“My job.” He caressed her back almost absently, his fingers tracing a pattern down her spine. “Did you know they call me the Renegade?” he asked, pulling her closer. She could feel his heart beating next to her ear, strong and steady.
“The Renegade? Why is that?” She held her breath, afraid of what he was going to say.
“Because I always work alone. I didn’t want a partner, I didn’t want anyone distracting me from what I had to do. I got the job done by myself, in my own way ”
He leaned back so he could look down at her. “I’m retiring my title. I don’t want to be a renegade anymore. I don’t ever want to work alone again. I have a partner now, a partner I intend to keep for the rest of my life.”
The last, frozen ball of fear inside her slowly began to melt. “Does that mean you’re quitting the FBI?”
He hesitated for a moment. “Not completely,” he finally said. “I have too much expertise to just walk away. I told my boss I would be available for special assignments occasionally. But Cameron is a part of me now, and I want to be a part of it. I made it clear that I intended to live here in Utah, and spend my time helping you on the Red Rock. If you’ll have me, that is.”
“If I’ll ‘have’ you?” The last of her fears laid to rest, knowing that he wouldn’t be leaving her again, she smiled at him. “What exactly is that supposed to mean?”
He looked steadily at her, his gaze unwavering. “Will you marry me, Shea?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, I’ll marry you, Jesse. But are you sure you want to give up your career?”
“I’m not giving it up.” He cupped her face and kissed her deeply. “I can go back to the Bureau anytime I want to, anytime they need me, and I will. I was getting too cynical and hard, Shea. I needed you to shake me up, make me see that about myself. I needed you to show me that there are more important things in life. And now I want to explore all of them, with you.”
She returned his kiss and felt desire explode between them again. She had a feeling it would still be this way fifty years from now. “I love you, Renegade.”
“And I love you.” He kissed her one more time, then slanted her a grin as he pulled away and swung his feet over the side of the bed. “Let’s move it, boss. There are chores waiting to be done.”
Her heart melted with love as she returned the grin. “Since when did you get to be such a slave driver?”
“Since I fell in love with a rancher. She taught me everything I know about working hard.” He lifted her to her feet and folded her close, kissing her again. “We’ve got a lot of work to do if we’re going to be spending time with the next group of kids Miguel brings in. Especially since, next time, they won’t have to hide in the cabin. So we’d better get started.”
The sunset painted the cliffs a brilliant red as they walked out of the house a few minutes later. They stopped to watch, and Jesse murmured, “This is what I want for our children, and our children’s children. To stand where we’re standing right now, and be able to watch the sun setting in the same place. I want forever, Shea.”
“It’s ours, Jesse.”
Shea wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned into him. As the colors darkened into the soft shades of dusk, she knew she was looking at the future. And it was perfect.
Epilogue
Shea stood in front of the mirror, smoothing one hand down the creamy antique lace and satin that had been her mother’s wedding dress, and wondered what Jesse was doing. Was he thinking about her, waiting for her to appear at the top of the stairs? He’d better be, she told herself, grinning at her reflection in her mirror. Suddenly she couldn’t wait to go downstairs to the living room, couldn’t wait to stand in front of the minister and pledge herself to Jesse.
She picked up the bouquet of flowers that Abby Kane had gathered from her garden and closed her eyes as their fragrance washed over her. They smelled like summer in Cameron, like all that was good in her life. Then, taking a deep breath, she turned to Becca Farrell and said, “Ready to go?”
Becca smiled at her, and opened the door. “Anytime you are. You’re the guest of honor, after all.”
Becca headed down the stairs, but Shea paused before she followed, listening to the murmur of voices from the room below. All their friends were here, as well as their families. Jesse’s mother had flown in from the east coast several days earlier. Her heart swelled with emotion, and she swallowed twice before she slowly started down the stairs.
The murmur of voices stopped abruptly as the first notes of the music she and Jesse had chosen rippled from the piano. Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” spilled over her as she reached the bottom of the stairs. Her brother Devlin stepped forward to meet her, and she smiled at him as she took his arm.
