Best of Cowboys Bundle

by Vicki Lewis Thompson, Barbara White Daille, Judy Christenberry, Christine Wenger, Shirley Rogers, Crystal Green, Nina Bruhns, Candance Schuler, Carole Mortimer

  Just as he had never been hers. And still wasn’t.

  Her heart ached.

  Yet, she couldn’t keep from closing her eyes, from cuddling the afghan in her arms closer to her, and from daydreaming. A baby. A family. Gabe…

  “Marissa.”

  “Mmm-hmm?” Drowsily, she responded to his whisper.

  Then she realized he’d muttered her name, not whispered it. And that the word wasn’t a figment of her imagination, but the very real sound of his voice. Her eyes popped open.

  “Gabe!”

  He stood in the living-room entry, leaning against the frame.

  In the two days since their trip to the market…since their kiss, she had seen more of him than in all the days following their wedding combined.

  At this moment, in a manner of speaking, she saw even more.

  Soft lamplight made his day’s growth of beard shimmer, his brown eyes shine. He had pulled his Western shirt out of the waistband of his jeans. Snaps undone, the shirtfront hung open, two panels of stark-white fabric teasing her with a glimpse of tanned skin and a sprinkling of dark hair.

  Her throat tightened, and she sank to the leather couch.

  “You were expecting someone else?” he asked.

  “No. I wasn’t expecting anyone at all. You startled me.” With trembling hands, she shook out the afghan and made a production of folding it into a neat oblong across her lap. “I thought you’d gone upstairs for the night.”

  “I wanted to talk to you about the party tomorrow.”

  Her hands stilled on the afghan. She couldn’t go to a party with him. No matter what agreement they had come to, she wouldn’t make it through socializing with his friends and neighbors for hours, with him standing by her side.

  “At Doc’s,” he continued. “Mrs. G talked about it the other day, remember?”

  She remembered, all right—it was just before their farce in front of his former schoolteacher and a storefront filled with people. His acting so…so “husbandly,” as he had called it. No question—he had his role down pat.

  “Christmas party,” he added now.

  Seeing a way out, she said, “We don’t have any gifts.”

  He shrugged. “Don’t need any. It’s just a potluck.”

  “I don’t have the ingredients for any of my specialties.”

  “So tomorrow morning, you can visit the market again.”

  “I don’t have anything to wear.”

  “Jeans and a shirt.” He raised his arms, indicating his attire. The shirtfront spread apart, giving her an almost full view of his chiseled chest.

  She felt herself blanch. From his suggestion, that was all. “It’s a Christmas party, Gabe. Jeans aren’t appropriate.”

  He rolled his eyes. “City gals.”

  “Meaning what?” She frowned. This wasn’t the first time he’d mentioned something about the city.

  “Always wanting to dress up.”

  “You seemed to like it in Las Vegas.”

  “That was Vegas. This is Dillon, Texas, and out here, we don’t need to go putting on airs.”

  “Putting on—” Standing, she threw down the afghan. “Are you trying to say I’m a snob?” Like her father.

  “No.”

  “Then what? That I’m not good enough?” Lower-class. Like her mother. True as the thought was, the unkindness of it made her wince. “That I won’t fit in with your friends?”

  “Whoa. Easy, now—”

  “I might be a city mouse, Gabe, but I’m as good as any country mouse, any day.”

  “Mouse?” Eyes wide, he stared at her. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “It’s a children’s story. You wouldn’t understand.”

  “You’re right about that.” He shook his head again and began backing out of the doorway. “I’m turning in for the night.”

  “Good.”

  For once, the thought of him going alone to the bed they’d shared months ago didn’t have the power to distract her.

  Exhaling through her teeth, she glared at the empty doorway.

  She hadn’t meant to explode at him, but his sudden attentiveness had made their situation almost unbearable for her during the past two days. Worse, she still had to face meals with him in the company of Warren and the cowboys.

  They barely noticed the interplay between their boss and his wife. Yet Gabe had insisted they stay in their roles.

  And her ability to resist him was weakening.

