The Ransomes: Matt, Nick and Katherine

In another hour her head spun with her purchases of a veil, shoes and wisps of lacy undergarments. She stopped in a bookstore to select some books on pregnancy and baby care. When she glanced at her watch, she realized she would have to race to get back in time to meet Matt at the hotel.

When she arrived, he was in the lobby, seated with papers spread in his lap. At any moment she expected him to back out of their bargain. Soon she would be Mrs. Matthew Ransome. When the time came, would he go through with the ceremony?

As she approached him, his gaze assessed her, and she tucked a wayward tendril of hair behind her ear while her pulse jumped.

Watching her cross the lobby, he waited until she was only yards from him. He gathered his things and stood.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said breathlessly. “I have boxes in the cab.”

“You should have called,” he said, walking beside her to go back outside to retrieve her packages.

“I don’t own a cell phone,” she replied, amused that he would automatically assume everyone he knew had a phone. He gave her a quick glance and reached into his pocket to hand her a phone.

“Take mine for now. I can get another easily.” Matt took her arm and she was aware of his body warmth as she walked close beside him. She could detect a hint of barberry aftershave that was as tangible as his hostility. Yet he had accepted her terms. Marriage to a Ransome. One minute she wanted to kick her heels in the air and shout for joy. The next minute she wanted to pack and run.

He opened the cab door to retrieve her packages and move them to the waiting limo. Looking at an enormous box tied in white ribbon, he remarked: “I see you found a wedding dress.”

“Yes, I did and it’s bad luck for you to see me in it before the wedding.”

Matt gave her a mocking grin. “You’re worrying about me seeing your wedding dress?”

“All right, maybe that’s foolish.”

Their limo driver transferred her packages. “You should have let us pick up your wedding dress,” Matt said.

“They placed it in the cab for me and I knew you would get it out,” she said.

When she climbed into the waiting limo, Matt slid into the seat facing her. “Did I tell you this morning that you look beautiful?”

“Thank you,” she replied.

“Perhaps we can make this arrangement halfway work.”

“I hope it works completely,” she admitted, wishing momentarily that she really could have it all—including a marriage with love. “It’ll be a fraudulent marriage in some ways,” she said quietly.

“This morning over breakfast I think we settled that we can make a marriage of convenience more palatable,” he said.

“Maybe with time,” she replied.

“While you shopped, I got a wedding planner,” he said, handing her a slip of paper with a name, address and phone number scrawled on it. “You have an appointment in Fort Worth tomorrow afternoon at one.”

“That was quick.”

“For parties at the ranch we have a regular caterer and a band, so I’ve hired them for the wedding.”

Olivia stared at him and wondered if she was getting entangled with a dynamo who would try to take charge of every aspect of her life.

“You’re giving me a look,” he said. “Do you disapprove?” he asked, startling her by guessing what was running through her mind.

She shook her head. “No, I’m a little overwhelmed.”

“I doubt that,” he remarked drily. “I’ve contacted our family minister and we’ll have the reception at the ranch.”

“You’ve done it all,” she said. “Except buy my wedding dress.”

He shook his head. “Not quite. We both need to get attendants. The wedding planner will have a florist and a photographer and you can arrange with her for the wedding cake. The big deal is telling my family. I suspect it may be a bombshell. I’ll warn you right now, my dad may be difficult. Katherine might be, too, but it’s dad who intimidates people. If you want, I’ll see to it that you never see him without me until after the wedding.”

Amused, she gazed at Matt. “You think he’ll scare me out of this? If so, I’m surprised you didn’t send him to talk to me before you accepted my proposal.”

Matt smiled. “I don’t think my dad will frighten you away, but you may not want to deal with him alone. I think you’re a match for him which is saying something, believe me. Not many people can hold their own with him, but I bet you will. And if Katherine gives you a hard time, I’ll deal with her, too. As soon as we get back to the ranch, I’ll call them.”

“Fine,” Olivia said, wondering what kind of confrontations she would have with his family.

“When you become my wife, you won’t need that law degree,” he remarked.

Startled, she gazed back at him in silence while she thought about it. “I want to get an education. With the arrangement we have, I don’t know what I’ll need in the future.”

