by Lori Foster
His honesty had her pink-cheeked again. He loved how she blushed, how her eyes turned bluer and her lips pressed together in a prim line. She was bold, and she gave as good as she got, but any talk of intimacy flustered her.
Damn, but he wanted to kiss her silly.
“If all that’s true, Morgan,” she fairly sputtered, “if I really affect you like that, why in the world would you want me around the office?”
“Because it solves a dilemma for both of us.” He used his in-command tone, the one that made people sit up and take notice of his official position as sheriff. “You need a job, and I need a worker who won’t be jumping my bones, interfering with my schedule and causing a scandal. You’ve made it pretty clear you plan to resist my bones, so…” He didn’t admit his hope that her resistance wouldn’t last long. “It’s an ideal trade-off.”
She considered that for a long moment, then finally nodded. “Okay. I can try the job, I suppose. On one condition.”
The restriction in his chest immediately lightened, though he hadn’t even noticed how tight it felt until she said she’d stay. “Let’s hear it.”
“I want you to fix my car. I will not be left here without transportation.”
She stared at him defiantly until he nodded. “I can do that, but I have a condition of my own.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
He tugged her slightly closer, holding her gaze. “I want your promise that if you decide to leave, you’ll tell me.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You can’t keep me here against my will, Morgan.”
“I’m all too aware of that unfortunate fact. And I won’t even try. But if you decide to leave I want to know it.”
“I wasn’t really sneaking this time—”
“Malone.”
“Oh, all right. I promise. But fix my car today.”
He nodded. “And my other suggestion?”
“What other suggestion?”
He looked at her mouth, so sweetly lush and very kissable, then at her full breasts pressing against the pale yellow camisole—just as kissable. He saw how she tucked her long slender legs beneath her, how smooth her thighs were, lightly tanned. Even her shoulders were sexy, making his tongue nearly stick to the roof of his mouth. “I’ll stake a claim for all to see, and that’ll keep interested males at bay.”
Dark lashes swept down over her eyes to avoid his gaze. She subtly tugged her hand away from his and stood. “I don’t know, Morgan.”
He got up and stood very close behind her. “We will be involved, Malone, in an arrangement.” She stiffened and he caught her shoulders before she could move away. “The type of arrangement is nobody’s business but our own. I’m not coercing you into bed.”
“As if you could.”
“Is that a challenge?”
“No!”
He smiled at her anxious tone. “We’ll be partners of a sort. You said you were through with men.”
“Completely.”
“Well, pretending to be mine ought to take care of other men hitting on you, and I’ll have some much needed help at the office.”
She shook her head while he stared at her nape, exposed by her upswept hair. He imagined kissing her there, watching her tremble. He couldn’t push her now or she’d walk out the door, and she was right, there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to stop her.
“That attitude is archaic, Morgan.”
His newfound possessive streak was archaic, but he was dealing with it. Barely.
He rubbed her shoulders, relishing the warmth of her skin. His thumbs brushed the back of her neck to the base of her skull, lulling her, soothing her. “Look at it this way, Malone,” he added in a whisper, “all your problems will be temporarily solved. And if you think this would be hard on you, just think of what it’ll do to me.”
“What?”
She sounded intrigued, and he hid his smile. “I want you, so you can figure it out, I’m sure. Given that you seem to take sadistic delight in making me miserable, the idea ought to appeal to you.”
The torment would be worthwhile, he thought. He could spend a good deal of his time shoring up their ruse by getting closer to her. He knew, even if she didn’t, that they’d eventually end up in bed. The chemistry between them was just too strong, no matter how hard she tried to deny it.
And he was tired of even trying.
With a wide, impish smile, she turned to face him. “Well, since you put it that way…” She patted his chest. “Making you miserable does hold a certain attraction.”
He caught her hand and flattened it against his body. “So you agree?”
“You’ve convinced me.”
