Hawk's Way: Rebels: The Temporary Groom. Joan Johnston

you had a lot of trouble with them?”

      His hand paused for a moment, then resumed its disturbing massage. “A little. Just lately. I think they’re missing Laura as much as I am.”

      He rubbed a little harder, as though he had admitted something he wished he hadn’t.

      “Were you expecting twins when they were born?”

      Cherry felt his hand tighten uncomfortably on her flesh. She hissed in a breath, and his hand soothed the hurt.

      “The twins were a complete surprise. They came early, and for a while it was touch and go whether Laura and the girls would all make it. They did, but there were complications. The doctor said Laura couldn’t have any more children.”

      “You wanted more?”

      “I didn’t care one way or the other. But Laura did.”

      Abruptly his hand left her back, and he rolled away from her. “Go to sleep, Cherry.”

      Apparently their conversation was over, leaving her with a great deal of food for thought.

      The twins missed their mother. Like he did.

      Cherry could do something to replace the loss in the twins’ lives. She could be a mother to Billy’s little girls. Of more concern was the temptation she felt to ease Billy’s sorrow. There were dangers in such an undertaking. She had to remember this was a temporary marriage. It was safer to let Billy cope with his loss on his own.

      On the other hand, Cherry never had chosen the safe path. As she closed her eyes again, she saw the four of them smiling at one another…one happy family.

      BILLY STARED AT THE neon outside the window, willing himself to sleep. But he couldn’t stop thinking about his new wife.

      The wedding kiss had surprised him. In the fluorescent light of the wedding chapel, Cherry Whitelaw had looked like anything but a radiant bride. Her blue eyes had been wide with fright and her skin pale beneath a mass of orange freckles. He’d had significant second thoughts about the marriage. And third and fourth thoughts, as well. All his thoughts came back to the same thing. She needed his help. And he needed hers.

      He had been proud of her for getting through that awful ceremony—including the last-minute search for a ring that would fit—with so much dignity. That was why he had offered her the kiss, not because he had been wondering what her lips would taste like. When she had reached out to him afterward, he had stopped her because that wasn’t part of their deal, not because he had been shocked at the way his body had gone rock-hard at her touch. Just thinking about it caused the same reaction all over again.

      Billy swore.

      “Billy? Is something wrong?”

      “Nothing’s wrong, Cherry. Go to sleep.”

      He closed his eyes, determined to get some rest, but a picture of her breast half revealed by the torn chiffon bodice appeared behind his eyelids.

      He opened his eyes and stared at the neon again. Who would have thought he would find a freckle-faced redhead so erotically exciting? Or that his new wife would be off-limits for heaven knew how long? Billy heaved a long-suffering sigh. It was going to be one hell of a marriage.

      His eyes slid closed again as sleep claimed his exhausted body.

      BILLY WAS HAVING a really spectacular dream. He had a handful of soft female breast, which just happened to belong to his new wife. Her eyes were closed in passion, and as he flicked his thumb across her nipple, he heard a moan that made his loins tighten. He lowered his head to take her nipple in his mouth. It was covered by a thin layer of cotton. He sucked on her through the damp cloth and felt her body arch toward him. Her hands threaded into his hair…and yanked on it—

      Billy came awake with a jerk. “What the hell?”

      Cherry was sitting bolt upright in bed with her hands crossed defensively under her breasts. A damp spot on her T-shirt revealed that he hadn’t been dreaming.

      It shouldn’t have surprised him. His last thoughts before drifting to sleep had been about Cherry. No wonder his body had been drawn to hers during the night. He shoved a hand through hair that was standing on end and groaned. “God, Cherry, I’m sorry. I was dreaming.”

      She eyed him suspiciously.

      “I swear I didn’t know what I was doing.”

      That made her look crestfallen.

      “Not that it isn’t exactly what I’d like to be doing at this moment,” he said.

      She gave a hitching breath that was almost a sob. “We agreed to wait.”

      “Yeah, I know,” Billy said. “I don’t suppose you’ve changed your mind.”

      She hesitated so long he thought maybe she had. Until she shook her head no.

      Billy looked at the clock. It was only six. But he didn’t trust himself to lie back down beside her. “I can’t sleep anymore. How about if we head for the airport?”

      “All right,” she said.

      He started pulling on his boots and felt her hand on his shoulder. He froze.

      She cleared her throat and said, “I liked what you were doing, Billy. It felt…good. I wanted you to know that. It’s just…”

      He shoved his foot down into the boot and stood. He had to get away from her or he was going to turn around and lay her flat on the bed and do something he would be sorry for later. “I know,” he said. “We agreed to wait.”

      She had a brave smile on her face. And looked every bit her youthful age.

      What on earth had possessed him to marry her?

      It was a silent flight from Las Vegas to the airport in Amarillo. And an even more silent truck ride to the Stonecreek Ranch. Billy pulled up to the back door of a large, two-story white clapboard house and killed the engine. The blue morning glories he had planted for Laura were soaking up the midday sun on a trellis along the eastern edge of the porch.

      “We’re home,” Billy said. His throat tightened painfully. They were the same words he had spoken to Laura—how many years ago?—when they had moved into this house.

      Suddenly he realized he couldn’t go back into Laura’s house right now with a new wife. It was still too full of Laura. He needed a little time to accept the fact that she really was gone forever.

      “Look, why don’t you go inside and introduce yourself to Mrs. Motherwell, my housekeeper. I just realized I was supposed to pick up a load of feed in town this morning. I’ll be back in an hour or so.”

      Cherry was staring at him as if he had grown a second head. “You want me to go in there without you?” she asked.

      “Just tell Mrs. Motherwell you’ve come to replace her. I’ll explain everything to the kids when I get back.” When Cherry continued sitting there staring at him, he snapped, “Changed your mind already?”

      His new wife looked sober and thoughtful. There were shadows of fatigue beneath her eyes. “No. I’m determined to see this through.” She gave him one last anxious look before she left the truck. “Don’t be gone long.”

      “I won’t.”

      Billy resisted the urge to gun the engine as he backed away from the house. Once he hit paved road he headed the truck toward town. He hadn’t gone two miles when he saw flashing red and blue lights behind him. He glanced down at the speedometer and swore. He swerved off the road and braked hard enough to raise a cloud of dust.

      He was out of the truck and reaching for his wallet to get his driver’s license when he saw the highway patrolman had a gun in his hand that was pointed at him.

      “Freeze, Stonecreek, or I’ll blow your head off.”

      Billy