by Tina Leonard
“Whatever,” Kendall said. “I guess your kid will always be chosen first for basketball.”
He laughed and shook from his hair the last drops of water that their wily niece had doused him with. “I am almost the happiest man on the planet.”
“You see what happens out here. Happiness,” Xav said to Kendall, and she groaned.
“Moratorium, bro,” Shaman said, but Xav had figured it out. Life was better away from The Family, Inc.
Now Shaman just had to figure out how to convince Cupertino that she needed him in her very independent life. “I’m going into town to try to drag Tempest out to dinner. Wanna ride shotgun?” he asked Xav. “I’ll introduce you around, since you think you might want to make this your home for a while.”
“Sure,” he replied. “I’m game.”
“Lovely,” Kendall said. “Guess I’ll come along and try to remind you two that life is always better with money. And a Nordstrom nearby. At least a Macy’s.”
The brothers laughed, then picked her up and carted her to Shaman’s truck. Just like old days, Shaman thought. Them against the world.
* * *
“I DON’T THINK I’ve ever eaten in a place called Cactus Max’s,” Kendall said as they seated themselves in a booth. “Quaint. When’s the skyscraper going to be here?”
“Easy, sis,” Shaman said. “That’s the woman who’s having your niece or nephew.”
“Yeah,” Kendall said. “So tell me what you decided to do about the wild-to-wed fiancée, Xav, while we’re waiting on Tempest.”
“I phoned her and told her I thought we should call it off,” Xav said, and Shaman checked his brother’s face for any signs of regret. There was none. “She was a gold digger, like you said, Kendall.”
“I knew you’d figure it out,” Kendall stated. “Women can be tricky.” She slid a glance at Shaman, who grinned at her.
“Uh-uh,” he said. “You’re not running Tempest out of my life like you ran Xav’s woman out of his.”
“I did no such thing,” she said haughtily. “Xav decided he loves the rural countryside more than he loves a trollop. Or his family, apparently.”
“Hi,” Tempest said, sitting down next to Shaman, interrupting Kendall’s complaining.
The dark, circular booth they were in was well placed and away from the late-day sunlight streaming in the windows, just right for the mood Shaman was in. He didn’t want people staring at them.
“Am I really going to be an aunt?” his sister demanded.
Tempest smiled. “Seems like it.”
Kendall looked as if she wanted to say something rude, then shook her head. “I guess only a pretty wonderful woman could get my brother to settle down.”
“I don’t want to settle him down,” Tempest said.
Shaman gazed at her. “Well, you have, sweetie. Get used to it.”
“Because of a baby?” she said. “Come on, Shaman. I have no father to take a shotgun to you, to make certain you marry me in the town square by sundown.”
Shaman nodded, and accepted a menu from Blanche when she came by to take their orders. “We’ll talk about wedding plans later. Blanche, do you ever not work?”
She put glasses of water in front of everybody. “Oh, the ice cream shop is all Shinny’s deal. I just hang around in there with him because I love him. This is my real job. What can I get you folks?”
They all ordered, then Shaman took a deep breath. “Cupertino, awkward as this may be, you’re going to have to marry me,” he said. “Believe it or not, you were meant to be my wife.”
“Not if she doesn’t want to be,” Kendall stated.
“Yeah,” Tempest said, glancing at his sister with a glare of suspicion. “A baby does not mean marriage. I have contracts I can’t get out of, Shaman, and dreams of my own. I don’t want to live in this backwater.”
“You see?” Kendall told Xav. “Most people can’t wait to get away from this place.”
“Oh, he’ll be happy here,” Tempest declared. “It’s the perfect place for a single man avoiding matrimony and commitments.”
“Oh, boy,” Shaman said, signaling for a bottle of wine. “I think those are words likely to start a debate.”
“No,” Tempest said. “Ask Kendall if she’d like to live in Tempest.”
“Absolutely not,” Kendall said, horrified. “I’m always delighted that my sojourns here are brief.”
