The Cowboy's Gamble: Destined For Love Series (3 page)

J
osie stared at Seth incredulously. Losing the ranch to him was one thing, but to
marry
him? She knew her father could be irresponsible, but she couldn’t imagine him making such a ridiculous demand, and of an O’Connor, no less.

“You’re joking!” He
had
to be.

“I wish I were.” He crossed his arms over his wide chest, his mouth twisting into a sardonic smile. “The stipulation states that I’ll marry you within one week in order to gain the Golden M.”

The way she saw it, if she refused her father’s terms, there was no way Seth could claim the property. Her father had outsmarted an O’Connor!

It was her turn to be smug. “What makes you believe I’d
want
to marry you to fulfill the terms of that stipulation?”

“Because it would be in
both
of our interests to do so.”

He didn’t look the least bit concerned by her unwillingness to help him fulfill the terms of her father’s stipulation, and that realization caused a niggling of unease to curl within her. “How do you figure it would be in
my
best interest to marry someone I despise just so he could claim my property?”

A hint of challenge flickered in his gaze. “Because if you don’t become my wife, you forfeit the Golden M.”

She frowned at him. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

From his shirt pocket where he’d tucked away the quitclaim deed he now withdrew another folded piece of paper. Opening it, he held it toward her.

“Read the terms of the stipulation for yourself,” he prompted when she merely stared at the signed and notarized document. “It states that I’ll marry you within a week in order to acquire the Golden M, at which time it will become joint property since we’ll be man and wife.” He gave her a moment to absorb that before continuing. “However, if you refuse to marry me within the specified week, then you lose the Golden M, and I’ll have every right as the owner to toss you off the ranch. And if we do get married, and one of us insists upon a divorce, that person forfeits their half of the land to the other.”

Unable to believe her father would enforce such binding conditions, she grabbed the document from him and read the contents. By the time she verified her father’s signature on the bottom line, panic and dread balled in her stomach.

She stared up at Seth, tasting the bitterness of defeat. “You agreed to this . . . to this farce?”

“I’ve got nothing to lose.” He casually moved closer, and her heart rate accelerated. “And a whole lot to gain.”

She was the one who stood to relinquish everything if she balked at the terms outlined in the agreement. It just didn’t make sense. Why would her father force her to marry someone who hated her as equally as she detested him, and set forth terms that made a future divorce near impossible unless she walked away from the only home she’d ever known?

“So, what’ll it be, Josie, darlin’?” he asked, his voice dropping to a low, husky pitch. Reaching out, he stroked his knuckles over her cheek, the tender gesture at odds with the fierce light in his eyes. “Shall I make an appointment with Reverend Wilcox for this week?”

She opened her mouth to issue a scathing reply, but found her throat suddenly dry. His thumb brazenly skimmed over her bottom lip, as soft as a caress. Her stomach dipped and tumbled. Bolder still, he held her gaze and strummed his warm fingers down her throat and along the open collar of her blouse.

Her breathing deepened and she shivered, unable to stop memories of how gentle those big hands of his could be as they slid over her body. How delightfully sweet and seductive.

It had been so long since she’d experienced such consuming passion, such overwhelming need . . . but it all came crashing back to her in that moment. She couldn’t help the tiny moan that escaped her.

He watched her with great interest, a faint, satisfied smile touching his mouth. “Seems to me there could be other advantages to us getting married,” he murmured as one long finger slowly followed the V of her blouse to where the last button ended between her breasts.

Her nipples automatically tightened, and she knew he could see the dusky rose tips through the thin cotton material. Horrified that he could manipulate her emotions so easily, and still have so much control over her body’s response to him, she reached for her temper, embraced the flood of anger, and let it explode.

She slapped his hand away from the button she knew he could so easily flick open with his fingers—he’d proved that particular skill eleven years ago. “I’ll see you in hell before I agree to marry you!”

She tried to move around him, but he was fast and agile, bracing both his hands on the porch railing on either side of her, trapping her against him. Before she could raise her knee and use it as a means of self-defense, he pushed a hard thigh between hers, immobilizing her lower body.

