Page 31 of The Texan's Baby Proposal

He couldn’t stop thinking about how he wanted Lara in his bed. How much would that complicate his life? How much would it make him want her as part of his life longer than this one year they had planned? He couldn’t imagine falling in love, not when he wasn’t truly over losing his wife. Would it make for a stronger tie to Lara when her baby came? That gave him pause. He needed to back off and stick to his original plan to avoid sex with her, but nights like tonight—with nothing to do but think about her—made him want her in spite of common sense and the upheaval she could cause in his life.

He finished the beer and closed his eyes on his disturbing thoughts. It was two in the morning when he woke in the darkness and moved inside, flopped on the bed and went back to sleep.

When he woke again, it was daylight. Frowning, he looked at the clock and jumped out of bed. He had overslept. Something he never did. He rushed to shower and soon was in jeans and a flannel shirt and ready for the day. As he walked down the hall, tempting smells of hot coffee and bacon frying assailed him. He rushed into the kitchen.

Lara spun around. She wore a blue cotton robe that was open and thin blue cotton pajamas beneath the robe. Her hair tumbled over her shoulders and fell freely around her face. She looked as if she had been awake only a short time.

“Good morning,” he said, crossing to her, drawn as if by a magnet. Last night’s warning to be cautious in getting involved with her vanished like smoke on the wind.

Her cheeks turned pink and she put down a spatula to pull her robe together. “Good morning. I figured you were long gone.”

“I overslept,” he said. He slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. She was soft and the thin cotton robe and pajamas were almost nonexistent. As her soft curves pressed against him, her eyes flew wide. “Marc, I’m not dressed.”

“Yeah, I noticed and I like it. You look gorgeous,” he said and kissed away her answer. For one startled second, she was still, and then her arms went around his neck and she kissed him in return.

He was hard instantly. He wanted her. He wanted to slip her out of the robe and pajamas and carry her back to bed. Instead, he stood there kissing her, relishing her softness, her warmth, her kiss that was setting him on fire.

“Marc.” She finally moved out of his embrace. Her cheeks were pink and her mouth red from their kiss. “Breakfast is burning,” she said, turning to grab the spatula and turn the strips of bacon. “Now look.” She poked the scorched bacon.

“I’m looking,” he said, his gaze roaming over her.

She put down the spatula and tied her robe. He laughed and walked away to pour himself some coffee. “I’m leaving, but I’ve been having breakfast by myself at the wrong time of the morning. I’ll have to change that.”

“And I’ll have to dress for breakfast.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. We’re married.” He walked up to her to put his finger beneath her chin and tilt her face up. “Sooner or later we’ll consummate this union.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Oh, yes, I do,” he said, looking into her wide blue eyes and seeing a blush turn her cheeks rosy. “You know it, too. And you want it, too. Gives us both something to look forward to. We miscalculated when we agreed on no sex. We didn’t know about the attraction that would spring to life between us. We know it isn’t a serious one and it isn’t going to last. You still have your agenda and I have mine. But you do like to kiss and so do I.”

“You don’t know that we’ll succumb to passion. We might and we might not,” she said in a haughty tone that made him grin.

“We definitely will and you know it or you wouldn’t be blushing. Want me to prove it to you right now?” he asked, walking toward her.

“No, I don’t,” she answered quickly, moving out of his reach.

“I think I just did,” he said, laughing. “I’ll see you tonight, darlin’.”

Smiling, he left, but his thoughts stayed on the moment when he held her in his arms. The flimsy cotton robe and pajamas might as well have been nonexistent. She had been warm and soft. That image would be with him for the day. He couldn’t resist pursuing her and she liked it when he did.

He realized he was already looking forward to being with her tonight. That was something new in his life, which, little by little, she seemed to be changing for the better. He hadn’t expected to even be aware of her once they were on the ranch and each doing their own thing. Had he ever been wrong. He couldn’t shake her out of his thoughts now, and that startled him. She was turning his life upside down in her own quiet way.

It occurred to him that he might miss her later, when she was gone. He shook his head as if to chase away that thought. She was a tiny, brief part of his life. He wouldn’t miss her. He would go back to life the way it had been before he had brought her to the ranch. After all, that was the deal they’d made. And Marc Medina was a master of the deal.

* * *

Lara had showered and dressed in jeans and a blue knit shirt. Her hair was in one long, thick braid. She was sitting and studying when she heard a pickup, and in minutes a door slammed.

“Hi, sweetie. Your lover’s home.”

She had to laugh at his corny greeting. “I’m in here, in the great room.”

He came through the door seeming to bring sizzling energy just by walking into the room. He had dust on his face. He had already shed his hat and jacket and wore mud-spattered jeans, muddy boots and a long-sleeved blue shirt that had some smudges of dirt and a tear.

“You look like you fell out of the pickup.”

He crossed the room to her and pulled her up. “Well, you look beautiful and absolutely irresistible,” he said, wrapping her in his arms and kissing away her protest until she responded in kind.

---