Protecting The Colton Bride

by Elle James

  “No pressure, right?” Daniel cut a slice of steak and popped it into his mouth, chewing on the food and the information Megan was feeding him. He swallowed. “Your father likes it best when you march to his beat, I take it.”

  “He does. I believe he thinks I’m an adolescent still in need of his protection. I’m surprised he didn’t try to stop me when I moved to Oklahoma. He probably would have if I hadn’t told him I was going out to visit an old college friend. I guess he couldn’t conceive of the idea that I wouldn’t come home.” Megan glanced down at her plate, the food untouched. “I couldn’t stay in California.”

  “Because of your father?”

  “Mostly.”

  Daniel figured there was more to her story than her father’s overbearing ways. When she was ready to tell him, he’d be there to listen.

  They finished their meal in silence, sharing the bottle of wine. The alcohol took the edge off Daniel’s desire and eased the tension between them. When they were done, they brushed their teeth at the double sink in the bathroom. For a moment, Daniel felt as though they were an old married couple, sharing the simple moments of married life. Megan finished before him and left the room.

  When he was ready to call it a night, he walked into the bedroom, fully expecting to see Megan in the bed. It was empty.

  He frowned and went to find her in the sitting room, curled up on the sofa, a pillow beneath her head and the comforter from the bed wrapped around her. She’d closed her eyes, but Daniel could tell she wasn’t asleep.

  “You can have the bed.”

  “I’m fine,” she said and stuck one of her legs out from under the comforter, laying it on top. “Just a little hot.”

  Daniel stared at the long, slender leg as if willing her to cover it. Finally he stepped back and turned for the bedroom door, his rib hurting and a few other aches making themselves known from his tussle with the speeding car. “Good night.”

  “I hope you sleep well,” she called out.

  He could swear he heard a muffled chuckle, but when he turned back, she was lying still, her eyes closed. He must have been imagining the chuckle.

  As he stretched out on the king-size bed, his arm fell over the empty space beside him, and he wished she was filling it. Daniel had to remind himself they were from two completely different worlds, and though she had assimilated well into his, he didn’t belong in hers. The next day would prove that more than he cared to admit. Meeting her parents would help to keep him on track and focused on getting through this ordeal and back to his life at the Lucky C. There he and Megan would go back to being boss and employee, if she even wanted to return with him.

  Daniel couldn’t fall asleep knowing Megan was in the other room. Fear kept him awake—fear that he wouldn’t hear if the door to the suite opened and the attackers returned. After fifteen minutes of straining his ears to hear every movement, he got up, marched into the sitting room and scooped Megan off the sofa.

  “Hey,” she cried. “What are you doing?”

  “Getting a good-night’s sleep.” With her pressed against his body, he doubted that would happen, but he’d rest easier knowing he could protect her if she was in the same room as he was.

  “What if I don’t want to sleep with you?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Put me down. I can walk.”

  He shook his head. “We’re already halfway there,” he said as he entered the bedroom and tossed her on the bed.

  Megan landed with a grunt. “You don’t have to be such a caveman,” she groused, sliding over the mattress to the far side, away from Daniel. “I was perfectly fine in the other room.” She pulled the sheet and blanket up over her arms and chest.

  “Yeah, you might have been all right, but I wasn’t.” He lay down beside her and turned his back to her. “Just go to sleep, will you?”

  “Sure.” The bed moved, the blanket shifted and then her bottom bumped against his. “If that’s what you want.”

  “It is.” He swallowed hard to keep the groan rising in his throat from escaping. Sleep was the last thing on his mind. Making love to Megan was foremost in his thoughts and every nerve in his body.

  A soft snort sounded from the other side of the bed. She knew.

  Daniel gritted his teeth and forced his eyes closed. He’d keep his hands to himself if it killed him. And it likely would.

  For a long time he lay there trying not to feel every move Megan made. Making love to her in the first place had been a big mistake. Now that he knew what it was like to hold her in his arms and thrust deep inside her...

  His member thickened, and he started all over trying to turn off that part of his body. It was a battle he was destined to lose. One he would stay awake into the small hours of the morning fighting.

  The best he could do was think about his bruises and the pain they gave him, along with the terror of seeing that vehicle coming straight at Megan. For the entire day he’d been out with her, he’d sensed something wasn’t right, as if someone was watching them. Every time he’d turned around, no one stood out.

  As he finally drifted off to sleep, Daniel was assailed by a sense of impending doom. The same feeling he’d had the moment before the car’s engine revved and the driver barreled toward him and Megan.

  Chapter 11

  Megan woke before Daniel and slipped into a designer dress she knew was one of her mother’s favorites, hoping to soften the shock of her daughter’s elopement.

  Her mother would protest, but deep down, she cared about Megan. To a fault.

  Frank Talbot was another matter altogether. He’d be furious and ready to call in the lawyers to annul their union. The man was a complete control freak. If the deed wasn’t his idea, it wasn’t worth the legal documents it was written on.

  Megan had to convince him that her marriage was what she wanted and that she loved Daniel with all her heart. Hopefully her father would buy it and leave it at that.

