Paging Dr. Right- Stella Bagwell (August 2007)l - الصفحة 3

26-10-07, 10:47 PM

المشاركة رقم: 11

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الكاتب:	darla
اللقب:	سندريلا ليلاس

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التسجيل:	Aug 2006
العضوية:	11023
المشاركات:	5,556
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كاتب الموضوع : darla المنتدى : الارشيف

Chapter 8

The next evening, after Marshall had gotten off duty, he was walking through the lounge searching for any sight of Mia when his cell phone rang.
Flipping the instrument open, he was surprised to see it was his brother Mitchell calling. Quickly, he pushed the talk button as he continued to amble through the several couches and armchairs grouped in front of the massive fireplace.
“Hey, Mitch, what’s going on?”
“What the hell do you mean, what’s going on? We’re all over here at the Hitching Post. Have you forgotten that it’s our night to meet?”
Pausing at one of the empty cowhide-covered chairs, Marshall sank onto the padded arm. His brother’s question had literally stunned him. How could he have forgotten boy’s night out? For years now, Marshall, Mitchell, Grant and Russ and Dax had all gotten together once a month at the Hitching Post to drink beer, play pool and sit down to a game of poker. It was their time together, to relax and forget about any problems they might have. Just the idea that he’d been concentrating on Mia instead of his normal routine was enough to worry him.
“I suppose I had forgotten. Are you guys already gathered up?”
“Hell, yes. We were waiting on you to start the poker game, but the rest of the guys gave up and decided to play pool. What’s the matter, did you have some sort of emergency this evening?”
“I’m still here at the lodge, I just stayed late to do a bit of paperwork.” And to wait around and see if Mia made an appearance at the lounge, he thought wryly. Last night after they’d eaten ice cream, he’d dropped her off at her cabin and given her a chaste good-night kiss. He’d not wanted to press his luck and ask her for another date tonight, but he’d damned well wanted to. Dear Lord, if he’d missed boy’s night out because of a date, the guys would never let him live it down. “Just hold my place, Mitch. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Friday night at the Hitching Post was always a rowdy affair with drinking, loud laughter and even louder music. The popular nightspot located on the southwestern edge of town was Thunder Canyon’s version of an Old West saloon, complete with live country bands on Friday and Saturday nights and hardwood floors with plenty of space for boot stompin’ and two-steppin’. A restaurant serving everything from steaks to burgers was situated on one side of the building, while on the opposite side was the original bar that had once graced Lily Divine’s sporting house. And over the back bar, above the numerous bottles of spirits and rows of shot glasses, hung a painting of Thunder Canyon’s most infamous lady.
Marshall, along with every guy who’d ever visited the Hitching Post, had often gazed at the nearly naked Lily and wondered if she’d really been as bawdy and decadent as the good folks of the town had depicted her to be back in the 1880s.
There were always two sides to every story and he figured the truth of Lily’s past would never be understood. The beautiful madam was a mystery. Just like Mia Smith, he thought, as he skirted the edge of the crowded dance floor and shouldered his way toward the bar. She was another beautiful mystery that he seriously wanted to unravel.
After wedging his way past the crowd packed around the busy bar, Marshall spotted his brother standing near one of the several pool tables located just off the dance floor.
He worked his way toward his brother while the band’s rendition of a popular country tune rattled the rafters and forced people to communicate with hand signals rather than conversation. For one brief second, as he waited for a big burly cowboy to step aside, Marshall longed for the quiet sanctuary of his back porch, the glider and his arm around Mia.
Hell, what was coming over him, Marshall wondered as he finally reached the pool table where his brother and friends were racking balls for a new game. He’d always loved the nightlife, the louder and wilder, the better. The Hitching Post had given him some damn good memories and getting together with his brother and buddies was a tradition since their high school days. This was his idea of the good life and he didn’t want to change a damn thing about it.
“Hey, buddy, you finally made it,” Grant Clifton called to him from the opposite end of the table. “Want to play this game?”
Russ Chilton, the rancher of the group, took the pool stick he’d been leaning on and offered it to Marshall. “Go ahead. I’ve already lost one game to the stud down there.” He motioned his head toward Grant. “Why don’t you see if you can wipe that smug smile off his face?”
“Aw, Russ, the smile on Grant’s face doesn’t have anything to do with beating you at pool.” Dax Traub, spoke up over another blast of loud music. “The man is in love. Real, true love.”
Marshall looked across the table at Dax, who owned a motorcycle shop in the old part of town. The remarks he’d made about Grant’s love life had held more than a hint of cynicism, but that was to be expected from Dax. He was six foot of brooding sarcasm since his marriage to Allaire had hit the skids.
“How do you know so much about Grant’s love life?” Marshall asked at the same time as he signaled to a nearby waitress.
