His Convenient Virgin Bride (6 page)

“No woman wants a marriage of convenience,” said Royce.

Alec still wasn’t following.

“She wants a love match.”

Alec peered at Royce. “Are you saying you want her to marry someone else?” His thoughts went to Wesley, and he found his anger flaring. Wesley wasn’t the father of her child.
Alec
was the father of her child.

His mind wanted to delve into that unfathomable concept, but he forced himself to focus on Jared and Royce.

“We mean a love match with you.”

Alec gave his head a little shake.

He’d step up. He’d provide financial and any other support needed, but he and Stephanie barely knew each other. They weren’t going to settle down and live happily ever after just because her brothers decreed it.

He would never put any woman in that position. He knew from the catastrophe of his own parents’ marriage, exactly what happened when you tried to fake it.

“I hope that was a joke,” he intoned.

Jared took yet another step forward. “There is nothing remotely funny about any of this.”

Alec looked into the man’s eyes. “No, there’s not. But you can’t control people’s emotions. She’s no more in love with me than I am with her.”

“You can change that,” said Royce. “Tell her you love her, and make her fall in love with you.”

Alec slid his glance sideways. “No.”

Not a chance in hell. There was not a freaking chance in hell he would set Stephanie up for that kind of heartache.

Royce squared his shoulders. “It wasn’t a question.”

Alec could well imagine that few people said no to the Ryder brothers. They were intellectually and physically powerful men. Add to that their economic wherewithal, and they were pretty much going to get their own way in life.

But Alec didn’t intimidate easily, and he had a set of personal principles that stopped well short of duping a woman into falling in love with him.

“I’ll marry Stephanie,” he told them both. “I’ll respect her. I will provide for our child. And I’ll lie to the world about it if she wants me to. But I won’t lie to her.”

He gave a harsh laugh. “You two might think you’re protecting her by—”

“We
are
protecting her,” said Royce, and Jared’s expression backed him up.

“Nevertheless,” Alec articulated carefully. “
I’m
going to be honest with her.”

Since Alec spent most of his life on the road, a marriage of convenience would be fairly easy to pull off. And after the baby was born, she could decide what she wanted. If it was a quiet divorce, no problem.

Jared and Royce glanced uncertainly at each other. It was obvious the meeting wasn’t going the way they’d planned.

“May I assume I’m fired?” Alec put in.

The two men exchanged another glance.

Royce cleared his throat.

“I think we’ll leave that up to Stephanie,” said Jared.

This time Alec did laugh. “Then you might as well take your files with you when you go. She’s pretty ticked off about my valuation of her publicity.”

The two men hesitated again.

“It is right?” asked Jared.

“It’s right,” Alec confirmed.

“Let’s maybe leave the business arrangement as is for now,” said Royce.

Alec glanced from one man to the other. “You sure?”

They both nodded.

“No point in disrupting everything at once,” said Jared. Then he clapped a hand down on Alec’s shoulder. “You can come back to the ranch with us.”

“You afraid I’m going to try to run off?”

“We don’t want Stephanie to be upset any longer than necessary.”

“She’ll still be upset after I get there.” Alec tried to picture their conversation. Then he wondered how Stephanie felt about the baby. Then, finally, he let his mind explore how he felt about the baby.

He’d never planned to have children. The genetics in his family did not lend themselves to quality parenting. His father was incapable of love, and his mother had been unable to put her child’s welfare ahead of her own misery.

At least Alec’s child would have Stephanie.

For some reason, the thought warmed him. Stephanie might be indulged and impulsive, but she was also sweet and loving. He’d seen her work with both animals and children, and he knew instinctively she’d be a great mother.

And he was going to be a father.

As he exited the office with Jared and Royce, he tried hard to keep the prospect from terrifying him.

At the front of the stall, Stephanie rested her forehead against Rosie-Jo’s soft nose. She placed her hand on the horse’s neck, feeling it twitch and pulse with strength beneath her fingertips.

“I went to see the doctor today,” she told Rosie-Jo, wrapping her hands around the mare’s bridle.

Rosie-Jo nickered softly in response, bobbing her head up and down.

Stephanie slowly drew back, gazing into the horse’s liquid, brown eyes. Her throat closed over. “I’m definitely pregnant, girl.”

Rosie-Jo blinked her lashes.

“And that affects you,” Stephanie forced herself to continue. “Because he’s afraid I might fall off. He’s afraid
I’ll hurt the baby.” Stephanie closed her eyes and drew a bracing breath. “I’m so sorry, Rosie. I know how you love the crowds. And you’ve worked so hard. And I’ve worked so hard. For so long.”

