Page 17 of One Night Bride
Izzy’s smile broadened and I could see the love she had for her sister. They were also amazingly alike in looks. “Yep. This is all Esme. She’s always been a type A personality. She had a lemonade stand when we were kids. Dang, we made bank every summer. It was Esme’s idea to lure them in with twenty-five-cent lemonade, but then we’d have brownies and cookies priced high. I think we single-handedly kept the town dentist in business with all the cavities.”
I chuckled, imagining Esme as a little girl, barking out orders and hustling customers. “The more I get to know her, the more impressed I become,” I admitted, having a seat at the bar next to Izzy.
She shoved the pink bakery box over the granite counter, offering me a donut. “She comes by it naturally. Our father is the chief of police of Auburn Hill and has been for as long as I can remember. Oakley, whom you met yesterday—she’s the short one with her hair pulled back all the time—she became law enforcement just like Dad. Esme, well, she went a different direction, but just like Dad, she wants to be a leader. She is a leader. It’s online, and it’s women, but she’s always been someone you want in charge. She gets shit done.” Izzy looked out the window in the kitchen wistfully. “She’s a force of nature.”
I swallowed the bite of donut. “And as her twin sister, what does that make you?”
She spun toward me, her lips lifting into a grin again, like she was delighted I’d asked. “Everything in nature needs its opposite.”
I tilted my head, making a guess. “So, that means you’re the quiet before and after the storm. Just as important, if not needed even more than the storm. Understated power.”
Izzy paused for a long moment, a whole universe of emotions flickering through her eyes before putting her hand on my shoulder. “I see how you look at Esme, and while I know she’s not happy you’re here, I wish you luck. You’ll need it with her, obviously, but I think you might be good for her.” She shrugged and stood up, pulling her hand back. “Plus, I like you. And everyone knows if you get her twin to like you, it’s only a matter of time before Esme does too.”
She shot me a wink and walked out, humming a tune under her breath.
I turned back to the donuts and chose another one, considering Izzy’s words. I’d have to watch that one. She was quiet, but she didn’t miss a thing. She’d already picked up on the one thing I hadn’t let myself think about last night.
What if I wanted this marriage with Esme, not for the release from working the ranch, but because I actually could see myself falling for the woman?
My cell buzzed in my pocket, cutting me off from that dangerous thought. It was my younger brother, Ruger, calling, which meant it was probably something about the ranch. I’d been gone almost five days, after all.
“Hey, man,” I answered around the donut in my mouth.
“Hey,” Ruger’s slow drawl came through the phone. “I know you’re out there putting your plan in motion, but we got a problem here.”
My stomach clenched. “What is it?”
“Know those assholes to the east?” I nodded, though Ruger couldn’t see me. “They were up in that biplane again this morning, buzzing the ground. Some of the herd got scared and stampeded right through the fence which toppled a few more posts. We got about ten miles of fence down. Dad and I got the cows back in but they won’t stay in. I hate to ask you, but we need your help, man.”
“Of course. I’ll have Wayne fly me back right now.”
We ended our call, and I waited until he’d hung up before I let out the sigh I’d been holding in. It wasn’t my brother’s fault they needed an extra set of hands. It was still my family’s ranch, no matter that I had plans to leave it soon. Also not his fault that this little emergency was coming at the worst time. Things were a bit delicate with Esme at the moment.
“Sorry about that. I meant to touch base before I started my client session, but I didn’t want to wake you up either if you planned to sleep in.”
Esme breezed into the room, abruptly stopping her babbling. She kept wringing her hands, though. She looked just as professional this morning in a dark emerald blouse, black pants with a patent leather belt, and black stilettos that made me think of things I shouldn’t.
I stood up and grabbed her hands, stilling her movement. “It’s all good. Izzy fed me donuts. I have a crazy question for you.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Most of the things that come out of your mouth are crazy.” Referring, of course, to showing up on her doorstep yesterday and telling her we were married. And I wanted to stay married.
I grinned. Yep, I liked this girl. “I have an emergency back home in Wyoming on the ranch and I need to fly back to help out. Come with me.”
She reared her head back. “Wyoming? Come with you?”
I nodded, squeezing her hands, pleased she didn’t pull them away. “Exactly. You can still do your client sessions from the ranch. We have excellent Wi-Fi. And this way, we can get busy on filing for that annulment. If you don’t go with me, we’ll lose time and it seemed like you were in a rush for it.”
That was a bald-ass lie, but I was a desperate man. Desperate to have more time with her, to get to know her, and to prove to her we could be good together. I wouldn’t know and she wouldn’t know unless we spent some time together. What better way than to introduce her to my family? After all, I’d met hers. It was only fair.
Esme slid her hands away and paced back and forth through the kitchen. I watched her go, seeing the cogs and pins spinning in her brain as she thought it through. She was probably making a cost-benefit analysis of the trip, getting stuck in a mental decision-making process that ignored entirely what her gut was saying to her.
I was about to tell her she could even bring her fancy lighting and camera setup if she really needed it when she spun around and slapped her hand down on the counter.
“Fine. Let’s go.” She held her finger in the air. “But only because I want that annulment as soon as possible. Do you think they have a rush fee?”
Somehow, someway, I’d need to postpone filing the annulment as long as possible. Best way to distract Esme, I was finding, was to kiss her senseless. I rubbed my hands together.
“I’m really looking forward to this trip,” I said, feeling completely honest about that statement.