“You can think about it,” he said. “I moved my afternoon appointment with my attorney to tomorrow morning at ten. We’ll both meet with him to go over the prenuptial agreement.”

“That’s fine, too.”

Soon they boarded the private jet. When the plane taxied down the runway and soared into the air, she looked down at the city spread below and knew she would never forget the past night or today. Her gaze lifted to the expanse of blue sky that stretched endlessly in her view.

Once they were airborne, she heard him writing and turned away from the window to see him poring over his notes. Until he wanted her to talk to him about something specific, she was going to look out the window. It was her second flight in an airplane and she was still dazzled by it.

“Olivia,” he said and a tingle spiraled in her.

“Yes?” she replied, giving him her attention.

“I want you to agree now that you’ll stay with me. I don’t want you to get your law degree and then take your child, divorce me and move away. Of course, if you’re going, I can’t hold you, but I want in the prenup that you won’t get anything of mine if you leave. And I’ll want joint custody.”

“That’s fair enough. I’m sure I can find legal work in this area. I want to practice law when I pass my bar exams.”

“I can keep a child with me a lot of the time when I’m on the ranch.”

“You don’t know the first thing about taking care of a child, do you?” she asked.

“Nope, but I can learn. What kind of experience have you had in child care?” he asked, and her cheeks flushed hotly.

“Maybe none, but this morning I bought some baby books that I intend to study. Also, I think that child care is more likely to come to me innately than to you,” she replied with a haughty air.

“We won’t argue that one. Time will tell,” he replied, drawing circles on her knee with his finger. She was aware of his touch and the warmth of his gaze and she wanted to lean toward him, to brush his lips with hers.

“Later this month I’m in a rodeo in Jet. The event is bronc riding. Will you come watch me ride?”

She nodded. “You always say your brother was the wild one. Seems to me bronc riding is on the wild side.”

“Not so much. We do that on the ranch just for the fun of it.”

She turned back to look out the window while she thought about the man she was marrying and what an enigma he was.

The rest of the day was dizzying. As soon as they landed in Fort Worth, Matt whisked her to a bank downtown and they were ushered into a thickly carpeted office where she watched with perspiring palms while Matt signed papers and deposited twenty thousand dollars into an account for her and put the remaining amount of money into a savings account. She was stunned to walk out of the bank a wealthy woman with an account and money to spend any way she so desired.

“Matt,” she said, placing her hand on his arm while he stopped and looked down at her.

“Thank you. I never dreamed I would have money, not until I’d maybe practiced law forever. When I become a lawyer and pass the bar, I’ll repay you,” she said.

“Don’t be ridiculous. We’re getting married. I don’t like having my money and your money. It’s ours. If you contribute, fine. If you keep what you make for yourself, fine. If I marry you—even in a paper marriage, Olivia, then I’ll share my bank account with you unless you go hog wild with it.”

Amazed that he would allow her full access to his fortune, she could only stare in speechless wonder.

“Okay?” he asked when she didn’t respond.

“Of course it’s all right,” she replied hastily. “I am constantly taken aback by your generosity. I can’t even imagine someone sharing like you’re willing to do.”

He stopped and turned to her and she felt as if she were drowning in pools of blue. “Olivia, next week you’ll become my wife. That’s the way you wanted it. We’ll have a bargain that I intend to live by for the rest of my life.”

For the first time, she realized how permanent the approaching marriage of convenience would be. “Suppose you fall in love with someone?” she asked, wondering again what she had gotten herself into—for that matter, gotten both of them into.

“I won’t.”

“You can’t know that! No one knows what will happen when love is involved.”

“I’m not going to fall in love with anyone. My money will be your money as long as you handle it reasonably well. You don’t have to repay the money I put in the bank account for you today.”

“I’m absolutely stunned over what you’re doing,” she admitted, knowing every small detail of this moment would be etched in her memory forever. Wind blew locks of his black hair and his blue eyes were intent on her. A faint smile hovered, deepening creases in his cheeks. Besides Matt, the passing crowd, the sound of cars, the heat of sunshine—she would remember this event that in her wildest imaginings she had never dreamed would happen.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“Yes. Just bowled over by your magnanimity.”

“I’m just doing what I want to do. You can show me your gratitude tonight,” he drawled in a husky, sensual voice that strummed across her nerves and set them quivering. As the same time, his eyes twinkled, so she didn’t know whether he was teasing, goading her into something, or really meant it.

