Her Renegade Rancher EPB

by Jennifer Ryan

  “You’d do that for me?”

  “I’d do anything for you, including pulling that barn wood off the wall out there and putting it up in our new house.”

  Luna turned to Dex. “Good enough for you?”

  He turned to the FBI agent. “Do you believe he loves her and doesn’t want the ranch or money?”

  “I believe him. No one is that good of a liar. Believe me, I catch liars for a living.”

  “What are you guys talking about? I’m not lying.”

  Dex turned back to Luna. “It would solve a lot of problems if you invoke the terms of the will now before they get away with this.”

  “They won’t get away with anything,” Colt vowed.

  “Colt, honey?”

  “Yes, darlin’.” He played along with her teasing tone.

  “Did you want a long or short engagement?”

  “I would marry you this second if it made you happy. Otherwise I leave it to you to tell me what to wear and when to show up.”

  “I can have a judge here tomorrow,” Dex said.

  “Wait. What?”

  Luna smiled. “Works for me.” She turned to Colt. “You in a suit. Tomorrow night under the stars.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “What to wear and when to show up. You, me, a judge, married for life.”

  “Luna, don’t you want to plan the wedding of your dreams? Don’t you want to do the flowers, the food, the dress, the . . . whatever else girls dream about for their wedding?”

  “The only thing I want is to be your wife.”

  “Don’t you want to take your time to think about what you’re giving up here? You may change your mind.” He hated to say those words.

  “I’m not giving up anything.”

  “But Dex said if you marry, you lose this place.”

  “A test,” she said, smiling.

  “Did I pass?” he asked, still not understanding how everyone got involved with their wedding plans.

  Instead of answering, she glanced at Dex again.

  “Yes,” he answered. “The terms of the will are very specific if Luna marries. Those terms had to be kept absolutely secret from any man she dated. He, you, couldn’t know that if she marries, she can override Wayne’s bequeath to his family and keep the ranch for herself.”

  “What?”

  Luna wrapped her arms around his neck. “Wayne knew his children didn’t want this place. He wanted me to have it, but like any good friend, he was looking out for my well-being. He didn’t want some man looking at this place, wanting it without wanting me more. You are a man of integrity.”

  “No. I’m the man who wants you more than anything else in this world.”

  “Good. But I come with a really big ranch for you to run.”

  “We run this place, but working and living here is not why I asked you to marry me.”

  “You don’t even need to say it, Colt. I know it. They know it,” she said, waving her hand at the suits. “Everyone knows it. So stop worrying.”

  “The Traverses are going to be even more dangerous when they find out you’re keeping this place,” Colt warned.

  “Maybe, but we’re on to them,” Luna told Colt. “The cops are closing in on gathering enough evidence to arrest them for their many misdeeds. Until then, you need to call your family. Invite them to dinner, here, tomorrow night at seven. Don’t tell them we’re getting married. We’ll keep it a secret so word doesn’t get out to the Traverses.”

  “You want to have a surprise wedding?”

  “Why not?” She pressed her hand to his chest. “You don’t want to. You want to wait.”

  “No.” He cupped her face in his hands and stared down into her lovely eyes. “I want you to be sure this is what you want, that we have the wedding you want.”

  “Colt, honey, I already see it in my mind. I know what I want. You. Me. Under the stars. Candles and stringed white lights.”

  “You’re sure?”

  She nodded at him again.

  “Make a list of what you want. We’ll send a few of the guys out to get everything.”

  Her whole face lit with delight. “You mean it.”

  “I can’t say no to that smile.”

  “You don’t need more time to decide, to settle in here and see how it goes?”

  “I made up my mind when I made the decision to marry you and bought you that ring. Whether we get married tomorrow night or a year from now, I won’t change my mind.” Colt turned back to Dex. “I guess you can bring whatever I need to sign tomorrow before the wedding.”

  “I’ll draw up the prenup.”

  “Is that necessary?” Luna asked. “The will is clear that if I get married, the ranch becomes mine.”

  Colt took Luna’s hands. “Of course it’s yours. But we need to put some things in writing. What if something happens to you? What if we have children, what will happen to the ranch if you pass before me? If you decide to divorce me, you don’t want me to be able to take so much of what we build together it puts the ranch in jeopardy. Besides, I’ve still got my stake in the Kendrick spread.”

  “But Colt, it should be ours.”

  “It will be ours. The ranch will pay me a salary, maybe a nice bonus when things go our way. I don’t need my name on the deed to know that we’re partners in this, but you need to answer those questions and more to protect yourself and this place. Most of it we’ll never need to use, but it’ll be there if you need it.” Colt turned to Dex. “You and Luna work out the terms. I’ll sign whatever she wants.”

  “It will include that I have no claim to the Kendrick property or business.”

  “Fair enough,” Colt agreed. “You do understand this is only going to incite the Traverses more.”

  “Unfortunately, yes. But I want this, Colt. I don’t want to give you up and our life together. I want to put an end to this. It’s taking longer than I expected for the cops to build their case and put together enough evidence to make it all stick.”

  “Of course they didn’t make it easy, right?”

