Protecting The Colton Bride

by Elle James

  “We don’t know.” Ryan’s face softened, and he reached out to touch her arm. “We’ll do our best to find out. In the meantime, stick with one of us Coltons. We’ll take care of you.”

  Brett stepped forward. “That’s right. We Coltons take care of our own.”

  “Damn right, we do,” Big J said. “You’re part of the family now that you’re married to Daniel.”

  Daniel’s hand squeezed hers gently. “That’s right. You’re a Colton now.”

  “Yes you are. You’re one of us, Megan.” Brett slid an arm around his pregnant wife.

  Feeling only slightly mollified by the show of Colton support, Megan couldn’t shake the feeling of impending doom. Someone was after her. But would that someone come all the way to Oklahoma to attack her?

  “Come on. You look like you could use some rest.” Daniel scooped her off her feet.

  “I can walk, thank you very much,” she said, her cheeks heating, embarrassed at his masculine manhandling in front of his family.

  Brett grinned. “Yeah, we’re pretty sure she can walk, Daniel.”

  Hannah swatted at her husband’s arm. “Leave Daniel alone. It’s much more romantic to be swept off your feet.” She winked at Megan. “Enjoy it now. When you’re seven months pregnant, it’s a little harder to manage.”

  “What do you mean?” Brett bent and swept Hannah up in his arms. Then he groaned loudly. “Yeah, you’re right. It is a little harder. Packed on a few pounds, sweetheart?”

  Hannah glared at him. “Darn right I have.”

  “And still as beautiful as the day I met you.” Brett kissed her soundly and set her on the couch.

  Megan watched how Brett and Hannah teased each other, kissed and touched. The love shining from their gazes only made Megan’s heart squeeze harder. Safe in Daniel’s arms, she couldn’t help but wish they were as in love as Brett and Hannah.

  Instead of depositing her on the couch in the living room, Daniel carried her up the stairs as if climbing with a full grown woman in his arms was nothing. He pushed open the door to one of the bedrooms and closed it behind him with his foot. They were alone at last. She glanced away from his face, afraid she’d see indifference when what she wanted to see was a love to equal the feelings she had for him.

  Daniel set her on her feet, his hand lingering at the small of her back.

  A little shy at being alone with him, Megan scanned the clean, crisp lines of the room, from the khaki-colored paint on the walls to the gold, tan and antique-blue comforter on the bed. It didn’t say much about the boy he’d been. “No trophies? Pictures from high school? Old guitars?”

  “I didn’t play guitar. I was outside with the horses most of the time.”

  She chuckled. “Big surprise.”

  “My stepmother had this room redecorated as soon as I moved to the cabin. She was glad see me leave her home.”

  “How sad.”

  Daniel shrugged. “You can’t blame Abra for hating me. My father had an affair with his housekeeper and then brought me to live under his roof. What woman would happily take in a child who wasn’t hers?”

  “Like a painful reminder of your father’s indiscretion.” Megan nodded. “I guess I could see her side, but at the same time, it wasn’t your fault Big J had an affair.”

  “No. But Abra couldn’t let it go and accept me in her home.”

  “It must have been uncomfortable for you.” Megan frowned. “We don’t have to stay here if it’s too painful.”

  “Since Abra was attacked by an intruder back in June, and even while she was in a coma, there have been some other minor accidents on the ranch. Because of this, she’s been a little less antagonistic toward me, more vulnerable. I actually think she’d be happy to have more people in the house. She hasn’t felt completely safe since that time.”

  “The Lucky C hasn’t been so lucky lately. You’d think by now the police would have all the incidents tied together.”

  “We thought the hit man after Tracy was the one who attacked Abra, but Ryan assures us the evidence proves otherwise. And that man was caught before the fire.” Daniel’s brow furrowed. “Perhaps we should hire a bodyguard and get you far away from the Lucky C.”

  “No.” Megan rested a hand on Daniel’s chest, liking how solid it was and how safe she felt when she was with him. “I’d rather be closer to you...and the horses.”

  “Good. Because I’d rather you were close, as well. And don’t worry. There are plenty of people around. Hannah’s now here with Brett. Big J isn’t out and about as often. He’s letting my brothers and me run most of the day-to-day operations of the ranch, though he still has a say in the way he likes things.”

  “Still, I’ve already put you out so much. I’d feel better if we were at the cabin.” She also would have felt more relaxed if it were just the two of them. Keeping up the lie would be more difficult the more people she was around.

  He cupped her cheeks in his hands and gazed down into her eyes. “The cabin is too isolated. I can’t leave you alone and risk someone making another attempt to take your life.” When she opened her mouth to protest, he pressed his finger to her lips. “And don’t say it. I know you can take care of yourself, but just this once, let us take care of you.”

  She nodded, finding herself falling into his incredibly dark, bottomless gaze. She shook her head, bringing herself back to the ground. “Do you suppose the intruder in Vegas was the same person to sabotage the plane and poison me?”

  Daniel nodded. “It all makes sense now. When we were in Vegas, the attack seemed like a random event.”

  “Now it doesn’t.” She shivered.

  Daniel’s gaze raked over her. “You should get some rest. You’ve gone through a lot.”