“I’ll think about it,” she said, giving him a saucy toss of her head.

He chuckled softly as she turned to walk to his car.

Finally they returned to the ranch and when they entered the house, Matt tossed his keys on the kitchen counter. “I’ll call my brother and sister tonight. In the meantime, I’ll grill steaks and we can make more plans. Where do you want this dress? You can keep it in another bedroom so it won’t crowd you.”

In minutes they had all her new purchases in another bedroom, and she had agreed as soon as she changed clothing, she would join him for a swim.

While she hurried to get ready for the swim, his words echoed in her head: “You can show me your gratitude tonight.” Had he meant that? Was he going to want sex before the agreed time because of the money he had given her? Or had he been teasing? If sincere, then he was in for a surprise because sex for her new bank account was not part of any bargain they had struck.

Before she left for the pool, she took a long look at herself in the mirror. She had bought a new black two-piece swimsuit that was cut low on her belly, high on her hips. She studied the changes in her body, aware that her breasts were fuller. Her stomach was still flat and she ran her hand over it, thinking about her baby. A girl or a boy? She was beginning to want to know and not wait another six months to be surprised. She wondered whether or not Matt would want to know.

Satisfied with her looks, she twisted her hair and pulled it up in a ponytail. She grabbed her cover-up, a big towel and flip-flops before going to the sparkling blue pool. Matt already had fired up the grill and the smoking mesquite smell was tantalizing.

As she walked across the patio where cool air was piped near the house, Matt bobbed up in the pool, and raked his hair away from his face, giving him a harsher, more rugged look. Water glistened on his broad shoulders, and her pulse began what was becoming a familiar racing.

He watched her approach and her heart thudded at the slow, thorough perusal he gave her from head to toe. His gaze lingered on her breasts and on her stomach, drifting down over her legs and she was on fire by the time she neared the pool.

He pulled himself up out of the water with a splash, sending cold drops sprinkling her. Her pulse was already racing, but now her heart thudded as she looked at him clad in only a scrap of black suit. His skin was tan, glistening with water, muscled, lean and hard. He was studying her, but no more than she was eyeing him and she couldn’t resist staring. While her heart pounded, she marveled again that soon—tonight possibly—she would be in bed with him.

“If I hadn’t seen the doctor’s report myself, I’d never believe you’re pregnant. You don’t show at all,” he said in a husky voice, walking closer.

With each step he took, her drumming pulse beat faster. She barely knew what he said as she looked up at him. They wore only bits of clothing and she knew he was as aware of her bare body as she was of his. And she wanted his lean hard body against hers. She could feel heat creep into her cheeks over the way she had been ogling him.

“How in heaven’s name did you get my doctor’s report? That’s private,” she asked, annoyed. “I may call my doctor about that.”

He shrugged. “Who knows what my P.I. did, but he had the report. Your doctor may not have known someone looked at your record.” Matt jerked his head toward the pool. “Come in. The water’s great.”

He made a running dive into the pool, swimming away from her. She followed, sliding into the cool water to swim. At the end of the pool she clung to the edge, shook water away from her face and found him beside her.

“You’re beautiful, Olivia,” he said in a husky voice. “I think we may have made a damn fine bargain.”

“Those aren’t exactly the magic words that every woman wants to hear two weeks before her wedding.”

His eyebrows arched. “We’re going into this like any business deal. You surely didn’t expect hearts and flowers.”

“No. That’s not one of my stipulations. Last night was great because it was memorable to go out and not be reminded at every turn that what we have between us is a contract.”

“You do want more,” he observed and moved closer. “This is one thing we have between us that isn’t in the contract.”

Seven

He slipped his arm around her waist and drew her up against him. The moment she touched the length of his warm, hard body and legs, her stomach did flip-flops. When her hands went to his shoulders, desire exploded in her.

Sliding her arm around his neck, she looked at his lips and then glanced up to see him looking at her mouth with hungry longing. When he bent his head and covered her mouth with his, her heart pounded. Time and thought stopped. She lost all sense of where she was or what she had been doing. She was in his arms and he was kissing her senseless and she was coming apart at the seams over his kisses.

