"You said your parents didn"t like that idea?"
"My mother and my stepfather believed I should hide my degree under a bushel basket, play tennis, and attend charity functions."
"Is that what Bentley wanted you to do, too?"
"I"m not sure what he wanted me to do. It seems I"m not a very good judge of men or their motives."
Her tone, as well as the underlying meaning in her words, made Reed want to shake her or kiss her senseless. To keep himself from doing either, he went to the closet in the bedroom and took out a sheet and a pillow. Then he unfolded the sofa bed.
Standing, Mallory took her sketch pad and went into the bedroom.
He heard her moving around in there, then her footsteps as she went into the bathroom. After he lay on the sofa bed, he turned out the light on the end table. Unfortunately for him, he glanced toward the bedroom when he heard her come out of the bathroom and saw her outlined by the glow of her bedside lamp-every delectable curve was evident under her nightgown.
Swearing under his breath, he turned in the other direction, plumped his pillow, and knew this was going to be a very long night.
When Mallory awakened the following morning after a restless night, all too conscious that Reed had lain practically naked out on the sofa bed, she knew he wasn"t in the cabin. Some sixth sense told her when he was close and when he wasn"t. Sliding out of bed, she pulled on a robe, belted it, and went out to the kitchen. There was a note on the table.
Mallory- I"m at Cruz Perez"s ranch this morning, working with him. Stay in the cabin with the door locked. I"ll be back around noon. If you need anything, Cruz"s number is on the refrigerator.
Reed Though she breathed a sigh of relief at Reed"s absence, she missed his presence. It didn"t make any sense.
After she brushed her teeth and showered, she dressed and again sat at the table with her sketch pad, doodling, making a diagram of the cabin, filling in blank walls and empty s.p.a.ces. She jotted down colors that would be the most striking and types of art she would use to decorate. When the door opened and Reed came in, she was surprised at how the time had flown. As he hung his hat on the rack, she saw his jeans were dusty and his shirt damp with sweat. His gaze swept over her shorts and blouse, the same outfit she"d worn last evening.
"I thought I"d give you a little time to yourself this morning," he said.
"I appreciate that," she returned politely.
He frowned. "Rosita and Ruben have invited us to an early Sunday dinner. Are you interested?"
"Are you?" she asked.
He let out an exasperated sigh. "We wouldn"t have to cook, and their house is air-conditioned. Cruz and his wife and Dallas and Maggie will be there, so you won"t have to worry about making conversation with me, though we should try to be cordial. Maybe a little more than cordial so they believe we are married."
The phone rang. Since she was closer to it, she picked it up, glad for the interruption. But at her "h.e.l.lo?" she heard an all-too-familiar voice.
"Mallory," Winston said. "Are you feeling better?"
Remembering the scene in the motel parking lot in Reno, she gripped the phone tighter. "I was feeling just fine until you tried to kidnap me."
"I know you saw it that way," he said placatingly, "but you have to understand the position I was in. I"m a man of stature in San Francisco, Mallory. How do you think I felt being stood up at the altar and left to explain where you were? Wouldn"t any man be angry?"
"You still had no right to try to force me into the car with you."
Silence met her. "I still want to marry you, Mallory. No other woman has ever been as important to me as you are."
Maybe because she could see Winston more clearly now, she heard the manipulation in his voice. He would do or say anything to get what he wanted and maybe more than that if he had to. She glanced at Reed. "I"m already married, Winston."
"You married Reed Fortune as some sort of rebellion. I can forgive you that, Mallory. I can also give you time if that"s what you need. I want you to think about the life we could share here in San Francisco and, when you"re ready, I"ll be here waiting for you."
If she"d thought Winston was going to give up, she"d been wrong. "Winston, it"s not going to happen."
As if he didn"t hear her, he continued. "I can be a very patient man, Mallory. Give me a call any time, day or night, and I"ll come for you."
"Winston-"
"Think about it, Mallory. Think about us. I"ll be in touch."
Before she could make the point that he shouldn"t bother, he hung up.
She didn"t want to admit it, but she feared Winston Bentley IV, and if she"d thought she could end this marriage to Reed before Dawson returned, she"d been wrong.
"He"s not going to give up, is he?" Reed asked.
"No." She tried to keep her fear out of her voice, but she wasn"t sure she"d managed it. "I guess we"ll have to play at being married a little bit longer."
"It doesn"t feel like playing," Reed said wryly.
The tension from last night as well as the knowledge of his fiancee still haunted her. "Look, Reed, if there"s something you want to say-"
"There"s something I"d like to do," he returned, stepping closer to her.
The silver glints in his eyes had been there the night they"d met. She remembered his kiss, the feel of his arms around her, and she stood perfectly still so he wouldn"t guess how his words excited her.
They stared at each other for a few long moments and then Reed spun away. "I"m going to change, then we can go."
As he went into the bedroom, she sagged against the wall and realized she couldn"t go on denying that she wanted to taste his kiss again, no matter why he"d married her.
