“Cat, you’re a stubborn woman,” Wade said. “I like that—I don’t need some silly girl who doesn’t have a mind of her own. They’re not worth a damn out on the range.
But you’re wrong about us. We belong together, and I’ve known it since you were thirteen years old. You got away from me for a while, but Ryan was stupid enough to get himself killed and give me another chance. I won’t make the same mistake twice. You will marry me.”
He strode out of the kitchen, his words hanging heavy in the close kitchen air. Catherine took a deep breath, stretched her arms above her head, and forced herself to release some of the tension she’d built up.
“Some help with the dishes he is,” she muttered, picking up a pot and slamming it down on the table. The thud it made was satisfying, so she did it again, this time banging so hard that a spoon fell off the table and rattled to the floor.
She should have banged it against his stubborn head.
Chapter Two
Wade sat back on his bed, turning over the small velvet pouch he held in his fingers, toying with the drawstring.
He’d really screwed things up this time. Or rather, his father had. Wade wasn’t a subtle man, never had been, but even he knew better than tell a woman who she should marry in front of a roomful of ranch hands. He’d always wanted Cat. Coming home from the war to find her hitched to his brother had been one of the worst days of his life. And the day Ryan died? He’d decided to marry the new widow within an hour of getting the news. He still felt guilty about that—a man should be angry to learn his brother’s dead, not happy. But Ryan had been broken inside, twisted in a sick way that only Wade seemed to have noticed when they were kids. In adulthood, Ryan’s behavior had been so God-awful that nobody could miss it. Fighting in the war had made it worse, and Catherine had been foolish to marry him as soon as he came back.
She’d definitely paid the price, and then some, poor woman.
Wade had waited patiently over the past year, even though sometimes he’d wanted her so badly he’d had to leave the ranch house, joining the men on the range for weeks at a time. The smell of her hair haunted him, the quirk of her mouth when she smiled, the way her head tilted when she looked off into the distance. He hadn’t seen that smile for a long time after Ryan’s death, but it was back again these days. When he’d found her watching the horses, something inside him just snapped. He knew he should regret what he’d done, but he couldn’t. That one touch of her body was the most heavenly thing he’d ever experienced. He’d be damned if he regretted anything about it.
Wade opened the little bag and tilted it, allowing the star sapphire ring and matching sapphire eardrops inside to slide out. They were exactly the same color as her eyes. He’d been carrying them for four years, ever since a grateful Georgian woman had given them to him when he’d saved her husband’s life. He’d known they were for Catherine even then. Hell, he’d known he wanted her since she was thirteen and he was seventeen. She’d always been part of him on a certain level—when he’d come home to find her married to Ryan, it was like one of his arms had been cut off.
The ring glinted in the candlelight, the star within shining bright. Bright as her gaze. He thought of her lips, the way she’d fallen under his spell the moment he’d kissed her. She wanted him every bit as badly as he wanted her, there was no question of that. But this business of the teaching job… He couldn’t allow that to happen. He’d hardly ever see her, and worse, every man in town would be able to court her. He had no illusions as to how long she’d last—young, single women who knew how to work were hard to find. One as pretty as Catherine was as rare as the sparkling gems he held in hand.
He’d have to convince her to marry him, that’s all there was to it. And unlike his original plan, where he’d hoped woo her long and slow until she fell into his arms without thinking, now he had to get right to work. Catherine’s parents might be dead, but they had been well-respected in the community. She’d get the job, no question about it. The school board would be thrilled to have her.
He had to put a stop to it. Immediately.
Resolved, he swung his legs off the bed and strode to the door. He’d never been a man to wait once he’d made up his mind, and tonight was no different. He walked out into the hallway, glancing under his father’s door to make sure his light was out. Sure enough, it was. John slept like the dead these days, and his hearing wasn’t much better. Catherine’s door was at the end of the hallway, the same room she’d shared with Ryan. He wondered what it had been like for her as a young bride, moving into her father-inlaw’s home under the control of a man like Ryan. Hellish, he imagined. In all honesty, he probably should have expected her to try to bolt before now.
And he could kick himself for not thinking about money for her. She was right— everyone else who worked on the ranch got paid, yet they’d just expected her to be happy with a roof over her head. Wade shook his head. He just wasn’t used to thinking about stuff like that. In his mind they were already partners. She could have as much of his money as she wanted.
When he got to the door, he raised one hand to knock, and then thought better of it. After all, what did he expect, that she’d invite him in with a welcoming kiss? Instead he reached down and opened the door, stepping inside quickly and quietly. He heard her gasp, the breathy noise she made rushing straight to his cock. It was always like that around her. Everything about Catherine turned him on, even when she was spitting fire at him for something he’d done wrong. Especially when she was spitting fire, he thought ruefully.
“You get right out of here, Wade Masters,” she said into the darkness, sounding like an enraged kitten. He laughed, and then something flew through the air and hit him in the head.
“Goddamn it!” he muttered, rubbing his head and reaching down to find the missile. A book. “What is this, your Bible?”
She didn’t answer, and he knew he’d guessed right. He gave a low chuckle.
“You really should do something about your temper, Catherine,” he said. “You’ll get yourself into trouble one of these days. I should tell the school board about this.”
“Care to explain to them why you were in my bedroom after dark?” she shot back. “You leave, right now, and we’ll pretend this didn’t happen.”
“I’m not leaving. We have to talk,” he said. He walked across the room, sitting down on the soft bed. He felt her body roll toward him, and the quick movements she made as she scrabbled back across the mattress.