The Wedding Wager

“You should have thought of those questions,” Jared said. “You should have known that this day would come.”

“It wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t wanted to buy the ranch,” she said bitterly.

“You might have slipped by if you’d sold it to me. My attorneys would have handled the deal, and I doubt if you and I would have crossed paths except at the closing, and then you would have left for New Mexico and I would’ve gone on my way. Big error, Megan, if you’d really hoped to keep me from Ethan.”

Her face flushed and he knew he’d been correct in all he’d stated.

“Perhaps, but I couldn’t bear the thought of selling to you. You get what you want in life too easily.”

“Well, now you pay the price for that refusal.”

Frowning, she picked up her purse and hurried to the door. “If you insist, I’ll see you at my ranch. I’m not taking any chance of getting marooned at yours again.”

Grabbing his coat, he caught up to hold the door and walk out with her. “We’ll start another flurry of rumors by this little interlude in the hotel.”

“I can’t worry about that. I don’t plan to live here,” she said. “I don’t have many close friends here any longer. The few that I have are close enough to understand and to know that there will never be anything between you and me again.”

“You can’t foretell the future,” he said.

“I can predict that much with certainty. There’s too much bitterness on either side for it to vanish.”

He didn’t answer, his mind reeling with his discovery and what he’d learned from her. He escorted her to the street where she motioned with her hand. “My car is parked right there. I’ll see you at home.”

“All right. This will give you time to think, too.”

She nodded and walked quickly away. His gaze traveled over her, looking at the sway of her hips and her leggy stride while he thought about their future. He hurried to his car and in minutes he was out of town.

As he drove to the ranch, he pored over their conversation. His mind kept going back to that startling moment when Ethan looked up at him. Jared vowed that he wasn’t going to be out of Ethan’s life. Megan wasn’t thinking straight, and he knew he had rights. He’d heard too much about a birth father’s rights. He’d never let her cut him out of Ethan’s life now.

Damn her bastard father. Now Jared could understand her bitterness and anger. Why hadn’t she called and let him know? No undoing the past now—but he wasn’t leaving here without settling up when and how he could have Ethan with him and be talking to Ethan as his father.

Now he could understand her frightened and unhappy aunt and uncle’s reactions. Only Ethan was oblivious to the emotional tempest swirling around him.

Realizing how fast he was driving, Jared eased his foot and set cruise control while his mind was still on Ethan. All the years of Ethan’s life he had missed, babyhood, toddler—it hurt, and he vowed that this distance was going to end as soon as possible.

He tried to think of ways they could share Ethan’s life. They needed solutions, not accusations and anger. How could they work it out to share their child, when they had such disparate lives, and while she was so furious with him?

In front of Megan’s ranch house, he spotted her car outside her garage. As he crossed the porch, she opened the door. “Come in, Jared,” she said.

He entered a wide hallway that he hadn’t seen for the past seven years, recalling the last time he’d walked along the hall and out the front door. He’d been hurt, his life had changed and he wouldn’t see Megan again—until this year. All because of her father.

He followed her into a spacious living area that was just as he remembered, with a huge stone fireplace, animal head trophies on the walls, a large gilt-framed portrait of her father, Edlund, on one wall and a smaller picture of Megan beside it. Leather-covered furniture filled the room, along with a wide-screen television and ceiling fans that slowly turned overhead. The polished wood floor held Navajo rugs. Window shutters were open. Memories crowded him—some not good.

She turned to face him. “Let’s get this over with. I hope you’ve done some thinking and that you’ve calmed. Jared, your life is too busy to give much attention to a child.”

“Your life isn’t busy?” he asked with cynicism.

“Of course it is. But I don’t travel the world or have much social life or have any lifestyle like you do, and my kiln and studio are at home, and my gallery is attached to the house, so I can be with him when he’s home.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“Oh, please!” she replied. “You have an interest in him because of the novelty of discovering you’re related to him.”

His anger climbed. “Megan, I want my son part of the time, and I’m going to have him. Now, what can we work out?”

