One Wedding Night...

by Shirley Rogers

  She sighed deeply. “We should have picked one up while we were in San Luis. No one there would have known us.”

  Russ pushed the gas pedal and slowly started the truck moving again. “Do you want to go back to San Luis now?” he asked, glancing at his watch. It was afternoon, and they really needed to get back to the ranch.

  “We don’t have time. There’s a lot to do this afternoon,” she said, thinking they’d have to work hard and fast just to get everything done before sunset.

  “Yeah,” Russ agreed as they approached the wood-and-iron sign stating they were on McCall land. He turned the truck onto a side road and continued up the hillside leading to the main house.

  “We’ll just have to get one as soon as possible. Maybe I can get away in a couple of days,” she said as they passed over a small ridge. They drove by the narrow airstrip and hangar designed for the Cessna plane that Jake and Catherine had taken when they’d left for their honeymoon.

  Russ steered the truck behind his quarters and stopped it, letting the engine idle to keep the air-conditioning going. “I guess we’d better get to work,” he commented, realizing that he wasn’t really anxious to be relieved of Lynn’s company.

  Lynn favored him with a look that told him she had other plans. “You don’t think I’m gonna walk into the house by myself, do you?” she demanded.

  Shrugging and looking confused, Russ replied, “What are you talkin’ about?”

  Lynn exhaled, and her bangs flew upward. “This ring is what I’m talking about,” she informed him, shaking her hand in his face. Her voice sounded cynical.

  Russ stared at her. When she didn’t go on, he prompted, “What about it?”

  “Men!” Lynn huffed, and opened her door. She got out as Russ killed the engine and joined her.

  Looking at a loss, Russ stared at her, his face blank. “What?”

  “Oh, just forget it.” She walked away from him, muttering something under her breath about the male gender and their lack of intelligence.

  “Wait a minute!” Russ called, catching her by the arm and pulling her around to face him. Her momentum carried her into his embrace. He slipped his arms around her and held her so she couldn’t move. “What are you trying to say?” he asked, sounding dumb-founded.

  “Never mind,” she replied not looking at him, stubbornly refusing to enlighten him. “Let me go.”

  “Not yet,” he told her, though he was thinking that was exactly what he should do. He needed to let her go before he did something stupid—like kiss her. Feeling her against him, smelling her, made him want to do more than hold her. Russ worked to get his thoughts under control. “What’s the problem?”

  Taking a deep breath, Lynn lifted her face to his. “Do you know what’s going to happen when I walk in that door?”

  Russ shook his head.

  “Ashley’s going to be all over me, fussing over the ring and this whole engagement mess.” She didn’t want to contend with her sister-in-law’s excitement alone. Thank goodness Catherine’s younger sister, Bethany, had already left, as well. That was one less person she’d have to face.

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah, oh.”

  “You’re right. I should have thought about it. We’re in this together so I’ll go up to the house with you,” he told her. He let her go, but took her hand. “C’mon.”

  Lynn tried to pull away from him as they started toward the house, but he tightened his hold. Crossing the dusty yard, they headed for the house.

  Ashley met them as they came in the door. Her face lit with excitement, and she rushed toward them. Lynn didn’t even try to pretend why. She was getting good at this pretending thing. Fixing a smile on her face wide enough to show her straight white teeth, she lifted her hand and showed her sister-in-law the ring.

  “Oh, it’s beautiful!” Ashley hugged them both, her eyes bright with enthusiasm.

  As she continued to fuss over the ring, Lynn tried to move away from Russ, but he put his arm around her, playing the part of her fiancé, making it seem all too real.

  “I’m just so happy for you!” Ashley exclaimed, oblivious of the tension between Lynn and Russ.

  “Thank you,” Lynn said, trying her best to sound as if she meant it. She darted a look at Russ. She resented that he looked relaxed when she felt as if someone had a gun in her back.

  “Well, now you’re gonna have to start thinking about a date.”

  Lynn and Russ stared at each other. “We’re discussing it,” Russ said quickly, not giving Lynn a chance to speak.

