by Lucy Monroe
She remembered the occasion. They’d been in a mall parking lot and she’d wanted to do more shopping, but he’d wanted to go home. He’d been convincing her.
It had worked.
So well, apparently, neither of them noticed their picture being taken.
The headline read, Bad Girl Bella Jackson Spends Week on Rich Lover’s Ranch.
She flipped open the tabloid and read the lurid details of her supposed ongoing affair with Jake Barton. The fact that he’d faithfully attended five of her trunk shows was used as proof that there had been something between the two of them well before her week on his ranch.
Lexi was quoted as saying she didn’t think the relationship would last because Bella was too much of a bad girl to settle down, but she was no doubt enjoying her rich lover’s hospitality. The article went on to postulate that her ex-boyfriend, the accountant, had been dining on sour grapes when he wrote his exposé of her supposed frigidity.
People around the small town near Jake’s ranch had been interviewed to add speculation and details to the article. From the pictures inside the tabloid, it was obvious a photographer had followed them pretty much everywhere but to the ranch.
The article ended with the announcement that Lexi’s Creations would be signing bad girl Bella Jackson to represent them as cover model for another year. That announcement was definitely premature. Especially if, as Bella suspected, Lexi had been the one behind the article.
Bella looked up from the weekly, and met the hostile expression in Jake’s eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
There wasn’t much else she could say. He wasn’t used to this sort of publicity and she hated it. Nevertheless, it was her fault. One way or the other, the article could be linked back to Bella’s career. Her boss had probably offered up the initial story. If Bella hadn’t allowed the whole bad-girl persona to be created to sell her as the cover model for Lexi’s line, she wouldn’t be so newsworthy now.
“Did you tip them off when I invited you to the ranch?”
She shook her head, trying to clear it. He couldn’t have meant what it sounded like, but the question had been pretty straightforward.
“You think I alerted the press that I was going to your ranch?” she asked just to be sure.
“How else would they have found out?”
She crossed her arms over her chest, her small shopping bag dangling from her fingers. “Oh, I don’t know, Jake. Maybe the reporter followed me? Or maybe Lexi tipped them off.” She hated admitting her employer had probably betrayed her like that, but Lexi had agreed to comment in the article and that said something to Bella about the other woman’s motives.
Jake’s hostility immediately transformed to outrage. “She would do something like that to you?” he demanded.
“I don’t know, but I think so, yes. She was worried about how the recent publicity would impact my reputation and therefore the sensual image of the line.”
“How did she know I’d attended five of the shows?”
Bella wasn’t answering any more questions until she knew exactly what his motive was for asking them. “Are you implying I told her in some attempt to drum up publicity?”
“No.” He ran his fingers through his hair, his expression full of frustration. “Look, you’re the one who told me your bad-girl reputation didn’t bother you, but you hated being the butt of jokes because of that idiot ex-boyfriend’s tell-all exclusives.”
She had told him that, and so much more in the last week.
“And that equates to a willingness on my part to cheapen our relationship by capitalizing on it with the press?”
“No.” He glared. “Hell no. I’m sorry, honey.”
She relaxed a little, but only a little. He’d accepted her innocence easily enough, but the fact he’d doubted her at all spoke volumes. “Your attendance at the shows wasn’t a big secret, Jake. I wasn’t the only model who noticed the tall, sexy Texan who came to the shows, but never bought anything.”
He sighed. “Of course. My sister could have said something too.”
“You told your sister you were going to the shows?”
“I came to the shows with my sister.” He put his hand on her shoulder and started guiding her toward the mall’s exit. “Come on, we can talk about this back at the ranch.”
She followed, but she wasn’t done asking questions. “You came to the shows with your sister?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t see her.”
“She was there, although after the first couple, she spent most of her time talking to the coordinators and buyers from different stores.”
Jake was helping her into his truck.
She clipped her seatbelt into place and waited for him to get inside the cab before continuing her questions. “Why was your sister at the shows?”
“She was researching certain aspects of the fashion industry for her next book. That’s why she’s gone now. She has interviews set up in Paris and New York before she comes home.”
“I see.” But she didn’t. Not really. “You’re saying you were only at the shows because of your sister?”
“She’s shy. I agreed to escort her so she wouldn’t feel so out of place.”
“She went to Paris alone,” Bella pointed out.
Jake shrugged. “I don’t always understand how Lise’s mind works.”
Bella was starting to understand how Jake’s worked, though.
She’d believed he’d come to the trunk shows to see her. Looking back, she realized it had been a ridiculous assumption to make, but she’d been so enthralled by him at first sight she’d wanted to believe the impact had been mutual.
It hadn’t.
Remembering how she’d practically thrown herself into his bed made her go hot with mortification.
She’d offered herself and he’d taken her up on the offer, but no wonder he hadn’t said anything about the future. He didn’t see one for them. He’d made his lack of commitment clear from the very beginning.
She couldn’t pretend otherwise.
How could she have been so stupid?
