Playing for Keeps/A Tempting Stranger (38 page)

Read Playing for Keeps/A Tempting Stranger Online

Authors: Lori Copeland

Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #General, #Contemporary, #Westerns, #test

BOOK: Playing for Keeps/A Tempting Stranger
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Page 82
''Chandra . . . come back here. . . ." His mouth took hers roughly this time, his passion nearly out of check. She could taste the saltiness of the blood from her lip as his mouth ground almost violently into hers. She wondered if he was giving the kiss in desire or in punishment.
"Ooooops, excuse me," John Rhodes called merrily as he sauntered down the hall. "Hate to break this up, but I wanted to see the master bedroom again."
Chandra smiled shakily as Garrett hesitantly broke the kiss. His eyes were a cold, icy blue as he looked at her. Chandra wondered if she had done something to anger him. "That's all right, Mr. Rhodes, I was just showing it to Garrett myself."
Garrett seemed to be having a hard time bringing himself under control. He had walked on into the bedroom, keeping his back to them as he stared moodily out the large window.
"What do you think, Garrett, do you like the house?" John Rhodes asked hopefully.
Garrett didn't answer for a moment, then in a tense voice he acknowledged Mr. Rhodes's question. "Chandra loves the house."
"Well, good, good, I knew you would. You can have possession today if you want it. If the price is right with you, we can wrap this up quickly."
"Chandra?" Garrett turned, his eyes meeting hers for approval.
"That's fine with me," she said softly, her eyes lovingly caressing his.
"Then, I guess it's settled. The Morgansons have just bought their first home," John Rhodes beamed. "Wait 'till I tell Sara." He left the room at a dead run.
"You will keep your promise and stay, won't you?" Garrett asked quietly, never moving from the window.
"Yes, I'll stay a few more days, Garrett." Her heart felt very heavy at the moment. Her love for him was bursting at the seams, and she prayed he wouldn't be able to read it in her eyes.
 
Page 83
''But only until the Rhodeses leave," she added gently. "I only have a few more weeks before"
"The wedding," Garrett finished tiredly. "I know. This will all be over in time for your wedding, Chandra. I'll see to that personally."
"Thank you," she answered calmly. Her mind was screaming for him to ask her to forget the wedding, but he showed no signs of doing that.
He stood looking at her for a few more minutes before he crossed the room and pushed coldly by her. "We might as well get this wrapped up," he said curtly, walking out into the hall.
Yes, we might as well,
Chandra thought forlornly as she followed his broad back down the hall of their new home. A few more days was all she had, but she would have her memories forever.
Events moved so rapidly from that moment on that Chandra could scarcely believe that within twenty-four hours she and Garrett were starting to move into their new house. She couldn't help it, that was how she had started to view the house. She knew it was wrong, she berated herself religiously for daydreaming, but she didn't have the strength to stop herself. When he walked into a room her day brightened, her world suddenly felt right. It was all going to end, but for now it was her home, and he was her husband.
"What is this, Chandra?" Garrett's deep voice reached her from the front door as she was putting away a few dishes they had bought earlier at a department store. Garrett was holding up a tightly rolled blanket in his hand as she walked into the living room.
"My bed," she grinned pertly.
"This thing?" Garrett was looking at the sleeping bag warily. "You don't think I'm going to let you sleep on this, do you?"
"Sure! I figure I can make my bed right here in front of the fireplace. I love fires on a cold winter night," she told him sincerely.
 
Page 84
''Aren't they supposed to deliver the bedroom furniture today?" he asked, ignoring her declaration of independence.
"Yes, but you sleep"
"You can take the master bedroom for right now," he broke in curtly.
"No!" She stood up to face him defiantly. "No, I will not sleep in that bedroom. I want to sleep in here, Garrett . . . please." Her eyes pleaded silently with his to grant her request. She would die before she slept in that big, lonely bed without him.
"Dammit, Chandra . . . have it your own way," he relented heatedly. "I was only trying to . . ." His voice fell off in despair. "If you want to sleep in here, then do it."
What's his problem,
she thought irritably. It was his house, his bed. He had been testy all day. Actually, he had been in a bad mood ever since they had looked at the house yesterday. Chandra supposed it was because he was saddled with a house now, on top of a fake wife, but that wasn't her fault. He was the one who kept insisting that they play this charade out. If he wanted her to leave, all he had to do was say so!
"It's your house, Garrett. I'm not going to take your bedroom," she snapped testily.
"All right, all right!" He threw up his hands in surrender. "Sleep on the damn floor. I'll be a real gentleman and take the only bed in the house," he sneered.
"Fine," she agreed, turning back to finish her unpacking. "What's all the fuss about anyway?"
"You're as stubborn as a jackass, that's what the fuss is about," he answered in a surly tone of voice, throwing the bedroll down in front of the fireplace.
"So? That's not your problem. You aren't going to have to live with me," she chided flippantly, walking back to the kitchen.
"Thank God," he muttered sarcastically, following right behind.
"Praise the Lord," she mocked back arrogantly, placing the dishes and coffee cups neatly in the cabinet.
They worked quietly and alone for the rest of the afternoon,
 
