The Ransomes: Matt, Nick and Katherine. Sara Orwig

did that to her family. My first wife all but did that with me.”

      “If I repeat vows, I’ll live up to my promises,” she said and gazed back at him unflinchingly. He gave her a long, hard look with icy blue eyes, but instead of chilling her, she faced him and noticed his long, thick eyelashes, bedroom eyes. A lock of black hair fell on his forehead. He had thick hair that held a slight wave and a firm jaw that gave him a rugged appearance, yet at the same time, he was handsome with his straight nose and prominent cheekbones.

      She wondered if she was sinking herself in a quicksand of heartbreak. How easy it was going to be to fall in love with him! For all his gruffness and reined-in anger, there had been flashes of charm when they had been out on the town last night, as well as a few minutes ago when he was flirting with her. She had vowed she would never again trust a Ransome or get involved with one, yet here she was committing to the closest possible relationship with a Ransome who had his heart locked away.

      “I’ll draw up a will. I own the ranches with my father, brother and sister and we want them to stay in the family. If something happens to me, my share will go directly to the baby when he or she reaches twenty-one. The money I have will be divided between you and to the baby. Fair enough?”

      She nodded. “For a man not in love with me, you’re making another generous offer.”

      As he inhaled deeply, she wondered what was running through his mind because she couldn’t possibly guess. Somehow she suspected he was wishing he could have the baby and get rid of her, but then she might be wrong.

      He shifted and his knee bumped hers. His eyes narrowed while she felt a tingle from the contact.

      “I need to meet your family,” she said.

      “I know. I’ll get them together.”

      “You’re not touching your breakfast,” she said quietly.

      “I don’t have any appetite,” he replied, biting off the words abruptly. He fluctuated between flirting with her and then giving way to his suppressed fury over having to acquiesce to her wishes. In the moments when his charm and appeal surfaced, she found him irresistible.

      She suspected after marriage he would accept their bargain and then she would have his charm and sex appeal to deal with daily, a possibility that gave her a tingly anticipation and at the same time, sent warnings of heartbreak pounding in her mind.

      Where Matt’s brother had been an engaging fun-filled boy, Matt was a devastating man with charm and sex appeal that overwhelmed her.

      “I don’t think we’ll have an issue about the baby’s education since you fought so hard to get one,” Matt said, scribbling more notes while she nodded.

      “I’ll still open an account for you with the one hundred thousand in it. That is your money. I’ll pay the ranch expenses, etc. and open a joint account for us.”

      “You continue to surprise me,” she said, again amazed by his magnanimity when she knew he was unhappy with her.

      “We might as well work together. We’re binding our lives together forever,” he added and she wondered about her future with him. “Hopefully,” he continued, “we’ll stop fighting each other.”

      She laughed. “I wouldn’t count on that one,” she exclaimed, leaning closer. “You intend to seduce me. You want my body.” She placed her hand over his on the table. “If you do, I’ll warn you now—I’ll seduce you because I’ll want your heart.”

      “I thought you were going to try to avoid another heartbreak.”

      She shook her head. “We’re on a different course since I made that declaration. We’re marrying, and you’re making it permanent. If that’s the case, and we’ll be intimate, then I want more than lust and a purely physical relationship for the rest of my life. I want love.”

      “Once again, you want more,” he repeated, smiling at her. “Where have I heard that before? Only this time, you won’t have the leverage you did about marriage.” He turned his hand to take hers and rub his thumb across her knuckles, stirring tingles. “You’re flirting with me, Olivia.”

      “So I am. Don’t deny that you like it.”

      “Of course, I like for you to flirt and to kiss. As you said, we’re stuck with each other now, so we should make—” he paused and desire heated his gaze “—love, as well as the best of it,” he finished in a velvety drawl that held its own caress. “I’ll have to say that you’re damn cooperative now that you’ve got what you want.”

      “I try,” she said, bestowing a smile.

      He laughed and straightened up, releasing her hand. “I’ll get you a wedding ring. We need to make some decisions about the wedding first. How about a small wedding?”

      She tingled at the prospect and wondered if she could go through with this loveless marriage of convenience—even with Prince Charming, which Matt had been on occasion. “That’s fine,” she said, but her words were breathless and her head spun. Marriage—and then she would be in Matt’s bed. Sex with Matt Ransome! Again she thought about sex with him—over and over she thought of it. Her palms felt sweaty, and she watched him writing in his notebook. If he was disturbed or gave the notion of sex with her any of his attention, he was hiding it well.

      “I’ll pay the wedding bills, of course,” he continued. “If you don’t have a particular church, we can be married at the ranch. The only people I want to invite will be our cowboys and my family.”

      Trying to get back to thinking about what she was doing instead of sex with Matt, she mulled over his suggestions and shook her head. “You’re so concerned about my baby—which will soon be our baby. Maybe you should think about inviting a lot of your friends, too. Otherwise, I’m not too likely to be accepted by some people because of my background and where I’ve worked,” she said, and he nodded.

      “You’re right. Good decision.”

      “Why do I get the feeling that from the first, you’ve expected the worst from me?” she asked.

      “Maybe I misjudged you. You constantly surprise me. But it’s for the good, so that should be all right,” he admitted. “We’ll have the whole deal, a big wedding and reception.”

      “Why not a small, private wedding and then the big reception?”

      He shook his head. “I’d say the big wedding because I want people to accept you as much as any other member of my family and there will be a reluctance by some locals for the reasons you said and because you were close to my brother who had a reputation for being the wild man of the county.”

      “I’m three months pregnant.”

      “Won’t matter. You don’t look it anyway. I’ll hire someone to work with you to plan this wedding.”

      “If we have a big wedding, it will take time to plan.”

      “No. I’ll hire a wedding planner who can get everything ready. I’ll call family and close friends. Word will get around before the invitations. You get your wedding dress right away,” he said, starting a new list, writing while he talked. She wondered exactly how much wealth the Ransome family had because Matt didn’t seem daunted by anything except her proposal.

      She had butterflies dancing a ballet in her stomach at the thought of a big wedding with all his family and friends present. “Matt, I don’t have any family and only a few friends.”

      “Doesn’t matter. Most of the county will come to the wedding and lots of people from other counties and from Fort Worth. Matter of fact, guests will come from everywhere because my brother and sister get around. By the way, you have carte blanche on this.”

      “You already trust my judgment?” she asked.

      His gaze drifted down over her as far as he could see with the table blocking his view and then back up in a leisurely, thorough study