by Sharon Swan
Once again, Dev agreed. “I won’t argue with you on that score.”
As though unable to resist, Roy leaned in and dropped his voice to a confidential level. “I reckon some would say she’s a looker, too, in a kind of refined way.”
“Hmm,” was the most neutral reply Dev could come up with.
“You got some interest there?” Roy asked, apparently opting for a blunter approach.
Dev allowed himself a small smile. “I just might have,” he said, and left it at that. He knew it had achieved its purpose when Roy started whistling a classic country favorite he usually wasted no time in requesting when one of the rotating bands in the area played at the Heartbreaker on Friday and Saturday nights. The man from Texas whistled when he was mulling something over.
Deciding that was enough for the moment, Dev went back to his paper.
He read the weather forecast. Sunny skies were predicted for the next few days. The farmers might not be happy, but Dev was glad to see a break in rain clouds. He was about to turn the page to read the sports report when a picture of a ring featured in a downtown Billings jeweler’s ad caught his eye.
Not that the ring was flashy, even if the simply cut stone set squarely in its center was touted to be a four-karat white diamond. The setting, according to the information listed, was antique gold, with a row of diamond chips circling the main stone. “The perfect choice for a real lady,” the ad declared in tasteful script letters.
And by God if it wasn’t, Dev thought. He’d already planned on picking up a pair of plain gold wedding bands in Pine Run, but this could serve as an engagement ring. Which wasn’t strictly necessary, he knew. After all, this particular engagement would only last a matter of days. Still, something was telling him to put that ring on Amanda’s finger. Maybe his ego, he admitted. Or more likely his pride.
There was no getting around the fact that his future bride was better educated than he was, given that he’d only made it through high school. Most of Jester’s residents would probably say she had better manners, too, at least when she wasn’t tearing into him. But, thanks to his newfound wealth, he had something she didn’t. He had the means to give her this ring.
And he was damn well going to, he decided. He’d call the jeweler in Billings and have it express-shipped to him in time for the wedding.
Dev grinned a satisfied grin. He couldn’t wait to see his fiancée’s reaction when he gave it to her.
“I CAN’T TAKE THIS!” Amanda stared down at the small, velvet-lined box she’d just opened.
“Are you trying to tell me my taste in jewelry is lousy?” Dev asked mildly from the driver’s seat of his late-model, saucy-red Jeep that came complete with all the bells and whistles.
She slid him a sidelong glance. “No, of course not. It’s…beautiful.” Which it was, she thought, again dropping her gaze to a ring that had a stone more than large enough to win notice yet somehow managed to be quietly dignified at the same time. The sun slanting through the windshield glinted off the oval-shaped center diamond, making it sparkle with elegant warmth. Yes, it was beautiful.
“But I don’t need it,” she added with another look his way.
He twisted the steering wheel to follow a curve in the road. “I know you don’t necessarily need it. I just wanted you to have it. It’s as simple as that.”
But it wasn’t simple. Not to Amanda. She’d told him she didn’t want his money, and that included what was, to her, a far too expensive engagement present. “Can you return it?”
He turned his head to fix his gaze on her for an instant. “I suppose I can, but I’m not going to.” More than a hint of firm intent underscored that statement. “Put it on and let’s see if it fits.”
She shouldn’t, she knew. But before she could close the box, the ring winked up at her, and the urge to try it on—just briefly, she told herself—was irresistible. It was the second urge to win out that morning, since she hadn’t been able to resist ogling Dev Devlin when he’d arrived on her doorstep. Whatever she’d expected, it wasn’t to see him wearing a midnight-blue wool suit that had plainly been the work of an expert tailor. Even though cut along Western lines, it lacked nothing in sophistication. She could only be glad that she’d chosen a slim dress and matching jacket made of ivory silk for her wedding day. Otherwise, she might have felt underdressed in contrast.
