Sizzle (35 page)

“Oh, Lyra, what are you thinking? With your looks, you could do so much better than an FBI agent. If he’s after your money …”

Her father’s reaction wasn’t much better. “I’m sure he loves you, but just to make certain he isn’t after your money, I think you should consider transferring your trust to me. You’ll want to assure that the assets stay in the Prescott family, of course, so if you’ll …” When Lyra refused, an argument ensued. It ended with her parents threatening to boycott the wedding, but despite their coercive tactics, she held her ground and did not give in.

She pretended she didn’t care, but the reality was that she was embarrassed that her father wouldn’t walk his own daughter down the aisle unless paid to do so. Owen and Cooper were enraged by their parents’ conduct, but neither was surprised, either.

Owen stepped in for their father. Sidney was Lyra’s maid of honor and walked down the aisle with Cooper. A cousin and two friends from Texas served as bridesmaids. Sam’s best man was his cousin Tristan, and Jack and Alec were groomsmen. In addition to the wedding photographer, there were photographers from newspapers and magazines outside the church covering the elegant event.

Lyra loved Sam’s parents, who were the complete opposite of her own. They were kind and generous, and welcomed her into their family with open arms. They offered to host a reception for Sam and her in the Highlands so that their Scottish friends and family could also welcome her. Gigi promised to attend.

Sam and Lyra spent their honeymoon at the house in San Diego. They had only three days before Lyra had to return to Los Angeles for the awards ceremony. Her entry into the competition for the Dalton Award had been disqualified last semester because, after Mahler’s death, she no longer had a sponsor. Nevertheless, she continued to work on her children’s film, and with another professor’s blessing resubmitted it the following semester.

She won first place. She received multiple offers from production companies in Los Angeles and New York, but she declined them all. Lyra didn’t want to work for anyone.

She loved the freedom of writing and directing her own work, and had come up with an idea for a children’s series she wanted to pursue. She could work from anywhere, which was fortunate, because three months later Sam took her to their home in the Highlands.

Her husband was full of surprises. The first surprise was that their home was a castle. It had been built centuries ago and was magnificent, but cold and formal. Fortunately, their small apartment on the second level was cozy and charming. The estate, or holding as Sam called it, was the most beautiful place she’d ever seen.

The second surprise was that Sam would inherit a couple of titles. As a landowner, he would become Laird Kincaid, but he was also in line to become Earl of Cairnmar.

The third surprise was the most astonishing to Lyra. Her sweet, loving husband turned into a brutal warrior on the rugby field.

Sitting beside Sam’s parents on a hill, Lyra watched with great trepidation a match between Sam’s team and the one from the next town over. At one point in the game, when she saw Sam emerge from a pile of huge, muscular men, she grabbed her father-in-law’s arm. “Did he just break …? Did his elbow …?”

Sam’s father, seeing the horrified look in her eyes, sympathetically patted her knee. “Do you know what’s been said about rugby? It’s a hooligan’s game played by gentlemen.

Don’t worry, he’s fine, my dear.”

Nodding, she turned back to stare at her husband. He was covered in mud, and his uniform was spotted with blood, which she didn’t think belonged to him. His teammates were just as beaten up. What she found most amazing, however, was that once the game was over, both teams laughed and carried on as they dragged one another off the field.

Sam saw her in the crowd and made his way over to her. He had a cut over his eyebrow, and he was muddy from head to toe. Oblivious to the fact that she was wearing a white blouse, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. That wasn’t good enough for Sam. He kissed her passionately, ignoring his cheering teammates.

When he finally came up for air, he said, “Now that’s the way a husband should greet his wife when he returns home.”

Blushing because of their audience, she said, “You were thirty feet away from me.”

“Exactly,” he replied, and kissed her again.

She leaned into his side. “I’m relieved you’re still intact.”

“It’s a sport, sweetheart.”

A sport? They actually called the mayhem she’d just witnessed a sport? “Does it have to be so rough? I don’t want you to get hurt.”

He laughed. “A few minor cuts and bruises won’t kill me.” He picked up his duffel bag, put his arm around her shoulders, and began walking toward their car. “I got a call from the FBI this morning. They want me to fly to D.C. tomorrow to consult on a case. I’ll be leaving before dawn. Want to come with me?”

“I can’t,” she answered. “I’m visiting the Cairnmar school tomorrow to film for my new series.”

“Then I guess we’ll have to say our good-byes tonight.” He lustfully inspected every inch of her body and then said, “In fact, if you’re up to it, I’ll say good-bye all night long.” As Lyra waited by the car for Sam to drop his rugby gear in the trunk, she looked all around her. She was in a field bordered on one side by a lane of quaint stone cottages and on the other by a pasture with sheep peacefully grazing. In the distance were the magnificent Highland mountains. How different this all was from where she had been less than a year ago. Because of Sam, everything was new and exciting and wonderful.

He turned and smiled at her, and her heart swelled with love.

Life with Sam was going to be full of surprises.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

JULIE GARWOOD is the author of numerous New York Times bestsellers, including Fire and Ice, Shadow Music, Shadow Dance, Slow Burn, Murder List, Killjoy, Mercy, Heartbreaker, Ransom, and Come the Spring. There are more than thirty-six million copies of her books in print.

Sizzle is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2009 by Julie Garwood

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

BALLANTINE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

eISBN: 978-0-345-51925-2

www.ballantinebooks.com