by Sara Orwig
“That I would seriously doubt.”
He hugged her and smiled at her, combing long strands of her hair away from her face with his fingers. “All joking aside, you’ve got me beyond that terrible grief. I’m so amazed because I’ve lived with that since I lost Kathy and I had sort of accepted it as a way of life. What’s funny—you didn’t consciously try to do that. It just happened. I’ve come back to life. It’s fun to be with you and it’s relaxed. You haven’t tried to make me fall in love with you. Far from it,” he added and she smiled.
“We went into this marriage knowing we would not fall in love with each other and we would divorce later this year. That makes a difference in how we deal with each other. And moving in with you definitely won’t work.”
“I don’t know that it made such a damn big difference last night.”
“Maybe not. Last night was an exception,” she said. “I think it would make it more painful to divorce if we’re together a lot and living and sleeping together and making love. That doesn’t seem the way to stay on track for a divorce. I have plans for my future and I don’t want to be in upheaval and turmoil because of a heartbreak.” She shook her head. “Besides, you think I’m driven and I put work first and you don’t like that. You didn’t like it with your mother. Frankly, I think you’re just as driven. I think that would cause all kinds of trouble between us. I think—”
He stopped her rant with a finger to her lips. “Don’t take life so seriously, Lara.”
She pushed his finger away. “I have to. I’m having a baby, Marc, remember?” She had to think of her child in addition to her own future. “And I don’t hear you denying it. I doubt if you like my determination to become a doctor.”
Her secretarial work had been fine with him, but to devote herself to a demanding career that took extra hours of work, he had made it clear many times before that he didn’t like that. And she didn’t want an emotional entanglement with another man who didn’t agree with her life choices.
“I didn’t say I didn’t like it.”
She pressed him. “Do you want to be married to someone going to medical school? To a doctor?”
He ran a hand through his dark curls. “It’s beside the point because we’re not staying together forever. If you want an answer, no, I wouldn’t want my wife to be a doctor. I’ve had that all my life with my mother tied to her work. You’re blowing this out of proportion. I just asked you to move in with me.”
“If I did, we would have this conversation down the road.” She sat up, feeling the chill that came with leaving his arms. “Sorry, Marc, I’m not moving in with you.”
She drew in a deep breath and looked down at him. “We’re just not compatible. Look how we’re arguing now. Right after we’ve made love all night. No, moving in with you will just cause more problems and interfere in our futures.” Her voice echoed the dejection she felt. “Marc, there is no love in this, don’t you see? You’re not in love with me and I’m not in love with you. And we’re getting divorced eventually. You’re still planning on a divorce, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I am.” He paused and his gaze deepened, his eyes roving over every inch of her face, as if to memorize her. “I’ve got your answer—you’re not moving in. So why, after all that, do I still want to kiss you?” He pulled her down to him, but she placed her hands against his chest.
“Are you paying attention at all? We should be putting distance between us instead of staying in bed and kissing.”
“Why don’t you forget that divorce for ten minutes?”
He looked at her mouth and against every shred of good judgment she felt her insides tighten. He brushed her lips with his, lightly, yet her heart surged. Every part of her knew this was wrong, but she couldn’t stop it, the desire she felt when his mouth settled on hers. His tongue stroked hers and, as if of their own volition, her arms wrapped around him and she kissed him back. With one kiss she forgot their conversation and all her arguments.
* * *
It was midafternoon when they finally packed and returned to the ranch. As they entered the house, tempting smells of a pot roast filled the air.
“Ah, come meet my cook,” he said, putting their things by the door. He took her arm as they walked to the kitchen.
“Penelope, I’m home and I want you to meet my new wife.”
A short woman with curly red hair turned and smiled. She wore a blue cotton apron that covered her from her neck to her ankles. Her blue eyes filled with curiosity.
“Penelope, this is Lara Medina. Lara, meet Penelope Wendell.”
Lara offered her hand. “I’m glad to meet you. It smells wonderful in this kitchen.”
Penelope’s smile widened as they shook hands. “Pot roast for supper tonight. It will be ready about six.”
“That’s great,” Marc said. “We’ll eat about seven, so just leave it and we can get it on the table.” He turned to Lara. “Penelope has been with us for fifteen years. She worked for my grandparents first. She’s been with me the past four years. She works in Dallas or here on the ranch.”
“I’m anxious to taste that pot roast,” Lara said. They talked briefly and then left to take their things upstairs.
As they walked down the hall, she asked him, “Why do you want to return to the corporate world? Why don’t you stay on the ranch? You seem way happier and more relaxed since you’ve been here. The problems you have here don’t seem to get you down as much as the ones at the Dallas office.”
“I like making money in the corporate world. I like the challenges. Maybe I am happier here. I hadn’t really thought about it. I didn’t have you in my bed before, so maybe that’s making me happy.”
She shook her head at him. “Marc—”
But he quickly changed the subject. “This afternoon I’m going to see my grandparents.”