Amanda slid the ring on the appropriate finger. “It fits,” she said, this time managing to foil the urge to sigh at how right it looked, as though it not only fit her finger, but her.
“I asked the jeweler to size it for a small hand,” Dev told her. “I guess I lucked out. Now just keep it on,” he added.
“No, it’s too—”
He cut her off. “It seems to me we need to start compromising. How about if I get my way on this one and you get yours the next time we butt heads.”
“Hmm.” Amanda thought about that. “It would almost be worth it to watch you surrender without a battle.”
A smile ghosted around his mouth. “Next one goes to you. You’ve got my word on it—if you keep the ring.”
“All right,” she said at last. “But don’t think I’ll forget your promise.”
His smile took a wry slant. “Believe me. I’d never expect it to slip your mind.”
Amanda decided to quit while she was ahead and try to relax for the rest of the drive. As she leaned back in her seat, she found herself wondering how much her life would change. If things went well at Family Services that afternoon, she would be taking on the responsibility for four young lives. Although a part of her couldn’t wait, another part had to question if she’d be up to the task. Well, she would just have to be, she concluded as scattered groups of tall trees just beginning their journey to full spring bloom flashed by.
Her companion drove faster than she usually did, but skillfully, she had to concede. His large hands looked strong and sure on the wheel; his black boots held the gleam of new leather as he pressed down on the accelerator for a fresh burst of speed. All he needed was a Stetson in dress black to complete the picture—and she’d already spied one resting on the back seat.
“How do you want to handle telling the folks back in Jester about the marriage?” he asked.
The sigh she’d held back earlier slipped out. “I’d prefer to do it as quietly as possible—but I don’t imagine that’s an option.”
Dev blew out a gusty breath. “It’s bound to be major news,” he agreed.
“I already caught Irene looking at me as if she were wondering what I might be up to when I asked her to watch the store again today. If she didn’t always seem so happy to do it, I’d feel as though I was imposing on her.”
“Now that she’s a widow and living at the boarding house, she’s probably got time on her hands. I’d say you were doing her a favor.” He paused. “Maybe you’d be doing her an even bigger favor if you let her be the one to spread the word about why we’re both gone for the day.”
She sat up straight. “Good Lord, I never thought of handling it that way.” By rights, Shelly, who’d been a close friend almost since Amanda had first arrived in Jester, should be the first to be told. But Shelly O’Rourke and her doctor husband, Connor, weren’t due back from a medical convention in California for another few days. And the woman manning the Ex-Libris at this very moment seemed perfect for the job, Amanda couldn’t deny. “Irene would probably be tickled pink to pass along the news, especially since she’s been touting the joys of married life to me for a while now.”
“Then call her from Pine Run this afternoon, and maybe at least the first round of jaw-dropping will be over by the time we get back tonight.”
Tonight. The word reminded Amanda that they still hadn’t discussed what would happen on their return. There was no getting around the fact that they had to live together, but…”Are you, ah, ready for me to move into your house?”
That question had him tearing his eyes from the road for another brief glance. “The furniture I’ve had
delivered so far includes two beds, so I guess we’re all set.”
She nodded with all the briskness she could muster. “Then I’ll just pack a bag when we get back and move the rest of my personal belongings later.” She might be putting her small home up for rent, as she had when she’d been living in Seattle. At least it was something to consider. Right now, all she knew for sure was that she was in no hurry to return to Jester. As far as she was concerned, long after sundown would be best, when many of the town’s ever-curious residents would be in for the night.
“Maybe we could have dinner in Pine Run,” she suggested.
Dev mulled that over. “I vote for barbecue.”
She rolled her eyes. The man probably ate that kind of food all the time. “I’ve heard there’s a seafood place we could try.”
He slowed their speed when traffic started to pick as buildings bordering the outskirts of Pine Run came into view. “Barbecue sounds better to me.”
Deciding it wasn’t worth the effort, Amanda was about to give in when she remembered their earlier agreement. “You said the next call would be mine,” she reminded him, “and I’m coming down on the side of seafood.”
