by Carol Finch
Rachel didn’t know what she’d done to earn Brody’s respect, but she responded with a dazzling smile, then curtsied elegantly. She had no idea what Nate had said previously to his father, but she assumed she was supposed to play along with whatever explanation he’d dreamed up when his family arrived in town without advanced notice.
“It is an honor and pleasure to meet you, gentlemen,” she said in her most sophisticated voice.
“You should book a room in the hotel,” Nate advised his father and brother. “Rachel and I have arrangements to discuss. We’ll see you later.”
The two men bowed politely, then headed downstairs.
“Why are they here?” Rachel murmured as the men disappeared from sight.
“They came to drag me back to Kansas City, cursing and kicking, if my supposed bride-to-be bails out on me,” Nate replied. He cast her a brooding glance, then strode inside the room. He paused to lock the door behind him, then glared at her again. “Where the hell do you think you’re going this time? We had a deal, remember?”
Rachel tossed aside her satchels, then turned to face him directly. She stared up at him, committing everything about his appearance to memory so she could conjure him up in the long, lonely days ahead. “I can’t marry you, Nate.”
“Can’t marry me or won’t marry me? Which is it?” His intense gaze bore into her. “I want to know what it will take to convince you to stay.”
Your love, she replied silently but she said aloud, “Nothing is going to change my mind.”
“Not even if I can tell you where Julian St. Raimes is living and what he’s been doing for the past forty years?”
Rachel snapped up her head. Her gaze locked with his. “I’m not sure I care to know. He left my grandmother and broke her heart so I see no need to claim him as my kinfolk.”
Nate shrugged nonchalantly. “That is your decision, angel face. If and when the time comes that you want to know, I’ll tell you.”
She frowned, bemused, when Nate pulled an embossed bottle of tonic from his pocket. “Doc says you should take two teaspoons of this stuff.”
“Why? There is nothing wrong with me.”
Nate strode up in front of her and held the bottle to her lips. “I know. You’re perfect. Take two swallows nonetheless.”
She took a cautious sniff. It didn’t smell like poison or tonic. It smelled like water. Although she was all set to refuse, she couldn’t resist the engaging smile on Nate’s ruggedly handsome face or the playful glint in his sky-blue eyes.
“Is this an undetectable poison?”
Nate shook his auburn head. His grin became wider as she dutifully drank from the bottle.
“It tastes exactly like the water I replaced in Doc’s tonic bottles.”
Nate dropped a kiss to her lips. “You’re mistaken. It’s a love potion. I mixed it myself.”
She blinked, stunned, as she surveyed his rakish smile.
“Is it taking effect yet?” he asked as he skimmed his fingers over her mouth.
“What effect are you expecting?”
“I expect you to fall madly in love with me and agree to marry me. Doc says he’ll be ready to give you away in the morning, if we hold the ceremony at the infirmary.” He waggled his brows playfully. “The wedding might not be spectacular but I’ll see to it that the honeymoon will be.”
Lord, this was so hard, she thought. Denying what her heart wanted was the most difficult choice she had ever made. Nate was being so charming and good-humored that it was killing her to turn him down.
“Uh-oh, I don’t like that look,” he said. “I don’t think you ingested enough of my potion. Take another big sip.”
“Nate—”
“We can live in Dodge, if that’s what you prefer,” he cut in quickly. “I can limit the amount of time I’m away from home by hiring an extra deputy. You can keep your job and—”
She kissed him to shush him—and got lost in the overwhelming affection she felt for him. When he pulled her tightly into his arms and devoured her lips, as if he were starving for the taste of her—as she was for him—her resistance crumbled in nothing flat.
“Don’t leave me, Rachel,” he whispered huskily. “I need you. You make me happy…And there’s one last thing you need to know…”
She tilted her head to stare at him. The expression on his face bedazzled her. “What’s the last thing?”
He curled his hand beneath her chin to hold her steady gaze. “I’m in love with you, Rachel. I’ve never been in love before and I’ve tried not to be, but I can’t help myself. There’s not enough willpower in the world for me to resist the way I feel about you.”
She gaped at him, hardly daring to believe that he meant what he said. She simply stood in his arms, her jaw sagging wide enough for a quail to roost.
Nate nodded firmly. “This is not your love potion doing the talking for me. This is my heart and soul asking you to stay with me. I want to make you as happy as being with you makes me.”
Rachel squealed in delight as she flung her arms around his neck and nearly squeezed the stuffing out of him. Could it be that the family curse had been broken finally? She certainly didn’t feel cursed. She felt blessed. Nate loved her, just the way she was. He wanted to marry her and he hadn’t said one infuriating thing about responsibility and obligation.
“I love you, too, Nate, more than words can say!” Having held back the confession for too long, it gushed from her mouth like an erupting geyser.
“You’re not just saying that because you feel sorry for me after I got beat up and you felt responsible, are you?”
“Sorry for you?” she echoed. “Of course not.” When he stared hesitantly at her, she frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“I have to confess that I haven’t been completely honest with you.”
“I wasn’t completely honest with you, until after we had the unpleasant dealings with Adolph and his henchmen all sorted out,” she reminded him.
“This is different.”
Now she was getting worried. “But whatever it is, you still love me…right?”
“With all my heart.” Nate dragged in a deep breath that made his chest swell like an inflated balloon, then he said hurriedly, “I know you don’t like rich men, but I’m wealthy. I’m sorry about that.”
She blinked in stunned amazement, then blinked again when he nodded affirmatively. She’d had no clue what he’d intended to say, but that really caught her off guard. “Rich?” she squeaked, owl-eyed. “How rich?”
“Rich enough that you better drink the whole bottle of love potion. I knew I was going to upset you when I told you.”
Rachel guzzled the water, then carelessly tossed aside the bottle. Her dark eyes sparkled with affection and amusement. “That is an extremely potent potion you mixed up, Mr. U.S. Marshal. Knowing that you’re disgustingly wealthy isn’t fazing me a bit. I promise not to hold it against you.”
“All I want you to hold against me is you,” he murmured as he wrapped her in his arms, spellbound by her impish smile and the love glittering in those dark, mystifying eyes.
The tension that had been hounding him fizzled beneath the indescribable pleasure flooding through him. Rachel loved him and all was right with his world.
“I’m absolutely crazy about you, angel face,” he growled seductively as he scooped her up in his arms and wheeled toward the bed. “Now that I think on it, I believe it must be your powerful love potion doing the talking for me. I guess it didn’t wear off, after all.”
“I told you it was potent stuff.”
She grinned mischievously, looking happier and more at ease than he’d ever seen her. It filled his heart with such joy that he swore it would explode.
Nate tumbled with her onto the bed, his rumbling laughter mingling with her playful giggles. In less than a heartbeat their amusement died. Passion flared hot and impatient between them, just as it always had. Just as it always would.
“You are my love potion, angel f
ace,” Nate assured her as he worshipped her lush body with kisses and caresses. “I’ll never need anyone else but you to make my life complete.”
And he never did because Rachel remained by his side, loving him as deeply and devotedly as he loved her. From that moment until long past forevermore…
ISBN: 978-1-4268-4648-9
THE KANSAS LAWMAN’S PROPOSAL
Copyright © 2010 by Connie Feddersen
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