Rosie snuffled Stephanie’s shoulder.

Stephanie opened her eyes to the blur of gray horse hair, her voice catching. “So, he doesn’t want me to jump anymore.”

“That sounds like good advice to me,” someone rumbled behind her.

Rosie snorted, while Stephanie startled. She turned and came face-to-face with the man who’d haunted her dreams.

“Alec?” She struggled to make sense of his presence in the barn. “What are you doing here?”

“Your brothers picked me up in Chicago.” His gaze scanned her thin cotton shirt, blue jeans and worn boots.

The implication of his arrival, and the meaning of his opening words penetrated Stephanie’s brain.

He knew she was pregnant.

And her brothers must know, too.

She felt the walls close in. She hadn’t prepared for this moment, hadn’t had any time to even think about it. She’d assumed it would be weeks, even months before her pregnancy was general knowledge.

“I believe Amber gave you up,” Alec offered.

Stephanie didn’t respond, her mind still grappling with the fact that he knew, that he was here, that the secret was out.

“When were you planning to tell me?” he asked, face impassive, tone guarding his mood. The word
never
sprang to mind. Though she knew she wouldn’t have kept it from him.

“I don’t know,” she managed, answering him honestly. “I hadn’t thought about it.” It was enough of a challenge coming to terms with the situation herself.

He shook his head and gave a scoff of disbelief. “You hadn’t
thought about it?
You’re unexpectedly pregnant, and it’s not on your mind twenty-four seven?”

“I just found out.”

“You told Amber a week ago.”

“And I saw the doctor this morning. I hadn’t even decided—”

“Decided
what?
” His voice went deadly low, and his gray eyes turned to black.

“What to do.” She had her riding career, her students, her business. Not to mention a baby, then a child. She’d never even known her own mother, how would she handle it all?

He wrapped his hand firmly around her upper arm. “Stephanie, if you even think about—”

She blinked up at him.

“—harming our baby.”

Harming? What was he talking…

Then her eyes went wide, and she jerked her arm from his grip. “What is the
matter
with you?”

“Me? You’re the one who hasn’t made up her mind—”

“How to
raise
the baby.” She smacked him on the front of his shoulder. “Not whether to keep the baby.”

He didn’t even react to the blow. “You can’t be happy about this.”

“Of course I’m not happy about this. I’m not ready to be a mother. I have a business to run. My jumping career is ruined. And my brothers know I slept with you.”

“Your brothers will get over it.”

Her brothers.
She groaned inwardly.

Royce and Jared knew Alec had made her pregnant.

Wait a minute. She looked him up and down. “You’re still standing.”

“I am.”

She cocked her head. “How come you’re still standing?”

“You thought your brothers would kill me for sleeping with you?”

“I never thought my brothers would find out.”

“Yeah.” He glanced away. “I was kind of counting on the same thing.”

Then the fog lifted, and a picture came clear in her mind. Of
course
her brothers hadn’t harmed him. They needed him alive.

She didn’t know whether to be furious or mortified. “You’re here for a shotgun wedding.”

“Something like that,” he admitted.

She felt guilty on a whole new front now. Alec was a decent guy. He didn’t deserve this.

She shook her head. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Do I look worried?”

“You definitely look worried.”

“It doesn’t have to be a big deal.”

“It doesn’t have to be anything at all.” Making up her mind, she turned decisively and started down the corridor.

Alec settled in beside her.

She finger-combed her hair and refastened her ponytail at the base of her neck. “Thanks for stopping by, Alec. You’re an honorable man. But your baby is safe in my hands. I’ll drop you a line once it’s born.”

He coughed out a laugh. “Yeah, right.”

“Your life is in Chicago. Leave this to me.” In this day and age, a reluctant husband was a complication not a benefit. What had her brothers been thinking?

“Not quite the way things are going to happen,” he said.

“They can’t make you marry me.”

“Now that part’s debatable.”

“Okay. Maybe they can make you. But they can’t make me.” She spotted a length of binder twine on the floor and reflexively stooped to pick it up.

“They want what’s best for you, Stephanie.”

She wrapped the orange twine neatly around her hand. “No, Alec. They want you to pay for your sins.”

“They want to protect you.”

She gave a dry chuckle. “From what? A scarlet letter?”

He didn’t respond.

“I’m a big girl, Alec. I made a mistake, and I’m going to pay. But it doesn’t mean you have to get dragged along for the ride.” She peeled the loop of twine from her hand and reached for the door latch.

His hand shot out, blocking the door shut. He stared down at her with an intense singularity of purpose. “Get this straight in your mind, Stephanie. You
are
marrying me.”