  Megan buckled the strap of her stilettos and stood, teetering. God, she hated heels. She preferred wearing her boots every day instead of the trappings of a debutante. When she’d left California, she’d vowed never to wear high heels again. And here she was, ready to break an ankle climbing in and out of an airplane in them.

  She had to remind herself she was doing all of this for the horses. A thrill of excitement rippled through her at the thought of seeing her beautiful horses again.

  “Do you want to eat breakfast before we go?” Daniel emerged from the bedroom, wearing blue jeans, a crisp white button-down shirt and a brown leather jacket. His dark hair hung longish, nearly to his shoulders, and one errant strand dipped down over his forehead, giving him a roguish flare.

  Megan’s heart fluttered over Daniel Colton. He was a beautiful man with his high cheekbones, rich complexion and eyes so dark a woman could fall into them and never want to come out.

  His sooty brows sank. “Are you okay?”

  Megan shook herself out of her lust-fest over the half-Cherokee man. It was his fault she couldn’t concentrate. She was almost certain that if he’d given in and made love to her last night, she wouldn’t have been so off-kilter now. Focusing on his words, she answered, “I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

  “I also asked if you wanted to have breakfast before we left, or would you prefer to wait until we get to Santa Rosa?”

  “I prefer to wait. My stomach is knotted.”

  Daniel held out his hand. “Everything is going to work according to plan.”

  She laid hers in his. “I hope so.”

  He squeezed gently and then released it. “Let’s go. I can file our flight plan once I get to the airport.”

  “How long is the flight?” Megan asked.

  “An hour and a half.”

  That would put them in around lunchtime. “I’ll call the attorney’s office and
see if we can get in right away.”

  “Good.” He reentered the bedroom and came back out carrying his bag and hers. “Did you sleep all right?”

  She smiled brightly and lied, “I did, thank you. How about you? Did you sleep okay?”

  “Yes.” The dark shadows under his eyes and the firmness of his jaw told a different story. Megan had felt his every move through the night and had chosen to let him suffer as much as she did. She’d been sure to bump up against him on purpose so that he’d be reminded of what he was missing. She’d thought maybe, just maybe, he’d turn over, pull her into his arms and make love to her.

  That hadn’t happened, shaking Megan’s belief that he was as aroused as she had been. But seeing how tired he was gave her a thrill she wouldn’t admit to Daniel.

  He’d have to get over his prejudice against her for her lineage. To her, its only advantage was to provide a little leverage in Daniel’s negotiation with Kennedy Farms.

  It had been a wake-up call to her, reminding her of why she didn’t belong in the fast-moving, big-spending limelight of her family’s wealth and notoriety. Had Chase lived and they had gone through with the wedding, their marriage wouldn’t have lasted an entire year.

  Chase Buchannan was charming and sexy. He lived life in the fast lane. Having grown up the son of a high-powered movie producer, he’d been everywhere and done everything, including drugs and racing. He loved his cars fast and his women faster. Why he’d asked Megan to marry him was a mystery to her.

  She had accepted his proposal to shock her parents. Unfortunately, her desire to shock had backfired. Chase’s connections met with her father’s approval, if not her mother’s. Megan had hoped Chase loved her for herself. Only later did she realize she’d desperately wanted to be loved to the point she would have married a man completely wrong for her. Chase was more in love with living on the edge than he ever was in love with her.

  Megan gathered her purse and followed Daniel out of the hotel room, studying the man who’d offered to marry her to help her save the horses she loved so much.

  If Daniel was as passionate about a woman as he was about his horses, he’d be a man who would love her completely and sacrifice everything to protect her and make her happy.

  He worried that his heritage made him a bad match. In Megan’s view, it made him even more appealing because he had to work hard to prove himself. The boys Megan grew up with tended to be lazy and took everything for granted, including their friends.

  Daniel was as loyal to his friends as he was to his family. If only he could see that he was not inferior stock. His Cherokee blood made him even more appealing to Megan along with his lack of pedigree. He wouldn’t always be targeted by the paparazzi, his life on display for everyone to see and criticize. Married to Daniel, Megan could live her life the way she wanted. The way she’d done for the past four months.

  She loved it and had learned so much from Daniel about breeding horses and caring for the animals and people he loved.

  Daniel hailed a cab that took them to the airport where the Colton plane was parked.

  After a thorough preflight check, he filed his flight plan, loaded their luggage and helped her up into the plane.

  A short taxi on the runway and they were in the air, flying west to face her parents and the attorney with the real marriage certificate for their fake marriage.

  Feeling a little let down by the entire affair, Megan sat silently for the majority of the ride, speaking only when she had a question about the plane’s instruments. She enjoyed the scenery from the small windows, marveling at how close the plane flew to the mountaintops.

  Daniel piloted the craft with skill and confidence. By the time they cleared the Sierra Nevada Mountains and descended into the Santa Rosa Airport, Megan had gone over every possible scenario that could happen when she introduced Daniel to her parents. Her nerves were stretched taut as the landing gear kissed the runway.