  “Great! Just don’t take too long. A wedding takes a while to plan.” She smiled brightly at Lynn. “I know you’ll want it to be perfect.”

  Lynn nodded and gave Ashley the happy smile she was expecting. “Um, I’ve got a couple of things to do,” she said, turning toward Russ with a look of pure distress. “I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

  “Sure.” Russ was aware of Ashley watching them. Thinking it would look odd if he just walked away from Lynn, he thought he’d better kiss her to keep up the pretense. Even as he made the decision, he was anxious for the taste of her. “I’ll see you in a few minutes,” he told her, lowering his head and pulling her closer.

  Caught off guard, Lynn looked startled when she realized his intention. But with Ashley watching them, she had no choice but to lift her lips to Russ’s and accept his kiss. As his mouth descended, her breath caught with anticipation.

  Expecting a brief touching of their lips, Lynn wasn’t prepared when Russ slid his hand behind her neck and held her still as their mouths met. Her hands went to his chest and rested there, trembling slightly. The pressure of his hand might have brought her to him, but the desire to be kissed by him kept her there, made her ache for more.

  Before she knew it, he was stepping away and letting her go. Lynn struggled for her balance, and as if sensing her need for help, Russ rested his hand behind her back, then intimately caressed her before he moved away. Without another word, he turned and walked out.

  He was losing his mind.

  Russ removed the saddle from the horse he’d been working with and carried it into the barn. He’d recently purchased the horse with the idea of starting his own livestock. While normally the horses he worked with grazed in a pasture, Russ wanted to keep this one in a stall for a few days. Surrounded by the acrid odor of hay and manure, he shouldn’t have been cognizant of Lynn’s scent, but he smelled her the moment she followed him into the barn and led the horse to a stall.

  It had been a hectic, yet strange week. He watched her as she removed the halter from the horse and stepped back to close the latch. Russ was becoming attuned to her every mood—the way she became animated and excited when something pleased her, the way her brows dipped into a soft frown when she was concentrating, her quiet manner when something was bothering her.

  Like now.

  She’d said little to him all morning. Not that they’d engaged in much more than necessary conversation since the day they’d gone to pick out the ring. Knowing that they’d draw suspicion from Ashley and Ryder if they didn’t appear to be getting along, Russ figured he’d better see what was bothering her.

  “Something wrong?” he asked, watching her.

  She shrugged, then gave the horse a stroke on the bridge of his nose.

  Russ walked over to her and touched her shoulder. She stepped away from him as if she didn’t want his hands on her. His lips twisting with irritation, he pinned her against the stall with his hands on either side of her on the railing.

  “Maybe you’d better tell me what’s botherin’ you,” he said, annoyed by her distant demeanor. She was driving him crazy! It had been a week since he’d touched her, and he found working with her tested his will to keep his hands off of her. Dipping his head, he forced her to look at him.

  “I’m just tired,” she answered evasively. Lynn knew it sounded more like an excuse than the truth. She hoped Russ didn’t push her. Even though they’d been intimate and she’d tol
d him about wanting to start her own horse farm, she wasn’t really used to sharing her thoughts with him. The past few days between them had been tense, both of them keeping to their own company as much as possible without causing suspicion. Her desire to remain distant seemed at war with a part of her that wanted to feel his mouth on hers again.

  “It’s more than that,” Russ said knowingly, stepping closer.

  Lynn lifted her face and stared into his eyes. “It’s been a busy week, that’s all,” she insisted, finding it hard to breathe with him so near. She chewed on her lip with her teeth. When she realized he wasn’t going to give up, she felt heat rise to her cheeks. “Okay. I haven’t had a chance to get to San Luis. I wanted to get that…um…you know.”

  “Yeah, I know,” he admitted, and he was just as frustrated. It had been on his mind, too. It was one thing to sleep with her, to steal her innocence. Though Ryder had accepted it when Russ had promised he’d marry Lynn, he wasn’t sure what her brother would have to say if his little sister turned up pregnant. “Look, it’ll be okay. I’m planning to go into San Luis tomorrow afternoon with Ryder to meet a client. Maybe I can get one while I’m there.”

