I’d have to be careful. I hadn’t married her for physical reasons, and I couldn’t let my interest in her body sway my motivations. I pulled the covers back. This was the side of the bed I usually slept on, but she looked ready to bolt as she shifted from foot to foot.
“Go ahead. Crawl in.” I knew what she expected. The trepidation and excitement mixed in her eyes.
I had to admit I’d never been with a person so skittish around me.
She tiptoed toward the bed, her gazeflitting from my face to the covers. She might not be revealing much skin, but her pulse fluttered erratically at the base of her throat. Despite my earlier mental warning, I eyed her ass and the way it rounded when she got between the sheets. When she was settled, I leaned over her and kissed her forehead. Completely unnecessary. She’d already been seduced, and I had the marriage to show for it. “I set a shirt and shorts on the end table to change into if you’d like. Get some rest.”
In the ambient light from the window, I could see her pink lips pull down in a frown. Was she afraid she couldn’t fall asleep without shades? She’d been practically aghast over the view when my few other guests had gushed about it.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, more concerned than curious.
“We aren’t— Um... You don’t want to...” Her furious blush was adorable. How could she be so innocent when she didn’t mind her family conning land away from an old drunk?
“No, wife.” I said it more to remind myself and ignored how easily the word slipped off my tongue. I was a married man. My gut clenched as much as it twisted. “You’ve had too much to drink. You need sleep.”
She blinked slowly, her eyes owlish. Then she sat up, clutching the blankets to her chest like she was nude instead of fully dressed. I’d have offered her the change of clothes first, but I didn’t care to risk seeing another inch of creamy flesh.
She pushed her thick hair off her face. “How are we going to convince my brothers not to buy your family’s land if we aren’tmarriedmarried?”
Cold washed through my insides. I’d underestimated this woman. A mistake I hadn’t made... ever.
“What?” My voice could’ve cut glass.
She looked at me likeduh. “I mean, I want a family. You want your land.” She rolled her eyes—rolledher goddamn eyes—at me. “Did you think there was nothing I wanted out of the deal?”
“What deal?” I bit out. Family? The thought almost made me heave. Kids?
She finally had the grace to look embarrassed. “I guess I never said it, but then neither did you.”
Ice continued to crystallize in my veins. I could lie. Tell her I’d fallen madly in love with her as soon as I’d seen her, but she wouldn’t believe it. Not if she didn’t buy that I’d swept her off her feet and into Silver Linings Chapel because I couldn’t stand the thought of living without her.
Fuck. “How’d you know?”
She chortled, another adorable reaction I didn’t expect. “You? Instantly smitten with me? Come on. I couldn’t even getintothe club, yet Gideon James was so taken with a schoolteacher he whisked her off to say vows after a few drinks together? A few drinks that werenotmade with Copper Summit bourbon. Because Copper Summit isn’t served anywhere on the premises.”
Irritation flared bright behind my sternum and not because she’d called me on my pettiness. “For such an innately sexy woman, you don’t think very highly of yourself.”
A furrow formed between her brows. “I think just fine about myself, but I’m also realistic. I can’t be bothered to dress sexy anymore. That’s what my twenties were for—uncomfortable clothes and even worse shoes.All I caught with that look were mommy-dependent man-children.” She wrinkled her nose. “Come to think of it, this look attracts the ones who want to be mothered too.”
I almost smiled. This conversation was absurd. “Speaking of mothering—what the hell do you meanfamily?” The edge was back in my voice.
She sighed and her shoulders slumped. “I want a family. If I can’t have the loving husband and kids, I’d rather have the kids from a guy who’s proved able to look after himself.”
I didn’t know if I should thank her for the odd compliment or throttle her. “I don’t want kids.”
Her lips puffed out. “Oh.” She looked down at her hands. “Damn.” She spread her fingers and inspected the flawless one-carat diamond on her finger. I’d been going to buy her a five-carat ring, but she’d practically gagged. I’d selected a two-carat ring and she’d almost panicked. She’d even insisted one carat was too big, but a guy had his pride. I’d duped her into marrying me—or so I had thought—and the least I could do was buy her a nice ring. My ring matched hers. A simple platinum band with squared edges.
“Maybe I could do artificial insemination. People might assume it’s yours.”
My mouth curled into a sneer. I didn’t want kids, but the idea of another man’s baby in her belly ignited a feral response.
I was better than this, and I needed time to think. I wasn’t fooling her and the relief was immense. Had I been prepared to sell my soul for the family land?
Yes. I always did what I had to do—run the ranch when my drunk dad couldn’t, leave home so I couldhave a future, and marry a Bailey so I could save my legacy.
Turned out this Bailey was just as determined to create a legacy for herself. “We can discuss this when you’re sober. But since you know why I married you, tell me how you can help me stop your family from buying my land.”
“My brothers,” she said. “We’d have to talk to my brothers.”
