The Wedding Wager: Dakota Daddy. Sara Orwig

to be friends.”

      “That’s a strange thing to say after making love to me,” she said, yet she realized he had a point, and her worrying tonight wasn’t going to solve her problems. “It’s just hard to let go when I’m filled with concern.”

      He caressed her cheek. “I’m sure it is,” he said gently, making her want to plead her case again, but she knew that was pointless.

      “You win for now. I’ll try, but I can’t let go of my anxiety.”

      “I’ll try to help. Come on. A good swim will remove a little stress,” he said, leading her toward the beach.

      “There’s someone’s yacht anchored not far out,” she noticed, looking at the sun splashing over a dazzling white boat.

      “It’s mine, and right now no one’s on it. It’s wired with alarms, so it doesn’t have to have someone there constantly. That’s two things money can buy—security and privacy.”

      “Race you to the floating dock,” he said, while he tossed their towels onto the warm sand.

      She ran with him and knew he was keeping pace with her, because he could easily outrun her. He released her hand when they were in knee-deep water and she continued to splash on, surprised how far the shallow water extended. When it deepened, Jared jumped in to swim.

      She followed, knowing he would easily reach the dock first. When he did, he gave her a hand and pulled her up beside him and she raked her wet hair back from her face.

      “The water is perfect and so beautiful.”

      “What’s beautiful is you,” he said, turning to place his hand behind her head.

      “Jared—”

      “Shh, Meg. One kiss isn’t catastrophic,” he said, his gaze lowering to her mouth. Her pulse drummed as he leaned down to cover her mouth with his.

      “Not to you,” she whispered, before his lips covered hers. Then he kissed her and she wound her arm around his neck and kissed him in return. Finally she pushed away.

      “Stop—and remember what I told you.”

      With a hungry look that was filled with desire, he released her and sat beside her. She wrinkled her nose at him.

      “Besides, I don’t want you to interfere with my swim.”

      She expected one of his light remarks. Instead, he gave her a somber look, and she couldn’t imagine what he was thinking.

      “Jared, today has been unique, a temporary truce and lull, and I love your home and I love swimming. But all this is simply postponing the inevitable.”

      “I know, but I thought it would be best if we got on better footing with each other.”

      “We’ve done that, all right,” she quipped.

      “It’s better than arguing,” he said quietly. “Also, it gives each of us more of a chance to think things through.”

      She knew she would remember this day the rest of her life. She’d remember Jared sitting beside her, drops of water glistening on his bronze shoulders and body, the warm sun shining and cool water lapping around them, the beach and house in sight—a dream that was real.

      “After dinner, we’ll give it another go.”

      She nodded, knowing this was an illusion of peace and compatibility. In spite of the past few hours, their relationship was stormier than ever.

      “Well, I came planning to swim, so I’ll swim,” she said, turning to look at the yellow buoys bobbing several hundred yards farther out. “It’s safe to the buoys?” she asked.

      “That’s right.”

      She jumped in and swam, and in seconds he swam beside her, eventually swimming back to shore. She walked out and spread a towel to sit cross-legged in the sand, and he did the same.

      “That was fantastic. The water is perfect. I may have to think about some kind of place like this for myself. It would be good for Ethan because he’s not much of a swimmer, but he likes the water.”

      Jared stood and extended his hand. “If you’re ready to go in, we’ll dress and I’ll tell Lupita to put on dinner.”

      “Where is Lupita? I haven’t seen anyone since we first arrived.”

      “The staff knows how to stay out of sight. She’ll get dinner on and then go for the night. They have homes in this compound, but beyond the security walls. There’s nothing inside the walls except my house, its outbuildings and us.”

      At the veranda, he paused. “I’ll go find Lupita and meet you here in half an hour and we can have a drink before dinner.”

      She nodded and headed for her room.

      Finally clad in a black knit shirt and black slacks, Jared looked dark, handsome and dangerous. He was a threat to her future and he wasn’t going to go away and let her live her life the way she had before.

      Jared crossed the veranda to take her hands while his gaze drifted lazily over her. “You look beautiful. Far more tempting than dinner.”

      She waved her hand dismissively. “Thank you, Jared.”

      “What would you like to drink?”

      “A piña colada, please, if that’s possible.”

      “Quite possible,” Jared replied, moving around behind a bar to get bottles of light and dark rum that he poured into a blender, adding other ingredients and mixing them with crushed ice. He poured the drink into a hurricane glass and handed it to her, getting a cold beer for himself. Taking her chilled glass, she moved to a chair to sit and gaze at the ocean. The sun was a huge fiery ball, low on the horizon.

      “Will you bring Ethan here?” she asked.

      “I’ll take him everywhere,” Jared said. She felt the hurt again.

      “I always thought about taking him places, but I thought I should wait until he’s older. I suppose I waited too long.”

      “Nonsense. You can still go where you want with him,” Jared said. “You can come with us, if you want to,” he said.

      She turned to him. “Jared, today was lust. It was sexual, meaningless, nothing more. It didn’t bind us together in any manner except physically. My feelings toward you haven’t changed. And your feelings are no kinder toward me than mine are toward you.”

      He set his drink on a table. “That’s not so. I think there was more to this afternoon than you’ll admit or recognize because you’re still angry with me. We can both come here and bring Ethan with us and have a wonderful escape,” he said.

      She shook her head. “No. That won’t work, Jared. Not really. Today was no indicator of the future.”

      He looked annoyed, and then he seemed to visibly relax. “You’re cutting yourself out of some good moments,” Jared said.

      “I’ll manage.”

      “Dinner is served,” Lupita announced, her voice cutting through the tense moment.

      “Thanks, Lupita,” Jared said, standing to take Megan’s arm to stroll to another section of the veranda where it curved around a wing of the house. Tall palms lined their patio, and potted palms and banana trees gave the appearance of being in a garden by the sea.

      With candles burning despite the daylight, the glass-and-iron table set with colorful china and sparkling crystal was ready for a photo shoot. On the table was an appetizer of escargot, while steaming, covered dishes waited next to it. Jared held her chair, his hand drifting lightly to her nape and then he sat himself across from her, smiling at her.

      “I don’t know how you ever leave this and go back to Texas.”

      “It’s too quiet except