Protecting The Colton Bride

by Elle James

  At the end of the day, they stopped in front of the Bellagio in time for the spectacular musical light show. Daniel slipped his arm around her and she leaned in to him, tired but happy. Their fake honeymoon had been everything she could hope for in a real one. And she’d spent it with the man she was falling madly in love with. Her heart swelled with the last strains of music.

  “Ready to get dinner?” Daniel asked. “Or would you rather go back to the hotel and order room service?”

  Megan didn’t have to think twice. “Room service.” Back in their hotel room, she wouldn’t have to share Daniel with a thousand other people. Even if he didn’t want to be intimate, he would be with her. She would be happy with any scraps he threw her way. But she’d be beyond ecstatic if he carried her back to the bed and made sweet love to her through the night.

  On the walk back to the hotel, the lights of the city shone all around them, neon illuminating the night sky, masking the stars she knew were just beyond the halo of garish brightness. “Though Vegas is fun, I’ll be glad to go home to Oklahoma. I like my nights filled with stars.”

  Daniel reached out and grasped her hand, pulling it through the crook of his arm. “You and me both. Nothing makes me happier than to lie on the ground and stare up at a clear night sky and count the stars until I fall asleep.”

  “My father’s ranch is over fifty miles north of San Francisco, but the lights from the city fade the stars.” She leaned against his shoulder. “I much prefer the nights on the Lucky C.”

  Cars moved past them on the street, and a steady stream of humanity passed them on the still-warm concrete sidewalks.

  Daniel pulled her to a halt at a crosswalk and pressed the button for the pedestrian light. “We can cross here.”

  Their hotel was on the other side of the busy thoroughfare. Just a few more feet before she had Daniel all to herself.

  The light changed and the traffic pulled to a halt, the little walking man figure lighting on the crosswalk sign.

  Megan stepped out on Daniel’s arm, ready to be back in their room, with all the possibilities of how the rest of the evening might go racing through her mind.

  Screeching tires made her turn to glance at one of the cars waiting at the intersection. It jerked forward, the scent of rubber burning against the pavement as whoever was driving floored the accelerator.

  The car careened toward Megan and Daniel.

  People scattered, screaming.

  Daniel shoved her hard, sending her flying out of the way of the oncoming vehicle. She hit the ground and rolled to the side, the tires barely missing her as it raced by.

  A loud thump made her blood run cold. Megan stumbled to her feet, her heart lodged in her throat. “Daniel!” she cried out.

  The vehicle sped on, disappearing into a red sea of taillights. On the ground before her, Daniel lay on his back.

  “Daniel!” Megan rushed forward and fell on her knees on the pavement.

  “I’m okay.” He lifted a hand as if to prove it, though he didn’t get up immediately. “Just bruised my backside. Give me a minute to feel if anything is broken.” Slowly he moved his legs and arms. Finally he sat up.

  People gathered around them even as the light changed to green for the waiting cars.

  “Hey, mister, are you all right?” A woman stepped up to them. “I’m a nurse. You should stay down until an ambulance arrives.” She held a phone to her ear. “I’m calling 9-1-1 now.”

  Daniel was already shaking his head. “No. Don’t. I’m okay. Just a little shaken up.”

  “We saw that car hit you, dude,” a teen said. “I swear he did it on purpose.”

  “Yeah,” another teen said. “If you hadn’t rolled over the hood, you’d be a dead man.”

  Daniel pushed to his feet and gave the teens a wry smile. “Thanks. I think I get the picture.” He hooked Megan’s arm and led her out of the street to the relative safety of the sidewalk.

  “At least go to the hospital and let the ER doctor check you out for a concussion,” Megan urged him.

  The nurse had followed them and stood beside Megan, nodding. “He really should. Sometimes you think you’re okay, but you could have head trauma and intracranial bleeding.”

  Megan’s stomach lurched. “You’re going to the hospital.” She turned to wave down a cab. When one pulled up to the curb, she opened the door and pointed. “Get in.”