  Shame burned her cheeks. She had to prove she wouldn’t just give in to any man who showed any interest in her at all.

  Unwanted memories washed over her….

  The years of living with her mother, of being hauled along like baggage, of falling behind in yet another one of her classes as they moved from city to city. Apartment to apartment. As her mother moved from man to man.

  Finally, at sixteen, Marissa had rebelled. After one too many times of locking her bedroom door to keep her mother’s latest boyfriend out, she had taken desperate measures.

  First, the loan of enough money from her mother’s purse to buy herself a bus ticket to New York. Then, her arrival on her father’s doorstep unannounced.

  The money had been her mother’s “gift” from the current boyfriend, who would not have appreciated the irony. The girl whose bedroom door he had been unable to pry open had used him as her means of escape.

  Leaving her mother and the boyfriend behind had been much easier than getting Father to agree to let her move in with him.

  “You’ll have to redeem yourself scholastically, Marissa,” he had said in frozen tones from behind his polished executive desk.

  He looked like an emperor on his throne, with his regal gestures and distant manner. Marissa would live by her father’s rules. She wanted a safe place to live, nothing more. The less she expected, the smaller the disappointment. Life with her mother had taught her that.

  “I’ll catch up, Father,” she promised. “I brought my English grammar book and my—”

  “You will need to develop a good work ethic. A place in one of my restaurant kitchens might suit you.”

  “Oh, yes,” she said, ecstatic at his sudden kindness.

  Although she had envisioned running the restaurant kitchen, the manager gave her the job of peeling vegetables. She had taken on the menial chore gladly, working hard every day in the noisy preparation room off the main kitchen. With money from her first paycheck, she anonymously mailed to her mother the exact amount she had borrowed.

  She also worked relentlessly to meet Father’s standards at the girls’ prep school he sent her to. As the months rolled by, she pulled her grades up to match, then exceed, those of her classmates. She wasn’t sure who was more surprised, Father or herself, when she graduated with honors.

  Then, in the first sign she had seen of his acceptance of her, it was off to college and the top cooking schools in the United States and Europe. A job in his Chicago restaurant. A convention in Las Vegas.

  And a chance meeting with a Texas cowboy, the sexiest man she had ever seen.

  A man she was now married to.

  Gabe’s announcement about the neighborhood Christmas party—about the need to act like newlyweds in front of a roomful of strangers—had set her nerves on edge.

  His reference to her as a city girl had struck a raw place inside her, too. Moving from her mother’s ragtag existence to her father’s world of moneyed luxury had left her feeling she didn’t fit into either setting. Gabe’s unfortunate comment seemed to say this was yet another place she didn’t belong.

  She’d show him.

  She would go to that Christmas party. Would act like the perfect wife. Meet all his friends. And keep herself so busy, she’d barely notice Gabe’s body next to hers all night long.

  Then she’d show him what a city mouse could do. Armed with her fanciest entrées, her most elegant desserts, her white-chocolate-truffles-to-die-for, she’d wow every one of his neighbors.

  She�
�d knock Gabe’s socks—No.

  She’d knock that cowboy right off his hand-tooled, spit-shined, tanned-leather booted heels.

  BRINGING MARISSA to this party wasn’t the best idea he’d ever had.

  From his stance by the buffet table, Gabe took another swig of holiday punch, hoping to soothe his parched throat and ease the tension tightening his jaw. No matter how he tried to stop himself, no matter how many other bodies filled the room, his attention unerringly homed in on one particular body.

  Doc had gone all out on decorations for his annual party, with help from Mrs. G and Delia from the diner. Still, the prettiest thing in the place, to his mind, was Marissa.

  She stood with a group near the Christmas tree. Twinkling lights reflected off her long hair and her sparkly green dress. Her smile lit up the room.

  He frowned. During the past few days, he’d run with his plan and stuck close to her. She hadn’t done anything, said anything, to give him a better handle on her scheme. Except for those crazy notions she’d spouted when he’d invited her to the party.

  He shook his head. He’d never understand women.

