The Texas Wildcatter's Baby. Cathy Thacker Gillen

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СКАЧАТЬ she pressed her lips to his.

      He held her face in his hands. “You are so beautiful.”

      When he kissed her and touched her like that, she felt beautiful, inside and out. Thrilling at his touch, eager to explore his body, too, she undid the remaining buttons and spread the edges of his shirt. His smooth skin was delineated with hard ridges of muscle. Beneath her questing fingers, she could feel the slow, fierce beating of his heart. The tantalizing traces of his aftershave mingled with the clean fragrance of soap and the more masculine scent unique to him. Needing, wanting, she tangled her fingers in his hair, shimmied up against him, closer yet. “You’re breathtakingly gorgeous, too.”

      He laughed softly, his demeanor wickedly sensual, his eyes dark with desire. “I’m glad you think so,” he murmured, “because at least for the time being, you’re stuck with me.”

      That, she was, Ginger thought as he kissed her again, his lips warm and sure as his work-roughened palms slid over her, bypassing the barriers of satin and lace. Her nipples beaded against his palms. Lower still, moisture flowed. She trembled as he disrobed her, piece by tantalizing piece, kissing her slowly and seductively all the while.

      Anxious for more, she undressed him, too. Kneading, stroking, caressing. And only when she was writhing with passion, did he lower her to the bed and stretch out beside her.

      Ginger’s eyes drifted shut as Rand parted her thighs and moved between them, creating ripples of yearning. She caught her breath as the sensations spread and pleasure flooded her in hot, irresistible waves, filling her with sensations unlike any she had ever known, and then there was no more holding back. He cupped her bottom and lifted her toward him, and took her slowly, sweetly.

      Emotion overwhelming her, she wrapped her arms and legs around him, urging him on, taking him deeper and deeper. She gave him everything. He demanded more, as did she. And then there was nothing but the intense power of their connection that had them soaring, free, together, once again.

      * * *

      RAND FELT GINGER’S regret in the slight stiffening of her body, the way he always did as their passion ebbed and their breathing slowed. He wasn’t surprised when she extricated herself and slipped from the bed.

      The bathroom door shut softly behind her.

      He lay there, listening to the water run, and then all fell silent. He supposed she was using the time to get herself together. He couldn’t blame her. It had been one heck of a day, full of surprises. But in the end, they had achieved their goal, gotten married, and in the process, miraculously received the blessings of their families. Had this been a real marriage, they would have been over the moon with happiness.

      But because this wasn’t the usual union, they had to deal with that, and somehow find a way to make it all work.

      Figuring she’d been hiding out long enough, Rand got out of bed, pulled on his boxer briefs and walked across the suite. He rapped on the door. “Ginger?”

      No answer.

      “You okay in there?”

      Again, no answer.

      Beginning to panic a little, he eased open the door. Ginger was wrapped in a thick white spa robe and seated on the plush stool. She had one arm on the marble vanity in front of her. Her head was nestled in the crook of her elbow and turned toward him. Her breathing was soft and even. As he neared her, he saw the tears dampening her cheeks.

      He touched her shoulder. “Ginger...”

      She shifted, sinking ever deeper into slumber, and mumbled something incoherent.

      Whether she accepted it or not, she needed to be in bed. Rand said her name once more, and when she did not wake, lifted her in his arms. He carried her to the bed and put her gently down, then walked around to the other side and slid in beside her.

      Clearly she had her regrets. Suddenly he did, too. But he gathered her close anyway and wrapped his arms around her.

      * * *

      “YOU’RE SURE YOU want to do this today?” Rand asked the following afternoon.

      They’d been on the go since early morning, managing not to talk about anything that had happened the day before, or how their wedding night had ended, at least for Ginger—in private tears and exhausted sleep. Rand, on the other hand, had lain awake most of the night, wondering how they were going to make this all work.

      And not just in the public eye.

      “I thought I’d made it clear that I do.” Ginger’s determination increased tenfold as his pickup approached Summit’s historic downtown.

      The four-and-a-half-hour drive from Lake Laramie to the Trans-Pecos area of Texas had done nothing but energize her. “We need to get this postnuptial agreement done.”

      Rand noted the vulnerability she had showed the day before had all but disappeared. And although he respected her strength, he resented the emotional distance she put between them every chance she got. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

      “Agreed.”

      “But?”

      He kept his eyes on the Main Street traffic. “I think it could wait until next week. Especially since it’s just a formality.”

      Ginger adjusted her sunglasses on the bridge of her nose. “I never put off to tomorrow what can be done today.”

      Wasn’t that the truth? Rand thought, parking the truck.

      The two of them entered the brick building that housed Michelle Anderson-Garner’s law office. The family law attorney, a willowy blonde in her late thirties, was waiting for them.

      She took a seat opposite them in the conference room, and handed each a stack of forms and a pen.

      “For this postnuptial agreement to be honored under Texas law, there must first be a full and fair disclosure of property and other financial aspects of each of your estates,” she began. “So, basically, I need a detailed list of every asset and every debt each of you has, as well as any you may have accrued together. We can even go over who gets custody of the family pet, if you have one.”

      “What about kids?” Rand asked.

      “Children are not covered under a prenuptual or postnuptial. Those issues are decided in family court.”

      “Can other issues be included in the postnup?” Ginger queried.

      Michelle paused. “Such as?”

      “Rand and I have agreed to run our marriage like a business.”

      “Okay...”

      Ginger sat forward. “So I—we—were thinking of drawing up either a contract or bylaws that would detail how we are going to handle everything else.”

      Since when? Rand wondered, taken aback.

      “That way,” Ginger continued, “we wouldn’t have to fight about things unnecessarily. We would already know how and where we’re going to live, and so on.”

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