“Okay, you win,” he said. Then he grinned. “But that means I get my way next time.”
Amanda frowned, knowing that she and the man she was about to marry seemed to be such complete opposites that there was sure to be a next time.
ROY GIBSON, being a fan of old-time Westerns, would have liked Judge Corbett. Dev had come to that conclusion the minute he first laid eyes on the official who’d agreed to perform the wedding ceremony. With his straightforward stare and a jaw that still seemed rock-solid firm for someone probably in his fifties, the judge might have looked right at home sentencing a frontier gunslinger to swing from the highest tree. That image only faded when the man with jet black hair streaked with silver at the temples smiled and winked an eye nearly as dark as his well-worn robe, which he did now, gazing down at Amanda.
“Well, are you ready to ‘get hitched,’ as another servant of the court who also happened to be my granddaddy used to say, little lady?”
Standing before an old, heavily carved desk in the judge’s chambers, she slid a sidelong look Dev’s way. “As ready as I’ll ever be, I expect.”
The judge followed her glance. “How about you, young man?”
He nodded and fought down a sudden urge to loosen the only silk tie he owned. “Ready, willing and able.”
“Then I’ll just call in two witnesses and we’ll be all set.” The judge walked out a side door, leaving his visitors alone for a moment.
“Well, I guess this is it,” Dev said. “How are your nerves doing?” He had to admit, at least to himself, that his own could probably have used a medicinal dose of something stronger than the two cups of coffee he’d had at breakfast. Or maybe he shouldn’t have had the coffee. Trouble was, he couldn’t imagine starting a day without caffeine.
“I promise not to swoon on you,” she told him, squaring her shoulders.
That made him chuckle, and he couldn’t deny it felt good. “I’d catch you before you hit the carpet,” he assured her dryly.
“Thanks,” she said, matching his tone.
He aimed a glance around the small room. Functional was about the best he could say for it, although his head bartender would have probably appreciated the faded print of buffalo roaming an open range hung on a narrow strip of beige wall between two tall, bare windows. “Not the most romantic of places, is it?”
She shook her head. “But romance isn’t what brought us here.”
While he knew she had a point, he also knew women well enough to recognize that sometimes things a man never paid much attention to were important to them. Things like mounds of flowers and a big wedding cake and a bunch of guests to watch the bride walk down the aisle. “I guess it’s not exactly the way you imagined you’d get married.”
Her quiet sigh was so low he almost missed it. Yeah, she wanted those things, he thought, yet she was ready to do without them for the sake of four kids.
Damn, but he had to admire that. And he’d do everything in his power to make sure she got custody of those kids, too, he vowed. He was going to sweet-talk up a storm when they got to Family Services. If they wanted to see a love match, well, they’d see one.
The judge returned with a middle-aged man and younger woman in tow. Dev barely caught their names as they were introduced. Two employees of the court system, he figured. Neither looked particularly enthusiastic at the prospect of witnessing a wedding, but then they were probably used to it.
Judge Corbett cleared his throat. “Let’s get started.”
And with that, he began the ceremony as Dev and Amanda joined hands. Her skin was cool against his warmth, her smooth palm small enough to get swallowed up in his. But her hand stayed steady, and again he had to admire that. The judge’s words, issued in a deep, rumbling voice, were simply spoken and to the point. Vows and rings were exchanged in a matter of minutes, and then he pronounced them husband and wife.
His wife, Dev thought. He wasn’t sure he’d ever really expected to have one. Just a week ago, he’d probably have said that “getting hitched,” as the judge had put it, was the last thing on his mind. And now he was a married man. Some of the friends he’d had in his rowdier days would have roared at that.
“Time to kiss the bride,” Judge Corbett told him with a sudden smile that lit up his broad face.