She squinted at him in the dim light. “That was a joke, right?”

“Am I laughing?”

“I don’t know what they threatened you with.”

“Nobody threatened me with anything.”

“Then why are you talking crazy?”

“I’m talking logic. It doesn’t have to be forever.”

“And what girl doesn’t want to hear
that
in a marriage proposal?”

“Stephanie.”

His words shouldn’t have the power to hurt her. She barely knew the man. And she needed to keep it that way.

She stuffed the twine in her pocket and crossed her arms over her chest. “Marriage would make a bad situation worse.”

He imitated her posture, crossing his own arms. “Marriage would make things right.”

Suddenly the entire conversation seemed absurd, and a cold laugh burst out of her. “How do you figure?”

His jaw clenched. “I’m the baby’s father.”

“Yes?”

“I have a responsibility.”

“To do what?”

“I don’t know,” he practically shouted. “Provide for it.”

“You can write a check without having a marriage license.”

“Is that what you want?”

“Yes.”

“And I have no say?”

“Not really.”

He glared at her for a long moment. Then he smacked the door open and marched out of the barn.

As she watched his retreating back, Stephanie realized she had won.

She tried to feel glad about that, but somehow the emotion wouldn’t come.

“W
ell, what was I
supposed
to say?” Stephanie challenged. Sitting on a submerged ledge, water to her waist in the ranch swimming hole, she stared at Amber over the rippled surface of the water.

“Yes?” Amber suggested as she pulled the last couple of strokes across the small, cliff bordered pool and settled on the ledge next to Stephanie. Her forehead was completely healed, and the cut from the accident would barely leave a scar.

The swimming hole was a favorite place for Stephanie. Water from a small tributary to the Windy River trickled down a waterfall and gathered in a deep pool, hollowed out over millennia. The semicircle cliffs were open to the east, so the morning sun soaked into the granite, heating the water, keeping it comfortable all summer long.

It was near noon, and the sun streamed down on Amber’s wet, blond hair, reflecting in her jewel-blue eyes.

“And actually
marry
him?” Stephanie swiped her own wet hair back from her forehead, tucking it behind her ears.

“You are having his baby.”

“And, we’re practically strangers.”

“Not completely.” Amber’s eyes took on a meaningful gleam.

Stephanie glared in return. “Nobody gets married because of a baby anymore.”

Amber didn’t answer, but an opposing opinion all but oozed from her pores.

“What?” Stephanie prompted.

“You’re pregnant, Steph.”

“I know that.” Stephanie had tried hard to push it from her mind. But the reality wasn’t going anywhere.

“A husband might not be such a bad thing.”

“I thought you’d be on my side.”

“I
am
on your side.”

Stephanie snorted her disbelief.

“We’re only suggesting you give it a try.”

“And if I fail?” Which was a foregone conclusion in Stephanie’s mind. And therefore the entire exercise was a waste of time.

“Then you fail. Nothing ventured—”

“We’re talking
marriage,
Amber.” Stephanie couldn’t believe her future sister-in-law could be so cavalier about something so serious. Maybe Stephanie was a hopeless romantic, but she didn’t want to stand up in front of God and her family and take vows she didn’t mean.

“It doesn’t have to be a traditional marriage.”

“Maybe that’s what I want.”

Amber cocked her head, silent for a few moments. “Are you saying you have feelings for Alec?”

“No!” Stephanie’s denial was quick. Her emotions caught up a split second later. She didn’t have feelings for Alec. She wouldn’t allow herself to have feelings for Alec. “I just want…”

“What?”

“Normal. I want something about this entire mess to be normal.”

“Define normal.” Now Amber was being deliberately obtuse.

“A date? A candlelight dinner? Maybe a movie? Something, anything even a little bit romantic.”

Amber snorted out a laugh. “What’s romantic? Melissa went undercover and spied on Jared, and Royce picked me up in a bar.” She snapped off a twig and tossed it into the pond. “I was a one-night stand that never went home.”

Despite herself, Stephanie’s interest was piqued. “You and Royce had a one-night stand?”

“Not the first night.”

“Which night?”

“None of your business.”

“Did you know you loved him?”

“Not at the time.”

“Were you a virgin?”

“No.”

“But you loved him later. So, somewhere, deep down inside, you must have known.”

“Don’t do this, Stephanie.”

Stephanie clamped her jaw. Amber was right. Comparing herself to Melissa and Amber was futile. They were with men that they loved, men who would stick around, share their lives forever.

Leaves crackled on the trail behind them, and Stephanie turned to see Alec emerge from the trees.