  “Really, I’m fine,” Daniel insisted. “I jumped up on the hood. The vehicle didn’t hit me.”

  “You landed on your back and probably hit your head in the fall. Which would explain why you can’t seem to focus enough to get into the cab.” Megan tapped her toe. “Are you going to get in, or are two women going to have to manhandle you into the car?”

  Daniel glanced from Megan to the nurse and back before he raised his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. I’m getting in.”

  The nurse sighed. “Good. Just let a doctor check you out. I’m sure you’re fine, but it doesn’t hurt to have the doctor confirm.”

  Megan turned to the nurse and held out her hand. “Thank you.”

  The nurse smiled and shook her hand with a wink. “Your husband is too cute to lose to a freak accident. Take care.”

  Megan climbed in beside Daniel and told the cab driver to take them to the hospital.

  Daniel sat beside her, rubbing a hand over the back of his head. “We could be ordering room service,” he grumbled.

  “We can still order room service when we get back. They serve 24/7.” Megan scanned his face and body for injuries. Other than a scuffed elbow, he looked fine. “Let me feel the back of your head.”

  He leaned forward. “I’ve got a knot from the fall.”

  “Where?” She leaned close. He captured her hand and guided it to the spot, where she felt a chicken-egg-sized bump. “You did get a bump, poor baby.”

  He removed her hand from his head and used it to pull her close to him. “Mmm, you smell good.”

  “After a day tromping around Vegas, I shouldn’t.”

  “Damn, Megan.” He set her away from him and stared down at her hands. “Your hands are raw.” He leaned back and studied the rest of her, including her skinned knees. “How did you get those?”

  She smiled. “A certain cowboy shoved me out of the way of a speeding car.”

  “Oh, baby, sorry I pushed you too hard.”

  She shook her head. “I’m okay. If you hadn’t pushed me as hard as you did, we would both have been hit. I’m just sorry you took the brunt of that maniac’s bad driving skills.”

  “Good thing we’re going to the hospital. The doctor should be able to help you.”

  “I’ve only got skinned knees and hands. My head didn’t connect to the ground. How did you keep from getting crushed by that car?”

  “I was pretty good on the vault in high school. I planted my hands on the hood of the car and swung my legs to the side. A great vault, but a terrible landing.”

  “You’re alive. That’s what matters.” She wrapped her arms around him, the sound of his body thumping against the metal of the vehicle replaying in her mind. “Wow, you could have been so messed up.”

  He chuckled and winced. “Ouch. Careful how hard you squeeze. I suspect a bruised rib.”

  “Sorry.” She sat up straight and carefully moved away. “What’s happening here? First the attack in our room, now a hit-and-run.”

  Daniel’s lips thinned. “It can’t be a coincidence.”

  Megan shook her head, her hands trembling. “It’s as if one or both of us are being targeted.”

  The cab drove up to the ER entrance. Megan got out and extended her hand to help Daniel.

  He ignored her hand and climbed out on his own. “Thanks, but I really am okay.”

  “If it’s all the same to you
, I’d rather hear the doctor say that.” Megan led him into the hospital and up to the registration desk.

  An hour later, after Daniel had his head scanned and Megan had her knees cleaned and bandaged, they left in another cab. When they arrived back at the hotel, they looked pretty banged up and hurried to their room.

  “You can have the shower first,” Megan offered. “I’ll order room service.”

  “If they come before I’m out of the shower, don’t answer the door,” Daniel warned her.

  Megan’s heart warmed at his concern. “Not everyone is out to get me.”

  “Maybe not, but that’s three near misses in as many days. If you’re not getting a persecution complex by now, I’ll get one for you.” He pointed at her. “Don’t open that door for anyone. I’ll answer it when I get out.”

  “Yes, sir.” Megan popped a smart salute and smiled. “You can answer the door. In the meantime, I’ll call in a dinner order.”

  Daniel entered the bathroom and left the door propped open.