Morgan stared at her, his heart thumping so heavily in his chest he thought for sure she’d felt it. He leaned toward her and saw her eyes widen. “Why don’t we seal it with a kiss?”
MISTY BRACED HERSELF for a sensual assault. The memory of his last kiss in the gazebo was still fresh in her mind. But instead of being overwhelmed, she felt Morgan’s mouth, warm and dry, brush very lightly over her own. She opened her eyes slowly and looked at him. His dark blue eyes were filled with heat, but also with tenderness, and she almost melted.
For a man of his size, he could sometimes be so remarkably gentle. She gave him a slight smile that he returned.
“Am I interrupting?”
They both jumped apart, she in guilty surprise, Morgan with a curse. He turned to face Jordan, leaning in the doorway with a contented smile.
Jordan tipped his head. “Breakfast is getting cold.”
“Did you ever hear of knocking?”
“What fun would that be?”
Morgan turned his back on his brother and faced Misty. His wide shoulders completely blocked her from Jordan’s view. Using the edge of his hand, he tipped up her chin, then asked, “What’s it to be, Malone? Breakfast with the family, or do you want to go into town?”
“I’m not really hungry.” She saw Morgan’s understanding and quickly added, “I’m not being a coward. I really just don’t have an appetite. I’ll go in with you, though. No reason you should do without food, and I have to face them all sooner or later. It might as well be now.”
“Get it over and out of the way, huh?”
His frown was back, but she had no idea why. “Something like that.”
He glanced at Jordan over his shoulder. “We’ll be right there.”
Accepting the dismissal, Jordan chuckled and ambled off. The moment he was gone, Morgan framed her face and kissed her again. Before she could say much about it, if indeed she could have gathered her scattered wits to offer a protest, he took her hand and hustled her from the room.
Everyone was in the kitchen when they strolled in, still hand in hand. Like the audience at a Ping-Pong match, all eyes moved in unison to their entwined hands, to their faces, then to each other. Brows climbed high.
Morgan shook his head. “The lot of you remind me of monkeys in a zoo—not you, Honey. The masculine lot.”
Honey frowned. “Is everything okay, Misty?”
“Everything is fine.” She tried subtly to take her hand from Morgan, but he wasn’t letting go, and shaking him off might bring on more speculation. She knew he intended to announce their involvement, but did he mean to do it right now? At this rate, no announcement would be necessary!
There was no way she could continue to stand there and let everyone stare at her with concern. She had to get hold of herself and the situation. She glanced at Sawyer, then Jordan and Gabe. “Morgan insists it’ll be all right if I stay here for a little while longer—”
“Absolutely.”
“Of course!”
“You know you’re welcome here.”
Misty smiled at their combined assurance and even felt a little teary over it. “That’s very generous of all of you.”
Sawyer, with his arm draped over the back of Honey’s chair, said, “You’re family now, Misty. Family is always welcome for as long as they want to be here. Remember
that, okay?”
Honey squeezed him in a tight hug. “Didn’t I tell you they were all incredible?”
Gabe laughed. “Nothing incredible about welcoming beautiful women into your home.” He eyed their clasped hands and added, “In fact, if you want some privacy, Misty, I have extra room in the basement.” He bobbed his eyebrows at her.
Jordan looked mildly affronted. “I was going to offer to share my apartment with her. With Morgan always looming over her, it’s for certain she won’t get any peace and quiet around here.”
Casey, looking like an imp, turned to the side to face his uncles and said, “Hey, if you guys have extra room, I’ll move in with you.”
Sawyer reached over and clapped his laughing son on the back. “They’ll both strangle you for that, Case.” Then to Morgan: “Stop letting them bait you. You look ready to do bodily harm, and then what will Misty think of you?”
“She’ll think I’m possessive.”
“And you have the right to be?”
“Damn right.” Morgan released her hand and put his arm around her, hauling her up so close she felt her ribs protesting. “We’ve come to an agreement.”
