The Rancher's Cinderella Bride Read online

  “Just because your parents are friends is no reason for the two of you to marry.”

  “Do I ever agree. I couldn’t make any of them see that and then Justin’s dad offered so many financial rewards that Justin absolutely wanted us to marry. Well, now I don’t have to. You were perfect tonight. Everyone will believe us when we announce our engagement. Besides, I had a good time tonight,” she said, sitting back and smiling happily at him.

  “Thank you. So did I. It wasn’t the stuffy, boring evening I thought it might be. Events like that at the country club I usually avoid. This one was fun, though, and I had the prettiest woman in the club for my date.”

  She smiled at him and patted his knee. “Thank you. We’re alone and you don’t have to say that.”

  “I mean it. You look stunning tonight. Believe me, if we weren’t announcing this engagement, you would get calls, especially now that guys realize you’re not locked into going out with Justin.”

  “I’m not interested in calls. I just want to be free and live my life my own way.”

  “You’re on your way to your goal.”

  “Thanks to you.”

  “You can show me your gratitude when we get to my place,” he said, teasing her.

  She laughed. “Oh, I intend to—up to a point.”

  He flashed a smile at her and then focused on driving. She felt as if a mountain of worries had lifted off her shoulders. She regretted hurting her parents and Justin, but they would get over it and she couldn’t spend a lifetime married to someone she didn’t love. She glanced at Gabe and forgot Justin and the disagreement with her family. She’d had a wonderful evening with Gabe and his brothers and their wives. It was Gabe, though, who kept her heart racing. She was going home with him. She had told herself over and over as she spent the day getting ready for tonight that she should guard her heart and avoid falling in love with him—something she had never expected to have to worry this much about.

  Gabe slowed the car and they entered a gated area and followed a tree-lined street with decorative lampposts as they wound toward his Dallas home. When it came into view, she felt surprised.

  “It looks like a palace,” she said, looking through a tall black wrought-iron fence at a sprawling mansion with lights shining in various windows on three floors. The well-landscaped yard held tall shade trees, leafy oaks and spreading maples. On the front lawn water glistened in a small pond with blooming lilies and in a lighted fountain with a silvery spray of water.

  “Don’t sound so shocked.”

  “I still think of you at your parents’ home when we were kids.”

  “I haven’t lived there since I left for college.” Gabe drove to the back and parked beneath a carport, stepping out to go around and open her car door. “Come see my house and I’ll show you your suite. If you’d like, tomorrow we can go to the ranch,” he said as she stepped out to walk beside him.

  He held open the door to a mudroom of sorts. The long, narrow room held rocking chairs, hat racks and coatracks on the wall, with a place for boots and shoes in a small alcove.

  He took her arm. “Let’s get something to drink. We can sit in the family room or go to the patio. It’s a nice night.”

  “Sure, Gabe,” she said. “But first, I want to thank you again for tonight and for what you’re doing,” she said, overwhelmed by having such a good friend who had come through for her and ended a huge worry in her life. She slipped her arms around him, hugged him tightly and then stood on tiptoe to kiss him.

  After a startling moment that was no more than a heartbeat, his arms circled her waist and tightened, pulling her against him. His mouth pressed against hers, his tongue going deep, stroking hers as he held her close.

  Her heart thudded and she tightened her arms around him. She had told herself that a few kisses out of gratitude would be acceptable and not dangerous to her heart. But now, with the first kiss, she stopped thinking about what she ought to do. Her focus was on the man holding her tightly. The man whose fingers wound in the curls of her long hair as he held her and kissed her.

  And all her rules and promises to herself vanished like smoke on the wind. The only thing she wanted was to kiss him and never stop.

  She ran her hand beneath Gabe’s jacket to push it off. He shrugged out of it and it dropped to the floor. His elegant dress shirt was smooth to the touch, warm from his body heat. The studs in his shirt were sharp against her skin and she stepped back, reaching up to unfasten then. “These hurt,” she whispered and looked up into vivid blue eyes that had darkened in passion. When she had the studs unfastened, she handed them to him. He dropped them into his pocket while she ran her hand across his chest.

