3, 2, 1...Married!

by Sharon Sala

  “Then that explains why they’re not on my shelf.”

  She chuckled. “Scared you, didn’t I?”

  He groaned inwardly. Scared? She didn’t know the half of it. He wasn’t sure, but if he had to hazard a guess, he was halfway to falling in love.

  “Never mind,” Hallie said. “You don’t have to answer.” Then she gave him a smile. “Come on, Mr. Miracle. Take me to that dance before you really put your foot in your mouth.”

  He grabbed her hand, stopping her motion.

  Hallie looked up, the smile still on her face. “Did we forget something?”

  “Just this,” he said softly, and before she could stop him, he leaned down and brushed his mouth across her lips.

  At the moment of contact, Hallie’s eyes automatically closed and Jake could have sworn he heard her groan. When he broke contact, she inhaled sharply. He stood, waiting to see if she would slap his face or let it pass.

  “I’m not going to apologize for that,” he warned.

  Hallie’s eyes were dark with emotion, yet she managed to insert just enough levity into the moment to keep them both on an even keel.

  “And your decision was wise, Mr. Miracle. I do not suffer men who can’t make up their minds. You kissed me. I liked it. Let it stand.”

  He grinned. “You’re something, you know that, Hallie?”

  “That’s what my father says right before he announces that he’s washing his hands of me, this time, for sure.”

  Jake chuckled. “Something tells me he probably says that a lot.”

  She pretended an insult. “And why would you be saying something like that?”

  He grabbed her by the hand and dragged her off the porch. “Does the phrase, ‘I refuse to answer on the grounds that it may incriminate me’ sound familiar?”

  “This is me ignoring you,” Hallie said, as she started toward the barn without him. To her delight, he quickly caught up and took her by the hand.

  “Considering you are one of only two single women on the ranch tonight, you will not be short of partners, but I’m asking for the first and last dance just the same.”

  At that moment, she remembered Jewel Franklin. A frown furrowed her forehead and she stopped. The intimacy of darkness gave her the courage to say what she had to say.

  “I know a dance is just a dance to you, but if you and Jewel Franklin are having some sort of a fuss, I won’t like being used.”

  Then she looked away, suddenly embarrassed at having been so abrupt.

  Jake sighed. After the way Jewel had wrapped herself around him at the stables, it was inevitable that she might think that.

  “Look at me,” he begged, tugging gently on her hand.

  She did as he asked, waiting. He had no way of knowing how much of her hope was riding on his answer.

  “Miss Franklin is a guest here. That’s all she’s ever been, although I will admit that’s not what she would like.” He could feel the tension in Hallie’s hand, and he rubbed at her knuckles with the ball of his thumb, trying to assuage her uneasiness. “There is nothing between us—not now—not ever. I don’t have flings and especially not with my guests.”

  Hallie felt as if he’d thrown cold water on her. But before she could speak, Jake suddenly cupped the side of her face.

  “Hallie, don’t.”

  “Don’t what?” she muttered.

  “Don’t look like I just kicked your feet from under you. It makes me feel like hell. Whatever is happening here is not a fling. I like you, Hallie. That hasn’t happened to me in a long, long time.”

  She exhaled slowly, wondering if she looked as faint as she felt. This seesaw of emotions was too hard on her heart. She slid her hand over his, feeling his strength as well as his gentleness.

  “Cowboy, that just bought you the first and last dance, and any you so choose in between.”

  Jake grinned. “That’ll do for starters,” he drawled, and then took her by the hand. “Come on, honey. Let’s go find some people before I forget my manners.”

  She paused, giving him a pointed stare. “Just don’t forget I’m Irish. When it comes to hugging and kissing, manners can well cramp your style.”

  Then before he could answer, she pulled on his hand and dragged them both toward the light spilling out of the huge barn ahead, following the sound of the music drifting out into the night.

