Page 19 of The Texan's Baby Proposal

Marc turned her to face him and she looked into his inscrutable brown eyes. She had no idea what he thought, except this was what he wanted.

He brushed her lips lightly with a fleeting, tender kiss, the faintest caress of his warm lips on hers, a feathery touch, yet she tingled to her toes. For a moment she thought this marriage might not be as easy to manage as they’d both anticipated. She had a definite physical reaction to him. Now that they’d be living together, it might be far more difficult to avoid a physical relationship than she had thought.

As soon as the ceremony was over, Marc walked up to his grandfather, who smiled and took Marc’s hand in his shaky grip. “The ranch is yours. Take good care of Grandma. You’re a good boy. Be happy, Marc, and may you and Lara have a long and joyous union,” he whispered, closing his eyes.

Marc leaned down to kiss his grandfather’s cheek, and when he turned to Lara, she saw that he battled tears. She thought of her own loss and could understand. She stepped close to take Marc’s other hand and squeeze lightly to reassure him. He smiled at her, and for a moment she felt a closeness with him she hadn’t ever felt before. To anyone watching, the gesture would seem a natural one between husband and wife. To her, it was a reminder that she needed to keep her distance. That this marriage would be brief and never hold love.

In the lounge, the others congratulated them and Marc’s mother hugged her.

“Welcome to our family,” she said, and Lara felt a mixed rush of gratitude for Pilar’s easy acceptance while she knew it was only temporary. For an instant she felt a stabbing pang, a fleeting wish that this ceremony was real and she was becoming part of this family that seemed so filled with love for one another.

Would she ever find that for herself? She and her mother had been each other’s only family for so long, and now Lara didn’t even have her. She thought of the tiny baby she carried and looked at Marc as someone said something to him that made him laugh. She wished this baby was his. Another silly wish that couldn’t possibly be.

Marc’s mother hugged her again. “Be kind to Marc,” she whispered for Lara’s ears only. “He’s a good man.”

“I will be,” Lara said. She couldn’t help but find the comment odd, because from what she could see, Marc didn’t need anything from anyone. He seemed as self-sufficient and self-confident as a human could be.

She looked over at him as he talked to Gabe Callahan. The two men were almost the same height, and they shared the same dark hair, though Marc’s was far curlier.

He turned and their gazes met, and she felt as if sparks danced between them. Once again she heard that voice inside her head telling her to guard her heart with all her being. In spite of all this and how nice he had been to her, she knew absolutely, when the time came, he would dissolve this marriage and walk away without ever looking back. She knew his iron will, and there was no way Marc was going to fall in love so she’d better not, either, unless she wanted another big hurt and loss.

He walked up to her, interrupting her thoughts. “Hey, Mrs. Medina, let’s move this party to the country club where we can cut loose and have a blast.”

“Sounds good to me,” she said and hurried out with him as he waved his hand in the air for the others to follow.

To her surprise, Marc had hired someone to plan the reception. She’d figured he would turn that over to her, but she had to admit it was fun to walk into the big ballroom and be surprised by the flowers and the food.

Before long they was seated at a round table with the Callahan brothers. Marc sat on her right and Gabe’s wife Meg was on her left. The woman’s dark brown eyes sparkled as she gushed, “I love weddings, and you make a beautiful bride.”

“Thank you,” Lara answered. “Your husband is Marc’s best friend, so I’m glad we’ll be friends.”

“Me too,” Meg replied. “Those two guys know how to have fun. I’ve known both of them all my life, it seems. The Callahans are a great bunch except for their dad, but he’s out of the picture most of the time.”

Blake Callahan and his wife Sierra were also at the table. Meg pointed them out. “Sometime you’ll get to meet the kids. There’s Sierra and Blake’s little girl, Emily, and of course Cade has adopted their niece, Amelia.”

Lara had heard the story. The brother between Gabe and Cade—Nate, Amelia’s daddy—was killed in a car crash along with Lydia, his wife. Because Cade had agreed to be guardian if anything happened, he had taken in Amelia. Since then he and Erin had adopted the child.

Meg laughed. “Come to think of it, we all seem to have girls in this family of men.”

As if on cue, Cade Callahan joined them, along with his wife. Erin greeted Lara warmly. “Now you get to be friends with the entire Callahan clan. And we’re glad to have you. We needed another woman in this group,” she said, smiling at Lara.

“Everyone has made me feel so welcome,” Lara said, aware of Marc’s arm still across her shoulders.

“To a beautiful bride and a lucky groom,” Blake said, his blue eyes twinkling. He held up his glass of champagne in a toast. “May you have a long and happy marriage.” They all touched glasses and everyone sipped their champagne except Lara, who only smiled as she set her glass on the table.

As the Callahans talked to each other, she looked around the table. “You have nice friends,” she said to Marc.

“I think so.” He reached out and took her hand. “And now I think I should dance with my wife.”

Three hours later people were still dancing and singing. She had to admit she’d had fun with Marc, who had shed his suit coat to dance all night. He caught her hand when the number ended.

“We’ve had pictures, cut the cake, danced with those we should. I’d say let’s slip out and head to the ranch.”

“I’m ready when you are,” she said, her pulse jumping at the idea of leaving with him and starting life as Mrs. Marc Medina, even though love wasn’t part of the deal. Now they would be living together in the ranch house and she would have to be on alert constantly. She hoped she could get back that very business-like atmosphere she’d had with him at the office, because she could not end up in his bed.

“You go one direction around the room and I’ll go the other,” Marc whispered to her. “Otherwise we’ll just draw a crowd. I’ll meet you outside that last door. Go down the hall and turn right.”

“Got it. See you soon,” she said.

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