“I’ll go if you think they’d like to see me.”
“I think they would. As far as they’re concerned, you’re part of the family now. A pretty lady is sure to cheer up my grandfather. You know, in her day my grandmother was a beauty. At least, she looked quite pretty in her pictures.”
Lara smiled at him. “Let me get cleaned up. I don’t want to go like this.”
“Want to shower together?”
She laughed as she shook her head. “I don’t think we would ever get there if we shower together first.”
“Meet you here in...what? An hour? Half an hour?”
“Half an hour,” she said and walked with him to their rooms, leaving him to go into her suite and close the door.
When they returned from their visit, she knew he would bring up moving in with him again before the evening was over. Had her decision changed since this morning in Downly? She’d better make up her mind once and for all and stick with it. Vacillating wasn’t helping anyone. “No” was the safe and smart thing to tell him. Did she want to risk her heart for sex with Marc or did she want to play it safe as she had promised herself she would do?
No pressure. Only her future was at stake.
Eight
Marc laughed as he went to his room. He was having fun with Lara, but he was serious when he urged her to move in with him. He wanted her in his bed, in his arms at night. He wanted to hold her and make love and have her with him. He had surprised himself when he blurted out the invitation to move in with him.
He hadn’t given it thought ahead of time—something so unlike himself that he had been shocked. She was changing him, changing his life. He had a feeling she wasn’t trying to do so, it was just happening with her around.
He also had a feeling that he was a small part of her life, not the focus, which was something that usually didn’t happen to him with his women friends. Lara had plans for her life, goals. She was more interested in adding Doctor to her name than Mrs. And he’d best remember
that, he reminded himself. Despite his physical attraction to her, she was not the woman for him with her drive to tie her life to her work.
But the sex...
The sex he’d had with Lara had been the best he’d ever experienced. Another shocker. She was intensely responsive and she had an enthusiasm for lovemaking that made everything more exciting and sexy.
He realized he better change his train of thought because he had to get ready to go see his grandparents, and thinking about sex with Lara wasn’t the way to do it.
In twenty minutes, dressed in gray slacks and a charcoal sport coat, he went down to the great room to wait for Lara. He stood when he heard her heels and she swept into the room, taking his breath away.
“Oh, you do know how to dress for my grandparents,” he said, looking at her bright blue dress. The neckline was high, which would please his grandmother. The hemline was high, too, which would please his grandpa. She wore the necklace he had given her, and high-heeled blue pumps, and her hair fell freely around her face.
“You look stunning,” he said quietly.
“Thank you. You look very nice yourself.”
He pulled on the cuffs of his white dress shirt, the gold cufflinks catching glints of sunlight. Then he took her arm and led her down the hall. “They’re looking forward to seeing us. I talked to Grandma. She repeated how glad they are to be home. She thanked me for getting them home.”
“I’m glad, Marc. Does it worry you that our marriage won’t be permanent like he wants?”
“No, because he shouldn’t tell me to get a wife and get married in one month. He wasn’t himself and he wasn’t thinking it through. I know he always thinks he knows what’s best for me, but I’m a grown man and I can make my own choices. Anyway, you and I have worked things out, and we’ll be happy and he’s happy. And, once again, this is nice of you to come with me to see them.”
“Oh, sure. That’s a small thing.”
“Maybe, but I just want you to know I appreciate it.”
He held the door as she stepped into his pickup, and he couldn’t help but glance down at her endless legs.
When they arrived at his grandparents’ place, they greeted his grandmother first. When Marc held her shoulders lightly and kissed her cheek, she felt so frail, it made his heart lurch.
“Would Grandpa like to see both of us or just me?”
“Both of you, of course,” his grandmother answered. “Come with me and we’ll say hello. He’ll want to see your beautiful bride,” she said, smiling at Lara who smiled in return.
“Thank you, Mrs. Ruiz.”
After greeting the nurse on duty, they stepped into a room with the sound of a monitor beeping, keeping track of Marc’s grandfather’s vital signs.
“Hi, Grandpa,” Marc said, taking Lara’s arm and moving to the bed.
“Marc and his bride are here to see you, Papa,” Grandma said, and he waved his hand.
“Get a chair.”
“I have a chair. Lara, would you like to sit here?” Marc asked.
She said hello to his grandfather and sat in the chair near the bed. Marc stood behind her.
“How are you feeling today?” Marc asked him.
His grandfather looked at Lara. “Do you love my grandson?”
“I married him, sir,” she said.
Marc wondered what his grandfather was up to. There were moments he could be quite shrewd and Marc wondered if he had guessed that Marc wasn’t in love with Lara.
“I hear you have no family at all.”
“Not until I married your grandson. Now Marc’s family is my family. Isn’t that right?”
His grandfather smiled at her. “You’re part of our family and we welcome you.”
“Thank you,” she answered.
Marc placed his hand on her shoulder, wondering if his grandfather’s questions disturbed her.