  Jewel Franklin had been lying in wait for Jake. But when she saw him coming into the barn dance and holding that woman’s hand, she went sick with fury. She set her cup of punch down with a thud and turned her back toward the door, struggling to regain her composure. This, added to the mess she’d left behind her at home, was, as they say, the last straw. She didn’t know how, but before she left here again, she would make Jake Miracle sorry he’d shamed her this way.

  “Miss Franklin, would you care to dance?”

  She looked up to find herself face-to-face with one of the wranglers. It took everything she had, but she made herself smile.

  “I’d be delighted.”

  The wrangler’s name was Danny. In Jewel’s opinion, he was a poor substitute for Jake Miracle, but he would serve his purpose. She needed to get as close to Jake and Hallie as possible, and what better way than to be danced into their paths? To her dismay, Jake didn’t immediately take the woman onto the dance floor, and she was forced to dance through two more dances before things started falling into place.

  The band struck up a waltz. At the sound, Jake took Hallie’s glass of punch out of her hands and then took her into his arms.

  “Miss O’Grady, I believe this dance is mine.”

  She looked up. His expression was unreadable, but the glitter in his eyes revealed more than he probably knew. She stepped into his embrace as if she’d been doing it all her life.

  They circled the floor once, then twice, lost in the music and the heady feeling of being in each other’s arms. Just as the music was coming to a close, Jake happened to look up and over Hallie’s head to the couple dancing toward them.

  “Hang on to your britches, honey. We’ve got a bogie at six o’clock.”

  Hallie couldn’t help but laugh. “She’s just a woman, not a bomb. Besides, none of this would be happening if you weren’t such a hunk.”

  “This isn’t funny,” he muttered, and then it was too late to do anything but stand his ground.

  As Jewel and her partner danced past, she suddenly hauled him to an abrupt halt. Danny the wrangler looked startled, but it was nothing to the hackles that rose on Hallie’s back as she took the brunt of Jewel Franklin’s stare.

  But Jewel refused to acknowledge Hallie’s existence, and after a perfunctory glance, she turned her attention to Jake.

  “How about trading partners,” she asked, and started to slip between Jake and Hallie when Jake stopped her with a shake of his head.

  “I don’t think so,” he said. “The song is over.”

  Color rose high on Jewel’s cheeks. She couldn’t believe he would turn her down in such a public manner.

  “There’ll be others,” she insisted, still refusing to let go of his arm.

  “I’m sorry,” Jake said, “but I’ve got to relieve Luke at the buffet table.”

  Jewel was so angry now she was shaking. “There was a time when you weren’t so casual with me,” she said, and gave Hallie a pointed look, as if to insinuate they had some sort of past.

  Jake’s chin jutted. Had Jewel known him better, this would have been when she cut her losses and left. But she didn’t, and her humiliation was just beginning.

  “Miss Franklin, there has never been a time when I was anything but casual with you.” Then he gave Danny a pointed look. “I think Miss Franklin looks thirsty.”

  Thankful for a reason to leave, Danny bailed out of the situation without hesitation.

  “I’ll be right back,” Danny said quickly.

  “Don’t bother,” Jewel said. “If I want something to drink, I’ll get it myself.”

  The wrangle
r nodded and quickly disappeared.

  Hallie was almost as uncomfortable as Danny had been. “Well, I’m thirsty,” she said. “I think I’ll check out the punch bowl.”

  Jake reached for her, but she was already moving away.

  Jewel sneered, taking no care to lower her voice.

  “I never would have figured you for the flatchested, little-girl type.”

  Hallie froze. Suddenly it was one snide remark too many, and from the wrong quarter. Slowly, she turned, fixing Jewel with a cool, calculated stare. Then she looked at Jake.

  “If you walk her back to her cabin tonight, make sure she doesn’t stumble and fall.” She pointed at Jewel’s bountiful breasts. “She might smother herself.”

  Stunned by her own temerity, she headed for the punch bowl, thankful that neither one of them could see her face.

  Jewel hissed. It was the only way to describe her reaction.

  Jake grinned before he thought, which only added to Jewel’s rage. He tried to regain control of the situation, but it was too late.

