by Lisa Wells
Lacey was sitting primly in his passenger seat. She was holding steadfast to her vow he was her Mr. Wrong. The money didn’t sway her. His status, in life, didn’t sway her. His charm and sexual skills didn’t sway her.
What would it take to sway her? He had every intention of swaying her. Eventually.
He wasn’t going to try until after his grandmother passed away and he knew his feelings were the real thing.
What were the odds he’d find a woman like her, willing to play house with him for a month or two to make his grandmother happy and give him the time to test out love?
Sex with her was something he wouldn’t mind having on a permanent basis. And he would, just as soon as he had her settled comfortably into his life, and he found the perfect way to let her know they weren’t really married.
She’d be upset. Pissed-off upset. After she calmed down, she’d see the beauty of his plan.
They could have sex. No annulment needed.
He’d hired a fake judge to marry them so they could continue to have sex. It wasn’t an easy task to pull off at the last minute.
The cynic in him did it just in case things went terribly wrong and she was playing him for the fool. The optimist in him wanted their first marriage to be in a beautiful church. Not a court house.
“Hey, pull in there. I want to run into that store for a moment,” Lacey said, startling him out of his guilty thoughts.
He pulled into a strip mall. “Where are we going?” he asked.
“You stay here, I’ll be right back. It won’t take but a moment.”
“Okay, but hurry.” He started missing her the moment the door slammed shut. He wasn’t use to missing a woman. Out of sight, out of mind had always been his motto.
He watched her hurry into a store whose name he didn’t recognize. While he waited, he tried to imagine the man she would some day say, “I Do,” for real to. It wasn’t an easy picture to come up with. He couldn’t put a face on a man he thought would do her justice. Unless, of course, it was him.
With a shrug, he dropped the problem. He would live with now and worry about a month or two from now when it happened. For now, permanent was possibly numbered. Hopefully, it would be long enough to dull the effect she had on him and allow his grandmother peace of mind in which to leave this earth.
Who am I fooling, hopefully I’ll be with her for eternity.
Before he knew it, Lacey dashed out of the store with a tiny plastic bag in her hand.
She climbed in the truck and bubbled enthusiasm with her smile. “Close your eyes,” she ordered.
“Okay, did you buy condoms?” he asked, closing his eyes.
“No. We’re not having sex. Now, hold out your hand.”
“Which one?” he asked.
“I don’t care, just hold one out,” she said, in exasperation.
He held out his right hand to her. He heard some paper rustling and then felt her sliding a ring onto his pinky.
“Okay, now open your eyes.”
“What’s this?” he asked.
“It’s a mood ring. I got one for me, also.” She took another ring out of the bag and slipped it on her pinky. Then, she pulled out a sheet of paper.
“Really, you bought me a mood ring,” he stated in bemusement. No woman had ever purchased jewelry for him. He was touched.
“Yes.” She looked at her watch. “Okay, it’s been long enough; let me see what color yours turned.”
He held up the ring for her to inspect. She peered closely at it before reading from a sheet of paper. A frown, creased her brow.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
She looked at him in horror. “Yours is broken.”
“How can you tell?” It looked fine.
“Because, when it turns red like yours has, it means you’re in love.”
He coughed in surprise. “Damn right it’s broken. What color is yours?” God, first his grandmother and now a damn psychic ring. A man should be allowed some privacy when it came to falling in love.
She held up her hand. “It’s green.”
“Green, as in the same green as your sex toy?” He could feel his cock thickening.
“No. Green as in, I’m uncertain about the direction my life is heading.”
“At least yours isn’t broken.” He pulled her across the seat and kissed her soundly.
“Do you want me to take yours back in and get you a new one?” she asked.
“No. I think I’ll keep this one. I’m glad you came back to Texas with me,” he said, as he started the engine and shifted the truck into gear. He grabbed her palm and placed it on the gearshift. “Help me shift gears.”
“I don’t know how.”
“You’re kidding? You don’t know how to drive a stick shift?”
“No. Is that bad?”
He sounded upset, but he was giving her a hard time. He couldn’t remember the last time he dated a woman who could shift gears.
Covey forced himself to focus on her flaws. She couldn’t ride horses and she couldn’t drive a stick shift. Translation, she was not made out of the right material for a man who loved his ranch. The damn mood ring was definitely broken as was his brain. She wasn’t the right woman for him in the long haul. He needed to get past this thought of being in love with her. She’d never be happy raising horses.
If he were a typical business tycoon, who lived in a big city, she’d be great. But ranching was his first love and he wanted a wife who loved it as much as he did. “Nope, not a problem. Not a problem at all for what you and I have planned.” His voice was tense. “I’ll teach you about shifting gears.” Just as well they weren’t really married.
What happen to his promise to his grandmother to search for true love? Not to mention his promise to Lacey not to break his promise? He wasn’t the man he thought he was.
Lacey placed her hand over his. “Okay.”
He glanced at her wedding ring. “How do you like your ring?” His hand slid over hers, and together they shifted gears. “This is second gear.”
“It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life.” Lacey laid her head on his shoulder. They drove in silence for several miles.