  Look at her now. He’d been prepared to act the perfect husband, introduce her around, get her settled in.

  But, since their arrival at Doc’s, she hadn’t needed his help. Heck, the way folks’d all taken to her, she might’ve known them for twenty years. The shyness he’d seen outside the market had disappeared faster than the punch he was guzzling.

  The market. Holding her had felt good. Kissing her had felt even better. For a pretend marriage, it sure as hell seemed real to him. And that’s what had brought him to his senses.

  He wouldn’t let his attraction to a woman run roughshod over his good judgment. Again.

  He’d just keep playing his role, get himself over there right up next to her. But he wouldn’t let her throw another spell over him.

  “Life of the party.” The voice at his elbow made him swing around. His host, Doc Thompson, stood eyeing him.

  “She sure is, isn’t she?” Gabe said.

  Doc laughed. “I was talking about you, son.”

  “You caught me.” He couldn’t help grinning at the man who’d brought him into this world.

  Tall, white haired, and roughly the shape of Santa, Doc favored fancy vests under his medical jacket. Tonight, in keeping with the season, a row of elves paraded across the man’s belly.

  “You know me well enough, Doc. Know I’m never looking to impress anybody.”

  “Except that little gal, maybe?”

  “Hmmph. Can’t make an impression when she won’t stand still.”

  “I reckon I can see what kept her on the move today.” Doc reached for Gabe’s glass to refill it. “She sure fixed up a mess of things, didn’t she? That chicken dish specially hit the spot.”

  Gabe looked down the table at Marissa’s contributions, the casseroles and plates now almost emptied. He couldn’t hold back a burst of pride, though he hated himself for letting it show. Well, hell, it would fit his role, anyhow. “This is only half of it, Doc. The desserts are all lined up in the kitchen.”

  “So Lily Gannett said. Your Marissa sure is one popular lady with her.”

  “Yeah.” And with everyone else at the party. And Warren. And the rest of his employees.

  Doc nodded. “Now, son, you know I’m not one for advising on someone’s personal business—”

  “Ha,” he interrupted. “Doc, you’re a disgrace to your profession, telling such whoppers. Hey, Kev.” Gabe grabbed the suspenders of a young boy who had just hustled past them, bringing him to a halt. “Let me ask you something. Doc here ever tell you what to do when you have a loose tooth?”

  “Sure. He said leave it be. If they fall out on their own, the Tooth Fairy will bring me more money.”

  “Aha. And was Doc right?”

  “Yep.”

  “Thanks, Kev. See you later.”

  The boy scampered off toward a group near the kiddie table.

  Brows raised, Gabe looked again at the man beside him. “Proof positive, Doc. You told me—and every other kid in town—the same story. Giving advice goes along with your white coat. Always has.”

  The older man laughed and shrugged. “Well, don’t you think I’ve earned the right?” He put a hand on Gabe’s shoulder and turned suddenly serious. “Gabe, all I’ve got to say is, after a lifetime taking care of this town, I know just about everybody—and their history, to boot. Including you and yours.”

  “No argument from me there.”

  “Then I hope you’ll take this in the spirit it’s intended. The Christmas spirit, as a matter of fact.” Doc finally handed him his drink. “Don’t let what happened long ago keep you from living your life.”

  Gabe gripped the glass with suddenly sweaty fingers and fought a flash of memory. For a heartbeat, he became a boy Kevin’s age again. A boy who’d climbed onto his daddy’s knee to learn his mama had left him.

  He’d never forget that day. Never forgive her.

  Just as he’d never forgive Marissa.

  He looked at her again, at the way that sparkly green dress skimmed over her, flowed down her flat belly.

  Was she really carrying his child?

  If he knew for certain, he’d know better how to handle the matter. Yes, she was pregnant, and he’d find a way to keep her on the ranch till the baby was born and they could figure things out from there. No, she wasn’t, and he’d kick her off his land for good.

  The thought struck him that there were tests Doc could run that would give him the answers he needed. He turned to his old friend and came a second away from spilling his guts. Then he thought twice.