She gave Honey a helpless look, but Honey just rolled her eyes, as if she’d expected nothing less from Morgan.
In between bites of pancake, Gabe asked, “Is the baby’s father aware of this agreement, or is he likely to show up here anytime soon, demanding to know what’s going on?”
Jordan scoffed. “If he has any sense, he’ll show up. I know I would. ’Course, I wouldn’t have let her get away in the first place.” Then he eyed Morgan, and added, “Not that it’s likely to do him any good if he does come here.”
Misty had never felt so overwhelmed in her life. Not only did they seem to accept her pregnancy without hesitation or condemnation, but they also championed her and complimented her and apparently welcomed her involvement with their brother. There were no prying questions.
She was totally speechless.
Morgan was not. “He’s out of the picture, and I say good riddance. But if he does ever show his face here, believe me, I’d love to have a minute or two alone with him.”
“He doesn’t know where I am,” Misty pointed out.
Morgan gave her a level look. “Perhaps you could tell him.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake.” Honey shook her finger at Morgan. “You’re always looking for a reason to pound on somebody.”
“Sometimes you don’t have to look for a reason.”
Honey turned to Misty. “Don’t pay any attention to his threats. It’s like a dog growling, all for show. He’s actually very sweet.”
A round of masculine grunts disputed Honey’s description. Obviously nobody else thought Morgan to be sweet.
“He is!” Honey protested. “At least, once you get to know him better—” She stopped and laughed. “But I guess you know him well enough already, huh?”
Morgan paid them no mind. “I think I do a pretty good job of not pounding on people most of the time, which is why I was elected sheriff.” He grinned. “Total control of my temper.”
“As I remember it,” Jordan said, “it was your ability to take control of everyone else that gave the townsfolk assurance you could handle just about any situation.”
“I don’t seem to have control over your mouth, brother.”
“No.” Jordan chuckled. “But then, I’ve been fighting with you all of my life and lived to tell about it.”
“Can we get back to the subject at hand?” Gabe asked. “What’s this agreement you two have? I’m dying of curiosity.”
Misty held her breath, uncertain as to what Morgan might come up with by way of explanation. None of them seemed particularly surprised that they were supposedly involved, which to her was no less than amazing. All they’d done since they first met was antagonize each other. Or at least that’s all any of his family had seen. If anything, they should have believed that they despised each other. But of course, his brothers knew Morgan better than she did, and maybe grousing and growling was part of his normal temperament.
Heaven knew, he seemed to wear a perpetual frown when he wasn’t laughing with her or trying to kiss her. She glanced at him and saw that indeed, his brows were pulled down and his expression was dark. It irritated her. She moved away from his side and gave him a look to let him know that if he spelled out their agreement completely, there’d be hell to pay.
To her surprise, he laughed, then kissed her loudly, right there in front of everyone. “Quit scowling, Malone. You’re going to get wrinkles.”
“Yeah. Or worse, you’ll start looking so forbidding, we’ll confuse you with Morgan.” Gabe ducked when Morgan reached for him, then laughed as he resettled himself in his seat and went back to work on his pancakes.
“Misty is going to help me out around the station.”
Sawyer sat back in his seat. “I thought you didn’t want to hire a woman because she might get ideas.”
“In this case, it’s a moot point. The ideas are mutual.” He looked at each brother in turn. “Any objections?”
Jordan lifted his glass of milk and said mildly, “With the two of you competing for the darkest frown, who would dare?”
Casey stood and took his empty plate and glass to the dishwasher. “I think it’s great. So can I be excused? I want to go into town today.”
Sawyer glanced at his son. “A date?”
“Sorta.”
Morgan snagged Casey and roughed up his hair. “You’re taking after your uncle, boy.”
With a twinkle in his eyes, Casey asked, “Oh, yeah? Which one?”
Gabe held out his arms. “If she’s gorgeous, then obviously me!”
Honey reached over and slapped Gabe’s arm. “Thanks a lot!”
