The Best Bride. Сьюзен Мэллери

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СКАЧАТЬ he was hard. He didn’t have to fully form the memory of what she’d done before he was ready to have her do it again and again. He figured he’d get tired of looking at her and making love with her in about fifty years. That thought scared the hell of out of him.

      Slowly he slipped out of bed, being careful not to disturb her. He picked up his jeans and stepped into the hallway. After closing the door softly behind him, he pulled on his jeans and buttoned the fly.

      He checked to make sure Mandy was sleeping soundly, then picked up her bear off the floor and set it on her pillow. Finally he made his way downstairs. Louise took care of the grocery shopping and kept him stocked with all the essentials. He reached in the back of the refrigerator for a bottle of beer and twisted off the top.

      The cold liquid went down easily. Not bothering to turn on any lights, he walked into the family room and settled on the sofa. The leather was cool against his bare back. He shifted to get comfortable, then relaxed and closed his eyes.

      A bigamist. He would never have guessed that one. It was hard to believe something like that had happened to someone as sweet as Elizabeth. It wasn’t right. His hand tightened around the beer bottle as if the slick glass were Sam Proctor’s neck.

      She’d mentioned that her ex-husband—former husband, or whatever the hell he was to her—was still serving time in prison. Travis was glad. He hoped the bastard never got out. The anger inside of him simmered down to a slow burn, tempered by the question of what he was supposed to do now. Elizabeth had obviously been embarrassed when she’d told him the truth. He’d hated doing that to her. He’d tried to get her to stop talking, but she’d continued on as if finally telling someone about her past was the ultimate act of absolution.

      He’d hated knowing she was uncomfortable around him. Had their lovemaking made it better or worse? He shook his head and took another swallow. The knot in his gut told him it was all about to get worse. Damn. He should have handled it better. He shouldn’t have kissed her in the first place, or he should have tried harder to get out of making love with her.

      He grinned mockingly. Oh, yeah, Haynes. Get out of it. As if making love with Elizabeth had been some irritating charity work instead of the most incredibly intimate, erotic act of his sorry life.

      He rubbed his hand over his face, then scratched his chin. None of this was helping him answer the most important question. Now what? What did he do with the truth, and what about what happened between them last night?

      Okay, knowing the truth. That was easy. Elizabeth would want it kept quiet. That wasn’t hard to figure out. He just wouldn’t tell a soul. He sat up straight and swore.

      “Kyle.” He’d asked his brother to run a check on Sam Proctor. Damn. He knew exactly what his deputy was going to find out. He would have to have a talk with Kyle and tell him to keep the information to himself.

      The knot in his stomach tightened. He’d felt like slime when he’d asked his brother to run the check. He should have listened to that feeling.

      A bigamist. It boggled his mind. He smiled suddenly, his mood lightening as he remembered what Mandy had said about her father. He’d had to leave because he was big. The kid almost had it right, he thought, draining the beer and setting the bottle on the coffee table in front of him.

      His smile faded. Where did they go from here? Despite his stellar reputation, he wasn’t the casual sex, one-nightstand kind of guy. He’d had enough of that at college. He generally held back physically until there was an emotional connection. He knew nothing was going to last forever, but he’d never played fast and loose with a woman before. Elizabeth didn’t strike him as overly experienced. With his luck, she’d only ever been with one man—Sam. Which meant she was going to be hating life and him come morning. Would she expect something of him? A commitment of some kind?

      It wasn’t, he realized with bone-chilling shock, a horrible idea. He liked Elizabeth, he adored Mandy. They got along well and—

      Slow down, boy, he told himself. Nothing was going to happen between him and Elizabeth. Last night was a…a… He hated to use the word mistake. It hadn’t been a mistake for him. Last night had been an unusual circumstance. They’d both needed each other. But there wasn’t going to be anything permanent between them. He didn’t have what it took to make that kind of relationship work. Even if he did, Elizabeth had made it clear she wasn’t interested in getting involved with him or any man. After what Sam had done, he almost couldn’t blame her.

      In a week her medical restrictions would lift. She would be driving, and leaving him for her own place. If they both tried, they could put last night in its proper place and stay friends. It’s really all he wanted.

      The sounds of the night crowded in around him. The cool air made him shiver. He told himself to go back to his bed, to snuggle against Elizabeth’s warm naked body and savor the moments while he had them. But he couldn’t. Not yet. Not when he’d finally realized how hard it was going to be to let her go.

      * * *

      “It’s a fumble on the twenty-yard line. Dallas recovers and runs it in for a touchdown. San Francisco is now down by fourteen points.”

      Travis groaned and reached for the remote. He hit the mute button and sank back against the couch. Mandy looked up from her place on the floor where she was working on a jigsaw puzzle.

      “Is your team doing bad, Travis?” she asked.

      “They’re getting their fannies kicked.”

      “Really?” She glanced toward the TV screen. “I don’t see anyone kicking fannies.”

      He chuckled. “Hopefully it won’t happen again.”

      She abandoned her puzzle and climbed into his lap. “I’ll make you feel better,” she said and gave him a hug. “They’re magic, just like yours.”

      He hugged her back. “I do feel better. Thanks.” He pointed at the puzzle. “What is it going to be?”

      “A dog.” She pursed her lips together. “Mommy says there’s bunnies at our house and I can see them when we get there, but I was thinking maybe I could have a puppy instead. Do you think Mommy would like a puppy?”

      “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask her.”

      She wrinkled her nose. “Maybe later. She’s cooking, and if you ask her stuff now, she usually says no.”

      He’d heard the pots rattling in the kitchen and had decided to stay clear himself. He was giving Elizabeth time to recover from what happened between them last night. “You’re a very smart girl.”

      “I know.”

      Her smile took a direct line to his heart. She wore sweatpants and a matching sweatshirt in bright pink with a redheaded mermaid on the front. Her pale blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail and her bangs hung almost to her eyebrows. She was going to be a heartbreaker in a few years; when she left with her mother at the end of the week, she was going to break his heart.

      Elizabeth walked into the room. She stared at a point above and to the left of his head. “Mandy, there are still a few flowers left in the garden. Why don’t you pick some for the table?”

      “Okay.” The little girl slid off his lap and grinned. “I get to pick flowers.”

      “I СКАЧАТЬ