds, and—” she broke off and met his dark gaze as her fingers worked at the last button holding his shirt together.
“Your chest aches with it…your lips burn—”
“Because they need to be kissed…” She moved closer to him, and he closed his eyes as her exploring lips delicately touched his, as if she was afraid she might hurt him.
He grinned and she lifted her mouth briefly to whisper, “What?”
“You don’t have to worry, Libby D. I kept my mouth out of Ridgeway’s reach. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
She smiled. “I was afraid I was doing it wrong. Kissing, I mean.”
“No, Lib. You couldn’t ever do that wrong. Not with me.”
Just then, there was a quick tap on the door.
Nick reached for the .45 on the nightstand. “Unlock it, Libby.”
She rose quickly, turning the key in the lock. Doc Lattimer came into their room, followed by Jake. The doctor placed his bag on the chaise at the end of the bed.
He gave Libby a quick glance, then looked at Nick. “Bad timing, eh? Sorry to interrupt.”
“Doctor, I—” Libby started to explain, but the doctor ignored her, turning to Nick.
“Well, Nick, what kind of trouble are you in this time?” His gray brows came together in a scowl. Not waiting for a response, he pu
t on his stethoscope and Jake pulled up a chair for him to sit in beside Nick as he placed the end of the stethoscope on Nick’s chest.
“I ’magine it’s still beatin’, doc,” Jake teased. “He’s lost some blood, though, and that won’t do on his wedding night.”
“Jacob, I’ve been seeing to your brother for many a year—off and on.” Lattimer took the earpieces out of his ears and shot Jake a quick glance. “He’s one of those men who would keep pushing on even if his heart had quit. He’s that stubborn—but surely, I don’t have to tell you that, do I? After all, you’re a Diamond, too. ”
With practiced movements, he checked the cut, his expression giving none of his thoughts away.
“Bad?” Nick asked on a sharp intake of air.
“Eh…it’s pretty deep at one end,” the doctor answered absently as he began to purify the wound. He took out a needle and thread and prepared it for stitching. “Needs some stitches,” he said, pushing the needle into Nick’s skin, and drawing the thread through. “We’ll get it taken care of, though. Nothing to be worried about, as long as you keep it clean and don’t do too much…pull it open as it’s healing…” He spoke between stitches.
Nick tried to breathe slowly and carefully. He felt Libby’s hand on his forehead with the cool cloth, then she took his fingers in hers. He was bloody…dirty…
“Libby…”
“Shh. Do you think a little blood is going to stop me from being here with you?”
“My hands’re bloody—”
“It’s all right. We’ll clean up, here in a bit…both of us.”
The soft, soothing words comforted him as nothing else could have. She wasn’t making a fuss—just giving him something to hold on to.
The needle pricked deeply again, and Nick’s jaw clenched.
“Jesus, Doc, maybe you need to give him some ether—”
“Jacob, I am almost finished. If you can’t stand the heat, kindly vacate the proverbial kitchen, will you? But please, no more blathering.”
Libby bit her lip, glancing up at Jake who stood behind the doctor.
Nick cracked his eyelids open enough to watch the play of emotions on Libby’s features. Her honey-gold hair framed her face. Her blue eyes were wide with worry, and her teeth were sunk deeply into that full lower lip…he already loved the way she kissed him. What would tonight be like…with her?
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