by Regan Black
She paused, staring up at him. “What are you talking about?”
“We’re leaving, all three of us, right now.” He ushered her upstairs. “That narrow escape calls for a changeup. I’m not taking any more chances with you or the baby.”
“Fox, I’m fine. My brothers—”
“I’m not taking chances,” he repeated. The baby wriggled in his arms.
When John had his bottle, Fox sent her to pack and started making calls. There was a great deal to do if he was going to orchestrate a wedding worthy of the woman he loved.
* * *
From his vantage point he kept a close eye on the action at the Crooked C. His next target had put up one hell of a fight. She would be the perfect challenge. The sheriff had come and gone, taking away the two men who could have interfered.
He was mentally adjusting his timeline and ideal point of attack when he realized Fox was taking both the woman and the baby.
Not a drive to town, based on the luggage.
He lowered the binoculars and swore at the sky. All this time invested and no reward. But he had another target in mind. He would move swiftly so he didn’t lose that opportunity.
Chapter 13
“Where are we headed?” Kelsey asked.
Fox had been a blur of action since he’d declared they were leaving town. She caught the deep scowl on his face as she buckled the baby into his car seat and Fox loaded up suitcases and the baby’s portable crib.
“Las Vegas.” He glanced up and met her gaze, the glower of a moment ago replaced by a warm smile. “We’re getting married.”
She felt her chin drop. The shock kept her rooted in place, hovering over the baby’s seat, half in and half out of the car. The baby patted her face, nudging her back into motion.
“What?” She couldn’t have heard him right. Fox was the opposite of impulsive and until now hadn’t shown any dictator-like tendencies.
“Marry me, Kelsey. It solves everything.”
Does it? As proposals went, it lacked finesse and was devoid of romance, and sparked a host of other concerns. Starting with the fact that she was in love with him.
Being in love should’ve smoothed out the rough edges of his imperfect proposal. This could be a joyful moment if he loved her back, if that was truly the catalyst for this trip. But that was wishful thinking on her part. Her brothers had spurred him into this uncharacteristically rash action. A fear response.
And knowing Fox, he wouldn’t give up. Once he made a decision, he went all in.
“Come on, Kelsey.” Apparently, she’d frozen again. He boosted her into the passenger seat and closed the back door. “We can hash out the details on the way.”
They were going to Vegas to get married. His way, his terms. It seemed she was just along for the ride.
Her temper made her throat tight, her palms itch. “Details?” she asked as he climbed into the driver’s seat. “What are you thinking?”
Had she even agreed to this wacky scheme?
He put the car in gear and the baby chortled. “John’s up for it.”
“Two out of three is good enough for you?”
He glanced her way, and she caught the smirk on his face. “It’ll be fun, I promise.”
“Fun?”
“Or romantic,” he said quickly. “If that’s what you want. Whatever kind of wedding you want, we’ll do that.”
“In Las Vegas.”
“Best solution on short notice. Have you ever been?”
She didn’t want a short-notice solution, she wanted to be desired. She’d decided years ago that when she did marry, she’d be a valued and equal partner in the arrangement.
“Once.” She’d gone with friends from college to watch the bull riding championships. “For a weekend.”
“We can stay a few days and enjoy ourselves. We’ll have to deal with some necessary publicity, although that too should put an end to your family’s stunts.”
She couldn’t wrap her head around it. Marrying Fox Colton was a fantasy. One of those wispy dreams that teased and tantalized before it was obliterated by the alarm clock.
“Fox, have you really thought this out?” She hated the idea of causing him more trouble that he’d have to wade through. “A whirlwind wedding is absurd. Marriage is serious.”
“I’m serious about you,” he replied. “I’m surprised you haven’t thought of this before.”
Not once had she considered a marriage of convenience as a viable solution to her family drama. It wouldn’t be fair to the fake husband and she couldn’t get past the idea of being subject to a man. In the community where she’d been raised, a woman was still considered her husband’s property. Kelsey rubbed the unexpected chill from her arms. She’d watched marriage douse the light of so many women, including her mother and older sisters.
She had to reel him in. “Fox, really. I appreciate the gesture, but—”
“It’s not a gesture. It’s a wedding, Kelsey. A marriage. Real and legal. You told me getting married would get your brothers off your back.”
“I did.” And now she wished she could take it back. “That doesn’t mean you have to be the sacrificial groom.”
“I don’t feel sacrificial at all.” He reached over and covered her hand. “It’s true this is a sudden step, but we’re a good team in and out of the office.”
Yes, they had complementary strengths. Even with the baby, though that wouldn’t be a permanent part of his life. She wondered if Fox realized how much he’d miss the baby when Mason made his final decision.
“We like and respect each other and we’re compatible.” He glanced back as if he expected the John to pick up on the innuendo.
They were definitely compatible, she thought as her cheeks heated. “Just tell me if this is because of the skeletons that tumbled out of your closet or mine.”