Sunday afternoon and evening at the Perez house pa.s.sed pleasantly...yet it was unsettling whenever Mallory"s gaze met Reed"s...whenever they pretended to be newlyweds as he casually draped his arm across her shoulders or around her waist. For most of the afternoon, the men watched a baseball game while the women sat in the kitchen and talked. Mallory enjoyed herself immensely just listening to the anecdotes of being part of a large family. After a light supper, she mentioned to Rosita that she needed to learn to cook. Rosita insisted she take along one of her favorite cookbooks and told Mallory if she had any questions, she should call her. It had been an enjoyable day.
But later Sunday evening, as Mallory and Reed readied themselves for bed, the tension between them was tauter than the night before.
Reed rose at 5:00 a.m. Monday morning and Mallory pretended to be asleep as he dressed in the bathroom, then left the cabin. Before they"d turned in, he"d told her he"d be working at the Double Crown for the day. She sketched a little, and made tuna salad sandwiches for them for supper. That had been easy enough, and at least she didn"t have to worry about burning something on the stove. The silence between them during the meal was awkward, though, and after she cleaned up the dishes, she sat on the patio in the garden and read until darkness chased her inside. She found Reed working on a laptop computer, but he turned in early, as did she. Mallory was well aware that he hadn"t fallen asleep right away-she could hear the squeak of the springs in the sofa bed each time he turned.
By Tuesday afternoon, she was going stir crazy and when she saw her car pull up outside, she almost cheered. As a lanky cowboy got out and came up the walk, she opened the screen door and gave him a big smile.
"h.e.l.lo, ma"am. Over at the Double Crown, they told me you"d be waiting for these." He dangled the keys in his fingers and handed them to her.
"Thank you so much, Mr.-"
"Conroy. Matt Conroy. Reed said you were in my place when you were in Reno."
"The Golden Spur."
"Right."
"I didn"t expect you until tonight or tomorrow."
He shrugged. "I have a friend in New Mexico. I stopped there a few hours to sleep, then trucked on down."
"I"m just so glad you could drive the car here like this. I"ve been lost without it."
"When Reed said he"d pay my expenses down and airfare back, I couldn"t refuse. It"s given me a chance to spend a few days with my family and friends."
She didn"t like the idea that Reed had taken care of all the expenses. "Are you sure I don"t owe you anything?"
"Not a thing, ma"am. But I wouldn"t mind using your phone to call my brother. He"s going to pick me up."
"Where do you need to go?" she asked.
"Just about five miles down the main road."
"If you show me how to get there, I"ll be glad to take you," she said, eager to get out.
"You don"t have to do that."
"I want to. I"d like to look around a little. I haven"t been away from here since I got here. Just let me get my purse and we can go."
Mallory had been blessed with a good sense of direction. After she dropped Matt off at his brother"s house, she used the map of San Antonio she had stored in her glove compartment in preparation for her visit with Dawson to explore. She almost took the road to Leather Bucket. The town with the unique name teased her curiosity. But instead she took the highway that led to San Antonio and couldn"t help but turn into a mall. She had the urge to brighten up the cabin since she was spending so much time there, and knew it wouldn"t take much. She really shouldn"t spend any of her nest egg, yet she somehow felt she needed to prove to Reed that she was as capable in interior design as he was in training horses. Within an hour and a half, she"d filled the back seat of her sports car with bags and parcels, tied the trunk down over a very small secretary she could take to an apartment or an office, and headed back to the Double Crown.
Pulling into the gravel drive beside the cabin, she saw Reed"s truck already parked there. Surprised that he was back before she was, she grabbed two of the bags from the back seat and hurried inside.
But he met her not far from the door, his expression thunderous. "Where in the blue blazes have you been?"
She didn"t like his tone or his authoritative stance. "Not that I have to answer to you for every minute of my time, but I took Matt to his brother"s and then went shopping."
"Don"t you have an ounce of sense in that head of yours? Didn"t you hear a word Ryan said Sat.u.r.day night? He specifically warned you about going anywhere alone."
She"d completely forgotten about the warning or the threat. Excited about having her car again, thrilled to explore an area where she"d be living, anxious to just get away for a while and get some perspective on everything, she"d forgotten about Clint Lockhart. But Reed"s att.i.tude made her feel defensive, not apologetic. "I wasn"t alone. I left with Matt Conroy, and Clint Lockhart wouldn"t know me from one of the prison guards."
"Clint Lockhart makes it his business to know everything about the Fortunes, whether he"s in jail or out of it, and I"ll bet the same goes for Winston Bentley. I want your promise that you won"t go driving around alone again."
Annoyed because he could possibly be right, but hating the feeling that he was treating her like a teenager who didn"t know what was good for her, she started for the bedroom with the packages. "I"m not promising you anything."
He caught her arm, his grip hard. "I"ll put a bodyguard on you if I have to."
She tried to wrench away, but he wouldn"t release her. "You wouldn"t dare."