Dev knew he could hardly decline, even though Amanda was staring up at him with a faint frown knitting the creamy skin of her brow, as though having to see the ceremony through to its traditional end hadn’t occurred to her before. Truth was, it hadn’t occurred to him, either. But he wasn’t going to look like a fool by stopping at this point. No way.
He could kiss her and get it done in no time, he told himself as he cupped his hands lightly around her shoulders. It would all be over in a matter of moments, he reflected with assurance, lowering his head.
Just a few seconds, he knew that’s all it would take as he placed his lips on hers.
But he hadn’t counted on how soft the pink-tinged mouth that had unaccountably fascinated him for some time would feel, how its silky smoothness would waste no time in reminding him that he hadn’t kissed a woman in a while—and how certain parts of him would react. The most male parts of him.
He wasn’t even aware that he had deepened the kiss until it was done. And then he was inside, touching, tasting and soon craving more—more of this woman. He wanted to reach around and remove the shiny clip that held her long hair back so he could run his fingers through it. He wanted to tug her closer until there wasn’t a breath of space between them. He wanted…Oh, yeah. Deep down in his gut, he knew he wanted it all.
But he couldn’t have it. This was Amanda Bradley he was nearly ready to swallow whole. No, Amanda Devlin. Nonetheless, even if she had just become his wife, he had no business letting his libido take over. It was supposed to be a marriage in name only, nothing more. So he had to pull away. Reason told him that, and finally he managed to break the kiss.
Hauling in a long breath, he looked down at Amanda and released the grip he’d tightened on her shoulders. Rather than using her sudden freedom to step away, she continued to stare straight up at him. Only now her frown was gone and her eyes had widened.
In shock? he wondered. Somehow he didn’t think so. No, she didn’t look so much shocked as…astounded.
“Congratulations!” The judge gave Dev a bone-jarring slap on the back that would have felled a smaller man. “I just might have tried to kiss the bride, too, but I’d say you’ve already done a good job of it.”
After a hearty laugh, he looked at Amanda. “What do you think, little lady?”
Chapter Four
What did she think? She thought something must be wrong with her. She thought her pulse was pounding far too hard and her brain had gone much too fuzzy. She thought that the world just might have, for a few endless mom
ents, shifted into an entirely new realm, one where logic didn’t rule.
It occurred to her that she wouldn’t have been surprised if that theory turned out to be true, not surprised at all. In fact, it might be the only sensible explanation for what had happened—because she’d actually felt the stirrings of an unmistakable and undeniable response to Dev Devlin.
Dev Devlin!
“Looks like your new husband has left you speechless,” Judge Corbett said, his tone amused.
Her husband. She would have to get used to hearing that, Amanda knew. But first she had to get herself together. “Not for long,” she replied, making that as staunch a statement as she could. “I’m tougher than you think.”
The judge laughed again. “Could be.”
“Trust me, it’s true,” Dev muttered.
She ignored that comment. “I believe it’s time to go.”
He merely nodded his agreement, and they said goodbye to the judge. Leaving the stately brick courthouse that was a throwback to an earlier age, they returned to the parking lot.
“We’ve got time for a fast lunch before we head over to Family Services,” Dev told her with a glance at a thick chrome watch that seemed to come with as many bells and whistles as his new Jeep.
Amanda had already made the appointment, but she hadn’t told the authorities that she’d no longer be a single woman by the time she met with them. She could only imagine their reaction. It would probably at least raise some eyebrows when she arrived with a new groom in tow—a groom who’d done a thorough job of kissing the bride.
Why had he kissed her like that?
Amanda was still debating the matter when he spoke again. “I vote for a fast hamburger.”
Her pulse still hadn’t quite steadied, yet he seemed to have his mind on no more than food. Men, she thought. Could they all be this exasperating on occasion? “A salad,” she said with the barest hint of irritation, “would be better for both of us.”
He opened the passenger door. “If you say so.” He looked down at her, his gaze bland. “Don’t think I’m giving up my turn to have my way next so easily.”