Frowning, she shook her head. “I can’t think of any feasible plan. You live and have your headquarters in Dallas. You travel the world. I reside and work in New Mexico and here. That makes it impossible for him to see you often.”

Jared clamped his mouth shut and jammed his hands into his pockets, turning to walk to the window and gaze outside while he mulled over possibilities of what they could do.

“I don’t see any hope for this, and I worry that you’re going to upset his life,” she said.

Jared whirled around. “I’m his father! If you’d told me, I’d have been in his life from the day he was born. If I upset his life, it will be only initially. Kids adjust. I expect to win him over, Megan. Can’t you see that it will be good for him to have a father around?”

She turned away, but he’d seen her frown and her teeth catch her lower lip. He walked up behind her and tried to speak quietly. “It’ll be better for him to have a dad who’s interested in him. There are things I can do with him that you can’t. Stop depriving him of a father.”

“Don’t act like I’m hurting him by keeping you out of his life!” she snapped, whirling around to face him, tears in her eyes.

“Megan,” he said, grasping her shoulders gently.

She twisted free and walked away from him. “Don’t, Jared!”

“We were in love seven years ago,” he said quietly, following her to stand close behind her. “We both were present when Ethan was conceived. I was in that bedroom, too.”

She turned again to face him, green fire flashing in her eyes. “Next, you’ll be telling me you love me,” she said.

“No,” he admitted, placing his hands on her upper arms and rubbing them lightly. “But I know we can be compatible, we have been, and we have some kind of electricity between us. You can’t deny it. I think you and I can find a common ground once more,” he said, trailing his fingers lightly along her soft cheek. “Our lives became irrevocably bound with Ethan’s birth, so let’s put our heads together and see what solutions we can find.”

“That’s because you’re the one searching for the answer to your dilemma,” she said, glaring at him.

He was tempted to kiss away some of her stubborn refusal. Her passionate response earlier seemed to let all her barricades crumble. His gaze went to her mouth and he battled the urge to kiss her and stop the arguing.

As if she sensed his intentions, she walked farther from him.

“One way or another, Megan, we’re going to work this out,” he said.

She turned to perch on the edge of a leather wingback chair. He sat in another, facing her. “I thought of several things when I was driving here.”

“I can well imagine,” she remarked dryly.

Annoyed with her steady refusal to cooperate with him, he tried to hang on to his tattered patience. He was unaccustomed to people saying no to him, unaccustomed to a woman being so unyielding with him. Knowing he had to work this out with her, he sat back in his chair and took a deep breath. “A large percentage of problems have solutions if people pursue finding them,” he said. “And want to find them,” he added. Megan wanted him out of her life and that of his son, but that wasn’t going to happen. There was no way he would stay out of Ethan’s life now.

“Have you even tried to think what might work out?” he asked.

“Frankly, no, because nothing would.”

He considered the possibilities he’d mulled over in the car while driving to the ranch. “Fine. You have him during the school year. I get him for most of the summer.”

“No! He spends one month with my aunt and uncle, who are like grandparents to him.”

“He can do that, and I get him the other months and during spring break.”

“I won’t do it, Jared. Ethan’s been so close with me. The first years of his life, I was home with him constantly. It’s just the two of us. He won’t want to go off next summer for two months and live with you.” She crossed her long legs.

“Not next summer, this summer,” Jared corrected emphatically, and she shook her head.

“I don’t want to share Ethan with you.”

“You’re going to,” he said lightly, knowing he would never give up. He felt certain the law would be on his side. Her stubbornness was driving his anger, and he tried to calm down and think of what they could do that would be acceptable to both.

“Here’s another idea, Megan. See if this is palatable. A marriage of convenience.”

Five

“A marriage of convenience. You’ve already had one before,” Jared said, and Megan’s temper shot up.

“You’re only after Ethan to get my ranch,” she replied. “A marriage of convenience or any other kind would give you access to the ranch.” She shook her head. “Never!”

He stood and approached her, stopping only yards from her, his brown eyes harboring anger that buffeted her in waves. She raised her chin to meet his gaze.

