Brazen (13 page)

"You will be living together," Elizabeth went on, unfazed by their discomfort. "The question is, where? I'm
sure you won't want to stay with us or with Jack."

"No," Michael answered before Casey could reply.
"We've got time enough to build a house."

"But I have to be close to the Bar T," Casey insisted.

"And I want to be close to the Circle D," he returned.

"Why don't you build on the hill overlooking the river?"
Frank suggested.

"Good idea. You'd be right there on the property line,"
Jack added. "That way you wouldn't be too far from either
one of us."

"That's settled, then," Frank said, not waiting for any
more discussion.

"And Foster?" Jack demanded.

"I told you. I'll pay off your loan after the wedding."

"You want everything signed, sealed and delivered
first."

"That's right."

They eyed each other again. There was a tentative
peace between them, but it was an uneasy one; old hatreds were hard to put aside.

"I guess that's all we have to discuss today," Frank said,
satisfied with the way things had turned out.

Jack and Casey got up to leave.

"I do need to talk with you about the wedding plans,"
Elizabeth said to Cassandra as she showed them from the
room. "Do you want to go with me to speak with Reverend Harris?"

Casey was nervous at the prospect, but agreed.

"Good. I'll send a note to Reverend Harris and ask
when he can meet with us. I'll let you know as soon as I
hear back from him."

"Fine."

They had just reached the front door when Michael
came out of the parlor behind them.

"Casey"

She stopped and looked back to see him coming toward her. Her father and Mrs. Donovan went outside to
give them a moment of privacy.

"We need to talk," Michael said in a serious tone.

"Yes, we do."

"Can you meet me later?"

"Where?"

"At the river?"

"All right." She agreed to the rendezvous for she knew
they had a few things to say to each other that could only
be said in private.

Michael walked with her out to the buckboard. He
started to help her up, but she shrugged off his touch.

"I don't need any help." Casey climbed easily up to sit
next to her father.

Elizabeth saw the exchange between them and knew
she had some work to do to turn Cassandra into a lady.
It was going to be a challenge.

"We'll be in touch," Jack said as he took up the reins.

Elizabeth and Michael stood together watching as they
drove away.

It was late afternoon when Casey reached the rendezvous
spot to find Michael already there, waiting for her.

When Michael saw her riding in, he went to meet her.

"Did you have any trouble getting away?" he asked as
she reined in before him.

"No. I just told Pa the truth. There was no point in lying
about it." She dismounted and tied up her horse. "He
understood when I told him we needed to talk a few
things out."

"That we do," he agreed.

"So talk," Casey urged, walking along with him to stand
in the shade on the bank. The thought that in four short
weeks Michael was going to be her husband was intimidating, and she needed to clear the air between them
right now. She wanted to make sure they understood
each other from the start.

"My mother's comments aside, you and I both know
this upcoming `marriage' of ours is strictly business," Michael began. "We're only going through with it because
we have no other choice."

Michael was blunt, Casey gave him credit for that.

"That's true," she agreed. "And speaking of your
mother's comments, there is one thing we definitely
should get straight between us."

"What's that?"

"We may have to live together, but that's all we're going
to do."

"You're saying you want a marriage in name only?"
Michael looked at her skeptically. For some reason, her
suggestion bothered him. Not that he had wanted to have
an intimate relationship with her far from it. He had
never been fond of Casey, and he wanted very little to do
with her. Her outright refusal to even consider that kind
of relationship with him, though, was a slap in the face.
It almost seemed like a challenge to him.

"Are you saying you don't?" she asked, suddenly nervous that he would be expecting more from her than she
was willing to give.

"No," he answered quickly, wanting to strike that
thought from her mind. "This kind of arrangement will be
fine with me."

"Then we understand each other?"

"Perfectly."

"You want to shake on it, like our fathers did?"

"Why not?"

"I'm glad we got this settled between us."

Casey faced him and extended her hand, ready to seal
the deal. She was relieved that Michael had proven so
agreeable to her terms. When his hand engulfed hers, she
was surprised at the warmth and strength of his touch.
She shook his hand firmly, then tried to draw away, but
Michael held on to her, refusing to release her.

"We may have settled this deal, but not everything is
settled between us," he told her in a low voice.

"What are you talking about?" Her eyes widened as she
looked up at him. She thought she'd heard a bit of a threat
in his tone.

"I still owe you for our little run-in here."

"You wouldn't."

"Oh, yes, I would."

Before Casey could react, Michael made his move. He
was a strong man and he picked her up with ease.

"What are you going to do?" she demanded as she
found herself helplessly crushed against his chest, unable
to move. Her heart began to race at this close physical
contact, and she looked up at him, her eyes wide and
uncertain.

For just an instant, Michael paused. The feel of her soft
curves so tight against him was unsettling. He had never
thought of Casey as having a womanly figure, but he'd
just found out different. He hesitated, staring down at her
for a moment, before the temptation to exact his revenge
overpowered him. He tossed Casey bodily into the water.

She came up sputtering and coughing in outrage at
being so manhandled.

"Why, you-!"

Michael stood on the bank laughing at her. "It's not so
funny when you're on the receiving end, is it, my dear?"

Casey glared up at him as she stood in waist-deep water, dripping wet. "Are you happy now?"

"Very." He grinned in satisfaction. "Want me to help
you climb out?"

