Running Wild (45 page)

“As,” she said, breathlessly, “as a partner?”

He frowned. “A partner? That’s what you want?”

“It is.”

“Well then, sure, partner it is. But,” he said, drawing a
breath as wariness crept into his eyes, “any
children
we have are more
important than your work. Not always, but when they need their mother, well
they come first. I won’t budge on that.”

She bit her lip and nodded. “Yes, yes, I do believe that. I
. . . I always did. And you too. You won’t ask for yourself, I know, but
you
come before my work.”

He sucked in his breath, and his throat worked a minute
before he answered. “O.K. Sure. Sometimes, anyhow.”

She swallowed too and dug down deep for merriment to prevent
herself from dissolving into full-blown weeping. “Naturally, I’ll expect you to
give speeches with me, as well.”

He laughed. “No, ma’am. But maybe if you’re
real
good, I’ll let you beat me at rowing now and again.”

Oh no, but she was about to sob. And he just kept on wiping
the tears. . . . “On the Charles? We’ll spend time in Boston? You know I should
miss the ocean.”

He nodded solemnly. “A few months a year. Just don’t make me
drink any more of that frightened water.”

“Even if I make tea as thick as . . . as . . . oh you’d
better just give me that handkerchief!” she exclaimed, trying to pull it from
his hands.

He held tight. “Not till you say yes. I’m holdin’ it
hostage.”

“Yes, then! I’ll marry you,” she said. With an ear-to-ear
grin gracing his face, he let it go. She wiped her eyes. “And I love you too,
even though you didn’t ask, which makes you a dreadfully poor loser!”

“Loser? Hell,” he said sitting back and watching her, “you
agreed to marry me. I figure I won but good!”

She tilted her head, tears done and a familiar excitement
stirring in her blood. “Did you? Well then, I suppose I ought to give you your
prize. Properly. As I recall, you have beds here in the Great Uncivilized
West.”

He started. Then desire filled his eyes. “We do. No doubt
Melinda’s getting your room all cozy right now.”

“Why don’t we go discover that together then,” she said
leaning forward to run her hands over his thighs. Rock hard. And when naked,
slightly furred.

“Not until we’re married.”

“Until we’re married?” she asked. “Why ever should we
wait
?”

“Reckon I’m holdin’ that hostage too. Just to make sure you
don’t change your mind.”

“Change my mind? Nicholas, I just took a train two thousand
miles—”

“Only about a hundred from Chicago,” he said rising.

“Where are you going?”

“To tell Melinda and Jim.”

“No!” she said rising also. Oh, but this was going to be the
quickest engagement anyone had ever seen! “I can’t argue this in front of her!”

“Ma’am, you could argue anything, anywhere.”

“I cannot. Nicholas, you come back here!” she said as he
strode across the room. “We’re not done.”

He flashed her a grin. “Wildcat! Try and catch me!”

Lilah Martin is a hunted woman who has roamed the West for
three years, staying one step ahead of men who are trying to kill her. Fear is
her only friend; staying alive is her only goal. Then she lands a job at the
Bar M, a prosperous and well-protected ranch in Colorado, where she finds
friendship, sanctuary and a life that is almost normal. Or so it seems until
she falls prey to the wildly seductive and dangerously inquisitive Rick
Winchester. . .

A former outlaw, Rick has spent five years searching for
distraction from guilt over his wife’s death. He finally finds it in the
simmering sexual attraction between Lilah and him, and the dark intrigue
surrounding her. But the more he delves into her secrets, the more of a mystery
she becomes, until, frightened, she flees the Bar M. Determined not to lose
this woman, Rick races after her, catapulting them into a clash of wills, which
can only end in the discovery of a deadly secret locked away in Lilah’s mind. A
secret that could make them both rich. Or get them both killed. . . .

Betrayed and abandoned by her adulterous husband, actress
Jess Sullivan has only one goal: to return home to the happy, comfortable “good
girl” life she so foolishly forfeited in the name of love.  Before she can
do that, though, she must save enough money to pay back what she and her husband
stole from her brother. Jess has no use for men or romance, especially a man
like Leland Montgomery, an ultra-charming aristocrat turned footloose gambler.

Lee, however, is enchanted by Jess’s breathtaking beauty and
quick, sharp wit. Assuming she follows the casual immorality of her profession,
and hoping for a brief, torrid affair, Lee is determined to to seduce her. As
his feelings for her deepen, though, he realizes she’s hardly the shallow,
loose woman he expected. Any sexual relationship with her must be respectable,
but men of his background do
not
marry actresses, especially ones who
are
already
married. Before he can reconcile those two things, Jess’s
stage manager is murdered and she and Lee are blamed for the crime. After
narrowly escaping the hangman’s noose, they set off across the Colorado
prairie, one step ahead of a posse, and shadowed by desire and a love that
can’t possibly end well. . . .

After the death of her third husband, former English
noblewoman Morgan Turner flees Philadelphia police, who want to arrest her for
murder. Her money takes her as far as Boston, where she ends up in the arms of
Ward Montgomery, captain of the ship that brought her to America. Desperate and
penniless, she succumbs to the simmering attraction between them and,
concealing her deadly past, brazenly offers to become his mistress.

Ward has pledged to restore honor to his proud Boston name,
ruined by his lecherous father. Consumed by desire, however, Ward recklessly
agrees to her offer, believing he can keep the affair a secret from his family
and Society. But as desire turns to love, their secret is threatened, first by
Morgan’s pregnancy—and then when the Philadelphia police discover that the
infamous Wicked Widow is living in Boston. . . .