by Kadi Dillon
Color lit her face as she struggled to bank her own needs. Needs, she thought furiously that she didn’t have before Lane Tanner. Needs that had no room in her life. Because she felt the uncontrollable urge to weep, she lifted her chin.
“Stay away from me. You may think you’re taking my ranch, but you have no business coming after me, too. Just stay away.”
“That’s not possible now,” Lane said calmly enough. “You know what just went on between us doesn’t happen every time.”
The wild look in his eyes had Alex bracing as he crossed to her. With two hands, he grabbed her by the shirt and hauled her against his rigid body. “I mean to have you, Alexandra. And I will.” He all but flung her away as if she were nothing and stalked out of the house.
Chapter Six
Tucker Cole thumbed out an antacid as he walked across the drive at the Morgan Ranch. In the three days since he had received the contracts for the buy and sale of Morgan Ranch, Tucker knew he had a potential catastrophe on his regularly manicured hands. And that catastrophe was standing on the porch snarling at him.
“Mornin, Alex.” Tucker strolled on up the stairs.
“Tuck.” Alex greeted her longtime attorney and friend. She tried to keep the scowl off her face. It was, after all, no fault of his that her mother had temporarily lost her mind.
“Is Linda around?”
Alex raised a brow as if asking, where could she go?
“Right.” Tucker shifted his weight and sighed. “I’m sorry, Alex.”
She shrugged. “I’ll go tell Mom and Mr. Tanner you’re here. We can talk in the den.”
With a nod, Tucker followed Alex through the house.
Within minutes they were all sitting in the den each holding a glass of tea that Alex had prepared. Lane sat in Alex’s father’s old rocker while Tucker shared the couch with Alex. Linda was content in her chair next to Lane.
It’s them against me, Alex thought dispassionately.
The tension in the air was thicker than fog. Alex sat with her back rigid. She appeared calm and confident, but a watchful eye could see her foot tapping lightly against the hardwood floor and her knuckles white from gripping her glass. Lane was very watchful.
After two full days of Alex avoiding him, his temper was simmering. He wanted to get her alone at least once to discuss the new contract. But she never came in the house except, Lane figured, late at night always leaving before Jerk crowed. The woman was exasperating.
“I have read and reread the contracts in question.” He shot a look at Lane. “I have reservations.”
“About which part?” Lane asked, unconcerned.
“Ah, about the… supplementary.” Tucker swallowed. “It’s not… That is, I’ve never had a contract come through with this type of… clause.”
“What do you mean? It’s a standard buy and sale contract, isn’t it?” Alex asked.
Tucker turned to her and smiled. “Well, it’s an excellent way for you to make sure you have some control in what happens to the ranch. I just don’t know how we can go about legalizing the second contract. Other than the conventional way of course, but it would almost need to be two separate matters. Not lumped together. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Confused and not a little annoyed, Alex frowned. “No, I have no idea what you are saying, Tuck.”
“Marriage is its own contract all together. You really can’t mix one with the other. That would need to be done first, and then the original contract signed to make it legal; with your new name, of course. That way there wouldn’t be any questions.”
“What are you talking about?” Alex asked, dumbfounded.
“He means, our wedding should take place before your mother and I sign the contract.” Lane spoke easily. “I agree.”
Alex stared at Lane without blinking. He wanted to grin at her stupefied gape, but thought better. The silence hung for nearly two minutes without either Alex or Lane breaking eye contact. Tucker finally cleared his throat.
“Are you crazy?” Alex finally said and turned to leave without giving him the chance to answer.
“Do you have the marriage license with you, Tucker?” Linda asked.
Alex spun around. Her face was live with fury. “You were in on this?” she asked her mother. “Of course you were.”
“It’s a perfectly respectable offer, Alex.”
“Respectable?” Alex fumed. She turned to Lane. “What the hell have you told her?” she demanded. “Why are you doing this? Isn’t the ranch enough? You have to come here take my home and insult me while you do it?”
Lane waited calmly while Alex let out her frustration. She looked amazing, he mused. Her long, dark hair swung as she paced the room like a livid tiger on the prowl. Her bright eyes weren’t wide and innocent, but darkened to sapphire from anger. Again, he found himself suppressing a smile.
“To answer your first question. No, I’m not crazy. I’m doing this because I see something I want and I take it, which is exactly what I told your mother. The ranch isn’t enough. And I’m not trying to insult you in the least.”
Her chest rose and fell in quick jerks as she struggled to get herself under control. She literally could not believe what she was hearing. Marriage?
“I’m sorry you wasted your time today, Tuck. You can bill us for it.” With that, she turned and stalked out of the den.
“Well, that went well.” Linda snorted and leaned back in her wheelchair.
“You mean she didn’t know about this?” Tucker’s mouth dropped.
“No. And she doesn’t have a choice,” Linda snapped. “We’ll have a preacher here within the week,” she said to Lane.
“Wait a minute.” Tucker sat down again and cleared his throat. His confusion and distress was evident on his pinched face. “You can’t force Alex to marry. You just can’t.”
“This is the only offer she’s ever going to get. Why wouldn’t she take it?”
