Brazen (21 page)

"When can I ride over and take a look around?"

"Any time you want. Why don't you come tomorrow?"

"1 can do that. I'm anxious to see what you've done."

"I'm sure it could use a woman's touch."

"That's right. If I know men, you'll need all the help you
can get with this, and it is going to be our house," she
pointed out.

"Yes, it is, isn't it?"

Michael looked at Casey again as if seeing her for the
first time.

Soon they would really be married.

They would be living together.

The enormity of it struck him.

This beautiful woman sitting with him beside the river
was really going be his wife.

But in name only, he reminded himself.

Then his gaze dropped to her lips, and any thoughts of
in name only were lost.

Unable to resist the temptation, he bent ever so slowly
toward her in a very nonthreatening way, and then he
kissed her.

It was a gentle kiss, a tender kiss.

Or at least it started out that way.

Michael hadn't meant for it to be more, but when he
slipped his arms around her and drew her near, an arc of
pure sensual awareness ignited between them. The power
of it caught him unawares. He struggled to control his
reaction to her, and he managed until Casey gave a
small sigh that sounded like a moan of pure pleasure.

Suddenly desperate for more, Michael deepened the
kiss. His mouth slanted over hers. He parted her lips and
tasted of her sweetness. Drawing her even closer, he enjoyed the feel of her soft body melding to his as they lay
back on the sweet bed of grass.

At the first touch of his lips, Casey had warned herself
that this was Michael. She'd told herself they had an
agreement. But as his lips had continued to plunder hers,
nothing mattered except the unexpected thrill of being in
his embrace. And when he'd lain her back upon the soft
bed of grass, she lifted her arms around his neck and drew
him down even closer.

Her unspoken encouragement urged Michael on.
Caught up in the delight of being near her, he boldly
caressed the sweet curve of her breast.

Casey had never known such intimacy. Her breath
caught in her throat. Desire shivered through her and
this time she knew she wasn't shivering from being wet,
like the last time at the river. Michael's caresses aroused feelings in her that left her wanting no, needing more.
A deep and hungry ache grew within the womanly heart
of her. Driven by that urge, she shifted her hips instinctively against him.

The movement of her hips against his was enticing. Primal desire urged Michael on. He pressed hot kisses to her
throat as he freed the buttons on her shirt. His lips followed the path his hands explored, caressing the creamy
tops of her breasts.

Delight trembled through Casey as Michael worked his
magic upon her willing flesh. She had never been so intimate with a man before, and though she was nervous,
she was also caught up in the splendor of his touch. It
was pure ecstasy, being in his arms.

"Oh, Michael-" His name was a passionate whisper.

The sound of her voice jarred the last fragment of sanity
that remained within Michael.

Somehow he summoned enough willpower to stop before things went any further.

Fearing if he didn't do it immediately he would never
be able to, Michael shifted abruptly away from Casey. He
sat far enough from her to make sure there was no physical contact between them. Tension was etched in every
line of his body as he stared out across the river. He deliberately did not glance her way. He feared if he took
one look at Casey, he would haul her back into his arms,
and he couldn't risk that. He remained immobile, frozen
in body and soul.

Casey was stunned first by her own unexpected re action to Michael's kiss and caress, and now by his complete and utter rejection of her.

A deep sense of shame filled her.

It had been foolish to think for even a moment that
there was any real attraction between them. It was obvious from the way Michael was acting, looking so angry
and disgusted, that he wanted absolutely nothing to do
with her. She wasn't even sure how the whole thing had
started, but she was sorry. They had actually been getting
along for a moment, and now...

"I'm sorry," she muttered, getting nervously to her feet.
She felt awkward and unsure of herself, and that was unusual for her.

"So am I," Michael answered tersely, still not looking
her way. "It won't happen again."

Casey's humiliation ran deep. She took his words as a
complete rejection of her. She didn't know how she could
have been so weak-willed as to allow that kiss to happen,
but she was going to have to make sure it never happened
again.

From now on, Casey decided, she would keep her distance from him. She could not let him know that his embrace had thrilled her, when it was obvious he had no
interest in her at all. He'd agreed to their marriage to get
control of the water for the Circle D.Other than that, she
meant nothing to him, and she never would.

Not knowing what else to do, Casey started to walk
toward her horse.

"You're leaving?" Michael asked, still not looking her
way.

"Yes."

"I'll see you tomorrow at the house."

Casey said no more. There was no point.

She mounted up and rode away. She did not look back.

Michael waited for some time before deciding to leave
as well. He was proud that he had been able to stop himself, but he wondered at the unexpected passion that had
erupted between them.

He and Casey had agreed their relationship would be
in name only. They had both been satisfied with the idea
that they would not be intimate with one another.

Yet her kiss had aroused him like no other woman's
ever had.

Michael wasn't sure what to do. This was Casey he was
dealing with.

She had always meant trouble for him and it looked
as if that wasn't going to change.

"How did your visit with Cassandra go?" Elizabeth asked
Michael when he returned home.

Michael had known she would ask, so he'd practiced
several different answers on the ride back to the house.

"Fine." He kept his tone light. "She was glad Pa liked
the wheelchair."

"Despite her roughness, Cassandra is a very sweet
young woman," Elizabeth began, singing her praises.

As she was speaking, Michael thought about just how
sweet Casey was her kiss her touch the feel of her
in his arms.