  “Look,” he began. “There is no need to involve Miss O’Grady in your misconceptions about—”

  But Jewel didn’t stay around to hear what he had to say and Jake found himself alone in the middle of the dance floor, wondering how in hell he’d gotten himself into such a mess.

  “I think that went rather well, don’t you?”

  Jake pivoted to find himself face-to-face with his brother, John, who was grinning from ear to ear.

  “Just shut the hell up,” he warned, and strode off the dance floor in search of Hallie.

  Chapter 5

  Hallie’s fists were doubled and her cheeks were burning as she made her way out the door.

  “Hey, Missy, you better slow down ’fore you hurt someone,” Dobber said, and grabbed her by the shoulders just before they collided. The fury in her eyes dampened when she realized it was him.

  “Sorry, Dobber. I didn’t see you.”

  “Yeah, I noticed.” He looked closer. “Them ain’t tears in your eyes, are they?”

  She lifted her chin. “Not in this lifetime,” she muttered.

  He nodded, but when she started to walk past him, he threw out one last remark that stopped her cold.

  “I never figured you for a quitter.”

  She turned, glaring angrily. “I’m not!”

  “Then where were you goin’?”

  Her shoulders slumped.

  “Get back in there and give ’em hell.”

  She sighed. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Shoot,” he said.

  “Is Jake Miracle for real?”

  He scratched the edge of his jaw as he gave her a considering look.

  “If you’re askin’ if he means what he says, then yes. If you’re wantin’ to know if he’s inclined to sweet-talk all the pretty ladies who come through here, then ’scuse my French, but hell, no. I think the boss likes you, and I think you like the boss. Am I right?”

  She shrugged, unwilling to bare her heart. “Maybe.”

  He grinned. “Then fight for what you want, girl. Don’t let some duded-up female outgun you, if you know what I mean.”

  Her voice softened. “What if I’m wrong? People come and go through Jake’s life all the time. What makes you think I would be any different to him?”

  Dobber shrugged. “I don’t know, Missy. Maybe you’d better ask him.”

  Hallie spun. Jake was coming toward her. She stiffened.

  “Stand your ground, girl.”

  She stood.

  Jake had been in a panic until he’d seen her, and only after he had her by the hand did he breathe a sigh of relief. Then he glanced at Dobber, suddenly aware he’d interrupted more than idle chitchat. He arched a questioning eyebrow. Dobber only shrugged. Jake exhaled slowly. He got the message. If he wanted to know what was going on, he was going to have to ask Hallie.

  “Evening, Dobber,” Jake said.

  “Evenin’, boss.” Then he hitched up his pants and yanked down on the brim of his Stetson. “Well, now, I reckon I’ll be getting’ me somethin’ to eat and a good seat to watch the rest of the dance.” He winked at Hallie. “Evenin’, Missy. Remember what I said.”

  “Thank you, Dobber.”

  Impulsively, she threw her arms around the old wrangler’s neck and gave him a hug. Dobber blushed, but he didn’t pull back.

  “What was that for?” he asked.

  “I don’t have to have a reason. I’m a woman, remember?”

  Dobber glanced at Jake and then nodded. “That you are, Missy, that you are.” He walked away.

  It was the glimmer of unshed tears in Hallie’s eyes that was Jake’s undoing.

  “Hallie, I’m sorry.”

  “For what?” she muttered, and looked away.

  But Jake wouldn’t let her ignore him. He cupped her cheek, forcing her to meet his gaze.

  “For putting you in the middle of something that’s not your fault.”

  She took a deep breath, remembering one of her Grandmother O’Grady’s favorite sayings about, in for a penny, in for a pound. Okay, Jake Miracle, here’s where you show me what you’re made of.

  “I want to know something,” she said shortly.

  “Anything.”

  “Am I really in the middle, or am I just passing through?”

  “Honey, that’s strictly up to you,” he said softly.

  Something shifted inside her chest, relieving a persistent knot of misery. She wanted to believe him, but there was too much at stake to take him at his word.