  She smiled, but it didn’t touch the regret fogging over her earlier joy. “No. In fact, because they’re all doing one thing or another, it’s hard to sort out who did what, when, and if the others knew about it.”

  “Marrying me and taking away their chance at a piece of this place will only make things worse. I’m concerned they’ll come after you next time.”

  “There’s something else you don’t know.”

  Afraid to ask, he did so anyway. “What?”

  “I have the ability to override Wayne’s original bequeaths and pay them more money. Perhaps I can pay them to go away.”

  “No.”

  “No?” Dex asked. “You’d prefer to keep everything?”

  “So suspicious.” Colt eyed the lawyer, then turned his gaze back to Luna. “You pay them now, they’ll come back for more, knowing you can give it to them. If you don’t, they’ll do exactly what they’re doing now and try to force you to pay more. If you do, they’ll do it again. You give in now, you’ll only feed their greed and make them more dangerous. We will not reward them for their bad behavior. That’s not what Wayne wanted, right? That’s why he didn’t leave everything to them.”

  Luna glanced at Dex. “He’s got a point.”

  “Yes, he does,” Dex grudgingly admitted.

  “We marry tomorrow night in a quiet family ceremony. Dex notifies the Travers family the next day that Luna has invoked her right to claim the ranch in whole. Then we wait.”

  “That might speed things up,” the FBI agent said. “It’ll also make things a hell of a lot more dangerous.”

  “Desperate people make mistakes,” Colt pointed out. “They come after me or Luna again, we won’t be easy targets.”

  “What’s your plan?” Luna asked.

  “To start, we lock this place down and make it real hard for anyone to get close to us.”

  “I’ll notify the sheriff’s department and ask
for added protection over the next few days and weeks,” Dex added.

  “Call your family,” Luna coaxed. “They’re probably dying to hear from you.”

  “I swore Sadie to secrecy when Rory gave me back the ring the tow truck driver found in the accident.”

  “You were on your way here to ask me to marry you?”

  “Bought the ring. Had the flowers. All I needed was a yes. It took me a couple extra days to get it, thanks to those Traverses. They try to stop me from marrying you, they’ll have hell to pay.”

  “Relax. Nothing will go wrong. Tell Sadie to wear the purple dress I love and spiff up the guys.”

  “What are you going to do?” He touched her soft cheek and the dark circle beneath her eye with the pad of his thumb. “You look tired.”

  “I can’t sleep without you.”

  “You won’t have that problem for the rest of your life,” he promised.

  “I’m going to call my mother, then finish up with Agent Montrose and Dex.”

  “What are you guys doing?”

  “We set a trap. We’re waiting to spring it.”

  “On who?”

  “As with all the other things that happened, it looks like one person, but it could be more.”

  Chapter 29

  Luna woke up with Colt completely wrapped around her back and side, with his leg thrown over both of hers, his bandaged arm draped over her side, his hand covering her breasts. Her head rested on his right arm. She tried not to move and hurt his left shoulder. He’d tossed and turned most of the night, trying to get comfortable with his many injuries paining him nonstop. He refused to take any more pain meds, opting instead for a clear head, ready to face their wedding day and tackle the mile-long list of things they needed to do to prepare for their perfect night.

  “Morning, honey,” Colt’s deep, groggy voice rumbled at her ear.

  “Did you ask me to marry you, or was that just a dream?”

  Colt scooted back and pulled her over to face him. He stared down at her and traced a finger over her forehead, drawing her long bangs away from her eyes. “Please marry me. I want a life with you.” He leaned down and kissed her lips softly. “I need you.”

  She trailed her fingers over the long bruise that crossed his chest from the seat belt that helped save his life in the accident.

  “You don’t need the danger I brought into your life.” She met his steady gaze. “Are you okay? I mean, really okay?”

  “I’ll prove it to you.” He leaned down and kissed her again, but in a whole different way. Not good morning, but let’s start a fire. Colt did, right in her heart. It spread through her body long before he ended the sweet, tempting kiss and moved down her neck to stroke her skin, lick her hard nipple, and take it into his warm mouth. She combed her fingers through his sun-streaked hair and held him to her, his body partly covering hers.

  He shifted again, kissing her chest, but sucked in a breath and hissed in pain when he hurt his sore shoulder by pressing on his left hand to hold his weight.

  “Colt, honey, you don’t have to do this.”

  “I want to do this.” The grin he gave her made her smile. The way he thrust forward, his hard length rubbing against her center, sent a flash of heat burning through her body.

  Yeah, she wanted him, too. But she didn’t want to hurt him more in the process.

  She leaned up on her elbow, laid her hand on his hurt shoulder, and gently pushed to get him to roll over onto his back. She followed him, rising up and straddling his hips. She pulled the sheet up to cover her breasts and glanced at the windows.

  Colt’s hands covered hers. “We’re alone, sweetheart. There’s no one there. They can’t see in.”

  No, because he’d made sure to pull the drapes closed.

  She reached out and traced the long stitched gash on his head. Dark bruises spread around it. “Look what they did to you.”

  “The headache’s gone, but it still hurts.”