  “I’m not going to bed with you,” she whispered, a reminder to herself as she was again caught and held by his startling blue eyes.

  “Are you talking to me or to yourself?” he asked while he showered light kisses on her ear, her nape, brushing her lips with his. Her heart raced and his tantalizing light kisses fanned desire beyond anything she had ever experienced.

  “I’m talking to both of us,” she whispered. “Kisses of thanks for what you did tonight are the limit.”

  “You might have to remind me,” he whispered and tightened his arms around her, settling his mouth on hers and kissing her passionately again.

  Desire was a hot flame burning inside her. His touch burned away rational thought. All she could do was feel. She ran her hand beneath his unbuttoned shirt, feeling his smooth, muscled back, down to his narrow waist where she unfastened his cummerbund.

  Leaning away she looked up at him and slid her arms around his neck. “You make me lose all caution and common sense.”

  “I hope so,” he whispered and kissed away any answer she might have had.

  She didn’t feel his hands on her back, but was dimly aware as he pulled down the zipper to her dress.

  She was crushed against him, holding him tightly while they kissed. Her heartbeat still raced. How long they kissed she didn’t know. Finally, Gabe picked her up and carried her in his arms. She never once stopped kissing him to see where he was going; she didn’t care. A moment later he sat down and placed her on his lap as he kissed and held her.

  She felt his hands at her back, cooler air drifting over her back while he slid her zipper farther down to her waist and pushed her dress off her shoulders.

  She caught the front of her dress in her fist, holding it to cover her breasts as she leaned away slightly to look at him. His heavy-lidded gaze met hers.

  “Meg, where did all this fiery sex come from?” he whispered.

  “Gabe, wait. You’re going too fast and in seconds our relationship will change forever.”

  “It already has,” he said in a thick, husky voice. “We can’t ever go back to a next-door-neighbor, brother-and-sister relationship, even if we promise never to touch each other again. It won’t ever be the same because now we know what we do to each other and it’s so fantastic, I’m still in shock.”

  She placed her index finger lightly on his lips. “Stop. We may not be able to go back, but we don’t have to go deeper into a sexual relationship. We’re not suited—”

  “Darlin’, we are suited—in the best way possible,” he said, kissing her just above her bare shoulder. “I almost don’t know which is the most stunning—kissing you or looking at you.”

  She pulled her dress back in place and slipped off his lap. She straightened her dress and reached back to pull up her zipper. Standing, Gabe did it for her, tugging so slowly, trailing kisses above her zipper as he moved up to lift her hair and kiss her nape. “You’re gorgeous.”

  “Thank you,” she whispered, turning around to face him and stepping back. “I’m trying to use some sense and resist you. To think a minute. I’m not into casual affairs. That kind of covers the biggest difference between us. And th
en, should you get serious, I could never deal with your wild lifestyle.”

  “Whoa, darlin’. You’re talking marriage and all we’ve done is share a few good-night kisses.” He smiled at her. “I’ll show you the house and we’ll have a drink and sit and talk awhile and then you can go to bed all by yourself. How’s that?”

  “A good idea,” she said, hoping her reminder about relationships really had stopped him and made him think about the differences between them. She fought the craving she felt to walk right back into his arms, kiss him and forget common sense, caution and her worries about the future.

  “Gabe, I don’t want to go from one problem to another.”

  “I know you don’t,” he said, looking intently at her, and she wondered what he really thought. “Okay, let’s look at the house. So far we haven’t gotten far beyond the back door.

  “This back room leads into the hall with the main kitchen and an informal dining area,” he said, leading the way and leaving space between them. Her gaze swept over him as he stopped in the center of the kitchen to tell her where to find things.