  Lynn stared directly at him, and her mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding.” Her lips quirked up into a smile. “You’re gonna buy one and bring it back?”

  Nodding, Russ tried to keep his own lips from twitching. This had to be the most obscure conversation he’d ever had. “Well, I’m not exactly excited about the idea, but I think I can get the chore done.” His gaze traveled to her mouth, then again to her baby blue eyes. “You’re gonna have to give me an idea of what to look for though. It’s not like I’ve done it before.”

  Lynn tucked that piece of information away in her mind as she lifted her foot and propped the heel of her boot against the stall. “You shouldn’t have any trouble. It’s not hard to figure out. It should be in the pharmacy section of any big discount store. If you go into a drugstore, though, look around in the area for birth control.” Catching a vivid mental picture of Russ roaming the aisles looking for a pregnancy test, she chuckled. “But I’m wondering, how are you gonna accomplish that task with Ryder along?”

  Russ shook his head. “Damned if I know,” he admitted, watching her tongue as it slipped out of her mouth and licked her lip. He felt the bottom half of his body stir. He wondered if she had any idea of what that did to him. If she kept it up, he was gonna have to taste her.

  Ryder walked in at that moment, followed by a tabby cat that scampered behind a bale of hay. Russ turned toward him, his movement bringing his body into contact with Lynn’s. When she started to move away, he put his hand on her hip, keeping her next to him.

  Grinning, Ryder winked at them from across the barn as he disappeared into the tack room. He came out with some gauze pads and some antibiotic ointment. “You two aren’t gonna get any work done like that,” he told them, a big grin on his face.

  “We were just talking,” Lynn retorted, aware that her body felt as if it was on fire. Though she wanted to move away from Russ, her feet just weren’t obeying. His heat seeped into her, stirring her awareness of him. Without thinking about it, she lifted her hand and placed it along his stomach. The muscles in his abdomen tightened in response to the intimate gesture, and the awareness between them intensified.

  “Yeah, right. Ashley and I talk just like that sometimes,” Ryder quipped, clearly amused at catching them in an intimate embrace. He strolled out of the barn whistling.

  Still holding Lynn next to him, Russ turned toward her. The barn fell silent except for the occasional stirring of the horses. Despite his promise to himself to keep his desire for Lynn in check, Russ felt his self-control slipping. Her mouth was so damn tempting.

  To hell with his promise to himself, he decided, feeling reckless. What could one kiss hurt? His heart was still under lock and key. As long as he let it end with a kiss…

  Raising his hand, he cupped Lynn’s face and lifted it. Before she had a chance to protest, which he didn’t want to give her, he swooped down and claimed her lips. They were soft and warm and, hell, everything he remembered. An ache stirred in his chest, then slowly traveled lower to his belly. When she didn’t pull away, he slipped his arms around her, bringing her more into his embrace. She felt delicate and soft, all woman.

  He groaned his satisfaction as she moved her hand over his ribs, sliding it around his side, aligning her body with his. Her breasts grazed his chest, fueling his desire to have more of her. He darted his tongue into her mouth, urging her to open for him, to give him full access to her depths. She made a tiny sound of pleasure in her throat, and that was all it took for him to seek more, demand more.

  As she opened her mouth, he deepened the kiss and groaned with satisfaction as his tongue found hers. His hand slid from her back to her waist, then languidly up her rib cage and hovered near her breast. As if hungering for his touch, she arched toward him, pressing closer, moving against him, encouraging him.

  His hips pinned her against the stall door, and she lifted her leg. Russ gathered her closer, his hands going to her bottom and lifting her firmly against him, their clothing a barrier that added friction to their passion.

  He groaned again as her palms caressed his back, then moved lower to his hips, then lower still, and she pulled him against her.

  Knowing he couldn’t take her was painful agony. Forgetting where they were, he sought the snap of her jeans. Tugging at it, it popped open, and he slid his hands inside and cupped her buttocks. Her skin was like warm silk. Just touching her made his blood race in his veins.

