she said after a long, uncomfortable silence, “don’t you have anything to say?”
“Yes.” His voice sounded low and tight. “Get the hell off my ranch.”
CHAPTER TWO
MIMI FLINCHED as the front door slammed. Garrett had ordered her to leave, but he’d been the one to stomp out the door. Men. She’d never understand them. Her father was just as unfathomable. Not to mention prickly and stubborn.
Today she’d also learned he was a liar.
Her chest tightened, and Mimi sat up straight on the sofa, suddenly unable to breathe. Frantic fingers clumsily worked the silk buttons running down the back of her gown. The fabric ripped, and she gasped for air until she was finally free of the confining garment.
She stood up, shimmying out of the voluminous gown and letting it pile at her feet. Then she stepped out of it, still decently covered from ankle to collarbone by her white silk bridal slip. She kicked the gown into the corner, then sat on the sofa, placing her head between her knees to regain her equilibrium.
Not a full-fledged panic attack, but close enough. A sign that her life was spinning out of control. Again. It had first happened when she was a freshman in college. A silly infatuation with a charming upper-classman had turned her life upside down and almost caused her to quit school.
Then, two years ago, her father had been diagnosed with colon cancer. Mimi had immediately left her job with the Archives Department of the Houston Metropolitan Research Center and moved home, devoting herself to her widowed father’s care.
An astute businessman, Rupert Casville was suddenly faced with his own mortality. His illness and frailty terrified Mimi.
He lost all interest in Casville Industries, leaving everything in the capable hands of his business attorney, Paul Renquist.
Without his business to occupy his time, her father had focused on continuing the Casville legacy. He soon became obsessed with having grandchildren, and since Mimi was his only child, it was up to her to provide them. Rupert’s obsession only got worse after his remission.
She bit her lip, remembering her father’s wistful pleas for a grandson. But despite her empathy for him, she’d kept her secret. A secret she’d carried for a decade. Still, a sense of guilt made her agree to go on an endless series of blind dates. But none of the self-absorbed, eligible bachelors her father had found appealed to her.
At twenty-eight, she no longer expected to find her soul mate. But she was willing to settle for someone she could depend on. A man who shared her desire for children and treated her with respect.
A man like Paul Renquist.
He was handsome and charming. A self-made man and a savvy attorney, Paul had efficiently handled every business crisis during her father’s illness. Strong and steady, he had been a solid rock to cling to in her suddenly stormy life.
Still, his marriage proposal had come as a complete surprise. Mimi had been stunned, since they’d never shared more than a few casual dinner dates. Paul’s reasons for a marriage between them had made so much sense. She hadn’t stood a chance against his polished negotiating skills. Especially when he’d insisted on a prenuptial agreement that would prevent him from receiving any of the Casville millions if they divorced.
So Mimi had said yes, believing she’d eventually grow to love him.
Then today, thanks to the ancient ventilation system in the old cathedral, she’d discovered her father had been paying him to romance her all along. Mimi had been alone in the dressing room, fighting off another impending panic attack, when she’d heard their illuminating conversation through the air vent.
She liked to think it was divine providence.
She closed her eyes, her head spinning. She’d almost married a man she didn’t love. Almost destroyed her own life, trying to please her father.
Fleeing her wedding was the first impulsive thing she’d done in her life. For the first time she could remember, she wasn’t standing in the suffocating shadow of the Casville name. And Garrett was the first man who didn’t see dollar signs when he looked at her.
Not that he wanted to look at her. The man had just ordered her out of his house. He obviously didn’t realize she wasn’t taking orders anymore.
Only she still wasn’t sure what to do next.
A dull ache throbbed in her temple as she contemplated her options. No doubt her father and Paul had already started a full-scale search. She couldn’t go home. She couldn’t go to a hotel, either, since she didn’t have any of her credit cards with her.
More than anything, Mimi needed time to heal. And what better place than on a secluded ranch in the starkly beautiful Texas hill country?
But first she had to figure out a way to convince Garrett to let her stay.
“WOMEN,” Garrett muttered under his breath as he marched along the fence line, his way lit by the full moon. “I’ll never understand them.”
Hubert trotted beside him, emitting a tiny bark as he bounded forward to keep up with Garrett’s long stride.
“It’s like they go out of their way to drive a man crazy.” Garrett looked at his dog. “Take my advice, Hubert. Don’t ever get mixed up with some female. Even if she has eyes like the Texas sky and hair like clover honey.”
Hubert yelped, then drew up his front paw and limped on three legs. Garrett bent and pulled a sandbur from the tender pad of the dog’s small paw. Then he straightened and leaned against the corral fence, propping one boot on the bottom rail.
He gazed at the canopy of stars glittering across the big Texas sky. “Of all the haylofts in all the world, why did she have to end up in mine?”
Hubert barked at him, wagging his cropped tail.
Garrett sighed, wondering when he’d become such a coldhearted son of a bitch. Ordering the woman off his ranch hadn’t been one of his finer moments. He stared at the moonlit horizon, letting the nippy breeze cool his temper.
Women had plagued him all day. First his sister Lana, inviting him to dinner. Suspicious of the spark of mischief in her eye, he’d finally gotten her to confess that she planned to invite a date for him, as well. He’d turned down her invitation, but she hadn’t made it easy. Lana could be almost as stubborn as Garrett when she set her mind to something.
Then Venna had come after him again, still hell-bent on roping him into matrimony. He couldn’t decide if she was incredibly determined or just delusional. The last thing he wanted was a woman looking for husband number three.
Then there was Mimi.
Mimi. Ever since he’d caught her in his hayloft, she’d been like a sandbur under his skin. Only she didn’t cause him any pain. Far from it. She made him remember how damn long it had been since he’d held a woman in his arms. How soft and warm and wonderful women could be.
If only they weren’t so damn much trouble.
He’d tried ignoring her, insulting her and intimidating her, but she hadn’t taken