“I like it,” Xav said, his tone sure. “Gage is going to teach me how to breed horses.”
“What’s to learn? You just need a syringe and a quick hand,” his twin said with disgust. “Tempest, please tell my brothers that they are being blinded by the lure of the unknown.”
“I don’t know,” Tempest said thoughtfully, staring Kendall down. “This town has a lot of charm.”
She frowned back at her. “That’s not what you just said.”
Shaman grinned, realizing Tempest was trying to get under Kendall’s skin, and was succeeding. His sister didn’t even realize that she was needling her.
“Heaven on earth,” Tempest said, and Kendall let out an unladylike snort that Shaman thought he’d never heard from his refined sister.
“All right, girls,” he said. “Let’s change the subject.”
Blanche brought over the wine. Kendall was in no mood to be good company. “I don’t see what you two have in common, besides a baby,” she said, deciding to do a little needling of her own.
Tempest met Shaman’s gaze. His stomach tightened, just looking at her. “You make me crazy for you,” he told her.
“More wine,” Kendall said, and Xav laughed.
“One day Kendall’s going to fall in love, and you and I will have our revenge, bro,” he said to Shaman.
Shaman surprised everyone by leaning over to kiss Tempest. Then he took her hand in his. “Marry me.”
Tempest’s eyes went huge in her face as she stared at him.
“Come on,” Shaman said. “Aunt Kendall is dying to be your maid of honor. Uncle Xav can be my best man. We’ll do it nice and quiet in Las Vegas.”
“All right,” Tempest said, shocking him.
He grinned. “I knew you couldn’t resist me.”
“But,” she said, and Shaman held his breath, “I want Cat to be my junior bridesmaid.”
“Deal,” Shaman declared. “I can probably work that out with my brother. Everybody on board?”
He glanced at his sister and brother.
“I am,” Xav said, high-fiving Shaman.
“I guess,” Kendall said ungraciously, and Shaman laughed.
“You sound like Mom when she’s not happy with us,” he said, and Kendall stiffened.
“Welcome to the family, Tempest,” Kendall said, her tone much sweeter. She’d obviously been stung by his comment. “It will be so wonderful to have an actress in the family. Maybe you could even give us one of these wonderful paintings of you for the main house.”
Tempest blinked. Shaman glanced at her, then his sister. “What paintings?”
Kendall looked at him, frowning. “The huge ones at the four corners of Cactus Max’s. Didn’t you notice? They’re life-size, Shaman, not hard to spot.”
He looked around with a sinking heart. Tempest was on every wall of Cactus Max’s, in various stages of costume. How had he missed it? Obviously, all he could see was her in the flesh.
He forced himself to look around, taking in the town of Tempest’s tribute to their favorite daughter. She was stunningly beautiful in the oil renderings, and in that moment, Shaman realized that he and Tempest were, as Kendall had noted, as different as night and day. “Wow,” he said.
Next to him, Tempest squirmed a little. “That’s not real life.”
“Looks real to me.” He didn’t know what else to say. He hadn’t figured on falling in love with a movie star when he was fighting in the dirt-laden, dangerous war zones he’d lived in for the past ten years. He looked at Tempest, who stared back, her normally lively face a little pale an
d drawn. She didn’t look all that happy, and he wanted her to be. “Sure you want to get married?”
Tempest nodded slowly.
He ran a thumb along her bottom lip. “It’s going to be all right,” he told her, feeling her uncertainty. And he just hoped like hell that he was right.
Chapter Seven
They flew to Las Vegas the next night with Cat. Gage came along, of course, to see his brother marry Tempest. Rafe Callahan flew the Callahan jet, which meant that Fiona could go, too, as well as Chelsea, Gage’s wife.
Fortunately, Tempest had a white pantsuit she could wear. Kendall had asked—nicely—if her pale peach skirt and jacket would be all right, pairing that with cream high heels. Cat wore a darling white dress, tea-length, with white flats.
