Temporary Husband Read online

  Jake stared at her in disbelief before informing her grimly, “Trust me, wife. The minute we’re alone I intend to give you a sh—truckload of trouble. You lied to me. And I don’t take kindly to lies.”

  “I didn’t lie,” she protested.

  “Then you did some mighty fancy two-steppin’ around the truth. In my book that’s as good as a lie.”

  She sighed. “I just omitted one tiny detail.”

  “That detail being that your inheritance comes with arms, legs and a whole lot of aggravation in between. Why didn’t you ‘fess up last night?” He nailed her with a hard glare. “I’ll tell you why. Because if you had, you knew I’d walk away. Hell, I’d probably have run.”

  Laura groaned. “You are in way over your head here,” she warned.

  “Everything will work out,” Wynne insisted, glancing pointedly at the boys. She offered a bracing smile in the hopes of easing their worried expressions. “Jake and I just need to talk this through—alone and in private.”

  Laura gave a little snort. “A fat lot of good that’ll do. You don’t talk things over with Texans. They bark and you start jumping or suffer the consequences. I should know. I’m sorry to say I was married to one.” She fixed Jake with a sour look. “Fortunately for my mental health it was brief. Very brief.”

  “Ah, jeez,” Jake muttered in disgust.

  “Just look at him,” Laura continued as though he hadn’t opened his mouth. “In case you failed to notice, this is one tough hombre. He’s more outlaw than savior. Why, I’ll bet the man eats nails for breakfast, shoe leather for dinner and bullets for between meal snacks.”

  “He hasn’t eaten a single bullet that I’m aware of,” Wynne retorted mildly. “Unless they were buried in the chocolate cake we had last night.”

  “They weren’t,” Jake reassured.

  “You know what I mean,” Laura snapped, glaring at him before returning her attention to Wynne. “He’ll make mincemeat out of you in no time. And what about the boys?”

  Wynne wrapped her arms around their shoulders, hugging them close. “What about them?”

  “What sort of influence will he be on Chick and Buster?”

  “A bad one,” Jake admitted.

  “Terrible,” Laura concurred. “I suggest an immediate annulment. We’ll find some other way to take care of Mrs. Marsh.”

  “Forget it.”

  “Not a chance.”

  Wynne smiled at her husband, pleased that they were in temporary accord. “There, you see?” she said. “He’s a man of his word. He promised to help me keep my inheritance and that’s what he’ll do. He’s just a little surprised at what it entailed.”

  “That’s the understatement of the century,” Jake said.

  “And how do you know that the minute Mrs. Marsh shows up, he won’t dump you like all the others?” Laura questioned sharply.

  “Because we made a deal.” Wynne’s voice reflected her absolute faith. “He has too much honor and integrity to leave me and the boys at the mercy of Mrs. Marsh. Right, Jake?”

  He shut his eyes and rubbed a spot between his brows with his thumb. “I knew I should have kept walkin’ the instant I saw her heading my way,” he muttered. “Why didn’t I?”

  Wynne smiled. “Because I needed you and you needed me.”

  “No.” Eyes as bright and golden as the midday sun seared her with unrelenting heat. “It’s because I let the wrong part of my anatomy do my thinking for me.”

  “Wynne…Get out of this marriage before it’s too late,” Laura pleaded.

  “I can’t.” Her gaze never left Jake’s. “If I leave him, he’ll lose his inheritance.”

  “So what? Let him. He’s strong. He’s tough. He can take care of himself.”

  “I’m sure he can,” Wynne admitted with a wry smile.

  “Then why go through with this?” Laura pressed. “Because you’re wrong, you know. He doesn’t need you. His sort doesn’t need anyone.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. He may not know it, but I have something he lacks, something he wants.”

  Laura groaned in frustration. “Open your eyes. Look at all you stand to lose if you go through with this. If you won’t do what’s best for yourself, then at least think about what’s best for the boys.”

  Wynne spared her friend a brief glance. “I am thinking of the boys,” she said gently. “In fact they’re my sole consideration. They need a man in their life, a role model, someone they can look up to and emulate. Someone who can protect them.” Her gaze swung back to Jake. “And that’s exactly what I’ve gotten.”