His attention was fixed on Stephanie. “Royce told me I’d find you here.”

Amber made to stand up, but Stephanie grabbed at her arm. “Don’t go.”

“You two have a lot to talk about.”

“We’ve already talked.” Stephanie had no desire for a repeat argument. She didn’t have the energy.

Amber glanced up, obviously assessing Alec’s expression. “I don’t think you’re done yet.” She came to her feet, stepping her way out of the pool where she snagged a towel from a rock. Then she stuffed her feet into a pair of bright blue thongs.

Stephanie braced herself as Alec crouched down beside her. He was wearing a pair of lightweight khakis and plain, white dress shirt. His shoes were too formal, but at least he’d forgone the tie.

“Swimming?” he asked conversationally.

“No. Riding a bike.”

“You think sarcasm’s going to help?”

“I don’t think anything’s going to help.”

“Right.” He shifted. “So, your long-term plan is to wallow in self-pity?”

Stephanie refused to answer. Instead she swung her legs back and forth in the water.

She heard a rustle, then he stepped onto the ledge to sit. He’d stripped down to a pair of black boxers, and she quickly shifted her gaze to the other direction.

“You’ve seen me naked,” he rumbled, amusement clear in his tone.

She might have seen him that way once, but she didn’t
intend to see him that way again. She scrambled to put her feet under her.

His hand came down on her shoulder. “Oh, no you’re not.”

“You’re going to hold me prisoner?”

“If I have to.” The hand remained firmly in place.

Stephanie gave an angry sigh.

“I was thinking a garden wedding would be nice.”

“What part of no didn’t you—”

“We could do it here, if you like. Or in Chicago.”

“Alec, we can’t—”

“There’s a ring in my pocket. Simple, but a couple of carats. It should impress your friends.” He glanced across the shiny surface of the pool. “Probably not a good idea to give it to you here.”

Despite herself, she turned to look at him. “You bought me a diamond?”

“Of course I bought you a diamond. We’re getting married.”

“You can’t bribe me with jewelry, Alec.”

“I’m bribing you with a name for our baby.”

“I’m hardly a fallen woman.”

“This isn’t about you, Stephanie.”

“Of course it’s about—” She almost said me, but she clamped down her jaw instead. Her jumping career was ruined, and that was that. The baby was her priority now.

He smiled. “Ah. A glimmer of responsibility.”

“Of course I’ll do what’s best for the baby.” Beneath the water, her hand moved subconsciously to her abdomen.

“Marrying me is best for the baby.”

She didn’t answer.

“I’m under no illusions that we can ‘make it work,’” Alec continued.

“Ah. A glimmer of reality,” she mocked.

He frowned at her. “We barely know each other.”

“You got that right.”

“This isn’t my first choice, either.”

She stifled a cold laugh, but he ignored her silent sarcasm.

“I’ll be honest with you, Stephanie. When it comes to women, I’m not a long-term kind of guy. And I don’t see that changing.”

Wow. This proposal just kept getting better and better.

Did he mean he’d continue dating? She supposed there was nothing to stop him from doing just that. He had an apartment in Chicago, and he traveled on business most of the time.

She shouldn’t care. She had no right to care. Though it would be embarrassing if he was seen in public by someone she knew.

“Will you be discreet?” she asked him.

“Excuse me?”

“With the other women. Will you be discreet?”

His brows knit together. “What other women?”

“You just said your lifestyle wouldn’t change.”

“I didn’t—”

“I assume that means I’m free to see other men,” she added defiantly. “Although it would be more complicated for me to—”

“Whoa,” he roared. “You are
not
going to be seeing other men.”

“Isn’t that a double standard?”

“Double
standard?
”

“I’m trying to understand how this will work.”

Perhaps refusing Alec had been the wrong strategy. Maybe agreeing to marry him and pressing on the details
would be more effective. She’d bet it wouldn’t take him long to back out.

“Well, one way it will work, is that my pregnant wife won’t be sleeping with other men.”

“So, I’ll be celibate then?”

“Damn straight.”

“For how long?”

“For as long as it takes. It worked just fine for the first twenty-two years of your life.”

“That was before.”

“Before what?”

Frustration goaded her. “Before I knew how much fun it was to have sex.”

Alec’s eyes frosted to pewter. His mouth opened then closed again in a grim line.

She didn’t care. Let him think she was embarking on a spree of debauchery. So long as it changed his mind about the wedding.

“You’re lying,” he finally said.

“That sex is fun?” she deliberately misunderstood, crossing her arms beneath her breasts. “You were there, Alec. Do you think I’m lying?”