“If you’re saying that because of what happened with Sam Brewster, that’s ridiculous, Linda. She was a kid.”
“I’ll give you a call when Alex gets over her little tiff,” Linda said primly. “Thank you for coming today, Tucker.”
“Linda.” Tucker sighed her name then ran a hand through his sleek cap of blond hair. “Think about Alex.”
“Have a good day, Mr. Cole.”
On a muttered oath, Tucker picked up his briefcase and strolled out of the room. Lane rose from his seat and followed Tucker out the door.
“Mr. Cole. I’d like a word with you please.”
Tucker turned around before he reached the front door.
“I’d like you to know,” Lane began, “that I don’t plan on forcing Alex into anything. This is a business arrangement with mutual benefits to both parties. As soon as she see’s that, we’ll have an understanding.”
Tucker remained quiet for a moment before speaking.
“I’ve known Alex since she was a little thing. Heck, I’m only five years older than she is. My point is she never had it easy. I’ve seen her smile more in the past few months than ever. I’d hate to see her lose that.”
“That’s not my intention.” Lane banked his own temper. “I’m not a monster.”
“She loves this ranch, Mr. Tanner, more than anything.”
“I know that.”
“I’d hate to see her lose that, too.”
“I consider myself a fair man, Mr. Cole. When Alex is my wife, no decisions will be made without her assent.”
“Good. I wish you luck, then.”
“I’d also like to know what happened between Alex and Sam Brewster.”
Tucker sighed lustily. “That was a long time ago and it isn’t my place to explain it.” He took a business card from his breast pocket and handed it to Lane. “Have a nice day, Mr. Tanner.”
Alex was still seething in the barn an hour later. She wasn’t merely furious, she thought as she stacked and restacked the feed bags. She was enraged. The physical labor helped
cool her temper, barely. The nerve of that man to think she would marry him because he says so.
With a grunt, Alex heaved another fifty pound bag and sat it atop a stack of four. Pig. She yanked another bag out from a pile. Asshole. She tossed it in the corner. Fool.
“Do you even name inanimate objects?” Lane asked from the doorway.
Alex whirled around. “Excuse me?”
“That one’s Pig,” he said pointing to a bag. “That’s Asshole. And this one is Fool.” He picked up ‘Fool’ and sat it atop the pile.
“I didn’t know I was calling you names out loud,” Alex said regally before striding out of the barn. She knew he was following her, but she never slackened her pace. She hopped the fence to the coral and strode into the tack room. After lifting a saddle off the rack, she turned and almost collided into Lane.
“Excuse me,” she said between her teeth. “You’re in my way.”
“I intend to be for a very long time. Would you put that thing down and listen to me?” he asked in a deceptively patient tone.
“No. I have no intention of listening to you. I don’t understand you.” She went to shove past him, but he stood firm like a stone wall. The first trickle of fear pierced through her anger. She swallowed audibly and took a step back. “Let me pass.”
“No.”
She clutched the saddle that she held between them and used it like a shield. “Fine.” Her voice hitched and Alex was terrified she would cry in front of him. “Say what you have to say so I can get on with my day.”
“You keep sticking that chin up and somebody’s going to take you up on it.” Lane deliberately slammed the door shut behind him with his foot.
Alex wanted to tell him somebody had already taken her up on it many times, but she only waited for him to say what he had come to say.
“Christ, you’re stubborn. All right, Alex. I’ve been trying to speak with you about the proposal for the last two days, but you kept avoiding me.” Lane walked idly to the window in the tack room and looked out into the corral.
“I’ve been busy.” She inched her way toward the door.
“I wouldn’t.” The steel in his voice stopped her in the center of the tack room.
Sweat trickled down her back as she adjusted the weight of the saddle. Lane turned around to face her and his eyes became instantly annoyed.
“Put that thing down before you collapse.” When she only shook her head, he muttered a curse and strode over to her. He yanked it out of her death grip and dropped it on the ground beside her.
Alex breath began to hitch, but he didn’t notice. She didn’t want to be there, was all she could think. She had only to get outside into the open. She could jump on Joy and ride away.
“Why have you been avoiding me?” Lane asked after returning to his position by the window.
Alex let out the breath she had been holding. She could talk to him when there was distance between them, she thought hopefully.
“I’ve been busy,” she repeated. She was glad her voice was steady because her nerves were a jumbled mess.
“Yes, I realized something the other day. I had a little talk with Jack about your duties on this ranch. Are you aware you have none?”
“I take care of my animals,” she said defensively.
Lane crossed the room to her, closing the safety net between them. Alex checked the urge to back away.
“Are you aware that you work close to seventeen hour days?”
“It’s not work to me. It’s my life.”
“What about friends? Do you have any?”
She thought of Lindsay Preston, her childhood friend and Sam Brewster, the father of her child. “I have friends,” she said stiffly. “I don’t see how any of this is relevant.”
“It isn’t. I’m only curious. You’re very young to be so jaded, so mysterious.” He fisted her hair into his hand and held it. “You’re a puzzle that I can’t help but solve, Alex.”
“I’m not a puzzle. I’m a person.”