  “Come back inside with me,” he urged. “You haven’t eaten and you still owe me a dance.”

  She hesitated, frowning. “Okay, but I’m giving you fair warning. I will only take so much from that woman.”

  He grinned. “God help us all from the wrath of the Irish.”

  She arched an eyebrow. “Don’t push your luck, Miracle. I have a large family with far worse tempers than mine.”

  He tried not to grin. “Is that a warning, or an invitation to meet them?”

  “What do you want it to be?”

  His eyes darkened. “A promise.”

  She paused. “Promise of what?”

  “That this isn’t over when you leave.”

  This time, she smiled. “We’ll see,” she said softly, and let herself be led back inside.

  To her relief, Jewel Franklin was nowhere in sight. Time passed in a whirlwind of music and magic. When she wasn’t dancing with Jake, she was aware of him watching her from the sidelines, his expression unreadable. As midnight grew nearer, she grew nervous, then anxious. Would he walk her back to her cabin? And if he kissed her again, would once be enough? She alternated between cursing her sisters for putting her in such a fix, and blessing the ground they walked on for setting her in this man’s path. When the band leader announced the last song, she turned in place, searching the dance floor. And then she saw him coming toward her—moving in that slow, sexy walk without taking his gaze from her face. She didn’t realize she was holding her breath until he reached for her.

  “I believe this is my dance.”

  She exhaled slowly. “Yes.”

  He swept her into his arms. Hallie assumed there must be music. Other people were smiling and talking as they waltzed around the floor, but she didn’t hear it or them. All she could hear was the frantic thump of her heart as Jake waltzed her out the door and into the dark.

  “I hope you know where you’re going,” she said, as they moved farther and farther into the night and away from the light spilling out of the doorway behind them.

  Jake stopped, his arms still around her, his mouth only inches away from her face.

  “Honey, I haven’t known straight up from sideways since I first heard you laugh. I’m scared as hell that I’m feeling something you’re not, and that you’re gonna walk away from me in five days without a backward glance.”

  Hallie froze. “I don’t—”

  He put his fi
nger on her lips, then replaced it with his mouth.

  “Please,” he whispered. “Give me this much.”

  His mouth was hard, relentlessly coaxing the shock on her lips until she gave way. She sighed, then she groaned, then she wrapped her arms around his neck.

  Jake picked her up off the ground, her feet dangling in midair. Suddenly, her back was against the wall of a building and her breasts were crushed against his chest.

  And the kiss went on.

  It wasn’t until a loud rumble broke the quiet between them that he set her down on her feet and looked up at the sky.

  “It’s going to rain.”

  Hallie shuddered. That might be good. She could use a cold shower.

  “I’d better get you back to your cabin,” he said, and took her by the hand.

  They started walking hastily. Halfway there, the first drops began to fall.

  “You up for a run?” Jake asked.

  Hallie nodded.

  A minute later, they reached the porch of her cabin as the rain began to fall in earnest.

  “Just in time,” Hallie muttered, and fumbled in her pocket for the key.

  “Here, let me,” Jake said as he took the key from her trembling fingers and unlocked the door.

  She stepped inside and turned on the lights, shivering, not from the cold, but from nerves. A flash of lightning suddenly lit up the night and at the same time, all the lights flickered, then went out.

  Jake frowned. “Damn,” he muttered. “Power’s gone. I’d better go check on the guests to make sure they all got back to their cabins.”

  Hallie sighed. She didn’t know whether to view this as a reprieve or a disappointment. She’d wondered how they were going to end this night. Mother Nature had ended it for them.

  “I know where a flashlight is,” Hallie said. “I’ll get it for you.”

  “Wait here,” he offered. “They’re all in the same place in the cabins. I’ll get it.”

  He came back with the flashlight and carrying a candlelit hurricane lamp for her.

  “Here, this should help, and hopefully the power outage won’t last long.”

  “Thanks,” she said.

  Bathed in candlelight and shadows, her fragility was even more pronounced. He hated to leave her, but he had a duty to the others, as well.