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

his lips. “Don’t.” His voice was harsh, and his lips pressed flat in irritation.

      Cherry realized her reaction, her naive curiosity, must have embarrassed him. The kiss had merely been a token of thanks from Billy. He didn’t want anything from her in return.

      She had told him she didn’t want to be touched until they knew each other better. But she had touched him. She had set the ground rules, and then she hadn’t followed them.

      It wasn’t a real marriage. She had to remember that.

      There were papers to sign and collect before they could leave. The minister was in a hurry, because two more couples had arrived and were awaiting their turns. Minutes after the ceremony ended, she and Billy were back in the rental car they had picked up at the airport.

      Billy finally broke the uncomfortable silence that had fallen between them. “I don’t know about you, but I could use a few hours of sleep before we fly back. We have the time. Your parents won’t start missing you until noon.”

      “I must admit I feel exhausted,” Cherry said. But she wasn’t sure whether it was fatigue or a delayed reaction to their strange wedding. She had never wanted to get married, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t fantasized about having a grand wedding. She had imagined wearing a white satin gown with a train twenty feet long, having at least three bridesmaids, and hearing the wedding processional played on an immense pipe organ. This ceremony had fallen far short of the fantasy.

      “Regrets?” Billy asked.

      Cherry stared at him, surprised at his intuitiveness. “Were my thoughts that transparent?”

      “I can’t imagine any woman wanting to get married the way we did. But drastic situations sometimes require drastic solutions. In this case I believe the end—we’re now legally husband and wife—justifies the means.”

      Cherry hoped Zach would see the logic in such an argument.

      The hotel Billy chose was outlined in pink and white neon and advertised a honeymoon suite in the center of a pink neon heart. “At least we’re sure they’ve got a honeymoon suite here,” Billy said with a cheeky grin.

      Cherry laughed breathlessly. “Why would we need a honeymoon suite?”

      “It’s probably going to have a bigger bed than the other rooms,” Billy said. “It’ll be more comfortable for someone my size.”

      “Oh,” Cherry said.

      “That almost sounded like disappointment,” Billy said. “I agreed to wait until you’re ready to make it a real marriage. Are you telling me you’re ready?”

      “No, Billy. I’m not.”

      He didn’t say anything.

      “Are you disappointed?” Cherry asked.

      “I guess grooms have fantasies about their wedding nights the way brides have fantasies about their weddings,” Billy conceded with a grin. “Yeah. I suppose I am. But I’ll survive.”

      Cherry wondered if Billy was remembering his first wedding night. She knew she looked nothing like Laura Trask. She wasn’t the least bit petite. Her hair wasn’t golden blond, and she didn’t move with stately grace. She had a million freckles that speckled her milk-white skin and frizzy hair that changed color depending on the way the sun struck it. She had a small bosom that had no freckles at all and absolutely no intention of letting the groom find that out for himself tonight. No, this was not a night for fulfilling fantasies.

      She followed Billy inside the hotel with the overnight bag she had picked up at her friend’s house, so they weren’t entirely without luggage. She pressed the ring tight against her fourth finger with her thumb so it wouldn’t slip off. She stood at Billy’s shoulder while he registered and got a key card for the door.

      They took the elevator to the top floor and found the honeymoon suite at the end of the hall. Billy used the key card to open the door.

      Before she could say anything, Billy picked her up and carried her over the threshold. She was wearing the jeans and T-shirt she had put on to replace the torn chiffon dress and she could feel the heat of him everywhere his body touched hers.

      Her arm automatically clutched at his shoulder to help him support her weight, but she realized when she felt the corded muscles there, that he didn’t need any help. He carried her over to the bed and let her drop.

      She bounced a couple of times and came to rest. “Good grief,” she said, staring at the heart-shaped bed. “How do they expect two people to sleep on something shaped like this?”

      He wiggled his eyebrows. “I don’t think they expect you to sleep, if you know what I mean.” He dropped onto the bed beside her and stretched out on his back with his hands behind his head on one of the pillows. “It’s nowhere near as big as it looked in neon, either.”

      Cherry scooted as far from him as she could, but although there was plenty of room for two pillows at the top of the bed, the bottom narrowed so their feet ended up nearly touching.

      Billy toed off one cowboy boot, then used his stockinged foot to shove off the other boot. He reached for the phone beside the bed. “I’ll ask for an eight o’clock wake-up call,” he said. “That’ll give us time to fly back before noon.”

      Cherry was wearing tennis shoes, and she reached down and tugged them off with her hands and dropped them on the floor. She lay back on the pillow with her legs as far on her side of the bed as she could get them, which was a few bare inches from Billy’s feet.

      Billy reached over and turned out the lamp beside the bed. It should have been dark in the room, but the neon lights outside bathed the room in a romantic pink glow.

      “Do you want me to close the curtains?” Billy asked.

      “It’s kind of pretty.”

      Which might make a difference if they wanted to watch each other while they made love, Cherry thought, but wasn’t going to matter much when they closed their eyes to sleep. But she noticed Billy didn’t get up to close the curtains.

      “Good night, Cherry,” Billy said, turning on his side away from her. “Thanks again.”

      “Good night, Billy,” Cherry said, turning on her side away from him. “You’re welcome.”

      She lay there in uncomfortable silence for perhaps five minutes before she whispered, “Are you asleep, Billy?”

      Cherry felt the bed dip as he turned back toward her.

      “I thought you were tired,” he said.

      “I am. But I’m too excited to sleep. It’s not every day a girl gets married.”

      She stiffened when she felt one of his hands touch her shoulder and slide down to the small of her back.

      “Don’t get skittish on me, woman. I’m just going to rub your back a little to help you relax.”

      His thumb hit her somewhere in the center of her back, and his hand wrapped around her side.

      Cherry gave a luxuriant sigh as he massaged her tense muscles.

      “Feel better?”

      “Yes.” She was impressed again by his strength. And his gentleness. And wondered how his hand would feel caressing other places on her body.

      Cherry sought a subject they could discuss that would get her mind off the direction it seemed to be headed. “Could you tell me a little bit about your daughters?”

      “Raejean and Annie are just finishing the first grade. Their teacher has had a devil of a time telling them apart.”

      “Do they look that much alike?” Cherry asked.

      Billy chuckled. “Sometimes they try to fool me. But it isn’t hard to tell them apart once you get to know them. Raejean carries herself differently, more confidently. She