  She didn’t hear a word he said. His shirt was still open and pulled out of his trousers, the cummerbund tossed away. His chest was muscled, covered with a spread of dark curls, his stomach flat and muscled. She couldn’t get her breath and she wasn’t thinking straight.

  She realized he had stopped talking and stood facing her, his eyes narrowed.

  “I think you should show me where my room is and we should call it a night.”

  He closed the space between them in a few steps and wrapped his arms around her. “That’s ridiculous, Meg. We can kiss and then stay friends. It’s just kisses. Relax. You’re blowing this all out of proportion.” He took her arm lightly. “Come on, and I’ll show you where your suite is, and we’ll come back down here in a little while and sit and talk.”

  “You know, I should go to my room, close the door and not see you again tonight,” she said.

  He shook his head. “Nope. You wanted a fake engagement. We’re getting into that and we need to do a little planning—unless you want to call all this off right now.”

  They stared at each other while her heart pounded. She shook her head. “No, I’m not calling anything off. We’ve come this far and I see freedom. Kissing you may be a problem, but it’s nowhere near the problem of a lifetime with a man I don’t love.” She started walking down the hall. “You’re right. We’ll come back here and make some plans and then say good-night. You’ll go your way and I’ll go to my room alone. Okay?”

  “Sounds like a plan. Come on. I’ll show you to your suite.”

  He carried the bag and the carry-on she’d brought and they climbed a wide spiral staircase with a wrought-iron banister and oak steps. The staircase gave her a view of the front hall and the entryway with a huge crystal chandelier. Large contemporary paintings lined the walls along with mirrors and occasional potted palms and tropical greenery.

  Upstairs, they turned for the east wing and shortly entered a room where Gabe switched on recessed lights. The room was decorated in white and taupe with charcoal accents. Contemporary steel-and-glass furniture had simple lines, and blended with the walls and white woodwork.

  “This is beautiful, Gabe,” she said, looking at the designs of the colored glass on the end tables.

  He put her carry-on in a large walk-in closet and then set her bag on a luggage stand.

  She stood in the center of the bedroom, looking at the king-size bed, the sleek chairs and sofas, glass tables and large contemporary paintings with bright strokes of red, green and blue.

  More than her surroundings, she was aware of Gabe, moving around, setting up her suitcase, opening doors onto a balcony. He turned to cross the room and come back to her. “Want some time to unpack and freshen up? Or are you ready to go have a drink and make our plans?”

  “It’s not too early.”

  He placed his hands on her shoulders and toyed with locks of her hair. “No, it’s not. Let’s just go sit and talk about where we go from here and what we do next.”

  Her heart raced as she gazed into his vivid blue eyes. “I know we need to make some decisions,” she whispered. Once her gaze drifted to his mouth she couldn’t speak. She inhaled deeply, trying to think, to focus on her problem when all she could really do was look at him and want to put her arms around him and kiss him.

  “I think first we have to decide what we’ll do about...this,” she was finally able to say. “I can’t get this close to you without wanting to kiss you. Gabe, that wasn’t something I expected and I never factored it in. You were another brother, my childhood best friend, a fun guy, someone I trust completely. But then we kissed, and suddenly it isn’t that simple anymore.”

  He ran his hands down her sides. “No, it isn’t simple. I never expected any of this hot chemistry that has exploded between us. I keep asking you if you want to call off the engagement and you keep saying no you don’t.”

  “I don’t. We’ve already accomplished a lot. Everyone thinks I’m dating you. That stops Justin from that very public proposal. Hooray for that one because I would never accept his proposal and I shudder to think about turning him down in front of a crowd. I still think we should go ahead and get engaged this weekend. I’ve told Justin we’re through, but getting engaged to you will send a message not only to him, but to his parents and my family. I can get engaged to you, Gabe. I can go out with you a couple of nights this week and then say goodbye. Is that too much for you?”

  “Meg, I’ll be happy to take you out every day and every night this week. I can spend the week just looking at you. You’re gorgeous. But when this is over, I may want you to continue to go out with me.”