  Megan couldn’t help peeking as he dropped his jeans and shed his shirt.

  He turned, caught her staring and winked. Then he stepped into the shower, closing the curtain between them.

  Megan’s cheeks heated. “Tease!” she called out.

  “Peeping Tom!” he shouted back.

  Still smiling, she lifted the phone and called room service, ordering a couple of steaks and a bottle of wine.

  When she hung up, she entered the bedroom and scrounged through her suitcase for something to wear. She settled on an oversize T-shirt and a pair of shorts. Not exactly a sex goddess outfit, but she wasn’t planning on seducing Daniel after he’d been knocked around.

  Her cell phone rang in the other room. By the time she reached it, it had stopped. Checking the caller ID, she noted it was her parents. Rather than spoil the rest of her evening, she decided not to return the call.

  The choice was taken out of her hands when her phone rang again and startled her enough that she pressed the receive button.

  “Megan?” her mother’s voice sounded in her ear.

  “Hi, Mother.”

  “Why didn’t you answer the first time I rang? Is everything okay?”

  Megan sighed. Her mother worried far too much about her, to the point of obsessing. “I’m fine, Mother.” If fine meant almost being thrown from a horse, having her room broken into and nearly being run over by a crazed driver, she was just dandy.

  “You don’t sound fine. When are you coming home?”

  Her heart thumping against her ribs, Megan took a deep breath and dove in. “As a matter of fact, I’ll be home tomorrow.”

  Her mother gasped. “Tomorrow? Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”

  “I only knew myself today,” she fibbed just a little. She’d known since the day before, but one day’s difference didn’t matter that much.

  “What if I’d had an appointment or a meeting to go to? Fortunately, my calendar is free tomorrow, so I can pick you up from the airport in San Francisco.”

  “I won’t be flying into San Francisco, Mother.” Megan bit her bottom lip and forged on. “I’ll be flying into the airport at Santa Rosa.”

  “In a regional jet?” Her mother had a fear of small aircraft, almost as strong as her fear of her daughter riding horses. “I wish you’d come in something much larger.”

  “I’m flying into Santa Rosa in a four-seater. We want to rent a car from there, so no need to meet us.”

  “A four-seater? Oh, baby, that’s worse than I thought.”

  “I’ll be fine. My pilot is exceptional.”

  “But it’s such a long way from Oklahoma to California in something that small.”

  “I’m not flying directly from Oklahoma, Mother.”

  “You’ll be stopping along the way?”

  “Stopped. We flew into Las Vegas yesterday. We’re flying out tomorrow. I’m not sure what time we’ll be leaving, so don’t wait at the airport for me. I’ll call when we’re on our way out to the Triple Diamond.”

  “Your father won’t be happy to know you’re flying in a death trap.”

  “It’s not a death trap, Mother. I’ll be safer than if I drove out to California.”

  “Oh, dear.” Megan could picture the normally unflappable Josephine Talbot wringing her hands and clutching the phone in a white-knuckle grip.

  She hated worrying her mother, but she hated worse being smothered by her mother’s fears for her. “Mother, my phone battery is about to die.”

  “Charge it. I’m sure your father will want to talk you out of flying tomorrow.”

  “It’s not his decision. I have to go now. The battery light is blinking. Bye, Mother.” She ended the call and turned off her telephone.

  “Your parents?” Daniel asked from the doorway. He had a towel slung over his bare shoulders, and he wore a pair of clean blue jeans and nothing else.

  Megan’s breath caught in her throat, and her belly tightened. The man had no right to look that deliciously sexy. “Yes, that was my mother. She thinks flying in anything less than a 777 is a—how’d she put it?” Megan tapped a finger to her chin. “Ah, yes—death trap.” She smiled up at him. “What do you say to that?”

  “Sounds like she worries about her daughter.” He raised the towel and rubbed it through his dark hair, standing it on end. Then he turned and strode back into the bathroom to deposit the towel. “The shower’s all yours.”

