The Bride's Choice

by Sara Orwig

  “Whoa,” he said, crossing the room to her to place his hands on her shoulders.

  She shook his hands off and stepped back. “Don’t touch me!” she snapped in a tight voice. “None of your charm and sweet talk or your seductive touches. You listen to me, Cal Duncan, you can’t tear down that house! We agreed to talk things over, and in your usual take-charge, bullying way, you’ve gone right ahead and done exactly what you wanted. It isn’t right—”

  “I don’t have any intention of tearing down the house,” he interrupted firmly, with a forcefulness he could com- mand so easily.

  Unbelieving, she stared at him. “I talked with the man from Whittaker Construction—you did send him out, didn’t you?”

  “Yes, I did. What did he tell you?” Cal asked, curiosity filling his voice. “Did he say I hired him to tear down the house?”

  “He said he was to give you estimates on redoing, tear- ing down—”

  “Stop right there. Did I hear you say ’redoing’?”

  “Yes. And I also said ’tearing down.’ Don’t be evasive. You’re a lawyer, so you’re accustomed to using words to twist things around…You’re not going to fast-talk your way out of this.”

  “I asked him to come check over the house, the garage and the old carriage house,” Cal stated with an infuriating calm. “The house has cracks in it, and I think we need to see if the foundation is all right.”

  “The foundation? Then why was he measuring the car- riage house?”

  “I’m getting to that,” Cal said easily. “The garage leaks and it needs a new roof. Even I can tell that. The carriage house looks as if the next big wind will topple it. I want to get the boys a horse—”

  “Now you wait,” she exclaimed, her temper surging. “Since when did you start doing things like buying a horse for the boys?”

  “The gift doesn’t meet with your approval?”

  Fuming that he hadn’t discussed any of this with her, she stared at him. “Did it ever occur to you to talk these things over with me beforehand?” She saw a flash of surprise cross his face, realized it hadn’t occurred to him, and her temper soared another notch.

  “Listen, you’re so accustomed to your cavalier bachelor ways that you haven’t even thought about discussing get- ting the boys a horse.”

  “What’s there to talk about?” he asked, impressed by the fire in her eyes. He realized he should have told her about arranging for the man to check the place for repairs. And he had wanted to surprise her and the boys with a horse; how- ever in retrospect, he saw that he should have included her in his plans. But it was difficult to focus on her anger. Her hair was caught in a clip behind her head—an improve- ment over the chignon—and she was wearing a pale blue summer suit that revealed her long legs. She looked gor- geous and he wanted to cancel his afternoon appointments and spend the rest of the day with her.

  “Don’t you think they’d like a horse and to learn to ride?” he asked.

  “Of course they’d like a horse, but there’s more than that involved and I think I should have been informed. When this year is up, I’m the one who’ll be left to care for the damned horse!”

  He moved closer, and caught her around the waist as she backed up and held tight. “Stop worrying about a year from now,” he said firmly. When he got close to her, he felt on fire. Longing filled him for her softness, for her compan- ionship. When he was with her, he felt better than he had in years. At first, the realization of the changes she was bring- ing to his life startled him, but the past few days he had been adjusting quickly. “Simmer down. We can discuss a horse and the house all you want.”

  “It’s the principle of what you did that bothers me. I trusted you and believed you’d keep your promise,” she said, but the anger had melted out of her tone. He felt his pulse jump because she was reacting to him just as he was reacting to her.

  “I honestly didn’t give it that much thought,” he said. “I have no intention of tearing down the house and didn’t think to consult you about getting someone to do repairs.”

  She rolled her eyes. He shifted closer and tightened his arm around her. “Now, what was that about my charm and sweet talk or my seductive touches?”

  “Not one thing!” she exclaimed, her eyes dancing with fire. But her cheeks turned pink, denying her answer. “Don’t you start with them, either. You’re just trying to melt my anger—”

  “Damn straight,” he said softly and lowered his head, his arm hauling her up against him while he kissed her hard.