No wonder he had left the shows so many times without talking to her. The consuming interest had not gone both ways. He was a highly sexed man, he’d proven that to her in the last few days. He would hardly turn her down when she’d made it so obvious she wanted him.
But that said nothing about his feelings.
Men didn’t have to feel anything emotional to enjoy sex. Didn’t all the women’s magazines say so?
She hadn’t realized right up until that moment how much she had been counting on the feelings that were strong enough to bring a man back to trunk show after trunk show to grow into something more. Something lasting.
“You’ve gotten quiet all of a sudden.”
“It’s probably time I went home.” Each word she forced herself to utter dropped like a boulder, shattering her cracked heart. “You don’t need this type of publicity and Christmas is almost here.”
Jake drove toward the ranch in stunned silence. He shouldn’t be surprised. Christmas was coming and she’d made it clear from the beginning she planned to spend it with her family. And he had acted like an idiot when he first saw the story, but, damn it, he hadn’t meant he wanted her to leave.
“I don’t care about the publicity.”
The sound she made must be universal feminine for, “Yeah right,” because his sister did the same thing.
“I don’t. I said I was sorry about the way I reacted at first and I am.”
“It’s okay, Jake. I’m pretty upset myself. I hate the fact that Lexi’s more interested in my image in the tabloids than the way I represent her clothes on the cover of a magazine or on the catwalk.”
“Her world is pretty superficial.”
It was Bella’s world too, but now wasn’t the time to argue semantics. “You’re right. It is and I’m not sure how much longer I want to stay in it.”
He about drove off the road and
Bella gasped.
“Jake!”
“Sorry.”
He straightened the truck. “Are you serious about leaving modeling?”
“Yes, but I’m not sure where I want to go from here. My career has consumed my life for so long.”
“You’ve been doing pretty good at the ranch and we don’t have a single catwalk.” Truth be told, he found her a hell of a lot sexier wearing one of his shirts tied in a knot at her waist than showing off the sheerest of Lexi’s Creations’ lingerie.
His words made Bella laugh, but she didn’t reply. She just looked out the window, her face averted, so he couldn’t read her expression, no matter how many sideways glances he slanted her way.
Every mile nearer the ranch came, the more he felt a sense of urgency to do or say something to cement his relationship with Bella. If she walked away now, would she ever come back?
He’d follow her, if she didn’t. He wasn’t in the habit of giving up on something important to him and that’s just what she was. Important. Necessary.
Did she realize it?
Probably not…because until he’d faced the prospect of losing her, he hadn’t allowed himself to accept how much that scenario bothered him.
When they got back to the ranch, he had to take a call from a beef buyer and Bella wandered off.
He found her an hour later, in his bedroom packing.
She looked up when he walked in. “I’ve got a flight out of Austin tomorrow afternoon. I thought maybe I should go to a hotel near the airport tonight.”
Her eyes looked puffy, like she’d been crying, but they were dry for now.
“Like hell.”
Her doe eyes widened, her lower lip quivered and his heart contracted in his chest.
“Why are you leaving?”
“I told you. It’s almost Christmas.”
“And spending it with me instead of your family would be some kind of nightmare?”
“You want to spend Christmas with me?” She frowned. “You didn’t say anything about it all week.”
“I’m not a big talker.”
She smiled and something tight in his chest loosened. “I noticed.”
“I communicate better with actions than words. My body’s been talking to you all week.”
“I thought that was just sex.”
“There’s nothing just about what happens between us when we’re naked.”
“Or almost naked?” she asked, hope flickering in her eyes.
Relief washed through him. She didn’t want to leave him any more than he wanted her to go. “Yes.”
“But my family…”
“I’ll have to meet them sometime.”
“You want to meet them?” The flicker had turned into a positive glow and he was going to make darn sure it stayed lit.
“Yes, do you think your mother would mind a couple of extra guests for Christmas dinner?”
“A couple?”
“I can’t leave Lise alone for such an important holiday. She’s too solitary as it is.”
“I’d love for your sister to join us.” Suddenly Bella was flying across the floor.
She landed against him with a thump and he wrapped his arms around her good and tight.
“I didn’t want to say goodbye.”
“I don’t either.”
Then he kissed her and they spent the rest of the night proving just how good they were at not saying goodbye.
Bella woke up Christmas morning snuggled into Jake’s chest. They’d attended Christmas Eve services the night before with her family and his sister before returning to their hotel. Bella liked Lise Barton. She was quiet, but very sweet.
And she was a heck of a writer.
Bella’s family liked Jake too. Joshua hadn’t been there, but she was sure her brother was going to get along just fine with the man she’d fallen in love with.
It had been love at first sight and the feelings had only grown the more time they spent together.
She was almost positive he felt the same way, even if he hadn’t attended the trunk shows because of her. He was so affectionate and seeing him around her family had shown her how totally different he was with her than with other people. He’d been polite with her parents, but taciturn. Her dad didn’t seem to mind, but then he wasn’t one for chatting during the football game either. The men’s silence had been companionable and not in the least tense. Jake had barely smiled at her sister, though Daisy usually sparked adulation in the male of the species. Daisy had told Bella it didn’t bother her a bit because he did such a good job of smiling at Bella and making her happy.
