Bachelor Auction (39 page)

“Did I?” When she wouldn’t answer, he framed

her face in his hands and tipped her head back.

“What if I said you were the one who won? You got

what you wanted and proved I was no different than

any other man you’ve known.”

Charlotte grabbed his wrists. She couldn’t let

him believe she thought that of him any longer. “But

you are. You’re a good man, Marcus. You’re honest,

loyal, devoted to those you care about.” She was

rambling, but now that the words were coming, she

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couldn’t stop them. “I’ve never allowed myself to look

for those qualities in a man because I didn’t believe

I’d find them. But you made me want to see them.

You made me want things I never thought I could

have—commitment, marriage, children. You made

me want
you
. I fell in love with you.”

She blanched as the words left her lips. Her

throat constricted. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said

that.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to complicate things any more than

they already are.”

He brushed the tears from her cheeks with the

pads of his thumbs. “You mean with Natalie?”

“Yes. She suspects something happened but

from all she said, I think she’s willing to overlook it.

You can still work things out.”

“Charlotte, baby, there never was and never will

be anything between me and Natalie. It was a

teenage girl’s infatuation and my own stupidity in

not dealing with her sooner. She told me why you

left the church after I asked you to wait. I hate that

she said those things to you, but even more I hate

that you believed them.”

He lowered his hands to her shoulders and

pulled her closer until she was flush against his

chest. “Yes, I’ve been out to the ranch a lot lately.

But only to work off my frustration. I’ve mucked out

more stalls in the last two weeks than I have in my

whole adult life. There are three hundred yards of

new barbed wire fencing and seventeen horses with

a brand new set of shoes. If Nat was around, I didn’t

notice. I was too busy missing you.”

The pain in his dark eyes testified he spoke the

truth, and for a fraction of a second she let herself

rejoice. He missed her. Most importantly, he wasn’t

in love with Natalie. Snow White had lied about

everything.

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Darah Lace

Well, not everything.

Marcus might have missed her, might even have

feelings beyond the attraction they shared. But that

didn’t change who she was. Or who she had been.

Either way, her past was still her past. She shook

her head to ward off the need to forget her doubts

and reach for the happy ending. “Even so, I’m not

the right woman for you. I’m not—”

He placed a finger over her lips. “Good enough?

Charlotte Reese,
you
are the only woman for me, the

only one I want. I don’t care if you wear your clothes

too short or too low or too tight because no matter

what you wear, you make it look good. And I don’t

care if you’ve slept with the every man in Houston,

which you would no doubt have me believe, though I

wouldn’t for a minute so don’t even try. As long as

I’m the one you sleep with every night from here on

out.”

“What are you saying?”

“I love you, Charlotte.” His lips brushed hers so

tenderly it made fresh tears burn her eyes. Then he

pulled back. “Will that be enough? Will you trust me

to love you forever? I will, you know, whether you’ll

have me or not.”

From the time she’d come to understand her

parents’ relationship, she’d hidden behind the

pretense of fast and loose, afraid to let a man near

enough to hurt her, determined never to let him

control her the way her father did her mother. And

yet, her actions of defiance had given the very man

who had caused her distrust more control than if

she’d simply lain down and let him walk all over her.

It had taken Marcus’s persistence in Aspen to

make her see that. She’d thought it was too late, and

she was still afraid, but for the first time in her life

she felt free to embrace love and all that came with

it.

“I’ll have you,” she said, sniffling.

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Bachelor Auction

A grin split his face. “Good, because from now

on, you can have me any way you want me. I’m not

fighting it ever again.”

Charlotte winced. “I really am sorry about that.”

“I’m not. Making love to you is just that.

Another way to show you how much I love you.” He

nibbled her lower lip. “I’d like to spend the rest of my

life showing you.”

She looped her arms around his neck. “That

could be arranged.”

“Really? Then I should warn you.” He lowered

his voice. “I’ve got some scarves at home with your

name on them.”

“Such a control freak,” she teased even as

excitement pulsed through her veins at the thought

of being tied to his bed. Releasing an exaggerated

sigh, she toyed with the hair at the back of his neck.

“Just one of the many things I love about you.”

“I thought you hated it.”

“Maybe I just like making you lose control.”

A low groan vibrated against her lips as he

kissed her, showing her as he’d said he would how

much he loved her. Applause erupted at the other

end of the short hallway, and Charlotte pulled back

just in time to see one of the nurses herding the kids

back inside the game room.

Sarah wrapped an arm around Amy. “See, our

Charliss cured Marcocius.”

Amy shook her head. “I knew all along Marcus

wasn’t a beast.”

“What about you?” Marcus asked, drawing

Charlotte’s attention from the disappearing children.

“You think I’m still a beast?”

She thought about the scarves and smiled. “I’m

counting on it.”

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Darah Lace

About the Author

Barbie was Darah’s first heroine--Ken, the ever

faithful hero. The three of them spent hours

enacting dramatic scenes from stories in Darah’s

head. She hated to let them go, but time can’t be

stop and real life called, along with real boyfriends.

It was time to grow up

It wasn't until her last child came along that she

decided reading just wasn't enough to satisfy her

need for a romance. She needed to write it. In 1999,

she gave birth to my first novel,
Under One

Condition
, a very, very long historical that will never

see the light of day.

She lives in Texas with her husband and three

children. She enjoys a crackling fire in the fireplace,

a bar of chocolate now and then, and of course, the

company of good friends.

Visit Darah's website at www.darahlace.com

Contact Darah at [email protected]

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