  He flinched as though she’d struck him. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Don’t I?” She came to a decision. “Laura, please take the children back to our room,” she instructed. “Jake and I need to discuss this privately. I’ll join you there as soon as I can.”

  Laura planted her hands on her hips. “And leave you alone with this…this Texan?” She shook her head. “Not a chance.”

  “There’s nothing he can do to me that hasn’t already been done.”

  “Don’t count on it,” Jake inserted.

  “What about us?” Buster asked, dropping into the conversation. “Is that man gonna be our uncle or what? Chick wants to know.”

  “And I’ll have an answer for Chick in a little while,” Wynne replied. “But first I need to talk to Jake.”

  Laura took a deep breath and slowly released it. “All right, Wynne. We’ll do it your way. The boys and I will go back to the room…on one condition.”

  “Which is?”

  “I want you to take a good, long look at Mr. Texan over there. You told me you were going to marry a Prince Charming.” She stabbed a finger in Jake’s direction. “Well, that’s not him. And if you give him half a chance, I’m sure he’ll prove it to you.” With that she grasped each boy by the hand and hustled them through the door, slamming it behind her.

  A tense silence descended, and Wynne took the opportunity to do as Laura had requested. She studied Jake curiously, wondering what qualities her friend had seen that had escaped her own discerning gaze.

  True, at first glance he was an intimidating man. His height and breadth alone might give some people pause, especially when combined with his strange golden eye—seyes that could change from arctic cold to broiling heat in the space of an instant. And she supposed that his shadowed jaw and rumpled hair gave him the appearance of a man more comfortable living outside the boundaries of convention. But where Laura saw a hard, ruthless Texan, Wynne saw a strong, determined protector.

  In fact the only difference she noticed since last night was the distrustful expression that now glittered in his eyes—a deep-seated wariness mixed with jaded cynicism. She recognized that look. Jake had had close and personal experience with bitter disappointment and expected to again in the near future.

  From her? she couldn’t help but wonder.

  He stood off to one side of the room, his jaw set at a combative angle, his body tensed in anticipation of a blow. It struck her as a customary stance for him, one he’d probably assumed with distressing frequency. He was demon-ridden, she sensed, battling both outer and inner conflicts. And it saddened her. Had he always been a loner, at odds with the world, forced to fight his way through life? Somehow she suspected he had.

  “Why would you be a bad influence on the boys?” she asked abruptly.

  “What?”

  She crossed to the bed and perched on the end of it. “Laura said you’d be a bad influence on Buster and Chick and you agreed with her. Why?”

  “Because I don’t know anything about kids or how to raise them.”

  “You were once a boy. Why can’t you—”

  “Take a page from what passed as my childhood?” Darkness descended on him. “You wouldn’t want that. Not when it comes to my fathering someone you cared about.”

  She regarded him curiously. “Would you hurt the boys?”

  “Not on purpose.�
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  “Then—”

  “That’s not the point.” He ran a hand through his hair, impatience edging his voice. “I attended that asinine party because I needed a temporary wife in order to gain control of my inheritance. To be brutally frank, I didn’t give a damn who I married so long as she’d stick with me until the terms of the will were fulfilled.”

  “No problem.”

  “Big problem,” he corrected. “You need a real husband. A full-time, forever type to give those kids a stable home. Well, I’m not it.”

  “You could be.”

  He shook his head in disgust. “Boy, are you barking up the wrong tree,” he muttered. Taking a deep breath, he fixed her with a stern, no-nonsense stare. “This isn’t some sort of fairy tale wedding, you know. There aren’t any happy endings waiting around the next bend in the road. If you’d been straight with me from the beginning, told me what your inheritance was, you’d have saved us both a lot of trouble.”

  “This may not be what you initially anticipated, but—”

  “It’s nothing like I anticipated,” he cut in. “I require a wife in my house—and my bed—for a brief stint. Period. End of relationship.”

  “And I’ve agreed to that,” she insisted doggedly.