  Juliana’s heart thudded and for an instant she forgot everything, his broken promise, her anger, where they were. Gone were the kisses he had given her at home, kisses that coaxed her to respond. His kiss now was filled with hunger and an aggressive taking. Heat spread in her and then cen- tered low within her, an ache that was becoming more in- tense with every passionate encounter.

  Without thinking about what she was doing, she wound her arms around his neck and responded, kissing him as fiercely as he did her while her desire escalated.

  Her hips thrust against him, feeling his arousal, startled by the swift reaction he had to her. His hand drifted down, deftly twisting free the buttons of her blouse, sliding be- neath the fresh cotton and pushing aside the scrap of lace. She gasped as his fingers caught the taut bud and caressed her. She arched into him and his arm tightened, holding her.

  She turned her head. “We’re in your office.”

  “I don’t give a damn,” he answered gruffly, his mouth stopping her answer. “You want this as much as I do.”

  Juliana’s pulse pounded, her body responding to each caress, to his words and obvious need. Her reaction to him frightened her in its intensity because she had never experienced anything like it before with any man. She wanted to stop worrying, to give in to desire, and for another moment she did. He pushed her jacket and blouse back on her shoulders and flicked the catch of her bra, his dark hands cupping her breasts and his thumbs flicking over the throb- bing peaks.

  She strained toward him, closing her eyes while she moaned with pleasure, lost to his touch. His hand slid down over her hip, catching the hem of her skirt, caressing her leg. Struggling as if coming up out of the depths of a raging current, she knew she had to stop him. She knew she should remember she was dealing with a strong, forceful man who would do just as he pleased.

  She pushed against him and stepped back, her breathing ragged while she fumbled to pull her blouse in place. The smoldering look he was giving her made her hands tremble. “We’re in your office,” she repeated breathlessly.

  He stepped closer, catching her hand .and stopping her from buttoning her blouse. “You make me forget every- thing else in my world. I want to shove you down on the desk and take you right here,” he said in a husky voice that played over her like his hands.

  “You’re doing it again,” she said, pushing against his chest, attempting to reassert her control. “Don’t try to kiss away my words. You’re not going to get me on your desk,” she said, yet there was little force to her words, and his look of pure desire made her breathless.

  She moved away from him, going around the desk and turning her back to refasten her bra, button her blouse and straighten her clothes, struggling to get her thoughts back in order. Never had Barry lost his cool control and she was astounded that Cal had. He made her feel like the most de- sirable woman on earth. And he was too damned sexy.

  She turned around, wondering about him. He was too appealing, too aggressive and passionate to have lived with as little romance in his life as she had. “How many women have been on that desk before me?” The question was in- tensely personal and she knew in asking she had just crossed another invisible boundary. And she had sounded jealous, something she had never done before in her life.

  His eyebrow arched, and he sauntered toward her with a predatory air that made her pulse jump again. She tried to keep her gaze eye level, but she dipped a glance down. His arousal thrust against the soft slacks and she yanke
d her eyes up instantly. Halting inches from her, he tilted her face, his fingers holding her chin while his dark eyes seemed to nail her to the spot and hold her steadfast.

  “No one has been on my desk, babe,” he replied quietly. “No one has ever made me forget everything else like you do. Maybe in high school when my mind was hormone- driven, but that doesn’t count. Not in my adult life,” he said emphatically, his eyes dark with desire that was blatant and breathtaking. “Anything else about me you’d like to know?”

  “I want to know if you’ll break more promises to me.”

  He shook his head. “I didn’t think discussing repairs was that important.” His fingers slid along her jaw, and she suspected that she would be back in his arms in minutes.

  “Why don’t we go to lunch and talk,” she suggested with a sense of desperation. Why did she find him so damned ir- resistible?

