“Why did you agree to go along with this madness?”
His expression hardened.“Don’t dig too deep, Casey.You might find worms in the dirt you’re taking out of the hole.”
Startled, she pivoted and headed for the bathroom, telling herself it was exhaustion that was making her shake, and not the implied warning in his words.
* * *
“…pronounce you man and wife.What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.”
Judge Harris’s clock began to chime.
Once.Twice.Three times it sounded.
Casey exhaled slowly.
Four times.Five times.Six times the gong echoed within the silence of the room.
She went limp, and were it not for the firm grip Ryder had on her arm, she wouldn’t have been able to stand.But she’d done it.It was over!The Ruban empire was safe, but dear God, could she say the same about herself?
“Congratulations.You may kiss your bride,” Harmon added, although he doubted, considering the reasons for the ceremony, there was much to celebrate.
Both Ryder and Casey stared, first at Judge Harris who’d just granted permission for something neither had been prepared to act upon, then at each other as they contemplated the deed.
To Casey’s dismay, her vision blurred.
Ryder had intended on holding his ground until he saw her tears.It was her weakness, rather than the bulldog determination with which she’d gotten them this far, that made him do what he did next.He’d entered into this farce without giving a thought for consequences, much the same way he used to go through life.But that was before he’d killed his father and lost his nerve to fly.
Intending only to assure her, he cupped her cheek with the palm of one hand, gentling her much in the same way his brother, Royal, tended the horses on his ranch, giving them time to adjust to his presence.
“Easy, now,” he said softly, and when he felt her pulse beginning to slow, he lowered his head.
Casey saw him coming.Her lips parted.Whether it was to voice an objection or to ease his way, Ryder didn’t know and didn’t care.His focus was on her mouth and the woman who now bore his name.
Casey’s breath caught at the back of her throat and this time, had Ryder not been holding her up, her legs would have given way.Whatever her intent had been, it stopped along with her heart when Ryder Justice kissed his wife.
It should have been awkward—their first joining—but it wasn’t.The ease with which they touched, then the gentleness with which the kiss deepened felt right, even familiar.At the point of embracing, the judge’s voice broke their connection.
“Well, now,” he said, and made no attempt to hide a yawn.“I suppose you two are as hitched as a couple can be.”
When Ryder moved away, Casey felt a sudden sense of loss, and then reality intruded and she felt nothing but dismay.She had no intentions of pursuing the intimate part of a marriage and the sooner Ryder Justice realized that, the better off they would be.She stepped back, then turned away, unwilling to let him see how deeply she’d been affected by what he’d done.
“It served its purpose,” she said shortly, and started looking for her purse.“What do I owe you?”
While she was fumbling for cash, Ryder was dealing with uneasiness of his own.The kiss was supposed to have been nothing but a formality.He hadn’t expected to feel anything because it had been months since he’d allowed himself the luxury.But something had happened to him between the time her breath had brushed his cheek and their point of contact.Left with nothing but a lingering dissatisfaction he couldn’t identify, he, too, turned away.It was almost as if he’d left something undone.He hadn’t been prepared for what the kiss had evoked—what it felt like to hold someone close, the pleasure that comes from lying in a willing woman’s arms.
He inhaled slowly and considered the woman who was now his wife, if in name only.He had agreed to marry her and no matter what, he was a man of his word.But he didn’t want to like her.There was already a time limit on their relationship.God forbid his feelings should ever go deeper.
Casey said something that made the judge laugh and Ryder turned to see what was funny.Instead of an answer, he found himself watching as Casey peeled five twenty-dollar bills from a wad of cash in her handbag and handed them to the judge.He frowned, then looked away, uncomfortable with the fact that a woman was paying his way for anything, and more than a little bit anxious as to how he was supposed to fit into her life.He had already suspected she came from money.Her car and her clothes had given her away, and the money she stuffed back in her purse only confirmed his suspicions.
For the first time since he’d run away, he thought about what he’d left behind, yet not once did he consider confessing his true background and identity to Casey.
She thought she’d married a bum, a no-account drifter without a penny to his name.His eyes narrowed as he stared out into the burgeoning dawn.Part of it was true.He didn’t have two quarters with him that he could rub together.At this point, the fact that he owned four airplanes and a helicopter, and that his charter service had been in the black for nearly eleven years didn’t matter.Nor did the fact that the deed to nearly fourteen hundred acres of prime real estate on the outskirts of San Antonio was in his name.
Sick at heart from an accident he couldn’t forget, he’d walked away from it all.Things of monetary value had become unimportant to Ryder.If he could have, he would have given up everything just to have his father back alive and well.
But there would be no trading with God… or the devil.Micah Justice was dead and buried, and no matter how far Ryder went, he couldn’t outrun his guilt.
Someone cleared their throat.He looked up.It would seem that Sudie was patiently waiting to lock them out.Casey held the front door ajar.Her posture and the tone of her voice gave away her impatience.