“I’m not doing any of this to get your damned ranch!” he declared gruffly, and she knew he was fighting to hang on to his temper as much as she was. “I want my son!” he said. “Can’t you understand that?”

“Frankly, no! You don’t strike me as the daddy type. Not at all. You’re a well-known society playboy, a jetsetter, and I think you want Ethan to help get you access to my ranch, either because of the novelty of it or because you can’t stand to not control your world just like my father,” she said and his face flushed and she’d clearly pushed him to the edge.

“Don’t you ever lump me in with your father!” Jared ground out his words. “Megan, you’d better think about an answer to this.”

“I’ll fight you, Jared,” she declared, walking away before she turned to face him. All the old pain rushed back, memories of panicked days after he left. “I don’t care how much money you have! I’m Ethan’s mother. I’ve raised him. You walked out on us. You go ahead with your lawyers and your threats.”

They glared at each other and she knew they were locked in an impasse. In spite of anguish and anger and their battle over Ethan, Jared still made her heart race. She hated herself for wanting him, when he had hurt her so badly and was trying to do it again.

“No judge will take Ethan from me,” she declared, fighting her rising terror of a court battle with Jared over Ethan. “Your lifestyle will work against you, too.”

“A judge has to consider my rights. I can provide Ethan with far more opportunities than you can.” His words chilled her. She could never give Ethan what Jared could.

“If I walk out that door, Megan, I’m calling my attorney and I will get him started on my custody of Ethan. In the future, you’ll never be able to bargain with me to the degree you can right now, so you better rethink your refusal.”

“Go ahead, Jared. Bullying only makes me more certain.”

“Bullying? I think I’ve been damn cooperative. I’m trying to find something we can both live with. You’re not. You refuse to consider any arrangement.”

“None are feasible. All your suggestions will hurt Ethan.”

“A marriage of convenience wouldn’t,” Jared replied.

“I don’t want to be locked into a loveless marriage with you.”

Again, his face flushed and she knew his fury was increasing. “Then I know one solution. I’m calling my attorney and you’ll hear from one of us, probably tomorrow morning, and the court can determine how much time each of us gets Ethan.”

“Fine. I’ll call my attorney now, too,” she said, growing frightened and uncertain. “You’re a ruthless man, Jared. I learned that too late.”

“In this situation, you’re forcing me to be.”

“Go ahead and contact your attorney or your whole law staff. You’ll have to take me to court to get your son.”

“You check that out,” he repeated, and strode out, not waiting. He slammed the door behind him. She stepped to the front window to watch him, his long legs covering the distance to his car quickly. He climbed into his car and sat a moment without driving away. She could see he was on his cell phone and she turned to look up the phone number of Rolf Gustavsson, her family attorney, whom she had been seeing often lately because of her father’s demise.

Relieved to hear his pleasant hello, she related her problem. He said he would do some research and get back to her. Ethan’s tire swing moved back and forth under a black walnut tree. It caught her eye and she ended the call.

She rubbed her temple. She knew Jared had rights. Rolf might be a nice man who had always been helpful to her family in dealing with their legal matters, but Jared had access to the world’s best legal talent.

A marriage of convenience? That was impossible. Not one of his suggestions was workable. She put her head in her hands, hating that Jared had discovered Ethan.

As much as she loathed the thought of letting him have the ranch, that was better than losing Ethan to him. No way could she think of Ethan as their son. She had always thought of Ethan as her son only.

Now she regretted not selling the ranch to him quickly and putting as much distance as possible between them. If only—but it was too late now. The damage was done and she was going to have to live with it. She had made too many wrong decisions in her life. Was she making another one concerning Ethan?

Her head throbbed. Any joint custody she’d ever have to agree to would be ghastly to her. The fact that Jared had walked out on her had to count as a strong factor.

Halfway through the night, she decided she would offer to sell the ranch to Jared if he would forget about Ethan. It was her only hope and she hated the thought, but that would be infinitely better than having to share Ethan with him.

The rest of her sleepless night was filled with apprehension. At dawn she showered and dressed, but even sitting with a cup of coffee did nothing to shake her mood. It was too early.