“You are that.” His gaze skimmed down the length of her body and back up to her face before his lips curved. “A very beautiful person.”
Alex swallowed and tried to back away then, but he only tightened his hold on her hair. “Do you want to know why I’m going to marry you, Alex?”
“No.” It came out in a raw whisper. The finality, the certainty in his tone sent chills down her spine.
“I want you. But you know that. I also want this ranch. It occurs to me that this place is indeed special to you. If I were to give you my name, you would own this ranch with me.” He released her hair and laid his hand on her shoulder. Her heart thudded in her ribs. “I need a wife and have already been through one horrific marriage and don’t intend to do it again.”
“What makes you think I won’t turn out like your last wife?”
“You’re nothing like her to start. And I won’t tolerate the type of behavior I allowed Roxanne to have.” Again, there was underlying steel in his voice.
Alex shuddered before she could control herself.
“I’m sorry I can’t help you, Lane.” She tried to leave again, but he tightened his hold where his hand had slid down on her arm. The firm grip reminded her belatedly that any man was capable of anything. Her father had such big hands. The thought of her father sent ice skidding up her back.
“Tell me you’ll think about it.”
“I can’t.” The knot in her stomach began to tighten. If he really wanted to keep her in there, he could. It was all she could think while his leaf green eyes seared into hers.
“Why?”
“I just can’t. Please let me go.” Her voice was strong. She held onto that.
“No,” he bit out. “You’re not running away from me this time. I need an answer and I need it now.”
When she remained silent, his jaw tightened with his anger. Alex dimly remembered her father shouting at her after she had told her parents she was pregnant. You’re not going to run away from me. You whore! Take what you’ve earned! Then he had raised his belt.
Lane felt her body shaking under his hand. Raising a brow, he looked into Alex’s eyes to see they weren’t wide and innocent, nor were they darkened and brilliant. They were dull and flat and not a little terrified.
She looked to be in a trance. Lane reached out his hand to touch her cheek. Alex jerked backwards with such force, she slipped out of his slackened hold and rammed back against the wall. She made no sound, only shoved herself up and braced her back up against the wall.
Her breath was coming in jerks. As Lane advanced slowly and cautiously to her, he noted that her eyes were no longer dull and unfocused. They were glassy with terror. Lane stopped in front of her and placed his hands on either side of her, caging her in. She began to tremble violently.
“It occurs to me,” he said slowly, “that I’ve misunderstood you completely.” She was looking at a spot just above his left elbow. Lane reigned in on his questions, on his fury at what the answers may be. “Alex,” he said softly. Slowly, she brought her gaze back to his. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
Her eyes filled before she could prevent it. For a moment, one terrifying moment, she had been a little girl, a teenager again and her father’s hand smacked unmercifully across her face. Again and again, she found no escape except to close her eyes and wish the pain away.
“Alex.”
His voice was soothing. She didn’t understand how it could be. No man had ever made her feel safe before. Alex dropped her gaze to Lane’s shoulders. They were wide and strong like his hands, she mused. But he wasn’t touching her now.
“I’m sorry.” She concentrated on standing up the rest of the way. She wanted to curse herself for almost giving in—for almost using his shoulder to cry on. She’d never needed one before, she thought furiously. Why would she want one now?
Because he was looking at her with concern instead of anger in his eyes. His arms were caging her in, but she wasn’t suffocating.
“I’m really sorry,” she said again.
“Who hurt you, Alex?”
She shook her head and excelled a breath when he dropped his arms. She focused on righting all the overturned buckets she had knocked over in her fall. Lane stared at the back of her head and waited.
There was something there, he knew. He had felt it before both the times he had kissed her, but he had mistaken it for the innocence she claimed not to have. He had seen it when he purposely tried to bully an answer out of her moments ago just as he was seeing it now as she dusted off the seat of her pants.
“I don’t expect you to trust me.” Lane waited for her gaze to meet his. “But I want you to know I’ve never hurt a woman before. And I don’t intend to start with you.” He almost cursed when she said nothing, only dropped her gaze. “Is that why you won’t marry me?”
“That’s part of it.” She picked up the saddle. She felt more confident when she had something to do with her hands. “What just happened… It doesn’t usually happen.”
“What did happen?”
“I can’t explain it,” she murmured.
Alex edged toward the door with the saddle and a purple saddle blanket in her hands. When he continued to say nothing, she pushed the door open with her hip and walked out, keeping the door open for him.
Lane walked past her out the door and stopped to take the saddle from her hands. “Where to?”
“Joy,” she murmured and followed him into the corral.
“You going for a ride?” he asked as she took the saddle from him and placed it on the saddle blanket over Joy’s back.
“I ride her to work.”
“Work?” He quirked a brow.
She wanted to ask him how he did that, raised only one eyebrow. “Yes. I work three days a week at Mr. Scott’s farm.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why do you have to work?”
Alex continued to buckle the saddle while she pondered. “Well, I need the paycheck for one. And Mr. Scott is getting old. He needs the extra pair of hands.” She hooked her foot in the stirrup and hoisted herself onto Joy’s back. After she gathered the reins, she looked down at Lane who was watching her intently. “I like to work,” she said before nudging Joy.