“Love is important to you isn’t it?” he said, not realizing he’d said it out loud until she responded.
“That’s an odd question. Isn’t love important to everyone? Even confirmed bachelors need to feel loved.”
Covey turned the truck down a paved driveway. Trees flanked both sides of the road. At the end of the drive, a massive ranch sat surrounded by miles and miles of white fence. On the gate it said, Big Boys Ranch. His great granddad was the original Big Boy Owner.
“Big Boy?” she asked with a tilt of her eyebrow.
“Yeah, the owner is a big kid at heart.”
“And, that would be you, right?”
“Yes.”
The driveway was at least a mile long. He turned off of it and drove another mile down a gravel road that snaked through a forest of trees. When they came out of the trees, they were driving towards a picture perfect lake. Sitting across from the lake was a rugged log cabin.
“Wow.”
Covey smiled at her reaction. “It’s our guest cabin. I thought we’d freshen up here before we go up to the main house. Is that okay?”
“Yes.”
“You know, Lacey, we could have sex and then swear we didn’t and still get an annulment.”
Lacey rolled her eyes at him. “Forget it. No sex.” She leaned forward to look out the window.
“Damn.”
“It’s perfect.”
The truck came to a stop and she jumped out of it. Without taking the time to shut her door, she ran toward the footbridge that led to the other side of the lake.
Covey jumped out as well. “Hey, don’t run. The boards are slick,” he hollered.
If she heard his words, she didn’t hear them soon enough. Her foot came in contact with a wet board, and Covey watched her go down like a sacked
quarterback. The sound of her head smacking against the wooden bridge sent him rushing toward her.
Chapter 26
Covey knew the moment Lacey opened her eyes. He knew because he was standing there holding her hand and urging them to open with tiny little kisses placed all over her face.
Sheer black fright had swept through him when he saw her go down on the bridge. In the flash of a moment, his emotions became crystal clear to him. He didn’t need to wait until his grandmother was gone to make sure his love was real and not manufactured to make Grandmother happy.
“Darling, how are you feeling?” he asked. His voice was horse with concern. He was head-over-hills in love with Little Miss Fantasy Coordinator. He wanted to scream it from the rooftop and to every reporter who’d listen. He wanted his feelings to be public knowledge.
Lacey turned her head slowly and looked at him. Puzzlement etched her face. “Why wouldn’t I be feeling okay?” Her hand came up and tentatively touched the bandage around her head. “What’s this?” She searched his face anxiously looking for answers.
“You fell and hit your head.”
“I did?” Her voice was weak.
“You lost consciousness. It’s a bandage. You were bleeding quite a bit.” His voice was carefully colored in neutral shades. As much as he wanted to, now was not the time to declare his undying love. She wanted an annulment.
Lacey frowned. “Really?” She looked around the hospital room in confusion and then at him in confusion.
She’s going to be pissed about the fake marriage thing. Maybe, he wouldn’t tell her that part. Yet, anyway. “Yeah, you’ve got a bump the size of Texas to prove it.”
Lacey touched the spot on the back of her head. Her face turned white. “Ouch.”
Covey cringed. The memory of her feet going out from under her and the loud thump of her head hitting the slick boards, brought about a sickening lump in his chest. “Darling, be careful.” He reached out and moved her hand away from the painful spot.
“Are we in Texas?” she asked. Her voice was one octave below hysteria.
“Yes. It’s my fault. I should have warned you about those boards before you got out of the truck.” A war was raging inside of him. She could be dead, and it would be his fault. His worse fear. People he loved died. The best thing he could do for Lacey was not to love her. He was a selfish bastard for falling in love with her.
She rushed to reassure him. “Don’t worry. I feel fine. This will just postpone our wedding night for a few hours.”
His expression clouded. She wasn’t aware of his inner battles or his recent emotional discovery. He searched for a plausible explanation for why she would blurt that out.
He treaded carefully. “Darling, don’t worry about our wedding night. You take all the time you need to recover. I was just telling Grandmother how we came to be married.” He said the words slowly, cautiously.
His grandmother stepped forward. “Lacy dear, welcome to the family. You are such a blessing. I can’t believe Covey got married in a court house. We’ll need to do it up right when you get to feeling better.”
Lacey and Covey both looked over at his grandmother.
His grandmother patted Lacey on the hand. “I’m Lema James. I’m afraid Covey has completely forgotten his manners and failed to introduce us. I’m Covey’s Grandmother.”
Lacey held out her hand to his grandmother. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. James.”
Covey’s grandmother beamed at Lacey and kissed her cheek. “Call me Lema. I’m afraid I have some rather bad news for you.”
“Grandmother,” Covey said the word in warning. He had no idea what she planned to say. If there was bad news, he wanted to know about it first. There was no need to hurt Lacey with news she didn’t need to hear.
Before his grandmother could respond, his brother barreled through door wearing an ear-to-ear grin. “You must be Lacey. I’m Casp, Covey’s triplet. If it wasn’t for me giving up my spot on the Dibs Dating Show, you could have been my wife instead of this big lump of nothing.” He pointed to Covey in disdain and walked over to Lacey’s bed. Before she could respond, he laid a huge kiss on her parted lips. “You owe me a fix up with a really hot chick. You do have at least one hot friend, don’t you?” he asked Lacey with his hands held together in a symbol of begging.