  As they stood in an electrifying silence, Cal studied her, wanting to pull her into his arms again. He wanted to hold her every time he was around her now. He looked forward to the day ending, to getting home from work to her. The first evening he had found himself trying to wind up an ap- pointment and clear his desk and get home, he was shocked. He had always lost himself in his work. His practice had been the focus of his life, totally absorbing him until he’d met Juliana. Even when he was engaged to Andrea, his practice had been all-important. That was when he was get- ting started, scrambling to obtain clients and to win his cases. Now, without warning, like lightning slicing across the sky, he was zapped by Juliana and acting like an ado- lescent. And it annoyed the hell out of him that the whole thing was due to Elnora’s meddling.

  Inhaling deeply, he stepped back, walking away from Ju- liana and get control, letting his body cool, wishing he could disentangle his emotions as quickly. “Sure, let’s go. There’s a restaurant a block from here that has good salads, some- thing you seem to like, or there’s Mack’s Deli and Burgers that I can drive us to.”

  “I’ll opt for the salad and the walk.”

  Turning around, he watched her fasten the last buttons on her blouse. Her head was bent, her attention on her clothes. He clenched his fists to keep from going right back to her. How had she gotten to his heart so swiftly?

  She looked up and their gazes locked and he felt his body tighten again. With a silent curse, he turned to open the door.

  Juliana walked past him and down the hallway to the an- teroom. She felt her cheeks flush with heat as she looked at Sandy and wondered if the receptionist could tell they had been kissing behind his closed door.

  As soon as they left his office, she glanced at him. He turned, his eyebrows arching. “What is it? Checking to see if I have your lipstick smeared on my face?”

  “As a matter of fact, yes.”

  He grinned. “And do I?”

  “No, you don’t, but what about my face?”

  He stopped her, turning her to face him and holding her chin with his hand while he studied her. She was aware of people glancing at them as they passed. “Never mind,” she said, trying to pull away from his grasp. “I thought you’d just look, not make a big production out of it.”

  “Let’s see, big blue eyes, aristocratic nose, a mouth that has slightly smeared makeup or may just be red from kissing—”

  “Am I really messed?”

  “Impossible. Delectable is the right word.”

  “You are irrepressible,” she said in exasperation, walk- ing again while he fell into step beside her.

  “Only with you,” Cal answered with a lightness he didn’t feel.

  The sunshine was hot, the sidewalk sparkling in the bright light as they walked the block to the tiny restaurant that had a green awning over the front, a sign proclaiming Celia’s Kitchen and a short line of customers waiting inside the door. The place was crowded and noisy, but in minutes they were seated at a round wooden table away from the door.

  As soon as they had ordered salads, Cal looked at her. “I should have told you about the horse. I thought I might surprise all of you.”

  “You did surprise me. We don’t have a place for a horse.”

  “I was going to announce it and then I was going to re- cruit the boys to help build a corral. That would be a good experience for them.”

  She stared at him, feeling a mixture of consternation and pleasure. “You’re impossible,” she finally announced. “I don’t know that I want the responsibility of a horse, and it would also be incredibly dangerous for the boys—”

  “A horse? Incredibly dangerous?”

  “They can get kicked, stepped on—”

  “Those kids will do all kinds of things that are danger- ous, Juliana. They’re boys and you can’t keep them in a bubble. A horse isn’t any more risky than a lot of other things. In a few years, Chris will be old enough to drive. That’s more dangerous than riding a horse.”

  “I’ll have to get accustomed to the idea.”

  “And I should have told you about calling Whittaker’s, but it didn’t seem like a big deal to me. I think the house and garage need repairs. We need a place for a horse and the carriage house isn’t the place. I think it’s a hazard and I’ve told the boys to stay out of it.”

  “You see, you just take charge without thinking. It’s your nature.”

  “I think it’s your nature, too, and that’s why we’re hav- ing a clash. I don’t see that it’s so terrible. I’m not going to usurp your place with your nephews.”