"Try me." His blue eyes were icy, his jaw set.
"Let me go."
"Do you really want me to let you go, Mallory?"
She could see the desire in his eyes and knew it was probably mirrored in hers. All she had to do was to stop pulling away, and he"d kiss her. All she had to do was to lean closer to him. But then she thought of his fiancee and of something her own mother had confided in her once. She"d be a fool if she let Reed Fortune kiss her again.
This time when she wrenched away, he released her, but he still looked angry.
"Think about what I said, Mallory. If you don"t want someone watching you twenty-four hours a day, we"d better come to an understanding."
Then he left the cabin, letting the screen door bang behind him. A few minutes later she heard the truck start up and he backed off the gravel, his wheels spinning. She didn"t know where he was headed or when he"d be back, but she knew he would be back because he was that kind of man.
Shaken by the pa.s.sion as much as the anger she"d felt emanating from Reed, she brought in the rest of the packages from her car, as well as the small desk, determined to do something constructive instead of worrying about what Reed thought of her or when he"d be back.
She"d spent very little really in the broader scheme of things. The desk fit perfectly to the right of the door, with a straw weaving she"d found on a bargain table hanging above it. The Native American throw rugs she"d bought at a stand in the mall"s parking lot added the first bright splashes of color in front of the sofa, under the table, and beside the bed. Two different size ceramic pots in the same shade of green as the sofa and the bolder colors of the rugs she positioned to one side of the rough-hewn mantel. She balanced them with a white pillar candle atop a black wrought-iron stand on the other side. The cabin started looking more like a home when she threw an inexpensive throw patterned with horses over the back of the sofa and laid two multicolored handwoven place mats on the table. Then she set a terra-cotta pot with dried flowers in the center of the table and plumped two throw pillows in natural shades from tan to deep brown, arranging one on either end of the sofa. She"d wanted to look for curtains but hadn"t taken measurements before she"d left.
She hadn"t thought before she"d left.
With a sigh she set a ceramic replica of a mare and her foal on the coffee table. She"d done a lot with a little and was pleased. If Reed didn"t like it, she"d take it all with her.
It was dark when Reed returned, and she"d turned on all the lamps so he could see the changes she"d made. But when he unlocked the door and came inside, he took one look around and didn"t comment on any of them.
So that"s the way he was going to be. Fine. It didn"t matter to her.
She sat at the table reading a magazine about the attractions in San Antonio while he showered. But when he came into the living room in black cotton sleeping shorts and unfolded the sofa, she sneaked a peek at him. His hair was still damp from his shower and lay against the nape of his neck. His tawny chest hair whorled down the middle of his chest and slipped under the band of his shorts. His shoulders and arms were muscled, and his stomach flat. She saw a mark on his back, just above his waist. Was it the Fortune birthmark? But he turned out the lamps, and she took the hint, going into the bathroom to change into her nightgown. Then she sat on the side of the bed and switched off the light.
As she did, she knew she had to tell him something. "Reed?"
There was a pause. "Yes."
"I"ll be more careful. I won"t leave the Double Crown by myself, and I"ll let you know where I go."
Just as she thought he wasn"t going to answer, he did. "Then I guess I won"t have to hire a twenty-four-hour bodyguard for you."
He wasn"t giving an inch. She settled herself into bed, thinking she"d given hers.
An hour later, still awake, she slipped out of bed and softly padded to the kitchen. After she turned on the small light over the counter, she opened the refrigerator door, trying not to make any noise.
But as she reached for the milk carton, Reed"s deep voice carried to her. "I would have brought the desk in for you if you"d asked." Then he added, "The cabin looks homier, Mallory. You did a good job."
Five.
Standing in the archway to the bedroom, Reed watched Mallory. She was as beautiful in sleep as she was the rest of the day. After she"d come out to the kitchen last night, he"d heard her get back into bed and then sensed she had fallen asleep-unlike the past two nights.
He shouldn"t have lost his temper with her yesterday, but when he"d come back and found the cabin empty, fear had gripped him so vigorously he couldn"t shake it loose. She was used to the best money had to offer and the freedom to go with it. She"d lost that freedom for the time being and he sensed her restlessness with it. Or maybe it was just restlessness with him, being married to someone and not really being married.
The urge to slide into the bed beside her, brush her hair from her cheek and kiss her with some of the pent-up desire he felt was so strong that he turned away from her, folded the sofa into place and went into the bathroom.
As he dressed, he tried to ignore his thoughts about the woman sleeping in the bed outside the door. When he"d come home last night and found the cabin more like a home than a stopover point, it had unsettled him. The cabin now looked like a place where two people could start a life! Yet he"d known decorating it had simply been a project to Mallory, to give herself something to do.
Buckling his belt, he decided to grab something at the bunkhouse for breakfast instead of disturbing Mallory by making noise in the kitchen. But when he put his hand on the doork.n.o.b to leave the cabin, a soft, sleepy voice called out to him.
"Reed?"