Bride Included. Janelle Denison
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strands more than they al ready were. “I want a place of my own—”
“You have a place of your own,” she interrupted heat edly. “You have the Paradise Wild!”
“Jay inherited Paradise Wild when my father died fou 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 Jay’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 forming in her mind since he quickly diverted them. “I agreed to Jake’s term 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 give 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.”
He shook his head. “I can’t do that.”
“Can’t, or won’t?” Desperation made her voice rise a few decibels.
“Both,” he said in a tone that brooked no compromise. “This was O’Connor land before it ever belonged to a McAllister, and now it’s back in the family. And even then, we don’t know the legitimacy of a McAllister winning it in a poker game all those years ago.”
“My great-grandfather won this land fair and square,” she said, unable to believe any McAllister would cheat so ruthlessly. “And now you’re getting everything we McAllisters worked so hard to build from nothing more than dirt and barren land.”
Her arguments didn’t sway him in the least. “I’m not giving up the deed, Josie, so resign yourself to the fact that there is only one way for you to keep this ranch.”
Her hopes began to dwindle. “And that’s to marry you?”
“Yes.” His expression held no apology or remorse. “I’m willing to put our differences aside and make the marriage work. I’m even willing to take full responsibility for your daughter, even though she’s someone else’s child.”
“How gracious,” she said, nearly choking on the words. “But that’s not necessary. Kellie is nobody’s responsibility but my own. She’s lived ten years without a father and managed just fine.” Josie could see curious questions in Seth’s eyes regarding her daughter and knew she wasn’t prepared to answer any of them. “You’ve conducted your business, and now I’d appreciate it if you’d leave.”
“In a minute,” he said, and from the back pocket of his jeans brought out a folded envelope and handed it to her. “When I picked up the deed from your father’s attorney, he asked me to give you this letter that Jake left for you.”
Not about to refuse the only link she might have to her father, she took the envelope from him.
“Think about your options carefully, Josie, and I’ll be back in a few days for your answer.” He turned and headed for the stables where he’d left his horse. She watched him mount the chestnut in a fluid motion, then direct the mare around to face her.
His horse pranced anxiously, champing at the bit to go. Seth effortlessly held the powerful horse in check with a slight pressure of his thighs. From atop his steed, Seth perused the length of her one last time, from her spring) auburn curls, past the blouse tied beneath her breasts, over her faded cutoffs to the tips of her bare toes. By the time he finished his blatant male survey, her pulse was racing out of control and she felt more restlessly inflamed than she cared to admit
I hate him, she mentally chanted, and shook off the disturbing sensations unfurling within her.
He smiled as if reading her thoughts and accepting her challenge. “Keep in mind, Josie darlin’,” he said, reverting back to that sexy, lazy drawl of his, “we’ll need to be married by next Friday, or everything is mine.”
On that last parting shot, he took off, spurring his horse across McAllister land that eventually gave way to O’Connor property, leaving Josie behind to make a decision that would either bind her to a man who’d cruelly deceived her or force her to give up the only home she and Kellie had ever known.
Either way, she saw heartache in her future.
Seth rode his horse hard and fast toward Paradise Wild, but no matter how ruthlessly he pushed Lexi for speed, he found he couldn’t outrun his conflicting feelings for the woman he’d just left behind.
He slowed Lexi as they neared a wide creek that trickled down from the mountain butting against the side of McAllister and O’Connor property. He waited until his mare had settled, then slid out of the saddle and dropped the reins so she could graze.
Bending down by the creek, he scooped the cool, clear liquid into his palm, brought it to his mouth and quenched his thirst. Then he dipped both hands into the water and ran them through his hair, slicking the thick strands away from his face.
Damn Josie and her trigger-happy finger anyway, he thought irritably. That had been his favorite Stetson, shaped perfectly to his head after years of use, and now he was going to have to break in a new one.
Sighing heavily, he stared at his scowling expression reflecting off the crystalline water. He wanted to hate her just as she claimed to despise him. And for eleven years he’d been able to believe that Josie McAllister meant nothing to him, that their brief time together in high school had been a grave mistake and taught him a valuable lesson he’d never forgotten. Like not to trust a McAllister’s motives.
But try as he might, he never could forget Josie. No matter how many women he’d dated over the years, he couldn’t wipe out the memories of how silky and warm her skin had felt beneath his hands, the sweet taste of her lips, her light, lilting laughter, and especially the soft sounds of pleasure she made when he’d slid deep inside her body. Those images had haunted him every night since the last time they’d made love.
The connection between them had seemed magical, considering they’d been taught all their lives to hate the other. During grade school he’d ridiculed her mercilessly, taking his cue from his older brother, Jay. As a young boy, he remembered that he hadn’t liked hurting Josie with those nasty taunts, but Jay had wanted to keep the rift fueled any way he could, and whenever he suggested they leave her alone, Jay would make his life miserable until he proved that he could dole out his share of jeers and mean insults.
Seth shook his head at the immaturity of his youth, more than a little disgusted that his own father had encouraged the dissension between the McAllister girl and his own boys.
That familial pressure ebbed when Jay finally graduated high school, leaving Seth as a senior and Josie as a sophomore. By that time, she was taking great pains to avoid him, not that he could blame her after the way he and his brother had treated her. When by chance they passed in the halls or on the campus, she never looked him in the eye. He didn’t know why, but he didn’t like the thought of her believing he was as rotten as his brother.
One day as she walked out of a classroom, he’d literally slammed into her, so hard that the impact knocked her back on her bottom and the books in her arms flew in five different directions. She’d sat there frozen, with her skirt up around her thighs, staring at him with a panic-stricken look on her face. Just like an animal cornered by a hunter, waiting for him to either shoot or let her go free.
He remembered thinking how pretty she was, with wild curly hair the hue of fire and cinnamon, wide green eyes emphasized by dark brows, and the smattering of freckles over the bridge of her nose. And he couldn’t help but notice those shapely legs of hers and the small, firm breasts beneath her clingy T-shirt—her blossoming curves were what boys his age fantasized