  He’d swallowed enough pity from the people in this room. He didn’t need any more. He’d just have to wait and see what developed.

  As he’d told Marissa nearly a week ago.

  Uncertainty soured his stomach. His disposition, too.

  “I thought you invited me here for a party, Doc. Now I’m wondering if I should look for a bill in the mail.”

  “No, son, tonight the checkup comes free.” Doc clapped him on the shoulder, then moved away.

  With a glance across the room, he saw Marissa laughing at something one of the women had said.

  After one long, glass-draining gulp of punch, he flicked his left thumb against his wedding band.

  Back at the house, he’d seen the flash of gold on Marissa’s finger and had hightailed it up to his room for his own ring. A prop for the part he had to play.

  It was showtime.

  Chapter Six

  Doc Thompson, their host, had taken Marissa under his wing.

  She liked the older man, from his bright gray eyes and benevolent smile to the group of elves cavorting across his midsection.

  With a sense of old-fashioned charm, he had escorted her into the house. Before she knew it, she had been surrounded by a group of his guests.

  Later, Mrs. Gannett picked up where Doc left off. In her soft, sweet voice, Gabe’s former teacher proceeded to introduce her to anyone who happened by. It seemed that was almost everyone.

  “You’re the hit of the party, my dear,” Mrs. Gannett told her, patting her arm. “Mark my words, the ladies will start lining up at your door for your recipes.”

  Marissa smiled in pleasure. “They’re welcome to them.”

  A rancher’s wife she had met earlier approached them. “’Scuse me, Lily, do you have a minute?” She began talking in a low tone, and Marissa stepped away to give them some privacy.

  The compliments to her cooking thrilled her. So did Gabe’s absence. She hadn’t trusted his intentions for this party one bit.

  Instead of staying glued to her side, as she had feared he would, they had each gone their separate ways upon their arrival. Still, all evening, she had felt his gaze on her, as direct and tangible as a touch.

  Once Doc swept her into the party, she had kept busy enough to ignore the unwelcome urge to seek Gabe out. Until now.

&nbs
p; She spotted him near the buffet table, deep in conversation with Doc and a seven-year-old. She had already met and immediately liked the adorable Kevin Jones and his mother, Sarah.

  Mrs. Gannett touched her arm. “Excuse me, Marissa, I’m wanted in the kitchen.”

  Marissa nodded in farewell. At the nearby children’s table, a squabble broke out. She looked in that direction, wondering if she should intervene. But Sarah Jones was on the scene sorting things out before Marissa could take a step.

  She sighed. If only she could find someone to solve her own problems.

  She risked another fleeting glance toward the buffet table.

  Trouble came loping toward her.

  Gabe’s mouth curved up at one corner. His eyes locked with hers. She wanted to move away but couldn’t convince her feet to cooperate. He came to a stop in front of her.

  “Enjoying your—?” He paused to greet Sarah, who seemed to have settled the dispute among the children. “Hey, Mrs. Jones.”

  “Hey, yourself.”

  “I want you to meet my wife, Marissa. Honey, this is Sarah, an old friend from school.”

  “Friend?” Sarah’s brows shot skyward.

  Gabe laughed. “Sarah’s one of the reasons Mrs. G had me standing in the play yard corner so much.”

  “Punishment he surely deserved,” confided Sarah, a tall, slim woman with sparkling green eyes. “Considering he wouldn’t leave my pigtails alone.” She swept her heavy chestnut braid over her shoulder and pretended to shudder.

  The three of them laughed.

  “Sarah and I have already met,” she informed Gabe.

  “So you know she owns the best bookstore in Dillon?”

  Sarah rolled her eyes. “Gabe, it’s the only bookstore in Dillon. That being said—” she turned to Marissa “—you’re welcome to stop in anytime. No need to buy—just come visit.”

  “Thank you. I’d like that.”

  “Same goes for me.” At the sound of the deep voice from behind her, Marissa turned. Approaching her was the sandy-haired man she had noticed earlier, whose head and shoulders towered above everyone else in the room.