The Wedding Wager. Sara Orwig

if she were about to faint. “Jared!” she exclaimed, as if he were an apparition.

      “Megan, I didn’t intend to startle you.” He dismounted, dropping to the ground.

      She drew herself up. As abruptly as she had looked on the verge of fainting, she pulled herself together.

      Jared’s heartbeat quickened at the sight of her. “You’re more beautiful than ever,” he said, and cursed himself with his next breath. Anger flashed in her turquoise eyes, those crystal-clear blue-green eyes that were astonishing when he first looked at her.

      “Why are you trespassing?” she asked, her composure obvious. He’d surely imagined her terrified reaction to the first sight of him. “This isn’t your ranch, nor will it be. You get off my land.”

      “Whoa, give me a chance,” he replied in amusement, reassessing changes in her. “Seven years was a long time ago.”

      “Not long enough. Your people were told this ranch is no longer on the market. I’m not selling. You’ll never own this land.” While thunder rumbled overhead, she withdrew a cell phone. “I don’t know how you got one of my horses, but leave it where you found it and go. You’re trespassing, and if you don’t get off this ranch, I’m calling the sheriff.”

      “Don’t be so emotional,” Jared said, wishing he could unfasten her thick braid. “At least listen. You have nothing to lose.”

      Thunder boomed again, and she glanced skyward.

      “I think, unless you don’t mind getting soaked, you’ll have to ride back to the barn with me,” he added.

      Without saying a word, she glared at him and then turned to mount her horse. Observing her tight jeans that pulled across an enticing bottom, Jared swung into the saddle as well, and waited for her to lead the way through the trees.

      As the first large drops hit leaves overhead, they rode into the clearing. A jagged bolt of lightning flashed, and Jared knew they should get out of the open field and back to shelter.

      He urged the bay he’d chosen, Jester, hoping she could keep up. Drops were coming faster by the time the barn loomed in sight.

      As they galloped into the barn, the heavens opened. Jared dismounted, dropping to the ground while both horses shook their heads, sending drops flying.

      To the accompaniment of the steady hiss of rain, they unsaddled and rubbed down the horses. Once the animals were in stalls, Megan strode to the open door and watched the rain.

      “Probably a summer shower. It’ll move on,” Jared said, standing close enough to catch the scent of an exotic perfume, not the rose perfume she once wore. “Why don’t you listen to my proposition? I know you don’t intend to retire to the ranch.”

      “You don’t know that,” she said, glancing up at him with hostility simmering.

      “So you are?” he probed, and saw another flash of anger, knowing he had been correct.

      “I am not selling my ranch to you,” she said slowly and clearly. He looked at her mouth, remembering their kisses. She’d been eighteen years old then. What would it be like to kiss her now? “Why do you even want it? There are other ranches.”

      “I have a bet with my cousins, Chase and Matt, to see which one of us can increase his net worth the most during the coming year.”

      “My ranch is to help you win a bet?” she asked, glowering at him.

      “That shouldn’t make any difference to you.”

      “One more thing that you want for your own purposes,” she said in a clipped tone.

      “Whoever buys the place will purchase it for his own purposes,” Jared said.

      “I don’t see how acquiring my ranch can put you over the top,” she observed.

      “That alone won’t. It’ll be one of several projects,” he answered easily.

      “How’d you get here and where did you get my horse?” she asked.

      “If I had called you, I didn’t think you’d take an appointment to talk to me about the ranch, so I sent one of my lawyers, Trent Colgin,” Jared answered, and she compressed her lips.

      “I should have known,” she said. She rushed to yank up a horse blanket. “I’m going to the house. It could rain all day, and I don’t intend to stay here. You get off the ranch however you got on it. Don’t spend another night here, or I truly will call the sheriff.”

      “You’re going to get soaked.”

      “That’s better than staying here with you,” she said and turned to dash for the sprawling ranch house. Jared ran easily beside her, not caring if he got wet as long as he could try to convince her to listen to him. They rushed up the back steps and across the wrap-around porch. While she draped the dripping blanket over a rocking chair, he pushed his hat to the back of his head.

      In spite of the blanket, her jacket was soaked in the front and she shed it to hang it on another chair. Her damp shirt clung, revealing lush breasts that stirred erotic memories of kissing her as he caressed her breasts.

      As she started to turn away, he looked into her eyes and suspected she guessed what he was thinking. His gaze trailed leisurely over her. Her quick breaths made her breasts thrust out more. When he looked up again, sparks flashed between them.

      Raising her chin defiantly, she placed her hands on her hips. “I’m not inviting you inside.”

      “Megan, listen to what I have to offer. You may be losing a huge fortune. One you could make easily by getting rid of something you don’t want anyway. You’re letting emotion get in your way.”

      “I know what I want,” she said with a frown.

      “Try to keep an open mind. Come to dinner at my house tonight and let’s discuss the sale.”

      “In this weather? I think not, thanks,” she said, shaking her head.

      “According to the paper, this rain is supposed to stop before noon and it won’t rain again until tomorrow afternoon. Now quit spiting yourself and come have dinner with me. Why don’t we discuss a deal? You have nothing to lose.”

      “I won’t sell to you at any price,” she snapped as she yanked a key out of her pocket and put it into the door.

      “Scared to eat with me?” he asked softly in a taunting voice.

      Her head came up and she faced him with anger blazing in her eyes, making them look more green than blue. “I’m not the least bit afraid of you,” she replied in a haughty tone. “All right. I’ll come to dinner, but you should know you won’t change my mind.”

      “How’s seven?”

      “I’ll be there.”

      “You know the way,” he said, and her cheeks turned a deeper pink. “See you then.” He left for his cabin, fighting the urge to glance to see if she stood watching him. He hadn’t heard any door slam, but then in the rain, he probably wouldn’t have.

      She was coming for dinner, so there was hope. When hadn’t he been able to talk a woman into something he wanted? She was beautiful, more poised than she’d been as a teen. Then, she had been friendly and warm as a kitten. Now she was a hellcat. Despite her anger, her self-confidence showed. She was not the naive, starry-eyed eighteen-year-old he had fallen in love with years ago.

      Anticipation bubbled in him. How long before he could seduce her? he wondered. He planned to keep a clear sight on his goal of acquiring her ranch, but this new Megan was an unbearable temptation.

      He packed his few things and drove back to his ranch to make arrangements for dinner. As if nature were cooperating, the rain ended by noon and sunshine broke out with a magnificent rainbow arching in the sky.

      When he caught some news on the television, he