brides for brothers 04 - cowboy surrender by judy christenberry Page A

feel utterly outdated by saying this, but Mildred wants to be sure I have a man to take care of me before she’ll marry Red.”
    Mentioning marriage in the same sentence with him made Jake nervous. He stepped back. “What do you mean, sure? Are you asking me to marry you?”
    He hadn’t meant to sound as if that prospect ranked lower than being bucked off a bronco onto sharp rocks. But he must’ve. Her cheeks whitened, and she abruptly slid back into the truck. He grabbed the door before she could slam it shut.
    “Wait! I’m sorry, B.J. I didn’t mean to—”
    “Turn loose!” She tugged on the door, and he instantly remembered how hard she had hit him last night.
    He managed to slip his body between her and the door. “No fair running off without finishing our discussion.”
    When she realized she couldn’t budge him, she stared straight ahead, her hands gripping the steering wheel.
    “I just wanted to be clear on what you were asking,” he said, watching her closely.
    With her jaw unclenched just enough to form words, she muttered, “I wanted you to pretend we were serious about—about each other until Red and Mildred get married. Once they’re legally tied, we can have a fight—which shouldn’t be difficult to arrange—and break it off.”
    He should have felt relief. He did, he assured himself. She wasn’t setting a trap for him. She didn’t want marriage any more than he did. It was all pretense.
    “Okay.”
    His brief answer didn’t seem to have an effect on her. She continued to stare straight ahead over the steering wheel.
    “Well?” he said, hoping for some reaction. “Is that all you wanted?”
    “Yes, that’s all I wanted. Thank you.”
    She didn’t sound grateful. In fact, she sounded as though she’d prefer to rub his face in the mud of a pigpen. Hell, he was taking a risk just for her. She ought to at least appreciate it!
    He remembered that he’d asked her to take the same risk last night without giving her much of an option. But that wasn’t the point.
    “So you can move now,” she ordered, anger still lacing her words.
    “Not quite yet” He might as well get some pleasure out of their agreement, especially since he wasn’t getting any appreciation. Without any warning, he reached inside the truck, grabbed her by her jacket collar and pulled her from the truck into his arms.
    Then his lips did what they’d been wanting to do ever since she arrived. They covered hers, molding her flesh to his, tasting her sweetness. In spite of her anger, her mouth opened to his, welcomed his tongue as he entered, joined in their mating. Her arms encircled his head, her fingers weaving through his hair, knocking his cowboy hat to the ground.
    She was wearing those sexy jeans again, and his hands cupped her bottom, pulling her tightly to him, feeling her breasts against his chest. He wanted her naked, wanted to forget everything but her.
    But the cheering in the distance brought both of them back to reality. They broke apart simultaneously. Her face was red, and she hid it on his chest.
    “I forgot about our audience,” he muttered.
    “We—we don’t need to get so realistic in our pretense in the future,” she returned, raising her gaze to his. “Kissing isn’t a good idea.”
    “You weren’t objecting a minute ago.”
    “Well, I’m objecting now.” This time when she got into the cab of the truck, he stepped back and she slammed the door.
    Then she rolled down the window. “Promise you won’t tell anyone what we’re doing. Please.”
    “No one?”
    “No one.”
    He shrugged his shoulders. “Okay, I promise.”
    She stared at him intently, and his shoulders stiffened. Was she questioning his word? But all she did was nod and throw the truck into reverse.
    He watched her drive away, reliving the kiss as he did so. The cool October wind interrupted his pleasure and reminded him that his hat was missing. When he found it on the ground, it had been pancaked by B.J.’s