As they paused in the doorway to the living room, her gaze swept past the minister and found Jesse, standing in front of him. He looked elegant in the dark gray suit and white shirt he wore, and far more handsome than anyone had a right to be. Her mouth went dry as she stared at him.
When their eyes met, Jesse stilled. Then his gaze swept over her with a hot, hungry intensity that made her quiver. She tightened her grip on Devlin’s arm, then started down the small aisle to Jesse.
She didn’t even look at Dev as he handed her to Jesse. The music faded away, but she hardly noticed. And she could barely tear her gaze away from Jesse when the minister started to speak.
Reluctantly, she turned to face the minister she’d known since she was a child. Jesse held her hand tightly, their fingers twined together. As she repeated the words the minister spoke, she turned to look at the man she loved.
He returned her gaze steadily, his love for her shining out of his face. When it was time to exchange rings, he slipped a plain, wide gold band around her finger, and she did the same for him. Then the minister said, “You may kiss your bride.”
Jesse’s mouth brushed over hers, a prayer and a promise. And before they could lose themselves in the kiss, he stepped away.
Shea felt her throat swelling as they turned to face their families and friends. She spotted Dev and Carly, grinning at her from the front row, along with her mother and Joe, Dusty and Levi. Becca stood with Grady and their two children right behind them. Cassie was holding three-week-old Tyler, beaming with pride at being the big sister. Abby and Damien Kane stood behind them, Damien holding Sarah as she slept peacefully in his arms.
Then Keara Carmichael began playing the piano again, this time Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy,” and Shea felt a prickle of tears as the music swelled around her. Swallowing once, she walked with Jesse to the back of the room, then turned and waited for Becca to follow. She embraced her friend with shaky arms, then waited for the rest of her friends and family to close around her.
An hour later, she stood with Jesse as they watched the people they loved gathered around them. Janie Murphy from Heaven on Seventh had insisted on catering the party as her wedding present to them, and she hurried in and out of the kitchen. Keara Carmichael, the music teacher from the elementary school who had asked to play the piano for the wedding, had quietly slipped away from the party, but everyone else had stayed, eating, talking and laughing.
Jesse bent over Shea and murmured, “Are they going to miss us if we leave?”
Shea smiled, but her heart began pounding beneath the lace of her mother’s wedding dress. “I doubt it. Everyone’s having too much fun. They’ll be here for hours.”
But instead of heading upstairs so they could change their clothes, Jesse led her to the front door. When they stepped out onto the porch, he closed the door behind them, closing out the sound of the crowd.
“I need to have you to myself for a few minutes,” he said, bending to kiss her. “I haven’t even had a chance to properly kiss my bride.”
“You’ll have me to yourself for four days in San Francisco.” But she pressed against him, her mouth suddenly as hungry as his. When the kiss threatened to spiral out of control, Jesse broke it off and burie
d his face in her hair.
“You’re my wife.”
Shea heard the wonder in his voice, and closed her eyes against the tears that prickled against her eyelids again. Then he leaned away, and she saw the devil dancing in his eyes. “My bride, the fugitive.”
Her mouth curled into a slow, answering smile. “And don’t you forget it, either. Us fugitives are known to do desperate things.”
“I can’t wait.” His eyes flared hot in the summer sun, and he kissed her again. She felt the passion waiting to burst into life, and hummed with an answering desire.
Jesse touched her face once more, then drew away. “Let’s get one last look before we leave,” he whispered, and they turned to watch the sunlight dance over the cliffs and the pastures. They stood for a long moment, savoring the sight, then turned and headed back into the house to begin the rest of their lives.
Be sure to look for
BEN AND JANIE’S LOVE STORY,
coming only to Silhouette Intimate Moments
in September.
ISBN : 978-1-4592-5876-1
THE FUGITIVE BRIDE
Copyright © 1999 by Margaret Watson
All rights reserved Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 300 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017 U S.A
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S A
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Jesse. had been too conscious of Shea McAllister from the moment he’d seen her.
Letter to Reader
Also by
About the Author
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Epilogue
Copyright
The Fugitive Bride Page 25