His arm tightened and his arousal was hard against her belly. Desire shook her. His free hand moved over her shoulders and throat and then slid down her front. While he continued to kiss her into oblivion, he held her away a fraction. His hand unfastened the halter top she wore and peeled it down, baring her breasts.

“Matt!” she exclaimed, ready to protest, remembering that she was going to show some restraint with this Ransome, but his fingers stroked her nipple and her protests melted. Warm and wet, his hand cupped her breast while his thumb circled her nipple slowly, making her moan softly and thrust her hips against him and want him with a need that shocked her. She twisted slightly to give herself access to him, sliding her fingers over his thick rod.

He growled deep in his throat as he kissed her. Then he leaned down to take her nipple in his mouth, teasing with his tongue, stroking and circling her taut bud.

“Matt!” she gasped again, unable to tell him to stop, knowing she was already breaking her promises to herself. How would she resist him twelve more days when she was letting him do what he wanted now? Did she want to wait until after they were married?

Desire surged, and she trembled as she kissed him and responded to his hands playing over her, first on her bare breasts and then sliding down over her belly. His hand slipped into the bottom half of her swimsuit and he found her soft folds, stroking her so lightly, yet setting off more blazing fireworks.

“You’re so damn responsive to me,” he whispered.

She tangled her legs with his and ran her hands over him, feeling his muscled body and firm bottom.

In minutes she knew there would be no stopping for either one of them. She pushed lightly against his chest and twisted away. He caught her arm to hold her.

“Matt, don’t go so fast. I’ll be in your bed soon enough.”

Desire blazed in his eyes. An intense yearning that made her heart pound as violently as his passionate kisses had. He placed his hands on her waist and lifted her up out of the water and she placed her hands on his shoulders.

His gaze drifted over her bare breasts, slipping lower. “You’re beautiful!” he gasped and her heart jumped.

How could she possibly keep from falling head over heels in love with him? He was devilishly handsome, rugged, sexy. He could be charming and she had the feeling that he really hadn’t turned his charm and lovemaking on full force as far as she was concerned.

She didn’t doubt that he meant what he said about keeping his heart locked away. Could she really scale the walls of that fortress?

She looked into his blue eyes and all she could see was desire so blatant it made her nipples tingle again. The heat low in her body intensified.

With his gaze locked with hers, he lowered her slowly, holding her closer and letting her slick, wet body slide against his. His hard shaft slipped between her legs and she gasped with desire that swept her with the force of a tidal wave. Closing her eyes and clinging to him, she knew she had to stop him right now and she needed to get out of his arms and get some distance between them.

She wasn’t going to fall into his arms and into his bed and succumb to his seduction on the third night she had known him.

With an effort, as he leaned forward and his lips brushed hers, she splashed away from him and scrambled to pull her suit back into place. She looked over at him and saw him treading water while he watched her with a faint smile.

“Scared of me? Or scared about your own reactions?” He waved his hand. “Come on back. I can show restraint.”

“Sure you can,” she teased lightly. “Catch me,” she said and turned to swim away as swiftly as possible.

He caught her easily and hauled her into his arms, laughing with her, but as their legs tangled and he held her close, their laughter vanished, replaced swiftly by need.

With pounding pulse, Olivia wriggled away. “Not yet, Matt,” she said, wondering how long she could wait.

He swam past her and climbed out, grabbing up a towel and tying it around his middle. He shook water away from his face as he slicked back his hair. “I’ll get out the steaks and pour glasses of iced tea.”

Getting out of the pool, she watched him cross the patio and her mouth went dry as her gaze drifted over his broad, powerful shoulders and muscled back that tapered to his tiny waist and tight bottom. Abruptly, he halted and glanced at her, catching her staring at his body. He turned around to stroll back to her and each step closer he came to her, the more loudly her pulse pounded until she was certain he could hear it.

He placed his hand under her chin. “Go ahead and look. What you see will be yours to play with whenever you want,” he said in a velvety voice. He stroked her cheek and let his fingers lightly slip lower, caressing her throat and pushing open the cover-up to fondle her breasts. “And what I see will be mine to play with and make love to, I hope.”

“I believe that was part of our bargain,” she whispered, unable to get any firmness in her voice. Was she already falling in love with him even before her wedding?

How disastrous would this 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.