  “I am a little tired.” She glanced at the big bed. “I’d feel better in my own apartment.”

  He dragged a finger along her cheek. “Sorry, sweetheart. We’re married now. It just won’t do to have us sleeping across town from each other.”

  “I suppose not.” She hugged her arms around her middle. “I’m just not comfortable being here.”

  “Would it help if I stayed until you went to sleep?”

  Her lips quirked. “I wouldn’t ask you to.”

  “You’re not asking. I’m offering.” Once again, he swept her up in his arms and carried her across to the bed.

  Megan draped her arm around his neck and sighed. “You’re making a habit of carrying me around.”

  He grinned. “I know. I find that I like it.” He laid her in the middle of the bed and pulled her shoes off her feet, dropping them to the floor. His hands lingered on her ankles, and his nostrils flared.

  A spark of desire lit a flame at her core, and Megan held her breath, praying he’d take her in his arms and make love to her.

  Instead, he toed off his boots and lay on the bed beside her. Pulling her back to his front, he spooned her with his big body. “Sleep,” he said, his voice sounding strained.

  How in the hell was she going to sleep when all she wanted to do was turn in his arms, strip him naked and force him to see her as a desirable woman? Not just his assistant and the woman he’d entered into a bargain with for a marriage of convenience.

  As she lay cocooned in Daniel’s arms, Megan couldn’t help but think this marriage of convenience was anything but convenient. She wanted so much more. If he couldn’t love her, she’d do well to let him go sooner rather than later. The longer she was with him as husband and wife, the harder it would be to let go. To get over him, she’d have to give up her job on the Lucky C and move far away.

  Her hand curled around his where it rested against her belly. God, she didn’t want to let go.

  Chapter 16

  “Ready?” Daniel glanced up at the porch where Megan stood wearing a royal blue dress that hugge
d her curves to perfection. Sleeveless and cinched in the middle with a thick belt, the dress accentuated her narrow waist. The hem came halfway down her long, slender thighs, displaying a healthy amount of her legs while maintaining a conservative appeal.

  The black high heels made her seem even taller than she was, and her beautiful burnished gold hair had been artfully piled on top of her head, exposing her long, graceful neck.

  Daniel’s heart pounded against his ribs as he stared up at the woman he found himself falling deeper and deeper in love with. After he’d brought her home to the main house at the Lucky C Ranch, he’d made it his mission to be there as much as possible and yet to maintain his hands-off approach. He’d given in to his desire to sleep in the same bed with her, but the effort it cost him not to make love to her had nearly been his undoing.

  She had been through enough and was still on the road to recovering from being poisoned. The least he could do was let her sleep.

  Big J appeared behind her with Abra, who was looking better than she had in a long time, her neatly dyed brown hair cupping her chin in a stylish bob. She gave Daniel a hint of a smile and patted Megan’s shoulder in a minimalist hug. “Please do be careful, Megan. I’ve enjoyed having you in the house for the past couple of days. I’d hate it if anything happened to you.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Colton.”

  “Oh, please. Call me Abra.” She stepped back and waited at the top of the stairs.

  Big J offered Megan his arm, descended the steps and he held out a hand to Daniel. “I hope you get the contract you want, son.”

  Daniel shook his father’s hand. “You and me both. It will make all the difference in our horse-breeding operation.”

  “Son, when you get back, we need to talk about that. I realize the program is a success because of you. Hell, you could be making a lot more money for yourself if you didn’t have the Lucky C holding you down.”

  “I love this ranch and the people on it. It’s home.”

  Big J pulled him into a bear hug. “And we love you, too. When you were a bachelor, that cabin worked out just fine. But now that you’re a married man, you need to think of your growing family.” Big J draped an arm over Daniel’s shoulder and grinned at Megan. “I expect half a dozen grandchildren running around this place.”

  Megan’s face reddened, and her gaze dipped to her feet.

  Daniel’s gut clenched. He could imagine two or three little girls with strawberry blond hair wearing blue jeans and miniature cowboy boots, whooping and hollering as they ran around the barn. Megan’s babies would be adorable. He found himself wanting to be their father and wishing he could give Megan the lifestyle she’d been born into. Even if he took his horse-breeding program out on his own, he’d make good money, but not anywhere near what Frank Talbot brought in.

  “You’d better get going. Your plane will be waiting at the airport.” Big J clapped a hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “Good luck.”

  Daniel handed Megan into his truck and climbed in the driver’s seat.

  “We’re not flying commercial?” Megan asked.

  “No, Big J arranged for a charter airplane.”

  “Isn’t that expensive?”

  Daniel nodded. “I tried to talk him out of it, but he insisted. He has the money for it, and he wanted you to be comfortable after your last experience.”

  “I would have been fine flying commercial,” she said, staring straight ahead.

  “I still feel as if we should have called off this meeting. With someone trying to hurt you, it’s too dangerous to take you out in public.”

  Megan’s lips tightened. “I went along with resting for the past couple of days, but if I’d had to stay inside any longer, I’d have gone completely nutty. Now I know what it feels like to be under house arrest. I left my parents’ home because they wouldn’t let me breathe.”