“You are impossible.” But his gaze dipped to her cleavage and the clingy one-piece bathing suit.

The heated look brought a rush of memories, and she realized that talking about their sex life might not be the brightest move. It had been far better than mere fun. And the experience was still fresh in her mind. And, given different circumstances, she’d definitely be in favor of repeating it.

“I’m merely pointing out some of the impracticalities of your master plan,” she told him.

“Stephanie, in five or six years, you are going to have a
child in your life asking about their family. Do you want to tell them Daddy was a one-night stand, or do you want to tell them Mommy and Daddy had a fight and don’t live together anymore.”

Stephanie’s brain stumbled on the picture of a five-year-old. There
would
be a five-year-old. And she’d be solely responsible for raising him or her.

Panic rose inside her. How would she manage? Her only role models were a grandfather and two teenage boys.

“I can’t—” She came to her feet, water rushing down her legs and dripping from her suit.

Alec rose. “Don’t you dare—” But then her expression seemed to register. “Stephanie?”

She was going to have a baby. She was honest to God, going to have a baby.

She felt the blood drain from her face.

She’d never fed a baby, burped a baby, changed a diaper. What if she did something wrong? What if she forgot something important? What if she inadvertently harmed the poor, little thing?

“Stephanie,” he sighed in obvious exasperation. He reached for her, pulling her to his body. His bare chest was warm from the sun, and his arms were strong around her. She had a sudden urge to bury her face and hide there forever. His deep voice vibrated reassuringly in her ear.

“Marry me, Stephanie. It won’t be perfect. It won’t be romantic. But we’ll at least be honest with each other.”

His sincerity touched her and, miraculously, she didn’t feel so completely alone. She let herself sink into Alec’s strength. Then she gave in and nodded against his chest.

Stephanie had preferred to hold the wedding at the ranch, and that was fine with Alec. He’d done his duty
and informed his father, omitting the fact that Stephanie was pregnant. History might be repeating itself on one level, but the unplanned pregnancy was the only thing his marriage would have in common with his parents’.

Jared and Melissa had flown to the ranch. Then Melissa and Amber had joined forces to convince Stephanie to put on at least a cursory show for the ceremony. It would only be the six of them and a preacher, but they couldn’t completely hide the event from the ranch workers, nor should they. It was better if it looked natural.

In the end, they’d chosen a quiet spot by the river. It was a couple of miles up a rutted, grassy road from Stephanie’s house, out of sight from the working areas. A field of oats rippled behind them, while horses grazed on the hillside, and the river burbled against a backdrop of cottonwood trees.

Alec and the preacher arrived first, but within minutes, Jared’s SUV pulled up with the rest of the party. The men all wore suits, while Amber and Melissa chose knee-length dresses, Amber in bronze, and Melissa in burgundy.

Stephanie was the last to emerge from the backseat. But when she did, Alec couldn’t stop staring.

Her white dress was simple, strapless with a high waist and a sparkling belt below her breasts. The skirt fell softly to her knees, showing the curves of her slim, tanned calves. Her shoes were pretty, white satin ballet slippers against the long green grass.

Her hair was upswept, brilliant auburn under the deep, blue sky. She wore diamond earrings and a delicate, matching necklace, and subtle makeup had toned her freckles to nothing. His gaze was drawn to her graceful neck and smooth, bare shoulders.

Alec was far from a romantic man, but he was forced
to fight the urge to sweep her up in his arms and carry her off on a honeymoon.

She took a tentative step forward, and then another.

It was no traditional march down the aisle, and she seemed uncertain of what to do.

Alec moved forward, meeting her halfway, taking her hand so that they approached the preacher together. Her fingertips trembled ever so slightly against his skin, and he fought a thickness in his chest and the desire to pull her tight against him and reassure her. His reaction was ridiculous. The ceremony was as simple as they could make it. They were here to get the job done, nothing more.

The preacher began speaking, and everyone went still.

Stephanie stared determinedly at Alec’s chin while she spoke her vows.

Alec by contrast watched her straight on, continuing to marvel at how stunning she looked. He realized that he’d never seen her in a dress, never seen her in jewelry, or with her hair in such a feminine style.

He’d known she was beautiful. He’d been physically attracted to her from minute one. But this incredible creature standing in front of him surpassed any dream or expectation he’d ever had. Once again, he found his imagination moving to a wedding night and honeymoon.

He ruthlessly shut that thought down. He had to keep a distance between them. Royce and Jared’s plan to make her fall in love was both foolish and dangerous. Alec’s mother had loved his father, and his father’s indifference had destroyed her.