“Let me see the rings Marc gave you.”
She stood and held out her hand, and his grandfather took it in his, rubbing his thumb across her fingers.
“Soft hands,” he said. “Very beautiful hands. Beautiful diamonds that mean he loves you very much.”
Rico released her. “I hope you and my grandson will always love each other. You took a vow to do that.”
“Yes, sir, we did,” she replied, sitting in her chair again and crossing her legs, a motion that caught his grandfather’s glance.
“You’re a beautiful woman, and you and Marc should have beautiful children. Marc was a beautiful child.”
“I’ll bet he was,” she said, laughing. “And thank you for the compliment.”
Grandpa smiled at her and Marc shook his head realizing she was not intimidated in the least by his grandfather and his questions.
“Today must be a better day,” Marc said, and his grandmother nodded.
“It is a better day and he has rallied some, they tell us.”
“Good. Maybe it’s from being home.”
They talked for another fifteen minutes and then Marc stood and said goodbye. In a short time they were back in the pickup for the drive home.
“I don’t know what some of Grandpa’s questions were about, especially that remark that we vowed to love each other.”
“He may have guessed what you’re doing—a marriage of convenience.”
“I’m glad he didn’t intimidate you. I think he was trying to.”
She smiled. “I thought he was adorable. And I feel like part of your family, Marc, even though common sense tells me that I’m certainly not. They’ve been so welcoming and I guess I just want a family.”
Marc sensed her mood change and lightened the tone. “Grandpa—adorable?”
Lara laughed and he loved the sight of her smile. Loved that he made her smile. “I’m glad you went with me,” Marc said, and meant it.
“I’m glad I did, too.”
He parked at the back of the house under the carport and they entered the great room. The minute he closed the door behind her, he reached out, caught her hand and pulled her into his arms.
“I can’t wait one minute longer.”
She placed her fingers on his lips, stopping his kiss. “Marc, you’ll only make parting much more difficult.”
“Stop worrying about tomorrow. You’ll go to school and get the career you want. Hell and high water won’t stop you.”
“I’ve told you, Marc, it’s a tribute to my mom. I want to help people like her—through medicine, through research, whatever works out. It’s for my mother and makes me feel part of her is with me.”
He nodded. “That’s admirable. You’re really dedicated to it.”
“Yes, I am,” she admitted. She smiled at him. “I don’t think you get it, but you work just as hard.”
“It doesn’t seem the same to me.”
“That’s because you’re not really looking at yourself.”
“I’ll guarantee you, you’re more interesting.” He pulled her closer, till she was flush against him. “In the meantime, you look gorgeous and it’s been way too long since I held you and kissed you.” His mouth took hers and he kissed away any answer she might have had.
The kiss was worth waiting for.
But as he was about to make his next move, Lara stepped back.
“I think we need to catch our breath. I’ll put dinner on. I can’t wait to try that pot roast.”
“I’ll get a beer and get you a lemonade, and then we can sit and talk while it heats up. How’s that sound?”
“Like another good deal,” she said. “I’ll see you in a few minutes. I’m going to go change first.” She left him to enter her suite and close the door. As she changed, she thought about moving in with him as he wanted her to do. She had wanted to say yes—oh, how she had wanted to—bu
t wisdom said no. She needed to keep enough distance from him that she didn’t make this marriage seem real to herself. He’d never fall in love with her and she couldn’t risk her heart by falling in love with him.
On the other hand, if she moved in with him, he might not ever want her to move out.
She laughed at herself and shook her head. How many women had slept with men because each one convinced herself that she was the woman he would want forever and ask to stay? The world was filled with women who’d had that foolish thought and she didn’t want to become a statistic.
She went downstairs and they had dinner out on the patio. Afterward they talked for hours, until darkness fell. And before she knew what was happening, Marc rose from his chair and picked her up to carry her to his big bedroom.
During the night she stirred and turned to look at him, holding her close against his side as he slept. Was she already falling in love with him?
If she was, there wasn’t any way to stop it. He wanted her in his bed at night and she wanted to be there. Her gaze ran over him and her pulse quickened. How long would he have that effect on her? She suspected it would be for as long as she knew him.
She realized now that no matter what she did, the divorce was going to hurt. On the other hand, she would move on with her life and now her financial worries were gone, thanks to Marc.
She shifted slowly, trying to avoid disturbing him, and propped her head on her hand to look at him. He excited her. He was incredibly handsome and sexy, more so now than he had been before their marriage. Or was she just in love and dazzled by him?
She wanted to run her hand over Marc’s chest, but he was a light sleeper and she was afraid her touch would wake him.
“Like what you see?” he drawled, startling her.
She looked at him. His eyes were still closed.
“How did you know I was looking at you? Your eyes are closed.”
“Magic. Besides, I know you find me fascinating,” he said and grinned. He pulled her down onto his chest and kissed her, ending their conversation.