But it was Shaman who held Tempest’s gaze. Dress jeans, dark jacket, leather belt, black dress boots made him look dangerous and sexy, and it was all she could do to make herself believe they were actually going to be married.
She and Shaman stepped up to the altar, with Cat beside them, holding Tempest’s white rose bouquet as the rings were exchanged. Tempest’s heart thundered as she looked into his dark eyes. She couldn’t believe this amazing man was going to be her husband, and the father of her child.
The ceremony was over so quickly it didn’t feel much like a wedding. She’d barely said “I do” when Shaman gave her a brief kiss, and then Xav and Gage were congratulating her.
Her new husband was very quiet. Withdrawn. He’d barely kissed her at the altar of the little Las Vegas chapel.
“Back on the jet, family,” Shaman said, after tipping the Elvis minister and his pink-haired wife, who’d played a harp for their ceremony.
“No wedding dinner?” Kendall asked.
“Are you hungry?” Shaman asked.
“I’m not,” she said, “but your wife and niece might be.”
He turned to look at them. “Do you want to get something to eat?”
“I’m not hungry,” Tempest said, partly because it was true and partly because she could tell Shaman wasn’t in the mood for a wedding dinner.
“I’m not, either,” Cat said. “I sneaked some brown sugar cookies on board, so I’m fine.”
“I’ve got leftover roast and veggies at home,” Fiona said. “We could have a meal there.”
“I’d like that,” Tempest said, and Shaman nodded.
They left and got in the jet, more like a tired soccer team than a wedding party. Tempest tried to tell herself she wasn’t disappointed—she’d known that this wedding was all about the baby.
* * *
SHAMAN COULDN’T BELIEVE he was married. The gold ring on his finger was proof, though. The weirdest thing was that he now had a gorgeous wife sleeping in his bedroom.
Tempest was all his—for now.
He wandered out to the den, not wanting to bother her. He was still missing a chunk of hair in the back, so he kept his hat on all the time. He didn’t want Tempest to see how badly he’d been injured.
But he couldn’t hide it—or his fears—forever.
“Hey,” she said, walking out to join him in the small den. Moonlight spilled into the room, surrounding her with gentle light. She wore a white nightgown that reached her ankles, and if she knew it was a bit see-through from the moonlight, she’d probably be embarrassed. He admired her body, the perfection of it, and the knowledge that his child grew inside her. “Isn’t it traditional for newlyweds to sleep together on their wedding night?”
“You looked like you needed rest.”
“I’m rested now, if you want to join me.”
It was an invitation he thought it best to turn down. “Go back to bed. I’ll join you in a bit.”
“I’m not going without you.”
He raised a brow. “Is that so?”
“Yes.” She drifted over to him and took his hand. “Don’t be scared. I don’t bite.”
He laughed. “Even if you did, it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.”
Feeling his body anticipate the pleasure of being with her, he let her pull him down the hall toward the bedroom. “Wouldn’t it be better for the baby if we waited until after?”
“After?”
“After it’s born.”
Tempest unbuttoned his shirt. “Tough guy, are you afraid?”
He was, a little. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Then get in bed with me.”
She unbuttoned his jeans, and his vow to leave his new wife alone until after the baby was born swiftly ebbed away. He caught Tempest’s hands in his, stilling them. “There’s something we should talk about first.”
“I agree. You start.” She pulled him into bed with her, which he realized was a ploy to get his mind off his talking points and onto what she was trying to get him to think about—her fabulously soft, welcoming body.
She was about to succeed.
“All right.” He caught her hands, kissing her fingers. “You can’t stay here.”
Tempest stilled, then sat up, pushing her long blond hair away from her face. “What are you talking about?”
He’d been more in control of things before she’d sat up. Now her breasts were at eye level, and his resolve was definitely weakening. “You’re going to have to stay somewhere else.”
“I’m staying right here, soldier. That’s what wives do. They stay with their husbands.”
“You’re not.” He pushed her back on the pillows, unable to resist her any longer.