  “Thanks.” She gathered her shirt, shorts and panties. “The steak’s on the way. I’d like to meet with the lawyer in Santa Rosa before we go to my parents’ home. They live farther out.” Megan turned her back to him. “Unzip, please.”

  “Are you always this demanding?”

  “Don’t worry. I won’t demand you do anything you don’t want to.” She glanced over her shoulder, forcing an innocent look. “You do want to unzip my dress, don’t you?” Megan fluttered her lashes for effect.

  Daniel groaned. “Now who’s being the tease?” He unzipped the dress and then slapped her bottom. “Go on. I’m not waiting for you if the food comes before you’re out.”

  “I wouldn’t expect you to.” She marched into the bathroom and purposely left the door open as she pushed the dress off her shoulders, letting it float to the floor around her ankles. When she stepped out of her panties and straightened, naked, she cast a glance toward Daniel.

  “Tease,” he said.

  “Peeping Tom.” Megan winked and stepped into the shower, proud of herself for daring to flaunt her naked body. The cowboy had a huge complex about the difference between his background and hers, and she meant to pick that complex apart and get down to their similarities. She loved horses. Daniel loved horses. She loved seeing him naked. Apparently, Daniel wasn’t immune to seeing her naked. Score one for the debutante.

  Unfortunately, this battle had yet to be won. Tomorrow would be a huge skirmish with her parents. One she hoped they’d come out of unscathed and with her precious horses intact.

  * * *

  Daniel continued to stare at the closed shower curtain even after Megan disappeared behind it. He could imagine the water running over her pale skin, dripping off the tips of her breasts and down to that tuft of hair between her legs. He groaned.

  Megan poked her head around the curtain, exposing a wet breast. “Did you say something?”

  “No.” Daniel choked on his response and turned away from the enticing view, his member hardening beneath the denim of his jeans. How was he supposed to keep his promise to himself and to her when she was so damned beautiful and sexy and, well, hell—Megan was everything a man could want in a woman. Soft skin. Silky, long, strawberry blond hair. A body a model would envy. And she was good with horses, wasn’t afraid to get dirty and loved staring up at the stars at night.


  He glanced out the window of the sitting room at the bright lights of the big city and wished he was back at the Lucky C Ranch in Oklahoma. Life was simpler there, and he didn’t have to worry about cars running over him or his wife.

  Wife.

  He wasn’t used to that word where Megan was concerned. But the more he said it, the better it sounded. And his grandmother’s ring looked beautiful on her hand.

  “It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?” Megan came to stand beside him, wearing a softly worn T-shirt and a pair of jersey knit shorts that hugged her buttocks and thighs like a second skin. Her hair hung halfway down her back in long, straight, damp tresses, a few strands curling as they dried.

  Without makeup and dressed like a college student with bare feet and her bare breasts pressing against the cotton T-shirt, she was even more desirable than in the sheer teddy she’d worn the night before.

  Who was he kidding? She could wear a paper sack and he’d be turned on.

  A knock on the door forced him to focus on something other than the way her distended nipples formed tiny tents in the cotton shirt.

  Daniel grabbed a five from his wallet and hurried to the door.

  A man in a hotel uniform wheeled a cart in with two covered dishes, wineglasses and a shining bucket with a bottle of wine chilling in ice. Daniel tipped the man and held the door as he exited. He closed and locked the door, turning the dead bolt and sliding the chain in place.

  Megan arranged the plate on the bistro table in the corner and smiled across at him. “Ready?”

  He was ready for so much more than food, but he forced himself to take a seat across from her.

  “Did you tell your parents why you were in Vegas?”

  “My mother was more concerned about what I was flying in than why I was in Vegas. I guess it didn’t occur to her I might be eloping. Now, if my father had been the one on the phone, that would have been his first question.”

  “Tell me about your father.”

  “My father is a taciturn man used to getting his way on the ranch and in the boardroom. He doesn’t suffer fools well, and he can tell when someone is blowing smoke. So our stories have to match perfectly, or he’ll figure it out.”