  “Have you?” He ate up the distance separating them in two swift strides. Clasping her shoulders, he hauled her to her feet, looking every inch the menacing outlaw Laura had accused him of being. “I want a woman in my life for as long as necessary and then I want her gone. No complications. No regrets. And no future. When our time is through, I’m walking away and I won’t be looking back.”

  She nodded, her wide gaze glued to his. “You told me that already.”

  His mouth thinned. “But you weren’t listening, were you? You’ve had your head in the clouds for so long, you couldn’t find the ground if you landed on it face-first. And now I’m saddled with a wife who believes in fairy tales and a couple of kids in desperate need of a father.”

  “That’s what I’d have preferred,” she admitted, “but I’m willing to—”

  “To what?” he demanded. “Continue playing your little games after I take you home with me? What’s the plan now…to try to get me to agree to something more permanent over the next few months?”

  She didn’t dare admit the truth. Instead she gave a forlorn little shrug. “It doesn’t matter what I’d hoped, Jake. I realize now it was a foolish dream. We’ll do it your way.”

  “You’re damned right we will. But just to set the record straight…let’s hear the truth.” He grasped her chin and forced her to meet his eyes. “You deliberately kept silent about those kids. And you did it because you knew it would be too risky to explain their existence before that wedding band hit your finger. Have I missed anything?”

  Guilt swamped her. Her expression must have given her away because his eyes iced over. Why, oh why had she agreed to Laura’s stipulation? she wondered miserably. Judging by the look on Jake’s face, it had been a costly error. She took a deep breath. “Yes, I deliberately didn’t tell you about Buster and Chick. But I would have been up-front about it. At least, I would have if I hadn’t already lost three fiancés as a result of that sort of honesty.”

  His hands tightened, anger rippling across his countenance. “You didn’t tell me about those kids, because you accurately guessed that I’d never have married you. Then you wore that damned nightgown in an attempt to seduce me, knowing full well I’d do anything to have you. And once I’d had you, I’d be stuck with our bargain. Isn’t that right, my sweet little virgin?”

  She shook her head frantically, appalled by his reasoning. “No. That’s not true. You said you needed to consummate the marriage. I was just—”

  “Sacrificing yourself for the sake of the boys?” His mouth curled to one side. “How noble.”

  Tears gathered in her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall. “I’ve done everything you’ve requested. You warned me our marriage would only be temporary and I’ve agreed. You asked that we consummate the marriage and I did. What more do you want from me?”

  His gaze turned steamy. “It isn’t complicated. You figure it out,” he retorted.

  “I mean…does our marriage stand or not?” she asked bluntly.

  With a muttered exclamation, he released her. “I don’t have much choice. If I let you go, I lose everything. And I’m too close to winning to allow that to happen.” He crossed to the window and stared out at the landscape for endless moments before swinging around to face her. “Okay. The marriage stands. But fair warning. You deceived me once. Don’t let it happen again. You won’t like the consequences.”

  His threat barely impinged as she struggled to conceal her jubilation. “Fine,” she agreed. “And just so you know…I would have been frank about the boys if you’d asked.” She lifted her chin. “But you didn’t.”

  His eyes narrowed, reflecting his skepticism. “I guess we’ll never know for sure, will we?” He didn’t give her a chance to debate the issue. “Well, wife, what now? I can’t say this is a very auspicious beginning to our relationship.”

  Reluctantly Wynne allowed him to change the subject. Besides, what good would debating the point do? He’d never believe her. “All I have asked—and still do ask—is that you protect us from Mrs. Marsh.”

  He released a gusty sigh. “I’m supposed to slay your dragons, is that it?”

  Wynne nodded. “That’s it.”

  “Tell me about this Mrs. Marsh. Who is she?”

  “She’s the boys’ aunt, my brother-in-law’s sister.”

  “And you call her Mrs. Marsh?”

  “She discourages familiarity,” Wynne explained wryly. “And she has both the money and the power to indulge her preferences. Right now the preference she’s indulging is a powerful maternal streak, and she’s not happy that Tracy and Rob appointed me the boys’ guardian.”