Bella nuzzled into his chest, inhaling his unique, masculine scent. The fragrance of her lover.
She reveled in it.
Her hand brushed up the inside of his thigh, his warm skin making her fingers tingle.
“Here now, none of that just yet.”
His deep voice rumbled in his chest and she looked up to meet a smiling green gaze.
“Good morning.”
“Merry Christmas, sweetheart.” He reached behind himself and then dropped a red velvet stocking between the two of them. “Look at what Santa brought in the night.”
She grinned and upended the stocking. Foil-wrapped chocolates dropped out and then a small black velvet box. She stared at it, afraid to pick it up.
What if it wasn’t what she thought it was?
What if it was?
“Aren’t you going to open it?” he asked.
She licked her lips and nodded. She flipped open the box and tears filled her eyes.
The ring was a knuckleduster of diamonds and deep red rubies. “It’s beautiful.”
“But not nearly as beautiful as the woman I hope will wear it for the rest of my life and hers.” He sat up and took her with him. He pulled the ring from the box and then slid it onto the tip of her ring finger. “I love you. Will you marry me, Bella?”
She opened her mouth to say yes, but nothing would come out so she nodded so hard her hair flew around her face.
He slid the ring onto her finger the rest of the way, started kissing and touching her. She told him she loved him as his body took possession of hers.
Afterward, they got ready to go to her family’s for Christmas, but something was still niggling at her.
She sat down on the vanity chair to watch him pull on his boots. He was a very sexy man and she liked his cowboy ways.
“Jake.”
“Yeah?”
“I fell in love with you at first sight.”
He straightened up and smiled, the expression in his eyes so warm she needed to fan herself. “I did too.”
“I mean the first time I saw you in the audience.”
“I know. That’s when I lost it over you too.”
“But you came to the shows because of Lise, not me.”
“Honey, you said it yourself. Lise went to Paris alone. I knew she’d be okay after the first show and she got the lay of the land. I didn’t think for a minute she’d hold me to my promise to attend five fashion shows with her.”
“But you kept coming.”
“You were there. The truth is…Lise missed one of the shows…but I didn’t.”
She went to him and he pulled her into his body, right next to his heart.
“I didn’t know it could happen like that,” she whispered.
“Me either, but I’m glad it did, Bella. I’ll love you for a lifetime and beyond.”
She twined her arms around his neck and pulled his head down for a kiss. “I love you too, cowboy. I always will.”
Their kiss sealed more than that promise. It sealed their future.
About the Author
With more than 6 million copies of her books in print worldwide, award-winning and USA TODAY bestseller Lucy Monroe has published over fifty books and had her stories translated for sale in dozens of countries. While she writes multiple subgenres of romance (paranormal, historical, single title and short contemporary), all of her books
are sexy, deeply emotional and adhere to the concept that love will conquer all. A passionate devotee of romance, she adores sharing her love for the genre with her readers.
Find Lucy on the web:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/LucyMonroe.Romance
Twitter: www.twitter.com/lucymonroe
Blog: lucymonroeblog.blogspot.com
Official Website: www.lucymonroe.com
Email Lucy: www.lucymonroe.com/contactmail.htm
Look for these titles by Lucy Monroe
Now Available:
Annabelle’s Courtship
Meagan’s Chance
Miss Fix-it
(written as L.C. Monroe)
An inconvenient proposal.
Annabelle’s Courtship
© 2007 Lucy Monroe
Ian MacKay, Laird of Graenfrae, has no use for love or marriage. However, his stepfather’s will mandates that marriage is what he must have…to an Englishwoman.
A sensible man, Ian develops a list of requirements in a wife: Plain, moderately dowered, older and practical. He thinks he has found the perfect candidate in Lady Annabelle.
Labeled The Ordinary her first season, Annabelle longs for a man who will see her as beautiful and love her as her father loved her mother. When she meets Ian, she thinks she has at last found that man. Until his proposal, in which he has the audacity to list his “requirements”.
She refuses his proposal. He informs her that she will marry him at the end of the season.
The battle of wills is on.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Annabelle’s Courtship:
Annabelle watched the glittering crowd at Almack’s and tried to ignore the leap of her heart every time a new arrival entered. She must stop acting like a silly schoolgirl. The Scottish laird most likely would not come. For the past two weeks, he had singled her out for attention whenever they attended the same affair and on one such occasion, he had told her that he no more cared for this bastion of the ton’s doings than she did. Since her first Season when she had been labeled the Ordinary, Annabelle had detested the midweek soirees.
The unimposing building and less than stellar décor served as a backdrop to the ton’s most initiated hunt—that for the advantageous marriage. Her aunt insisted they come each week. Although the rest of the ton considered Annabelle, at the age of four and twenty, to be firmly on the shelf, Lady Beauford would not give up hope of seeing her niece wed. Annabelle could have refused to attend the season at all, but that would have curbed her own plans.