"No. I want you to just leave me alone," she snarled,
starting to wade out of the river. Never one to give up
without a fight, she smiled as an idea came to her. She
started to climb up the bank and then pretended to slip
and lose her footing.

Michael had been watching her, and he reacted automatically, going to her aid when he thought she might
fall.

His reaction was just what Casey had been hoping for.

This time she pretended to appreciate his help. She
took the helping hand he offered, but instead of allowing
him to pull her up, she yanked him forward with all her
might, hoping to catch him off balance on the slippery
bank.

Her plan worked.

Michael realized immediately he'd made a serious mistake in trusting her, but it was too late. He slipped and
fell forward, landing with a splash right beside her in the
water.

"Gotcha!" Casey was howling with delight and feeling
quite proud of herself for having gotten even with Michael
so quickly.

"Oh, yeah?"

Casey knew a sudden moment of uncertainty. She turned and tried to flee, but the water slowed her escape.

Michael lunged at her and snared her around the waist.
He dragged her backwards and dunked her.

Casey fought to free herself, flailing away at him, but
her efforts proved futile. Michael Donovan was one strong
man.

They were both laughing as Michael got to his feet,
taking her with him. He held her tight, her back to his
chest, and controlled her with ease.

"Take it easy, there. Calm down, little lady," he taunted,
grinning at her pitiful attempts to escape him.

"Little lady?" she echoed. "I'm no lady!"

"Don't I know it," Michael returned, still laughing as he
let her go.

"Oh, you-"

She spun around to face him, and in that moment as
she stood there before him, Michael caught a glimpse of
the woman she could be. Her hair had come loose and
was a tumble of dark, wet curls around her face and
shoulders, and her shirt clung to her like a second skin,
revealing the outline of her full breasts beneath the sodden fabric.

Michael reacted as any normal, red-blooded male
would when faced with such a situation. He enjoyed the
view and reached out for her. Without saying another
word, he dragged Casey into his arms and kissed her.

The touch of his lips on hers sent a jolt of sensual
awareness through Casey, unlike anything she'd ever
known before. She knew she should resist him, but right then, she wasn't really certain she wanted to move out of
his arms.

Michael hadn't expected to enjoy Casey's kiss. The kiss
had strictly been on impulse, but it was an impulse he
was glad he'd given in to. Her response surprised him,
and he deepened the embrace, tasting of her sweetness.

Casey shivered as his mouth moved over hers in a dominating caress that left her breathless.

And then reality returned.

It didn't matter that he had made her laugh

It didn't matter that his kiss was exciting

This was Michael Donovan!

The thought was like ice water thrown on her.

Casey jerked away from Michael and stomped up the
riverbank, desperate to put some distance between them.
She needed to be thinking straight when she dealt with
him, and she definitely wasn't thinking straight while he
was kissing her. She was mad at herself for having enjoyed
being in his arms, even if only for a minute.

"Oooh you stay away from me, Michael Donovan!"
she ordered, scrubbing at her lips with the back of her
wet shirt sleeve. "Kissing is not part of our deal!"

"You're right. It's not," he agreed easily as he, too,
climbed out of the water. "Pardon me for being so
thoughtless. You don't have to worry, though. For a minute there, I mistook you for a girl, but it won't happen
again."

"Good! Hey, wait a minute." Casey knew she'd been
insulted.

Michael ignored her and walked past her to get to his
horse.

"I'll be in touch," he told her easily as he swung up into
the saddle.

Casey was too upset even to look his way as he rode
off. She couldn't decide if she was more angry at Michael
or herself. She'd told Michael theirs was to be a marriage
in name only, and then he'd gone and kissed her! She
was going to have to make sure that it never happened
again.

Upset and swearing under her breath, she mounted up
and headed home. She wondered what the future held
for her as Michael's wife. The thought sent a shiver
through her.

Nick was down at the stable working with Tom when
Michael rode in. The two men took one look at him and
started chuckling.

"How did your meeting down at the river with Casey
go?" Nick asked.

"Better than the last time he ran into her there," Tom
said, grinning broadly. "At least this time she let him keep
his clothes."

"You two are real funny," Michael told them as he dismounted and tended to his horse.

"What happened?" Nick wondered.

"I slipped."

"I wish I'd been there to see it," Tom added.

"How's Casey?" Nick asked. "Is she just as wet as you
are?"

"She's wetter."

Tom and Nick laughed again as Michael headed up to
the house. He was more than eager to get out of his wet
clothes.

"Michael?" Elizabeth had seen him ride in earlier, and
she called out to him when she heard him come in the
house. "I need to talk to you when you get a moment."

She stepped into the main hall as he was hurrying up
the steps, and her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of
him.

"What happened?"

"I went for a swim."

"I thought you were meeting Casey."

"I did," he answered. "I'll be back down after I change."

"All right. I'll be in the parlor." Elizabeth was smiling to
herself as she watched him go.

At least this time he'd come home with his clothes on.

Her smile broadened, but she knew better than to say
anything to him.

Michael made short work of changing, then went back
downstairs to seek out his mother.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"No, nothing is wrong. I wanted to give you this." She
got up and went to him, holding out a small jewelry box.

"What is it?"

"Open it and see."

He did as she'd directed and found his grandmother's
diamond engagement ring in the box.

"It's for Cassandra. I think it's only appropriate she
should have it."