  Daniel nodded. “Fair enough. But please keep close to me. There should be a lot of people in Reno for the symposium. Promise me you’ll stay where I can keep an eye on you. If not for you, then do it for my peace of mind.”

  “Okay. I get it. I’ll stick to you like a fly on fly paper.” She winked across at him, making his pulse pound and his desire flame.

  At the general aviation hangars, Daniel located the charter company and performed the preflight with the contracted pilot, carefully checking the landing gear and the emergency landing gear cord.

  Someone had sabotaged his plane before. He’d be damned if the same someone got away with it again. After a thorough once-over, he helped Megan up the steps into the airplane and settled in a seat across from her.

  As the plane taxied down the runway, Daniel’s gaze slid to the closed door to the cockpit, his fingers digging into the armrest.

  “Not used to someone else doing the flying?” Megan asked softly.

  Daniel forced himself to relax. “Not really. I’ve been flying since before I was old enough to drive a car. I prefer to be at the yoke in small planes.”

  “Flying in big planes doesn’t bother you as much?”

  “Not as much.”

  “Think about something else, like what you’re going to say to Marshall Kennedy at dinner tonight.”

  For the rest of the trip, they went over the program Daniel had in place, the pedigrees and lineage. He’d worked so hard to create a firm basis on which to build one of the finest horse-breeding operations in the country.

  By the time they landed, he wasn’t even thinking much about his sabotaged plane. They touched down without incident in Reno what seemed like only minutes after they’d left Tulsa but had actually been a few hours.

  Megan smiled across at him. “You’ll have a lot to talk about with Marshall at dinner tonight.”

  Daniel reached out to take Megan’s hand. “What would I do without you? If you hadn’t come along when you did, I’d still be digging my way through my filing system.”

  “You were doing fine without me. But I am glad I could help. Makes me think my degree in biology wasn’t a waste.”

  “Hardly. You’re amazing.” He stood and pulled her to her feet. “You’re not only smart but also look great.”

  “Let’s go seal this deal.” She started toward the door. Before she could take a step, he pulled her back into his arms.

  “Just so you know, I appreciate everything you and your family have done for me.”

  She laughed up at him. “Are you kidding? You’ve saved my life not once, but three times.” She stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his in a brief kiss. “I guess that makes you my hero.”

  The husky tone of her voice sent Daniel all the way over the edge. He crushed her body against his. “I can’t decide whether I like you better in that dress or in jeans and boots.”

  “I’m the same person inside.”

  “That’s why I can’t decide. You’re amazing no matter what you wear—” his voice dropped to a whisper “—or don’t wear.” Then his lips met hers, and he forgot everything but kissing her.

  Megan sank into him, her mouth opening on a sigh.

  He swept in, caressing her tongue in a long, slow glide, his hands skimming along the curve of her waist and downward to the swell of her hips and buttocks.

  She made him want so much more of what he couldn’t have. Even if she wasn’t his employee, and if they didn’t have to go back to the way things were before their sham of a marriage, she far outclassed him in every way.

  A soft cough sounded over Megan’s shoulder. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

  Daniel stepped back and glanced at the pilot standing by the hatch. His face was red. “I was just going to lower the stairs.”

  “Please do,” Daniel directed him.

  “I’ll be here when you’re ready to return to Oklahoma. You have my number.” The pilot spoke as
he lowered the stairs into place. Then he stood back. “Take your time disembarking. I’ll deliver your luggage to the hotel where we’re staying.”

  Megan’s cheeks glowed a pretty pink, and her green eyes danced. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

  She went down the steps first. Daniel followed, wishing they were going straight to their hotel to finish the kiss they’d started, instead of meeting Marshall Kennedy for dinner.

  Alas, pleasure would have to wait. He was there on business. He hoped all would go well and they could be on their way back home.

  * * *

  Megan settled in the backseat of the limousine that whisked them from the airport to the convention center, where the symposium would have a meet and greet for the attendees. They were to find Marshall Kennedy there and leave the convention center to have a private dinner with him and whomever he’d brought with him.

  “My father said Kennedy was open to dialogue and spoke well of you.”

  “Remind me to thank your father for placing the call.”

  “He did say that Mr. Kennedy liked to make up his own mind. But hopefully a little bug in his ear will help smooth the path.” Megan reached for Daniel’s hand. “Just tell him the truth. You’ve done your homework, and you excel at choosing quality horses. This is your passion, and that will shine through.”

  Daniel lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss against the backs of her knuckles. “Best pep talk ever. Thank you.”

  The rest of the ride was made in silence, Megan’s heart nearly bursting with Daniel’s praise. He didn’t let go of her hand until they got out of the vehicle in front of the convention center.

  He alighted first and reached in to take her hand.

  She let him help her out and onto her feet. Then, hand in hand, they walked toward the convention center.

  Megan was so proud to be with the most handsome man there. He stood a head taller than most men, and he looked so sexy in a crisp white shirt, black jeans and black cowboy boots. He had on his best black cowboy hat and a plain black tie that he tugged at several times. Obviously uncomfortable in the semiformal attire, he squared his shoulders and marched through the door.