Page 15 of The Rancher's Cinderella Bride

“I figured you’d be getting yourself all—”

“If you say ‘beautiful,’ I’m going to take your beer away from you and send you home now.”

He smiled at her. “I can’t resist getting you all hot and bothered. You always rise to the bait.” He chuckled and sipped his beer.

“Hot and bothered, huh?” she said, half amused and half annoyed with him because sometimes he still treated her the same way he did when they were kids. She set down her drink and turned to face him. “I’ll show you hot and bothered,” she said. She stood, swung her leg across his and sat in his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him on the mouth.

She poured herself into her kiss, wanting to get back at him for all his teasing and give him something to think about before he teased her again.

For an instant she assumed he was startled, but then his arms circled her tightly and he kissed her in return. A passionate kiss that made her forget teasing and realize she might have set herself up for something more worrisome. She had wanted to set him on fire with her kiss, to make him see her as a woman and not the kid next door he could tease and torment and still be friends with. Too late, she realized she might have stirred up a bushel of trouble for herself.

She felt his arousal press against her and her heart raced while she, too, burned with desire. She was shaking with wanting him, hot with the need for more.

Remembering what had started their kiss, she stopped as abruptly as she’d begun. They stared at each other and then she moved off his lap and walked away. “That got out of hand,” she whispered, not sure whether he heard her and not really caring because she spoke the words more to herself than him. Despite what she’d said, she wanted to turn around, go back to him and continue where she’d left off. And that scared her.

“On that note, I better take my cue and get the hell out of here before I try to carry you off to that four-poster bed,” he said. “I’ll call you, Meg. I know my way out.”

She merely nodded. “Bye, Gabe.”

She heard the back door close and walked to the window to watch him get into his pickup and back out down her drive. In seconds he was gone.

She touched her lips. She wanted him so badly, she wasn’t going to be able to resist him. Suddenly she realized something: he hadn’t been flirting this afternoon. Gabe had been teasing her, the way her brothers would have teased her. He didn’t really see her as a woman like the women he dated.

She placed her hands on her hips in an indignant pose. She’d show him she was a woman. Saturday night. Silently she thanked her friend Barb, who’d told her about a fabulous makeover she’d had when she had been hired for a commercial. Barb had set up her appointment in a Dallas salon for Saturday.

Tomorrow, she would rearrange her schedule so she could shop for a dress. One way or another, she’d make Gabe see her for what she was: a grown-up, desirable woman.

At the same time, common sense told her to leave the situation as it was. As long as he saw her the way he always had, she would be less appealing to him and he would be less so to her. She never wanted to fall in love with him anyway, so why get a makeover and attract his attention? On the other hand, he might forever see her as a kid and she didn’t want that, either.

Unfortunately, she had no such problem seeing him for what he was. Gabe had grown into a handsome, sexy man who would carry her off to his bed and steal her heart away if she wasn’t careful. To her, he was no longer the kid from her past, the boy next door, a fun friend she could trust, just Gabe, friendly, nice. Never in the past had he made her heart beat like crazy or her insides turn to jelly or the room suddenly too hot to bear. Back then she hadn’t seen him as the most handsome man she knew. She hadn’t wanted his arms around her and his mouth on hers.

She did now. And it wasn’t good.

Common sense told her to cancel the makeover, and she got out her phone. She should let well enough alone. Get loose from Justin, tell Gabe thank you and go on her way, forgetting Gabe as she had for the past ten or eleven years.

That was the sensible approach.

Then she thought about Saturday night. At the country club it would be a formal dinner. Gabe would be in a tux and look handsome and she would look just like she did for her first-grade Christmas party, wearing the same hairstyle and type of dress. And she knew she couldn’t do it. She was a woman and she wanted him to see her as one.

As foolish as it was, it was a risk she was willing to take. She knew what she had to do.

She put her phone away.

* * *

At eight o’clock she sat in a booth in the small casual sandwich shop and watched Justin come up the walk. She had come early and wanted to be waiting when he arrived. Slightly taller than Gabe, he was handsome by any standard with thick brown hair and thickly lashed pale brown eyes. His prominent cheekbones and straight nose added to his good looks. She guessed he was probably at least an inch taller than Gabe. Both men were broad-shouldered, but Gabe was definitely more muscular. In a charcoal suit, white dress shirt and red tie, Justin looked handsome, successful and filled with energy. He had come directly from the airport. Justin had dated other women in his social circle who were beautiful and probably in love with him, and Meg would never understand why this marriage of convenience appealed to him except for family pressures. He had been engaged once to another woman whose family moved in his social circle and Justin had been the one who had broken it off. He had talked about the breakup with her, explaining that he hadn’t known whether he could really trust his ex-fiancée to be faithful, and that he had to have that in a wife. Meg had listened to him talk, wondering what he was leaving out, because his reasoning had had some gaps, but she hadn’t quizzed him about it. She knew Justin had women who would have his parents’ approval who wanted to go out with him, so this crazy pressure for them to marry made no sense to her. Granted, Tanya wasn’t one of those women, but from the little things Justin had said, she suspected he truly loved Tanya.

Justin kissed her forehead and they exchanged pleasantries before he got to the point.

“I might as well explain why I wanted to see you tonight. I heard you went out Saturday night with Gabe Callahan.”

“Yes, I did. You and I have no commitment.”

“We’re on the verge of one,” he said, frowning. “A huge commitment.”

“I’ve told you I’m not interested in a commitment. I don’t want a marriage of convenience. Gabe and I have been friends since I was three. We went out last weekend and had fun talking about old times. I have a date with him Saturday night to the country club dedication of the new ballroom.”

Justin leaned across the table. “Break the date with Callahan. It will be unpleasant for everyone if you don’t. Our parents and your grandparents will be there.”

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