Lacey blinked. “Hello. It’s nice to meet you. Maddison’s hot.”
“Asshole, get away from my woman or I’ll break your face,” Covey ordered Casp.
Casp moved aside and held out his hand to his brother. “Congrats big bro. You actually did it. I can’t believe you did it.”
“Casp, Lacey’s not doing well. You might notice, she’s in a hospital bed, not a poolside recliner. I think you should save your antics for later,” Covey reprimanded.
Lacey waved his concern off with the flip of her wrist. “I want to know what your grandmother was talking about.”
“Dear, your wedding is now public knowledge. Someone in the hospital leaked it to the press when Covey brought you in and claimed you as his wife.”
Lacey looked at him with what looked like true love. “You did?”
Hell. Why couldn’t people mind their own business? “The damn fools wouldn’t let me stay with you unless we were related,” he told Lacey and searched her eyes for signs of problems.
She was looking at him differently. Things weren’t adding up; she was different. She wasn’t giving him the, I-just-want-to-be-friend’s look. The one she’d been giving him so much lately.
Lacey stunned him by giggling.
“The hospital staff leaked our marriage? Why would they do that?” She was looking at him for an answer.
His grandmother came to his aid. “That’ll take a while to get use to. I’m afraid everything to do with a member of our family is news worthy. It will help if you have thick skin. Do you have thick skin child?”
“I don’t know if I do or not. I’ve never needed it before.”
“Boy, you’ll need it being married to him,” Casp said from the doorway and pointing at Covey. “Got to go and spread the news. Lots of reporters wanting an exclusive out here. One of them is damn cute, so I’m going to let her have her way with me.” With those words, he was gone.
“I will be more than happy to help you with your church wedding,” his grandmother said, as if Casp had never even came into the room. She pulled her psychic ring out of her pocket. It hung from a delicate silver chain.
“You would? Your help would be fabulous.” Lacey looked over at Covey. “Have we set a date for the real thing?” She turned back to his grandmother. “I’m sorry we got married without the family. We were in such a hurry to be legal, we didn’t want to wait.”
Covey frowned at her from behind his grandmother’s back. “I didn’t know we were planning a church wedding. We haven’t talked about it, Darling.” What was she saying? Had she changed her mind?
“Lacey, I’m going to do the ring test. It’s a family tradition. A way of making sure you’ve chosen the right mate. It’s better for it to be done before the marriage. But, if it shows you’re not in love, then you haven’t consummated the marriage or anything. You’d have time to annul it before any damage was done.”
Covey stepped in. What in the hell was it with the women in his life and the term annulment? “Grandmother, put the damn ring away. Lacey and I are in love, and we don’t need a ring to prove it.”
Lacey gasped. “Oh my.” She looked at him strangely. “Let her do it, Dear. It’ll be a hoot. When, my grandmother did the ring test, it was to tell if you were having a boy or a girl. I was supposed to be a boy.”
His grandmother turned sharply and pinned Covey to the spot with one of her looks. One of her knowing looks.
He tried to give her a look of innocence, but she wasn’t buying it.
“I’ll save the ring for later. Covey’s right. You’re not feeling well.” She put the ring away and patted Lacey’s hand. She turned back to Covey. “It’s too bad
you’re going to have to wait on your wedding night. I…well never mind. I’m just thrilled you found the woman I told you about.”
“Covey, what is she talking about?” Lacey pushed the button to raise her bed into a sitting position. She appeared oblivious to the undertones going on between him and his grandmother.
“Darling, remember, I told you she saw you in a vision?”
“Did you know me before I met Covey?” Lacey asked, looking at his grandmother for an explanation.
“My darling child, I saw you in a vision. Didn’t Covey explain that I’m a psychic?”
Lacey tilted her head and squinted her eyes in bewilderment. “No. I don’t think so.”
“I have powers to see things. I knew you were the woman Covey was meant to spend his life with. I’m just happy he had enough sense to see it. He can be quite stubborn when it comes to marriage.”
Lacey shook her head in a noticeable attempt to clear it. “Covey loves me. Don’t fret about that. He told me so in the most beautiful of speeches.” She rearranged her pillows and took a sip of water. “Covey, I think we should go ahead and set a date for a proper wedding. Do you have a calendar?”
Covey clasped his hands behind his back and walked over to the windows. She didn’t remember their arrangement. Did the bump on her head take away her memories? She was making it very hard for him to maintain control. “You rest, we’ll talk at home about setting any more wedding dates. We’re married in the eyes of the law,” he said, turning to watch her reaction.
Lacey jerked in surprise. “At home? I haven’t seen our home, have I?” Her voice was excited and her face brightened.
“No, you haven’t seen it.” He paused. “Lacey you’re obviously confused about us.” He faltered slightly when both women looked at him with open disapproval.
Lacey’s eyes teared up. “Are we not really married? Is this a joke?”
The woman was insane. “Yes, we’re married. You’re just confused. Do you remember our wedding?” Was it possible she didn’t remember?