When she received a call from Jared, vitality seemed to ooze from the phone.

“Good morning,” he said. “I thought you’d be awake. I’d like to talk to you in person.”

“Come over. I’ve been up for a couple of hours,” she answered, hoping she sounded as upbeat as he did. She wondered what he had on his mind.

“I’ll be there soon,” he replied.

All too soon she heard Jared’s car pull up. She went to the porch as he climbed out. Dressed in a long-sleeve, charcoal Western shirt, jeans and boots, he hurried toward the porch. Wind tangled locks of his black hair above his forehead and he looked refreshed, filled with energy, and eager—all dire implications. She smiled despite the inner turmoil that kept her stomach churning.

“Good morning,” he said solemnly, studying her.

“Come inside to talk, Jared.” She turned to lead the way. He closed the front door and caught up to walk with her to the family room. “Have a seat.”

He nodded and they sat facing each other. The blanket of silence did nothing to soothe her raw nerves. She could tell little from his expression.

“I’ve heard from my attorney. Have you heard from yours?”

She shook her head. “Not yet, but mine doesn’t have the resources or staff yours do, so I’m not surprised. Jared, if you’ll drop all this, I’ll sell the ranch to you and you can forget the bonus one million,” she said and held her breath.

He shook his head. “That wouldn’t begin to take the place of getting to know my son.”

Disappointment swept her and she locked her fingers together, knowing he had bad news that she didn’t want to hear.

She put her hands on her face as she tried to keep from making a sound, but she couldn’t prevent tears.

“Megan, don’t,” Jared said gently, his arms going around her. He pulled her close against him while she sobbed, letting go. “Stop crying. Plan with me and let’s get an arrangement we can both live with,” he said in the same gentle tone.

She knew, without waiting to hear from her lawyer, that she was going to have to do what Jared wanted.

Unable now to control her emotions after the worry of the past twenty-four hours and a sleepless night of anxiety, she sobbed and his arm around her waist tightened. He tilted her chin up and pulled out a clean handkerchief to wipe her eyes. “Stop crying,” he ordered in the same quiet, gentle tone. He brushed her tears away.

He tilted her chin up to look into her eyes. “Look, you’re off work anyway, and so am I. Ethan is with your relatives. Come fly with me to the Yucatán coast. I have a home there and we’ll get away from interruptions for a couple of days. We’re going to have to establish some kind of truce.”

While she couldn’t imagine spending a couple of days with him, she had to work something out or he would do as he warned. She knew Jared well enough to know that any threat he made he would carry out, if he had to.

On the other hand, they weren’t going to court. He wasn’t taking Ethan away. Or so he said. “I guess I don’t have any other choice,” she said.

“That’s better. I can have a plane ready in an hour. How long will it take you to wind things up here to leave for two or three days?”

“I’ve never been away from Ethan, except when he’s here with my relatives and I’m in Santa Fe.”

“He’s with them now and he’ll be fine.”

She nodded, becoming aware of standing in his arms. His look was heated, and under his deep focus she realized his concern was no longer about Ethan. Jared’s torrid gaze made her heart drum.

She pushed against his chest and distanced herself. “All right, Jared,” she said. “I can probably leave in an hour.”

“I’ll come pick you up. Do you have a pen? I’ll give you a phone number at my house where they can reach you.”

“I’ll have my cell phone.”

“Give me a pen. Your cell phone might fail. This way you’ll have two possibilities for contact.” She handed him a pen and watched him, looking at the familiar handwriting that she still could remember. When he handed a business card back to her, it had two numbers, his house and a cell phone. “Is your plane at the airport?”

“No, at the ranch,” he answered.

“Then I’ll drive to your place. It’ll be more convenient.”

He crossed the room to her, to slip his arms around her waist. “Stop worrying, Megan. We’ll work something out and I’ll do my damnedest to win his love and to get to know him. I want what’s best for Ethan, too.”

If he really wanted what was best for Ethan, he would stay out of Ethan’s life. But she knew she had to stop fighting Jared, because it was hopeless. The law was on his side. “I’ll work on it,” she whispered.