  “Easy, honey,” he said, knowing he needed to stop himself before things got any more out of control.

  His voice caused her to open her eyes, and her haze cleared almost instantly. She tried to push away from him, her breathing ragged. Russ went still, wishing the moment didn’t have to end. He wanted her more now than ever.

  “Damn,” he whispered. “I shouldn’t have let things get out of hand. I’m sorry.” Hearing voices in the distance, he quickly set her away from him. “Better get yourself together,” he told her quickly, then turned away, blocking her from view as she straightened her clothing. After a moment, she moved around him and looked at him. Her cheeks were warm and rosy. His gaze slid down her body, then traveled back to her face.

  “It’s okay,” he told her, sucking in a hard breath. But he wasn’t. He was aching, hurting for her. He started to touch her again, but stopped himself as one of the hands joined them in the barn.

  Hell.

  Six

  Lynn glanced out the window of the ranch office just in time to see the black pickup come to a complete stop near the bunkhouse. Her heart skipped a beat. Russ was back from San Luis! She hadn’t seen him since their encounter in the barn yesterday. Her face grew hot just thinking about the way she’d come apart in his arms. What was happening to her? She didn’t want or need this complication in her life. Aware that she had little choice but to admit to herself that her emotions were increasingly at risk where Russ was concerned, Lynn trembled.

  Her physical attraction to him was going to be difficult to control if she wasn’t careful. Was it even possible for her to continue being near him without wanting him to make love to her? He’d shown a heck of a lot more willpower yesterday than she had, that was for sure. Or maybe it wasn’t willpower. Maybe he didn’t really want her, and he’d just been amusing himself. He hadn’t even tried to take what had happened between them to completion.

  She watched as Ryder and Russ got out of the truck. They stood for a few minutes talking, then parted company. Her heartbeat quickened as she watched Russ unload some things from the back of the pickup, then he disappeared inside his quarters.

  Had he had a chance to get the pregnancy test? Lynn couldn’t tell a thing from the bags that he’d carried in, but, oh, she hoped so. She wanted the issue of pregnancy settled. Then she and Russ could figure a way to get out of their pretend engagement.

 
The sooner that was solved, the sooner she could begin to distance herself from him. Despite his abrupt manner and his obstinate opinion of how their problem should be handled, she was actually starting to like him.

  And that scared her to death.

  She didn’t want to like Russ. And she didn’t want to be attracted to him. She looked down at her hand, graced by the beautiful ring Russ had bought her. Though she knew in her heart it was for nothing more than show, a tiny, feminine part of her wondered what it would feel like if it stood for something more.

  Russ Logan, she was learning, was an incredible man with many facets to his personality. Once his mind was made up, he stood by his decisions. He was also honorable and protective, putting her well-being ahead of his own.

  Unable to stand waiting to find out if he’d had a chance to pick up the pregnancy test, she decided to go and ask him. Just as she was about to look away, she saw Russ come back outside and walk into the barn. Thinking she’d catch up with him, she rushed from the room, nearly bumping into her pregnant sister-in-law.

  “Oops, sorry, Ashley. Are you all right?” Lynn asked, stepping around her.

  Ashley looked at her curiously. “Yes, but where are you headed in such a hurry?”

  “Um, just outside.” She avoided Ashley’s direct gaze, focusing instead on her swollen belly.

  “Oh. Well, do you have a few minutes? I was wondering if you and Russ had settled on a date for the wedding yet. It’s been over a week since we found out about you two, and you haven’t said a word.”

  She didn’t have to say that it wasn’t normally in Lynn’s character to keep to her own confidence. Lynn was well-known for being an extrovert. Around the McCall household, it was a rare occurrence when she didn’t speak her mind. “Actually no, we haven’t settled that.” Lynn stopped herself from divulging more information than she wanted.

  “But you’ve talked about it, right?” Ashley pressed.

  “A little.” Lynn crossed her fingers behind her back, and she edged a tiny bit closer to the door.