Page 85
putting away the household items they had bought in a frenzied shopping trip the night before. By the time the evening meal had been eaten, and Chandra had had her bath, she was totally exhausted. She was almost glad that Phillip had agreed to live in her apartment for a while after their marriage. She didn't think she would have the stamina to go through this again anywhere in the near future.
She lay down in her sleeping bag, wiggling her toes in delight. It felt so good just to stretch out and relax. Garrett had given her a dirty look as she'd passed him on the way out of the bathroom, his look clearly telling her he was still put out with her.
She yawned and stretched again, mentally going over a checklist in her mind. She had called Darrell's office this morning and left a message for him when he returned. She had simply told him she had decided to stay with a friend until Mom got home. With his work schedule he wouldn't have time to question her message. With any luck at all she would be back home before he started to wonder where his sister had disappeared to. Phillip was gone on a business trip and wouldn't call until next weekthe same with her mom and dad. She could afford to stay here with Garrett another four or five days at the most. After that the game would be over.
The fire hissed and popped merrily in the fireplace, casting its rosy shadows across the room. The wind had come up again outside, blowing blustery and cold. Chandra snuggled down deeper into her bedroll, relaxing in her warm ''bed." She could hear Garrett moving quietly around in his room. The department store had delivered the bedroom furniture they had picked out together the night before. It was dark, heavy oak, suitable for any man's taste, yet furniture that any woman would fall in love with. He had insisted that she make the final choice, and she had happily picked what now sat beautifully in his room. Chandra sighed and turned over on her back to stare at the flames flickering on the ceiling. This was going to be a lot harder than she realized, picking out the furniture for his home. It was
 
Page 86
proving to be a bittersweet experience. It hurt terribly to think that she was decorating this house for some nameless woman who would soon be its new mistress. The woman who would someday have Garrett's children, sleep in that big lovely bed with himshe broke her thoughts off quickly. She could not afford to think in this vein. Phillip! That's who she had to think of. As the fire burned lower she finally floated off to a sound sleep, with visions drifting through her mind of hockey players skating around rudely, trying to knock each other's brains out, sitting in their little penalty boxes.
With a start, Chandra sat straight up. What was that noise? She listened intently to the rising wind, then she heard it again. It sounded as if someone were trying to get in the front door.
Breaking out in a cold sweat she crawled carefully out of her bedroll, her eyes never leaving the creaking door. On hands and knees she crawled silently across the living room, reaching the safety of the hall. Still on her knees she crept silently down to Garrett's bedroom, her heart racing madly. She could still barely hear the strange scraping and thumping above the sound of the whistling wind. Pushing open the bedroom door she crept silently up to the side of his bed. She could hear his quiet heavy breathing as he lay in bed, totally unaware of the danger that confronted them both.
''Garrett!" she whispered loudly.
Garrett mumbled something under his breath and rolled over in the bed to the other side.
In exasperation she crawled quickly around to the other side of his bed, determined to get him awake without alerting the impending intruder. She didn't dare stand up and turn on a light; she was too afraid. Maybe she shouldn't even be whispering, she thought belatedly, as she stopped by the side of the bed once more. Deciding to reach up and shake him awake, she extended her hand up over the bed and grabbed the bare arm that was hanging limply over the side.
As her cold hand closed around his bare flesh, Garrett sat straight up in bed as if a bolt of lightning had hit him.
 
Page 87
''What the hell" He was on his feet in an instant, groping wildly in the dark for the unknown assailant.
"Garrett!" Chandra hissed angrily. "Shhhhhhhhh, there's someone trying to get in the front door." She was still on her hands and knees peeking over the side of the bed.
"Chandra . . ." Garrett was fighting for a clear head after being awakened from a sound sleep. "What in the
hell
are you doing on the floor in the middle of the night, grabbing my arm in the dark? You realize what I could have done to you?" he challenged angrily.
"I'm sorry," she whispered back snappishly, "but there's someone trying to break in the front door."
"Are you sure?" he asked irritably.
"Do you think I'm going to come crawling in here in the middle of the night and make up a story like that? Of course, I'm sure," she blazed.
"All right! Just calm down. I'll go check the noise out." He reached for his trousers lying on the bedroom chair.
"Garrett . . . be careful, I'm scared." Chandra's voice sounded very small in the dark room.
"I'm sure it's just the wind," he grumbled, angrily zipping up the fly of his pants. "Just one more reason
I
avoid marriage. Women's wild imaginations," he growled, looking at her pointedly.
"There's a ball bat one of the Miller children left in the hall closet. You'd better take that with you," she urged, ignoring his antimarriage theory.
"Stay right here," he snapped curtly as he slipped quietly out of the bedroom door.
Chandra hopped up into his bed to get warm, her feet feeling like chunks of ice after crawling around on the cold floor. She couldn't hear any sounds coming from the dark hall and living room. What if the burglar had actually gotten into the house while she was trying to wake Garrett? He could be lying in wait for Garrett to come walking into the dark room.
Chandra wrung her hands in anxiety. She really shouldn't be

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