Page 24 of The Rancher's Cinderella Bride

“A good idea,” she said, hoping her reminder about relationships really had stopped him and made him think about the differences between them. She fought the craving she felt to walk right back into his arms, kiss him and forget common sense, caution and her worries about the future.

“Gabe, I don’t want to go from one problem to another.”

“I know you don’t,” he said, looking intently at her, and she wondered what he really thought. “Okay, let’s look at the house. So far we haven’t gotten far beyond the back door.

“This back room leads into the hall with the main kitchen and an informal dining area,” he said, leading the way and leaving space between them. Her gaze swept over him as he stopped in the center of the kitchen to tell her where to find things.

She didn’t hear a word he said. His shirt was still open and pulled out of his trousers, the cummerbund tossed away. His chest was muscled, covered with a spread of dark curls, his stomach flat and muscled. She couldn’t get her breath and she wasn’t thinking straight.

She realized he had stopped talking and stood facing her, his eyes narrowed.

“I think you should show me where my room is and we should call it a night.”

He closed the space between them in a few steps and wrapped his arms around her. “That’s ridiculous, Meg. We can kiss and then stay friends. It’s just kisses. Relax. You’re blowing this all out of proportion.” He took her arm lightly. “Come on, and I’ll show you where your suite is, and we’ll come back down here in a little while and sit and talk.”

“You know, I should go to my room, close the door and not see you again tonight,” she said.

He shook his head. “Nope. You wanted a fake engagement. We’re getting into that and we need to do a little planning—unless you want to call all this off right now.”

They stared at each other while her heart pounded. She shook her head. “No, I’m not calling anything off. We’ve come this far and I see freedom. Kissing you may be a problem, but it’s nowhere near the problem of a lifetime with a man I don’t love.” She started walking down the hall. “You’re right. We’ll come back here and make some plans and then say good-night. You’ll go your way and I’ll go to my room alone. Okay?”

“Sounds like a plan. Come on. I’ll show you to your suite.”

He carried the bag and the carry-on she’d brought and they climbed a wide spiral staircase with a wrought-iron banister and oak steps. The staircase gave her a view of the front hall and the entryway with a huge crystal chandelier. Large contemporary paintings lined the walls along with mirrors and occasional potted palms and tropical greenery.

Upstairs, they turned for the east wing and shortly entered a room where Gabe switched on recessed lights. The room was decorated in white and taupe with charcoal accents. Contemporary steel-and-glass furniture had simple lines, and blended with the walls and white woodwork.

“This is beautiful, Gabe,” she said, looking at the designs of the colored glass on the end tables.

He put her carry-on in a large walk-in closet and then set her bag on a luggage stand.

She stood in the center of the bedroom, looking at the king-size bed, the sleek chairs and sofas, glass tables and large contemporary paintings with bright strokes of red, green and blue.

More than her surroundings, she was aware of Gabe, moving around, setting up her suitcase, opening doors onto a balcony. He turned to cross the room and come back to her. “Want some time to unpack and freshen up? Or are you ready to go have a drink and make our plans?”

“It’s not too early.”

He placed his hands on her shoulders and toyed with locks of her hair. “No, it’s not. Let’s just go sit and talk about where we go from here and what we do next.”

Her heart raced as she gazed into his vivid blue eyes. “I know we need to make some decisions,” she whispered. Once her gaze drifted to his mouth she couldn’t speak. She inhaled deeply, trying to think, to focus on her problem when all she could really do was look at him and want to put her arms around him and kiss him.

“I think first we have to decide what we’ll do about...this,” she was finally able to say. “I can’t get this close to you without wanting to kiss you. Gabe, that wasn’t something I expected and I never factored it in. You were another brother, my childhood best friend, a fun guy, someone I trust completely. But then we kissed, and suddenly it isn’t that simple anymore.”

He ran his hands down her sides. “No, it isn’t simple. I never expected any of this hot chemistry that has exploded between us. I keep asking you if you want to call off the engagement and you keep saying no you don’t.”

“I don’t. We’ve already accomplished a lot. Everyone thinks I’m dating you. That stops Justin from that very public proposal. Hooray for that one because I would never accept his proposal and I shudder to think about turning him down in front of a crowd. I still think we should go ahead and get engaged this weekend. I’ve told Justin we’re through, but getting engaged to you will send a message not only to him, but to his parents and my family. I can get engaged to you, Gabe. I can go out with you a couple of nights this week and then say goodbye. Is that too much for you?”

“Meg, I’ll be happy to take you out every day and every night this week. I can spend the week just looking at you. You’re gorgeous. But when this is over, I may want you to continue to go out with me.”

She shook her head. “No, you won’t. And I don’t want to go out with you when this is over. Gabe, we’re best friends, but it ends there. I can’t deal with your lifestyle and you won’t want to give it up. And I can’t have a casual affair and you don’t want a permanent relationship. I think that covers everything between us and the answer has to be we walk away from each other and forget we ever kissed.”

She looked into fathomless blue eyes that held her in their depths and made her speech empty, meaningless words. She couldn’t really say anything else while her heart pounded so violently.

He brushed her hair back and framed her face with his hands as he stepped closer and gazed down at her. She couldn’t move away, couldn’t protest.

“You want me to forget we kissed. Meg, if I live to be a hundred, I’ll remember every kiss we’ve shared. We have a hot chemistry between us that sets me on fire each time I’m with you.” All the time he talked, his voice dropped lower, became more husky. His gaze made her heart continue to pound. Desire was intense, a pull that she tried to resist, but it became more of an ordeal to resist each time she was with him.

“Gabe, how did this happen and where did common sense go?”

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