The heat that flared within her matched the flames in his eyes. She shoved at his shoulders, but he was a solid mass of muscle and strength, and the only thing her struggling accomplished was to make Seth press closer. Their position became as intimate as two lovers entwined in a sensual embrace.

Except they were enemies and hated one another. She doubted Seth found anything arousing about their situation. She certainly didn’t!

She attempted to lean back, but the railing bit into her spine. That discomfort was nothing compared to the scratch of denim between her thighs, and the metallic bite of Seth’s heavy belt buckle pressing against the strip of bare skin exposed between her breasts and the waistband of her shorts. She did her best to ignore the liquid warmth rushing through her veins.

He blew out a harsh breath that tickled the loose strands of hair around her face. His body shifted subtly to accommodate her wriggling, and she felt the muscles flex beneath the hands she’d flattened on his chest. She was appalled to discover that he wasn’t as immune to their position as she’d originally thought. The evidence of his desire nudged the front zipper of her shorts, an unmistakable masculine hardness that caused a deep, clenching thrill to spiral straight to where his knee pressed so insistently.

She didn’t understand how two people who despised each other so much could respond to one another on such a primitive, sensual level. Couldn’t comprehend how eleven years of anger and hurt could melt away with just a look, a touch from Seth. He seemed to be her greatest weakness, despite his past betrayal.

His warm gaze focused on her mouth, and the vital hunger she saw there swept through her like the touch of wildfire. And then he gradually lowered his head, his parted lips homing in on hers.

She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. She was fully aware of the quiver of anticipation thrumming beneath the surface of her skin, the need to give herself to this man she’d never been able to forget . . . or forgive.

Summoning every ounce of willpower she possessed, she turned her head away just as his lips descended. His mouth landed on her cheek, warm and damp and soft as down. Her lack of cooperation didn’t hinder the rogue’s exploration . . . his lips slid along her jaw to her ear, and she thought he murmured, “you still want me as much as I want you”, but couldn’t be sure. His rich, dark voice rumbled along her nerve endings, making it impossible for her to think coherently . . . making her dizzy with a wanting that was dangerous, and stupid.

She gritted her teeth against the onslaught of his blatant sexuality and her body’s shocking response to his seduction tactics. “I hate you,” she whispered hoarsely, reminding him, and herself, of that fact. “And I refuse to marry you.”

Finally, he lifted his head and gave her the breathing room she so desperately needed, but he didn’t let her loose. Triumph shone in his dark, sexy eyes. “You’d give me the ranch so easily? Just because you can’t stand the thought of me being your husband and having the right to touch you and kiss you? Or is it because you can’t stand the fact that you
want
me to touch you and kiss you that has you so fired up?”

His words were mocking, too accurate, and they enraged her. His hold slackened, along with his body, giving her enough room to pull her arm back and wallop him in the belly. He grunted at the impact, but she knew the punch had startled him more than hurt him. Reflexively, he moved his arms from the railing to defend himself, enabling her to take advantage of his surprise and escape.

Side-stepping him, she headed down the porch stairs and headed across the lawn toward the stables in her bare feet. She came upon the Stetson she’d shot off his head earlier. Smirking at the gaping hole in the crown, she gave it a good swift kick that sent it tumbling in the opposite direction.

She heard him swear colorfully from behind her, ignored him when he demanded she come back so they could finish their discussion. His boots echoed off the wooden steps as he followed her. She picked up her pace, putting as much distance as she could between them, even though she knew it was inevitable they talk and settle issues.

His taunting words,
you’d give me the ranch so easily
, played through her mind, making her realize the seriousness of the situation. No, she wouldn’t just hand over the only home she’d ever known. But the thought of becoming Seth O’Connor’s wife and living with him on a daily basis with all the resentment and bitterness between them was enough to make her want to rail at the injustice.

There was Kellie to consider in this mess of things, too. How would her daughter react to her mother marrying a virtual stranger? And most importantly, how would Seth treat Kellie considering the awful rumors of the past?