  Daniel brought the plane to a halt at one of the general aviation hangars and shut down the engine. He turned to her and smiled. “You look like you’re about to face the firing squad.”

  “I feel like I am.”

  He sighed and held out his hand. “It’ll be all right. The marriage certificate is legal. We’ve consummated the marriage. Your parents can’t undo what’s been done.”

  Megan shook her head. “You don’t know my father. He has the most expensive attorneys with the most clout on retainer. The man can do anything he wants to do.”

  “Except order you around. That’s what I’m for.” He winked at her and reached across to unbuckle her safety harness, his knuckles brushing against her belly, sending flickers of electricity shooting across her body. “Come on. We have an appointment with your grandmother’s attorney. One step at a time will get you through this.”

  Megan held on to his hand when he would have pulled it free. “In case I haven’t told you, thank you for doing this for me. You didn’t have to marry me.”

  “Remember, I’m getting something out of this marriage, too. I should be thanking you.”

  “Don’t thank me until you get Kennedy to agree to sell you the semen for your breeding program.” She let him help her out of the plane and onto the ground, liking the feel of his hand on the small of her back as they caught a shuttle to the rental car companies.

  A half hour later, they were driving away from the airport in a sleek black SUV.

  Megan used her cell phone’s GPS to get them to the office of her grandmother’s attorney, Lloyd Young. A receptionist showed them into a conference room and offered them bottled water or coffee. When they declined, she left.

  An older gentleman with graying temples strode into the room. Megan recognized him. He’d read her grandmother’s will four years ago. He greeted her with a warm handshake. “Megan, it’s good to see you.” He held out his hand to Daniel.

  “Mr. Young, this is Daniel Colton. My husband.” Megan stumbled on the word. It was so new to her.

  Daniel held out his hand and shook the lawyer’s.

  Mr. Young’s brows rose. “This is a surprise.” He grinned and glanced back at Megan. “Congratulations. When was the happy occasion?”

  “Two days ago,” Megan answered. She hooked her arm through Daniel’s.

  The attorney nodded. “I take it you didn’t come to pay a social call.”

  “Not really,” Megan admitted. “I’ve come to claim the trust fund my grandmother left me.”

  The attorney nodded. “Let me check the wording in the will. Seems to me the trust wasn’t released until your thirtieth birthday or until you married, whichever came first.”

  Megan dug in her purse for the marriage certificate and handed it over to the lawyer. “Seems I met the marriage clause first.”

  Mr. Young took the certificate. “I’ll have a copy made and return it to you. Please, make yourselves comfortable while I go over the will. My secretary will see to your needs.”

  “Thank you.” As soon as the attorney left the conference room, Megan’s shoulders sagged. “I hope this doesn’t take too long. I’m sure it’s been four years since Mr. Young looked at that will. I can’t remember the exact wording. I know I had to be married. But I’m not sure there wasn’t another stipulation associated with the trust.”

  “We’ll know soon enough,” Daniel said.

  “Either way, we won’t get the money today. It’s probably tied up in a bank, and I’ll have to sign for it.”

  “Once you have it, you’ll be closer to purchasing your horses from your father.”

  Megan smiled. “I think you’ll like them. They’re good quality stock. Some of the best the Triple Diamond has to offer.”

  “I look forward to seeing them.”

  “If my father and mother let us.” She faced a large painting of Northern California’s craggy
coastline, her stomach as churned up as the sea splashing against the rocky shore.

  “You’re a grown woman. Why would they keep you from them?”

  “My mother still thinks I’m too fragile to be around such large animals. Even though that’s all I’ve done since I moved to Oklahoma.” Megan paced the length of the conference table and paused at the window, staring out at the bright blue sky. “I wish my parents didn’t feel like they have to control me.”

  “No one can control you.” Daniel stepped up behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders, the warmth and firmness helping to steady her nerves. “You’re your own individual, with the right to make your own decisions.”

  She snorted. “Yeah, thus the reason I’m here.”

  Daniel’s hands slid down to her hips and he pulled her back against him, his arms circling her waist. “We’ll get through this. Your horses will not be sold.”

  “I hope you’re right.” She rested her hands over his and leaned against him. Though she valued her independence, she loved how protected she felt in Daniel’s arms. Too bad it was all for show.

  The sound of a man clearing his throat made her jump, and she spun out of Daniel’s arms to face Mr. Young. Heat suffused her cheeks, and she pushed her hair back from her face.

  “I hope I’m not intruding.” The attorney smiled and waved toward the conference table. “I took a moment to read through the wording. It seems you will have access to some of your money immediately upon your marriage, and the rest of the trust fund will be transferred over in full upon the six-month anniversary of your wedding.”

  Megan’s heart dipped into her belly. This part she hadn’t remembered. If she couldn’t get all the money, she might not be able to afford all seven horses. “How much will be released now?”

  “One hundred thousand dollars.” He pointed to the document.

  Megan read it, her chest tightening when she got to the part about being married six months before the remainder of the funds would be released. She couldn’t look up and face Daniel without revealing her tears.