“Hang on a minute. Catch me up on this, Shaman, because I don’t think I follow you.” Tempest slid out from under his kisses. He let her go, reluctantly.
“I have bad timing,” he said with a sigh.
“You clearly have something on your mind,” she countered.
He took a deep breath. “I would feel more comfortable if you stay at Shinny and Blanche’s B and B for now.”
Tempest looked mad. Really mad. He couldn’t blame her, but he also didn’t want to tell her the reason he felt so strongly. But Bobby might be around, and maybe next time he would attack Tempest. Shaman was certain Taylor was the man in the next booth the night she had mentioned she’d inherited Taylor’s money and then donated it to the library, among other places.
The man had a score to settle, and Shaman didn’t want him settling it with Tempest.
“No, thanks,” she said.
“No, thanks, what?”
“I’m staying right here with you.”
She crossed her arms. He recognized stubbornness, and normally would have welcomed her determination to be with him. “It’s not a good idea.”
She flipped on the bedside lamp and glared at him. “Why? Because you think Bobby Taylor laid open your head?”
Okay, so she didn’t want him trying to hide things from her. He got that. “Who told you?”
“Kendall. Who do you think?” Tempest said, clearly annoyed. “She wants you to do a better job protecting yourself, so she told me. And she said she knew you didn’t want me to know, but since her unborn niece or nephew was involved, she figured it was better to be safe than sorry. Kendall isn’t self-motivated all the time.”
“I know.” Shaman sighed. “Yes, that’s exactly why. I don’t trust him. I don’t know that he did it, but I’m not going to give him a chance to get to you.”
“I would be flattered by your desire to protect me if you’d allowed me to be in on the decision, considering it’s my family that’s causing the trouble,” Tempest pointed out.
He had to concede the point. “I see where you’re going with that. But your enemy is my enemy, as they say.”
“I’m not leaving you, Shaman,” Tempest said. “At least not until our marriage is over.”
He rubbed at the nape of his neck. “I have to stay here to keep an eye on Jonas’s place. That’s part of my job, besides renovating this joint. But I really would feel better if you weren’t here.”
“Tough.” She snapped off the lamp and pulled him down next to her.
“I’m not used to taking orders, soldier.”
“I see that.” He couldn’t help being amused. It was hard to stay angry, anyway. Her hair smelled like flowers and she’d wrapped her body next to his, laying her head on his shoulder.
Damn. There was nothing else he could do.
He surrendered.
Chapter Eight
“So I hope last night wasn’t an indication that arguing is your favorite form of foreplay,” Tempest said the next morning when she brought a glass of water out to Shaman. There were no crews today—Sunday was their day off—so he was working Candy, Jonas’s beloved and (according to her husband) bad-tempered mustang. “Because if verbal sparring gets you hot, you and I may have a slight problem. I go for the silent types. Men of action.”
Shaman glanced at her. “I’ve been called the strong, silent type.”
“Good.” She hitched herself up onto a corral rail to watch him train Candy. “Kendall called.”
He held the lead loosely as he guided the mustang in a circle. “Yeah?”
“She says to expect a visitor around noon.”
“Why didn’t she call me?”
“She said your phone was off. It worried her. She wants you to start carrying your phone from now on, and leave it on.”
“I’m surrounded by opinionated women.” He grinned.
“Don’t you forget it.” Tempest blew him a kiss and slid off the rail. There was a lot she had to do.
“Cupertino.”
She looked at him. “Yes?”
“We never finished our discussion.”
Her husband was not a fast learner. “Yes, we did.”
“I’d like to revisit that discussion. It would be safer if you didn’t stay here.”
“I’m married to a man who has a bagful of guns, seems to have supersonic hearing, and doesn’t play well with others. I feel safer here than anywhere else.”
She went inside to grab some things. Shinny and Blanche would want to hear all about the wedding.
Tempest’s cell phone rang and she reached for it, answering as she looked out the window at her husband working Candy.
It was her agent.