  “How did they die?”

  “In a car crash.” Her expression turned somber. “Chick was with them when it happened. He hasn’t spoken since—except to Buster.”

  “Poor kid.” Sympathy intensified the grim lines bracketing his mouth. “What’s with the odd names? Or are they nicknames?”

  “Nicknames. Benjamin Curtis and Charles William, alias Buster and Chick. Buster is eight and Chick just turned five. They’re very close.”

  “I noticed. They never strayed more than a foot apart.” He hooked a thumb through his belt loop and eyed her intently. “You ever have them in for counseling?”

  She nodded. “Buster seems to have made quite a bit of progress, but Chick…Aside from the trauma of the accident, I think he’s also afraid Mrs. Marsh will get hold of them again.”

  “Again?”

  “She took care of them for several weeks right after the accident.”

  “Is she really that bad?”

  Wynne shrugged. “She means well, I suppose…But we have our differences. One problem is that I’ve been home-schooling them this year because they couldn’t bear to be separated. Mrs. Marsh objected. She feels the boys would be better off in a private school. It’s one her brother attended, but neither of them wants to go. Nor do I think it would be a smart choice right now. Plus, she’s…well, she’s rather strict.”

  “Strict isn’t bad.”

  Wynne sighed. “You’d have to meet her to understand.”

  “I gather she wants custody?”

  “Yes. After her brother died, she threatened to take me to court in order to keep the children. I’ve spent the last year doing everything I could to prevent that from happening.”

  “Not an easy task.”

  “No.” That one word spoke volumes. “Besides the issue of school, finances are tight. Rob and Tracy left some insurance money in trust for the boys.” Wynne made a face. “Mrs. Marsh had it frozen. Even if she hadn’t, I wouldn’t have wanted to dip into the money. Better it be saved for their education.”

  “But it’s made supporting them difficult,” he g
uessed. “I’ve managed.”

  “You’re working like a dog and are broke. Is that about the size of it?”

  He saw far too much, she realized uneasily. “Yes,” she admitted. “I’m afraid it is.”

  “So your solution is to marry?”

  She shot him a direct look. “I wasn’t after a meal ticket, if that’s what you’re suggesting. The reason for the marriage was Mrs. Marsh. If I have a husband, she no longer has grounds for going after the children.”

  “And without one?”

  “She has a case,” Wynne admitted grudgingly.

  He took a minute to absorb the information, then nodded. “Okay. If this marriage is going to work—even temporarily—we’ll both have to do our part. So…For the length of our association I’ll do my best to protect you and the boys from Mrs. Marsh.”

  “And I’ll uphold my end of the bargain, as well.”

  He cupped her face between callused hands. “This isn’t what I’d planned. You know that, don’t you?”

  She could hear the frustration underlining his quietly spoken question, the thread of anger he still hadn’t mastered. And yet his eyes revealed another emotion altogether, one of blatant desire—a potent, overwhelming need he seemed helpless to control. Her reaction followed swiftly. Warmth pooled in the pit of her stomach, spreading outward with each beat of her heart. A helpless lassitude paralyzed her limbs, holding her in place. Even if she’d wanted to, she couldn’t have pulled free of his grasp.

  “Jake…” she whispered.

  His laugh was half groan. “I know, elf. I know. I don’t understand it, either.”

  He nuzzled the curve of her throat, just below her ear and she gasped, her eyes falling closed. He hadn’t buttoned his shirt and she spread her hands across his chest, fanning her fingers through the generous mat of hair. Her palms tingled from the delicious abrasion as she followed the compact line of muscles from shoulder to abdomen. He felt wonderful, strong and hard and deliciously male.

  “You drive me crazy,” he muttered.

  Thrusting his hands beneath the bottom of her blouse, he skimmed the length of her spine until he found the fastening for her bra. With one quick flick, he unhooked it, freeing her breasts for a more thorough exploration. It was still too restrictive, the fitted blouse too great a barrier. He didn’t waste time unfastening the buttons, but simply yanked her top over her head, baring her to his heated gaze.