Dad, how could you do this to me?
Tears of frustration and uncertainty burned the back of her eyes. She needed to find her father—not that his presence would change the future if those documents Seth had in his possession were legal. But surely they could work out some other compromise or monetary compensation.

Seth caught her before she could slip into the stables and lose him in the maze of stalls. His hand closed around her arm, bringing her to an abrupt halt, and turned her around to face him. She glared at his intrusion, despite the hot tears of anger threatening to spill over her lashes.

One look into her eyes and the dark, irritable scowl etching his features slowly faded, replaced by something more charitable. Compassion, she briefly wondered? Surely not. An O’Connor wouldn’t know that emotion if it slapped him in the face.

“Look,” he said, his tone gruff with impatience. “I know this is a shock and you’re upset-”

“I’m not upset. I’m
furious
!” She shook off his hand, her lips pursing into a tight line. “This is
my
home, and I’ll be damned if I’ll just hand it over to you without a fight!”

“If you fight it, you’ll lose everything, Josie,” he stated relentlessly. “Thanks to your father, there’s one way you can keep the ranch and land, and that’s to marry me.”

She laughed, but the sound was dry and humorless. “Yes, it was quite thoughtful of my father to add that stipulation, but it’s hard to be grateful when I can’t stand the thought of being married to you.”

His jaw tightened at her barb. “You’re not my first choice of a bride, either.”

Resurrected anger and hurt shimmered between them. She saw the animosity of the past in his eyes, felt the misery in her heart. Once, she’d wanted to marry him, but that had been before she realized that his interest had nothing to do with love, and everything to do with simple revenge on a McAllister.

“Then why did you agree to my father’s terms?” she asked, keeping their conversation, and her thoughts, firmly entrenched in the present. “Why didn’t you just let him lose the money and let the IOU’s stand? I would have found a way to pay you and Gary back.”

The corner of his mouth tipped in an easy smile, reminding her how charming he could be. “You always were the responsible one of the family, weren’t you?”

She stiffened, recalling how she’d confided in him when she’d been sixteen, how she’d foolishly opened her heart and revealed things she’d never told anyone before. She’d told Seth about how her mother died when she was just a little girl of five, and how something in her father had died, too, leaving him adrift. As a young girl she’d struggled to keep the household together, and with Mac’s help learned everything she needed to know about running the ranch until she was finally old enough to take over for her wandering father.

But Seth already knew most of that, and she was beyond needing a shoulder to cry on. “Answer my question,” she said. “If you didn’t like my father’s terms, which include marrying me, why didn’t you just let my father lose the money and let the IOU’s stand?”

“It’s not the money I’m after, Josie.” Sighing, he transferred his gaze to the green pasture next to the stables. Something in his expression softened as he looked out over the land that went on for miles. “I want this spread, partly because it was originally O’Connor land.”

“Partly?” she questioned, guessing there was more and wanting to hear it all. “What is the other reason?”

Meeting her gaze again, he pushed his fingers through his thick hair, disheveling the strands more than they already were. “I want a place of my own-”

“You have a place of your own,” she interrupted heatedly. “You have the Paradise Wild!”

“Robert inherited the Paradise Wild when my father died four years ago.”

She couldn’t contain her shock. “Your father didn’t leave the place to the both of you?”

“Nope,” he said, his tone filled with a bitterness she didn’t understand. “I just work the ranch and live in a cabin on Robert’s property. He shares the house with his wife and two kids.”

She couldn’t help but wonder what had happened for David O’Connor to disinherit his younger son.

Seth must have sensed the questions formulating in her mind, because he quickly diverted them. “I agreed to Jake’s terms because as much as I want this ranch and property, I have no desire to leave you and your daughter homeless. Marrying you is a small price for me to pay to gain this land.”

She refused to give up so easily. “Let me pay you the money my father and Gary owed you, and a little more for your trouble, and leave us alone. I’ll give you enough to put a down payment on another spread-”