bargain be to her heart? A bargain with a demon of her own creation. She could have taken the money, lived with him and waited to see if they fell in love instead of this headlong rush into marriage to get a commitment for her baby.
It was done now and she wasn’t backing out, but she should take care and guard her heart more than she had so far. Two days ago she wouldn’t have dreamed she would be at risk of heartbreak.
He looked over at her. “Penny for your thoughts.”
“I was just mulling over what odd turns life takes and a week ago this time, my life and prospects for the future were entirely different.”
“Regrets?”
“Absolutely not. Never! I couldn’t possibly regret the changes. What about you? This morning you were filled with anger.”
“We’ll see what the future brings. Let’s sit down and go over some more stipulations.”
Amused, she smiled. “You’re trying to think of everything. That’s impossible.”
“Maybe, but I want some requests. I’m in no hurry, but I want a DNA test to determine that there is no question that my brother was the father.”
“That’s fine,” she said. “He was, so test away.” She sat at a wrought-iron table on a cushioned iron chair, crossed her legs, catching Matt staring at her bare legs.
He pulled on a T-shirt over his swim trunks and then dropped the towel. The T-shirt hid his swimsuit and it was easy to imagine him without it and she hoped he had no inkling that she was doing so.
“Do I get a say in the baby’s name?” he asked, pulling his chair close and stroking her knee, starting more fiery tingles.
She thought about that one. “I think we should both approve the selected name,” she said breathlessly, only half aware of what she was replying to him.
He moved closer and placed his hands on her shoulders. “We’ve already learned that we can get along and the sex promises to be great. We both have mutual goals about the baby. But make no mistake, Olivia. I’ll never fall in love again,” he reminded her.
Annoyance flashed in her at his stubborn refusal to even give love a chance and then she thought how far she had already come with him. She slanted her head and smiled at him. “At the moment, I’m not after your heart. But when and if I decide I am, you may find that you don’t have such a fortress as you thought.”
“You’ve been warned.”
“So have you,” she said, and interest danced in his eyes. His gaze lowered to her mouth. She started to turn away, but he caught her, kissing her and lifting her onto his lap. Their legs were warm and bare and her pulse thundered while passion possessed her.
Matt leaned down to kiss her possessively. While his tongue stoked a fire in her, his arm banded her waist tightly. His other hand slipped down over her back and across her bottom, heating her desire.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she twisted to press against him while she kissed him in return, pouring all her need into the kiss. She could feel his arousal hard against her and his free hand roamed over her while his hungry kisses demolished her intentions to resist him.
With desperation, she broke free, gasping for breath and satisfied to see his breathing was as ragged as hers as they both gazed at each other.
“Olivia, I don’t think my life will ever be the same again.”
“You can bet the ranch on that one,” she whispered, standing and wanting to stay in his arms, wanting him to love her the rest of the night. She swept past him. “I’ll dress for dinner,” she called over her shoulder without looking back at him.
She hurried to her room for a cold shower, lecturing herself about resistance and caution and self-control and gaining his respect. She dressed in a denim sundress, sandals and caught her hair up in a ponytail. There was no way to stop unruly tendrils from escaping and curling around her face. She leaned forward to glare at her reflection.
“Get some control,” she whispered. “You’re mush when he kisses you.” She didn’t want to even think about his devastating kisses. But if he was leaping over barriers around her heart, she suspected she might be building bridges over his. “Just you try to resist falling in love with me, Matt Ransome,” she declared.
She straightened up. “Yeah, right,” she said, reminding herself that the man had iron willpower, and he could probably keep his heart locked away for a lifetime if he chose to. She thought about Jeff’s story about Matt rescuing their father when all the professional rescuers had pulled out of the area. Jeff said Matt refused to give up, but he wouldn’t let Jeff or Katherine search with him and Nick had a sprained ankle. She was dealing with a man who had a will of iron and would make all kinds of sacrifices to get what he wanted.
Would her heart break over this hard, tough cowboy? And beneath the wealth and sophistication, she suspected there was a cowboy who was a lot of country.
She squared her shoulders and smoothed her skirt. She was willing to take some risks. At this point she had the world to gain—and only a broken heart to lose, she reminded herself.
With a toss of her head she left to join him for dinner.
By the time she strolled onto the patio, he was grilling steaks. A plume of gray smoke spiraled above the cooker and tantalizing smells made her mouth water, but it was the tall, handsome cook who took her breath and made her pulse jump.
He had dressed in slacks, western boots and a knit shirt, but how easily she could remember the body and muscles beneath those neat clothes. He glanced at her and then turned to give her his full attention, watching her walk toward him.
Tingling and growing hot, she sauntered up to him, stopping only inches from him. “Like what you see?” she asked in a sultry voice.
A faint smile quirked his mouth. “My anticipation about our wedding night is growing,” he replied and her pulse jumped another notch.
“It’ll be even better than you imagine,” she said.
“You’re flirting again, Olivia.” He ran his finger just above the top of her sundress, drawing a line on her bare skin that made her draw her breath. “But why do I think you have an ulterior motive? I think you want me to fall in love with you so you can steal my heart away and twist me around your little finger.” His fingers trailed upward to her nape where he caressed her lightly. “Am I right? Or will you admit the truth?”
“I’ll answer honestly,” she replied, wanting to kiss him instead of chat with him. “I hadn’t thought about twisting you around my little finger and I don’t really believe that I possibly can. Maybe I’m just trying to protect my heart so if I do fall in love with you, I won’t be rejected.”
He propped his foot on an iron chair and placed his arm on his thigh as he leaned closer. She was hemmed in by him and by his leg on one side of her, the cooker on the other and the chair behind her. His blue eyes pierced her as if he were searching for answers in her gaze. “So you’re not getting cold feet yet over our deal?”
“Of course not,” she said, acutely aware of his proximity and his leg touching her hip lightly. “We need to talk about the wedding. How many attendants will I need