  “I’m not afraid of that.”

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  “The problem is, you made me a promise and you didn’t keep it. It’s something called trust.”

  Something flickered in the depths of his eyes and his gaze slid away. For an instant, she had seen what truly looked like guilt. “Sorry, Juliana,” he said after a moment. “Now you know about my calling Whittaker’s. Want me to cancel the repairs?”

  “No, of course not. The carriage house is a hazard and the boys will resist going in there only so long and then they’ll climb all over it.”

  “They already have. That’s when I told them to stay out of it and I called Whittaker’s.”

  “I feel like I’m losing my control.”

  “No, you aren’t. I’m just outside more than you are and I saw them out there.”

  “They’re going to love you so much, and you’ll just smash their hearts in the end.”

  Again she got a swift look of guilt that sobered her. He wanted to make responsible choices for the boys, but he didn’t want them permanently. He wanted her, but he didn’t want her permanently. She felt her anger rising again, but it was directed at herself as much as him because, she ad- monished herself silently, she should be able to use good sense and resist him.

  The waitress came with green salads and they were silent while they ate.

  “Was Mimi there?” he asked finally.

  “Yes, she came before nine o’clock. She and Gladys and Stoddard think our weird marriage is wonderful.”

  “I know,” he answered with a grin. “They rank right up there with Elnora. When Mimi looks at me, I feel as if I sold my soul to the devil.”

  “That’s a fine way to view me!”

  “It isn’t the way I view you or the boys. It’s just my ac- ceptance of Elnora’s inheritance and your grandmother’s smug satisfaction. It’s the same way Elnora would look at us.”

  “Elnora didn’t think a woman could possibly be happy without a man.”

  “The world’s filled with women delighted to be without a man,” he stated dryly. “And I think you were one of them.”

  “Not delighted, just too busy to think about it.”

  “And not overly delighted with the one that got dropped into your life,” he said lightly.

  “There are moments and you know it.”

  Amused, he looked at her and the expression in his eyes was intimate, sharing knowledge of their moments of pas- sion, the times they enjoyed each other’s company.

  “No
w you’re the one looking smug.”

  “Not smug, just happy. Life’s better now.”

  Startled, she looked up at him and lowered her fork. “Is it really?”

  “Sure. Isn’t it for you?”

  “Some of the time,” she answered cautiously.

  He grinned. “Now you sound like the evasive lawyer.”

  “Yes, it’s better some days,” she agreed. “But today hasn’t been one of the better times.”

  “I thought it was pretty great back there in my office.”

  “Yes, it was,” she answered softly and his head came up and his eyes narrowed.

  “Then why did you make me stop?”

  “Good sense. Caution.”

  He gave her a level look. “Now I wish we were back in the office. A week ago, you wouldn’t have given me an answer like that.”

  “Don’t tell me I’m changing.”

  “I think we both are.”

  While she arched her eyebrows and stared at him, he wondered how much they were changing. And he won- dered if she had any idea of the effect she was having on him.

  She looked out the window for a moment then turned back to him. “Have you already bought the horse?”

  “As a matter of fact, yes. A two-year-old mare and she’s gentle and has been with a family that had kids.”

  She sighed, and he wondered if the issue of the horse still annoyed her. “A horse will be good for them,” he insisted. “And you watch Quin take to a horse like he has to Snooks. A horse will be better for him than a cat.”

  “If he doesn’t get hurt.”

  “Don’t get overprotective. I’ll watch out for them.”

  “You’re not used to doing that.”

  He held up his hand. “I promise to watch them carefully around the horse and teach them the proper care of one.”

  She threw up her hands in a gesture of submission. “You win, Counselor. I can’t argue with that.”

  “Just watch—you’ll be the one who loves the horse the most. I may get another horse so I can ride with you.”

  She slanted a look at him that made him draw a deep breath and wish again that he had the afternoon alone with her.