The moment Misty had dreaded seemed to have come and gone without much notice. She was a tad bemused at that.
“No offense, Honey,” Gabe said after blowing her a kiss, “but you’re married into the family now so I can’t make lecherous jokes about you.”
Still holding Casey in a way that made Misty wistful over the easy familiarity, Morgan said, “We can give you a ride. Misty and I are going into town ourselves.”
Misty, a little surprised that he’d even suggest it, thought she’d have a slight reprieve from Morgan’s isolated attentions until Casey shook his head. “Thanks, but I’d rather ride Windstorm. Jordan said she needs the exercise and I was planning on cutting across the field.”
Morgan explained to Misty, “Windstorm is a new horse. Jordan brought her home not too long ago.”
“I’m meeting up with friends, then we’re all going to the lake for a little while.”
“Anybody I know?” Morgan asked.
Casey struggled to hide his grin. “Just some girls, mostly.”
Sawyer took one look at his son’s innocent expression and groaned. “Lord, he is like Gabe.”
At that, Casey laughed. “We’re just going to swim. We won’t get into any trouble.”
Gabe sent mock glares around the room. “I didn’t always get into trouble, you know.”
“Just often enough,” Jordan said with a raised brow, “to keep everyone on their toes.”
Sawyer raised a hand. But before he could interject anything into the conversation, Honey stood and took Casey’s arm.
“Never mind your overbearing, interfering uncles.” She slanted her gaze toward Gabe. “You’re nothing like them, except for the good looks, of course. Go and have a good time, but be careful, okay?”
Casey lifted her off her feet in a bear hug. “I’ll be home by three o’clock.”
“That’s fine.” And once he left the room, she glowered at Sawyer. “Quit comparing him to your disreputable brothers. You’ll put ideas in his head.”
“Would you all quit talking about me like I was the scourge of the area? Disreputable, indeed.”
Honey pointed at Gabe. “And proud of it, from what I can tell.”
To Misty’s surp
rise, Sawyer didn’t look at all put out by Honey’s audacity toward his son. Instead, he grinned. “You’re turning into a rather ferocious mother hen.”
“Oh, no,” Misty said, “she’s always been that way. Even when she was just a little girl.”
There was a round of laughing comments on that, all teasing Honey until she blushed.
Morgan pulled up a chair next to Misty and propped his head on his fist to stare at her. “You look a little numb, sweetheart. You okay?”
She shook her head, watching Sawyer nuzzle on Honey, then Jordan and Gabe roughhousing. She didn’t know what to think. “The way you all carry on, it amazes me, and now here I am right in the middle of it.”
Honey’s lips curled into a big smile. She said to the brothers, “It takes some getting used to, since we were from such a small family. And all our meals were very formal. No one gathered in the kitchen just to chat, and there was never this much joking around.”
“I wasn’t complaining,” Misty said, not wanting them to misunderstand. “It’s…nice.”
“Of course it is.” Honey cuddled against Sawyer’s side, and he kissed her ear. “You know, you can’t get around it, so now I just chime in, too. You’ll get used to it.”
Misty hadn’t planned on being around long enough to get used to them. But now she was having fun. It had been a while since she’d felt the honest urge to laugh.
Morgan nudged her. “You want some pancakes or do you still want to head straight to town?”
Misty thought about it. Most of her anxiety was gone, and her stomach was starting to rumble. There was still a platter of lightly browned pancakes sitting in the middle of the table, with warmed syrup and soft butter beside it.
She grinned at Morgan, feeling more at ease than she had in ages. “Let’s eat.”
CHAPTER SIX
IT WAS ALMOST an hour before they finally left the house. Though she’d never have imagined it, she’d enjoyed breakfast immensely. No one said too much about her pregnancy other than to try to force an extra pancake on her along with a tall glass of milk. And no one pressured her for information on the father of the baby. They seemed to simply accept that she was there, unmarried, and that they wanted her to stay.