  She shook her head. “No, you won’t. And I don’t want to go out with you when this is over. Gabe, we’re best friends, but it ends there. I can’t deal with your lifestyle and you won’t want to give it up. And I can’t have a casual affair and you don’t want a permanent relationship. I think that covers everything between us and the answer has to be we walk away from each other and forget we ever kissed.”

  She looked into fathomless blue eyes that held her in their depths and made her speech empty, meaningless words. She couldn’t really say anything else while her heart pounded so violently.

  He brushed her hair back and framed her face with his hands as he stepped closer and gazed down at her. She couldn’t move away, couldn’t protest.

  “You want me to forget we kissed. Meg, if I live to be a hundred, I’ll remember every kiss we’ve shared. We have a hot chemistry between us that sets me on fire each time I’m with you.” All the time he talked, his voice dropped lower, became more husky. His gaze made her heart continue to pound. Desire was intense, a pull that she tried to resist, but it became more of an ordeal to resist each time she was with him.

  “Gabe, how did this happen and where did common sense go?”

  “I don’t know how the hell it happened, but it’s magnificent, breathtaking and too big to walk away from and ignore,” he said, his voice lowering with each word as he leaned closer. She looked at his thick black hair that she wanted to tangle her fingers in. Her gaze moved to his mouth, his full, lower lip that she wanted to kiss.

  A small voice continued to remind her that she did not want to fall in love. They had no future. She could really get hurt. She shouldn’t kiss him.

  And then there was her heart, beating with desire for him. How could she resist the most fantastic, sexiest kisses ever?

  “Oh, Gabe, this is just dreadful,” she whispered as he pulled her tightly against him and leaned forward to kiss her. His mouth was hard on hers, demanding, taking from her and then giving her a chance to kiss him in return.

  Her world spun and she felt a dizzying plunge while at the same time, she wanted to hold him and be held by him, wanted his hard body agai
nst hers and his strong arms crushing her against him while he kissed her senseless.

  Desire built as she fought the temptation to push away his shirt. Never had any other man made her respond the way Gabe did. How could this happen between them? They were buddies and had never been anything beyond buddies. Never before had there been this wild, insatiable attraction that threatened to consume her and turn her world upside down.

  Pouring herself into her kiss, she clung tightly to him, aware of his strength, his arousal that pressed against her as they held each other. She let down her guard and kissed him passionately, lost in the moment and his kisses that melted all her resistance.

  Gabe’s hands slipped over her back, caressing her bottom and then moving to draw down the zipper to her dress and push it off her shoulders. His hands slipped to her waist and he shifted slightly as they cupped her breasts.

  In seconds her bra was unfastened and pushed away and his warm hands caressed her, holding her while his thumbs lightly circled her nipples and made her gasp with pleasure as she clung to him.

  “Gabe, we have to stop,” she whispered, opening her eyes to look up at him. She didn’t want to stop, but that small voice became more insistent, forcing her to think about her future and how she could be hurt.

  While he still caressed her, he stepped back. “You’re beautiful,” he declared in a husky drawl. “Darlin’, you’re so beautiful.”

  She inhaled, holding his arms, closing her eyes and letting him kiss and caress her breasts for seconds before she shook her head. It was an effort to break away as she stepped back and caught his wrists. “Ah, Gabe. I can’t do this. I’ll fall in love with you. I never expected to want to kiss you or want you to kiss me. I didn’t even think about us kissing.”

  She wiggled and shed her bra, pulling her dress up again. Gabe gasped for breath as much as she did.

  “We should say good-night now.”

  He stood breathing hard while he stared at her seconds before he shook his head. “We need to talk. I’ll sit out of reach and leave you alone as long as you want. Let’s go get a cool drink, cookies, crackers and cheese, whatever you want. We won’t kiss again tonight unless you want to. Come on. Let’s go to the kitchen.”