He tilted his head. “Both,” he admitted. “Getting married, with the requisite public announcement, protects you.” He glanced her way, his blue eyes alight with possibilities. “This marriage will empower you. Think about having the freedom to follow your career wherever it takes you, without the worry that your brothers will jump out of the shadows.”
She shook her head. “You noticed I held my own.”
“More than,” he agreed.
Was that pride she heard in his voice? “But what about you?” He must have other plans for his life than wedding an assistant he’d only known for a few weeks.
“Well, I get to call the best equine geneticist on record my wife for as long as she’ll have me.”
It sounded so cold even as his words gave her a little thrill. She’d be Fox Colton’s wife. “Will you draw up a contract or something?”
“Why leave a paper trail? I think we should stay married for a year at the very least, but whenever you want out of the marriage, just say the word.”
She wanted to believe him, yet those dreadful memories from her childhood reared up, whispering warnings that this was a trap.
More noise from the back seat drew his attention and when he checked John in the rearview mirror, his smile melted the last of her reserve.
“All right,” she agreed. “A real, legal wedding with the necessary publicity that will get me shunned and my name blotted from the family record.”
“Which leaves you free to do whatever you please.”
“You really mean that?”
He turned, winked. “I do.”
She wanted to argue, but it was true that being married would render her damaged goods and break the contract she’d been avoiding for half her life. Her family would have no reason to come after her and she really would be completely safe.
If he was going into this wedding with his eyes wide-open, she’d be a fool to talk him out of it. Even if he didn’t love her.
* * *
Vegas swirled around them in a riot of color and sparkle and glitz. Fox couldn’t whisk her to Paris, but he’d done the next best thing by booking a two-bedroom suite at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel. Of all the places he expected to marry, it wasn’t here, where nothing was quite what it seemed.
Until Kelsey mentioned it, he hadn’t given marriage much thought at all. Though the Coltons expected him to settle down, he’d planned to put it off as long as possible.
More than anything he wanted her to enjoy an unforgettable and romantic weekend. The hotel happily arranged for them to meet with a wedding planner and connected them with an outstanding child care service.
All he really wanted from the ceremony was a happy and safe bride. He’d brought her here to protect her, to rescue her, though her rescuing him was a better description of what had happened. Would he have come through all the shocking upheavals of these past few weeks without her?
Well, physically, sure. He had his work and the baby to keep him going. Unlike the man he’d believed to be his father, he wasn’t a brute, but having Kelsey close made all the ugliness easier to bear.
Kelsey slipped her arm around his waist as he continued to stare at the glittering strip several stories below their balcony. “Having second thoughts?”
Her voice and touch were soothing. No wonder Baby John had taken to her so quickly. The little tyke had recognized a caring and competent source of security. “Not one. Your safety is paramount and I don’t want you to live in fear ever again.”
“Are you adding that to the vows?”
“It doesn’t sound romantic, but I mean it.” Fox glanced down at her heart-shaped face to find her hazel eyes sparkling brighter than the strip. Her hair was down, a soft fall of rose-gold silk. As her lips curved into a warm smile, he felt like the luckiest man alive. Marriage of convenience or not, he was proud the world would know him as her husband. “You don’t think it’s implied with the traditional vows to love, honor and cherish?”
“Cherish?” Tears welled up in those big hazel eyes and she didn’t blink quite fast enough.
Cupping her cheek, he brushed the teardrop away. “Kelsey? What did I say?”
“You said everything right.” She gave her head a tiny shake. “I need a second.”
Instead of walking away, she pressed herself close, both arms banding around his waist. “I’ve always heard obey,” she said at last. “Every wedding I sat through as a kid, obey was nonnegotiable. I’ve been in the real world long enough to know there are options, but that word was stuck in my head, ruining the moment, even when I tried to imagine my own wedding.”
And yes, she’d agreed to this stunt. It couldn’t be a quick ceremony for show. Thanks to his last name, it would be a public announcement that would make national news. The trust she’d put in him landed like a kick to his heart.
All her life, she’d been locked down by restrictions and attitudes and a hard community. Her only chance at freedom had been to run away. He’d been stuck as well, afraid to be himself in either of his childhood homes. Kelsey changed that, forced him to look in the mirror and own not only his fears but also his hopes and dreams. Being with her was a different kind of safe for him, but he assumed the relief was similar for both of them.
“This wedding is for you, Kelsey. Fast or not, there won’t be a single word or song or flower that doesn’t suit you.”
“I’m being silly,” she murmured into his shirt.
He stroked her back, marveling again at the strength packed into her petite frame. “You’re not.” He loved her, desperately, and wanted to tell her just how real the upcoming ceremony would be to him.
The thought alone was too selfish to speak. How could he tie her down just when she’d found her freedom? Publicly becoming his wife gave her the ability to grow in her field, to conduct research, and eventually find the man she wanted to cherish for the rest of her days.
But oh, what he wouldn’t give for that man to be him.
“You’re sure this will be enough to keep you safe from your family?”