  She leaned down and pressed a kiss close, but not on the worst of the wound. He sighed, his warm breath feathering over her cheek. She smiled and pressed a kiss to his temple, his cheek, his chin, and kept moving lower to his chest and the nasty bruises there. She avoided the stitched cuts on his arm.

  His big hands clamped onto her thighs and smoothed up her skin to her hips. She rocked against his hard length, grinding against him, pleasing him and her at the same time. Colt suffered the sweet torture along with her, but it only took moments before they both wanted more.

  Colt reached for the strip of condoms hanging out of the side table drawer. He pulled one free and tore it open with his teeth. She took it from him, leaned back, and rolled it down his hard length. Colt reached for her, drawing her down for a long kiss, his tongue gliding along hers. She rose up, then sank down, taking Colt in, filling herself up with him and the feeling that overcame her every time they were together like this.

  “I love you,” she whispered against his lips.

  Colt wrapped his arms around her back, whispered, “I love you,” and thrust deep, rocking against her, holding her body close to his.

  They made love, clinging to each other and the closeness they both felt and needed. The desperation that gathered in them exploded with an intensity she’d never felt herself or with him. She lay atop him, his arms banded around her like he couldn’t bear to let her go. She hoped it didn’t foretell more danger in the future. She shivered with the thought.

  “Nothing is going to happen today. Today is for us.”

  She hoped Colt was right.

  “Sun’s up, honey. We need to get out of this bed and get everything ready for tonight.”

  “I really just want to stay here with you.”

  His big hands rubbed softly up and down her back and over her bottom. He pressed her hips down on his again, setting off a new round of thrilling aftershocks that made her smile against his shoulder.

  “I want that more than anything, except making you my wife. Come on, lazy.”

  He rolled to his side, knocking her off him. She held on to his side and squeezed. “What did your family say about coming over tonight?”

  “They’re excited. Happy for us, just like your family. They think it’s an engagement celebration.”

  “It’s kind of fun to keep everyone in the dark about the wedding.”

  “I can’t wait to see my granddad’s face.”

  She laughed with him. “Did you ever think you’d get married before your big brother?”

  Colt chuckled. “No. I didn’t think I’d get married for a long time.”

  “Are you sure you want to do this now?”

  “I already told you, now, a year from now, doesn’t matter. My life is with you, here, wherever you are, that’s where I want to be.”

  “You mean that?”

  “Yes. Absolutely. Why? Are you having second thoughts?”

  “None. I just don’t want you to ever regret marrying me, especially after what happened, what might still happen.”

  “None of which is your fault. You are kind and generous and sexy and beautiful. You have such a good heart.” His warm hand pressed to the side of her face as he stared down at her. “It started with a kiss, Luna, but what we share is so much more than I ever thought I’d have in my life. I always thought the missing piece I felt inside myself was because of the loss of my parents. Maybe it was, but you filled it up with the love you show me and the love I feel for you. Don’t you get it? I need you, Luna. You are the one thing that makes my life better and worth living.”

  “Everything happened so fast.”

  “Maybe, but if it feels this right, why question it, or look for reasons or excuses to slow things down, wait longer, when all we both want is to be together? Let’s just be together, Luna.”

  She hooked her arm around his neck and pulled him close in a tight hug. “You’re everything I ever wanted.”

  “Good, because you said yes and I’m not letting you out of that promise, or the one
you’ll make me tonight.”

  “I will always love you,” she vowed, knowing that would always be true no matter what came next.

  Chapter 30

  Luna held a garment bag over her shoulder in one hand. Several shopping bags weighed down her other. She walked around the house, her ever-present sheriff’s deputy on her trail, to the back, where Toby and several ranch hands were setting up chairs around the white-draped tables on the patio. Luna stopped short and stared as her father adjusted a gerbera daisy in a purple painted pot with a white satin bow tied around it in the center of one table. A string of tiny white lights surrounded it. Her mother stood behind another table, potted plants of all kinds and more purple pots before her.

  “Mom.” Luna didn’t expect to see them this early. No one was supposed to arrive for at least two more hours.

  Her mother looked up and smiled so bright it touched Luna, making her realize it had been too long since she’d seen her parents.

  “Luna, you’re back. Oh, I hoped to have this all done before you got here.”

  Luna looked at the other potted plants on the tables her mother had finished. “You did all this?” Luna had asked Colt to send one of the guys to the nursery to see if there were any flowering plants they could use for the tables. This went beyond what she’d expected. Such lovely centerpieces her mother had created.

  “Well, if you’d given me a bit more time to plan your wedding, I might have ordered some centerpieces from the florist.”

  “You know?”

  “Colt called. He asked me to help give you the wedding of your dreams. In one day.”

  Tears gathered in Luna’s eyes. Her mother was annoyed, but under that a wealth of love came through loud and clear.

  “I didn’t know things between you were so serious,” her father said, coming to her and planting a kiss on her forehead like he always did when he saw her. He held her shoulders and stared down at her. “Are you sure you want to do this? It’s very fast and sudden.”

  “I’m sure, Dad. He’s a good man. He loves me. I love him.”