"Yes yes, she is sweet," he said, jerking his thoughts
away from that all-too-dangerous memory.

"You do plan to spend more time with her, don't you?"

"Don't worry. We're seeing each other again tomorrow.

She said she'd come to the building site and take a look
at how we're coming along."

Elizabeth smiled in open delight. "That's good, and
don't forget what I told you about trying to court her and
woo her. She is going to be your wife."

"I know, Ma," Michael answered, embarrassed by his
mother's advice.

"I have to admit I did have some misgivings about this
marriage, but I don't anymore."

"Why is that?" Michael asked.

"Cassandra has impressed me as being a very strong,
bright young woman. The more I get to know her, the
more I like her. She has suffered a lot in her life, losing
her mother at such a young age. Now, with Jack not doing
well, it looks like things are going to be even more difficult in the future. She's going to need you to be strong
for her, Michael."

"I'll do my best." Michael thought about the strength it
had taken for him to stop kissing Casey earlier. As aroused
as he'd been and as willing as Casey had seemed to be,
anything might have happened between them if he hadn't
stopped. He was glad that he'd broken off their embrace,
but he was still angry with himself for kissing her in the
first place. He had no doubt she was furious with him
right now, and he didn't blame her.

He had always prided himself on being a man of his
word. He had to abide by their agreement.

"You're a good man, Michael. Cassandra is a lucky
young woman to be getting you for a husband." Elizabeth
stood up and went to her son to kiss his cheek.

"I hope she thinks so" he told his mother, managing
only a half-smile.

"Give her time. Once she gets to know you, she'll love
you," she stated with certainty.

Love me? Michael hated keeping a secret from his
mother, but there was no way he could ever tell her the
truth. He could see himself getting along with Casey, but
he didn't think Casey would ever fall in love with him.

"What about you?" Elizabeth asked him point-blank.
"How are you coming to feel about her?"

"I'm not sure." It was as honest an answer as he could
give at that moment. He truly was confused by his own
reactions to Casey.

"You shouldn't be, and that's good. It's much too soon.
I'm glad you don't hold any animosity toward her and her
father."

"No. It's just that Casey is very different from any other
girl I've ever known."

"She certainly is. Who's the girl you were seeing back
in Philadelphia?"

"Karen Whittington."

"How do you feel about her? Were the two of you serious about each other?"

Michael frowned at her question. It had been only a
matter of weeks since he'd seen Karen, but it seemed
much longer. At first, he had missed her occasionally, but
now he seldom thought of her.

"Karen is a very beautiful woman. She's rich and sophisticated. We enjoyed each other's company."

"Are you in love with her?" Elizabeth was worried about what Michael's answer would be, but she had to ask.

He hesitated for a moment as the memory of Casey's
kiss played in his mind. He had never reacted so powerfully to Karen's embrace. "I'm not sure."

"If you were in love with her, you would know it," Elizabeth said with certainty.

"I would?"

"You would. If you loved her, you wouldn't be able to
bear being apart from her, and you certainly wouldn't
have agreed to marry Cassandra not even to save the
ranch. If you were in love with Karen, nothing would stop
you from being with her."

Michael's expression turned serious as he considered
what she'd just said to him.

"Don't worry, darling," Elizabeth went on. "Everything
is going to work out fine."

"I hope you're right."

"I'm always right," she insisted. "I'm your mother."

Much later that night when Michael lay in his solitary
bed, thoughts of Karen and Casey haunted him. Karen
was everything a man could want in a wife. She was educated. She had beauty, wealth and social connections.
Casey, on the other hand, knew little about social amenities and didn't seem the least bit interested in learning
about them. She was pretty, but untamed. Kind, yet fearless.

Michael stared blindly up at the ceiling of his room,
wondering about his future.

He had given his word, and he would keep it.

He would marry Casey.

And Karen?

He decided then and there that she was a part of his
past. He wouldn't see her again. That part of his life was
over.

When Casey returned home, she found her father had
retired for the night. She checked to make sure he was
resting comfortably, then sought her own bed.

She was tired, but sleep proved elusive. Her heart was
torn by conflicting emotions. Michael's kisses had been
her heaven and her hell. She cursed her weakness in
not moving away from him when he'd kissed her the first
time.

Even as she told herself it was a weakness she would
never give in to again, Casey knew the truth, and the truth
was that she had actually enjoyed his embrace.

The realization was startling for her, and painful. She
was certain Michael didn't feel the same way. It was obvious from the way he had acted that he wanted nothing
to do with her.

A great sadness filled her. This was what her life was
destined to be she would be married to a man who
didn't want her and who would never love her.

Resigned, she rolled over in bed and buried her face
in her pillow. She tried to tell herself she didn't care, but
she couldn't stop her tears. She had always prided herself
on being strong, and it surprised her to find that Michael's
unspoken rejection hurt so badly.

Casey could never let anyone know the truth of her
feelings.

She would do what she had to do to save the Bar T.
She told herself nothing else mattered.

"You doing all right, Pa?" Casey asked him the next moming at breakfast.

"I'm fine," he answered. He hated keeping the truth
from her, but it was better this way. He didn't want to
burden her.

"I'm going to ride over and see how the house Michael's building is coming along."

"You mean how `your' house is coming along, don't
you?" he asked, smiling.

"It's hard to think of it that way," she told him honestly.
"Just like it's hard to believe we're going to be married so
soon."