She stepped back, linking her hands with his. “I am. Giving my vow to you is something they’ll respect even if they don’t like it.” She flashed him a brilliant smile. “I’ll be damaged goods.”
“Nothing damaged about you, sweetheart.” Fox bent his head and brushed his lips across hers. She kissed him back with a tenderness that left him undone.
In the other room the baby giggled and the sitter’s laughter followed. Fox felt her lips smile with his.
“Baby John makes new friends wherever he goes,” she said.
“Seems that way,” Fox agreed. He checked his watch as he steered her toward the central room of the suite. The wedding planner would be here any minute. “Are you ready to finalize the details for tomorrow?”
She grinned up at him. “I don’t know how you’ve coordinated all of this, but it’s wonderful. All the best parts of a real wedding without the turmoil and angst I’ve seen other women go through. I feel cherished already.”
“You are.” They’d start with cherish and move on to the L word when she was ready to hear it.
With his arm around her waist and the baby playing peekaboo with the sitter that love surged through him. Better if he waited until they were back on the ranch to tell her. They still had to work out the situation with Baby John. After spending her childhood raising babies, he couldn’t ask her to repeat that cycle now that she had the freedom to be or do anything her heart desired.
He’d get to say love during the ceremony tomorrow. It would be enough, for now. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the ring he’d chosen for her. The diamond wasn’t huge, but the emerald-cut stone was top-quality and gleamed in the platinum setting between two cushion-cut rubies.
He cocked an eyebrow when she gasped, pressing her hands to her lips. “Fox.”
One more daring move. Was it right or wrong?
“I meant it, Kelsey. You get the final say on every detail. If you want something different, speak up.”
“It’s too much. Where did you get that? When?”
“I met with the jeweler while you were distracted with something else.” Seeing this ring, he’d immediately envisioned it on her finger as she worked in the lab or played with the baby, or rode out with him on the ranch. She had yet to give him a chance to slide it on her finger.
“We might have to adjust the sizing.” He’d guessed at that, was hopeful he’d come close.
“Fox, it’s beautiful.” At last she extended her hand, her fingers quivering.
Or maybe it was his hand shaking as he slipped the ring onto her finger. I love you. Today, tomorrow and always. The words burned where he kept them locked away in his heart.
“It’s perfect.” She held up her hand, letting the light dance in the stones. A moment later, she launched herself into his arms, and he caught her, gave her a quick spin as she peppered him with kisses.
He took that as approval, the last of his doubts about making their wedding memorable floating away.
* * *
When had her life turned into a fairy tale? Kelsey was drenched in a wonderland of luxury with her own personal hero. He wasn’t wearing shiny armor, but his sexy reading glasses and the dazzling rock on her hand made up for that. He could definitely ride to the rescue better than any fantasy hero from her dreams. She’d tried to articulate the difference last night and failed. Fox didn’t seem to have any idea how his actions affected her.
Running away had been the hardest thing in her life, second only to dodging the traps her brothers set. No more. In a few hours she’d be completely free of her past.
Fox had truly given her the world with this crazy wedding. Long before he’d slipped the engagement ring on her finger, before he’d suggested this whirlwind trip, he’d given her more than she’d known to ask for.
While she and the weddin
g planner chose her dress and marked the alterations, Fox agreed to whittle down the cake design and floral options. With the dress marked with minor alterations, she returned to the main room to find Fox and Baby John looking at pictures of flowers.
Her heart plopped at Fox’s feet. How could she feel so content and so unsettled all at once? Admiring the man and his work was one thing. Could she live with affection rather than love?
She was about to find out. She pressed her lips together and forced her feet to carry her forward. It was too late to back out and no matter what she felt for Fox, the reality was she needed this wedding to be free of her family.
Cherish.
The word echoed in her mind as guilt prickled, cold and ugly, under her skin. She would find a way to make this up to him.
“Kelsey?”
He was watching her over his reading glasses and all that tenderness was eclipsed by pure lust that burned hotter with love added in. She forced a smile to her face. “The dress is going to knock your socks off. Thank you.”
“Can’t wait to see it.” He dodged John’s curious grab for his glasses and filled the baby’s hand with a crumpled catalog page.
“Do you have a favorite flower?” he asked.
“What’s in season?”
“It’s Las Vegas,” he replied. “Anything you want can be in season.”
“True enough.” She scooped up the baby and spun in a circle, making him giggle. “How much do the flowers matter to you?”
The bright and happy sound settled her like nothing else. She’d miss the little guy if Mason decided to raise him. More likely, she’d miss the little guy when she and Fox embarked on their separate lives.
His eyes went wide. “This isn’t about the ceremony, it’s a Marriage 101 question.”
She chuckled. “Expecting to be in the doghouse?”
“You’ve seen how I get lost in my work.” He tugged off his glasses. “It’s bound to happen.”
Her heart did another happy dance when he smiled. “In that case, I want flowers that sparkle and never die,” she joked, flashing her engagement ring.