“No, you stop worrying,” he ordered, but his voice was gentle and quiet. “I promise, I’ll try if you will to find a viable solution.”

Unable to speak, afraid she would start crying again, she nodded. “I had better get ready.”

“Okay, but I wish you could smile.” He knelt slightly to be on eye level, smiling at her, and teased a halfhearted smile from her. “That’s better. I’m going to try to get a real smile out of you while we’re together.”

She didn’t want to go away with him. She wanted to tell him that she still thought he was ruthless and arrogant and had to have his way, but it was useless. She followed him outside, and the minute they parted she rushed back into the house to call Rolf.

“Rolf, thanks so much. I’ll deal with Jared. He is willing to work something out.”

She finally got off the phone to put her head into her hands and cry. She didn’t want any of this.

In minutes, she called her aunt to tell her what had happened and that she was going with Jared for a few days. She choked back the tears when she talked to Ethan, but he never noticed. He’d gotten a new electronic game and when she told him she was going away, he accepted it with barely a pause in his chatter about the game.

Knowing he was in good hands, she said good-bye and hurried to change and pack.

She dressed in brown slacks, a matching sleeveless top and wore high-heeled sandals. Brushing her hair, she clipped it high on the back of her head.

She was going away with Jared to one of his secluded homes. She could well imagine what he had in mind. Along with arranging custody plans was a plan for seduction.

She didn’t want to return after several days with him, not only losing rights to her son, but in love with Jared—twice in her life.

And Jared might be the sexiest, most charming man she’d ever known.

She would have to keep up her guard. So far, she had failed miserably in all dealings with him.

By a quarter past eleven, she was airborne, flying over Jared’s ranch and headed south. To avoid conversation with him, she gazed out the window, looking at his ranch spread below. She turned back to find him watching her. Dressed in chinos, a charcoal knit shirt and loafers, he looked commanding, as if satisfied with all facets of his world. And why wouldn’t he, she thought. He’d won the first part of their fight.

“This is a hopeful start, Megan,” he said, leaning close to touch a wispy lock of hair that had come free from her tie.

“You’re an incredible optimist,” she said.

“If we work something out, then there’s no problem.”

“I know you already have something in mind,” she said stiffly.

He shrugged. “Not necessarily. Let’s let it go for today and get back on better footing with each other,” he suggested.

“If we can,” she said, looking out the window while fighting the urge to scream that she hadn’t planned on a better relationship with him, but she knew she had to now. Getting concessions from him on the custody front could be impossible otherwise.

“Of course, we can,” he said, taking her hand. “I’ve got three days with a beautiful woman, who I intend to get to know.”

“You know me well enough,” she said, gazing into his dark eyes that hid his intentions and thoughts.

“No, I don’t. I knew an eighteen-year-old. You’ve changed. You’re far more poised, more self-assured and much more unattainable.”

“I suppose that comes with growing up, although, when I met you, you had all the confidence imaginable.”

He gave her a crooked smile. “Does that mean arrogance? That’s what it sounds like.”

She had to smile in return. “Definitely. But I’d like to stay on your good side as much as possible on this trip, so I’m trying to be polite.”

“Don’t be polite with me. But staying on my good side—that’s fine. What are your plans for the future, Megan? Do you intend to always keep your gallery in Santa Fe, even if you divide your days between there and the ranch?”

“Yes. Santa Fe is home and perfect for us,” she said, aware her hand was still in his, as he ran his thumb back and forth over her wrist. His touches added fuel to the lust she battled.

“I love Santa Fe,” she continued, “and I never want to move from there. I always hoped Ethan would grow up and stay nearby, but that isn’t realistic, I know. Now that he’ll have time with you, heaven knows what he’ll do when he’s grown.”

“That’s far away,” Jared said. “Do you like to swim?”

“Actually, I love to. I guess because there was little chance to when I was growing up, and then there aren’t many opportunities in Santa Fe. I don’t have a suit, though. There’s no need to keep one at the ranch.”