Dax jerked his thumb toward Grant. “The big manager of Thunder Canyon Resort has been telling us all about his upcoming wedding to his cowgirl. I’ve advised him to take her spurs off first, though. Otherwise she might trip on her way down the aisle.”
By now the waitress had reached Marshall. He quickly ordered a beer, then turned and walked to where Grant was resting a hip against the edge of the pool table.
“Sounds like Dax is giving you a hard time about becoming a husband,” Marshall said with faint amusement.
Grinning, Grant tossed his pool stick to Dax. The other man quickly positioned himself over the table and busted the triangle of balls.
With the game going again, Grant moved a few steps away from the table and Marshall followed.
“I wouldn’t expect anything else from Dax. He’s jaded.”
Marshall blew out a lungful of air. Even though he’d known that Grant was engaged, the idea that his old buddy would soon be married shook him in a way he’d never expected. Grant’s bachelor days were coming to an end.
Marshall glanced shrewdly at his longtime friend. “Maybe Dax is concerned that you’ll end up getting hurt—like him. But I’ll have to say you don’t look like a worried man.”
Grant chuckled. “Worried. Why should I be? I’m marrying the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. I couldn’t be happier.”
Marshall slapped a hand on Grant’s shoulder. “If you’re happy, then I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks. Maybe you can deliver our children when they come,” Grant added jokingly.
With a wry shake of his head, Marshall said, “I’m a sports doctor, Grant.
Remember? I don’t do babies.”
Grant’s calculating laugh was loud enough to be heard above the music. “Maybe not in the delivery room. But you might just make a few—if you meet the right woman.”
Marshall didn’t think he’d ever seen his longtime friend so buoyant and happy.
Nor had he ever heard him talk so openly about love and kids, subjects that normally would have made both men squirm. Now Marshall could merely look at him and wonder.
Glancing toward the other members of their group, Marshall said, “You know me, Grant, I’m never really looking for the right woman. But I—I’m half afraid that I may have found her anyway.”
The waitress arrived with his beer and he tossed a few bills onto the serving tray before she hurried off to deliver more drinks.
As he gratefully sipped the dark draft beer, Grant edged closer. “What do you mean? I didn’t realize you’d been seeing one certain woman.”
Feeling more than a little foolish, Marshall shrugged. “I hadn’t been. But then I ran into Mia and we—uh—we’ve gone out a few times.” He glanced at Grant and appreciated the fact that his friend wasn’t grinning like a possum. “This is probably going to sound crazy, Grant, but I think I’m falling for this girl.”
Grant’s dark brows lifted with surprise. “Mia? Do I know this woman?”
“You should. Her name is Mia Smith. She’s one of the high-toned guests at the resort. I remember you said she rented a safety deposit box for her jewelry.”
Grant’s lips formed a silent O. “Yeah, I remember now. The mystery heiress that all the staff was chattering about when she first arrived. You’ve been seeing her?”
Marshall nodded. “Believe me, Grant, I never thought she’d give me the time of day. Now that she has I—well, all I want is to be with her. And if I’m not with her I’m thinking about her. Does that sound like love to you?”
Frowning, Grant said, “Marshall, from what I’ve heard about Mia Smith, she keeps to herself. No one around the resort knows where she came from or anything else about her. Do you?”
What little Marshall knew about Mia was hardly enough to fit in his eye, yet he’d learned enough to tell him she was a good, decent person and that being with her made him happy. Wasn’t that really all that mattered, he asked himself.
To Grant he admitted, “I’ve learned a little about her, but not as much as I’d like to.”
Slapping a comforting hand on Marshall’s shoulder, Grant said, “Well, I wouldn’t worry about it, ole buddy. You’re probably just infatuated with her because she’s a mystery. Once you give yourself time to really get to know the woman, your feelings might change completely.”
After a long gulp of beer, Marshall glanced out at the crowded dance floor. For the life of him he couldn’t imagine Mia laughing and kicking up her heels like the women here at the Hitching Post were doing tonight. She’d said she wasn’t a party girl, but Marshall instinctively felt there was more to her reserved mind-set than what she was telling him.
“You may be right, Grant. The only thing I’m sure about now is that I’m going to keep seeing her—until she leaves the resort.”
Several loud shouts suddenly sounded from the pool table and both men returned to the group of friends just in time to see Dax send the last ball on the table rolling into a corner pocket.
Looking for anything to get his mind off Mia, Marshall said, “Give me that cue, Russ. Somebody needs to knock Dax off his throne.”
More than an hour later and after several games at the pool table, the five guys found seats and ordered pitchers of beer.
As for Marshall, he tried to keep up with the bits and pieces of conversation flowing back and forth across the table, but all the while he was wondering what sort of believable excuse he could come up with to leave the party early.
He could always pull out his cell phone and pretend he had an emergency message from the resort. But with Grant being the manager, he’d eventually find out the truth and then his departure would need even more explanation. Damn it, why couldn’t he just sit back and enjoy himself like he usually did at these gatherings?
The next thing Marshall knew, Dax was waving a hand in front of his face. “Hey, buddy, are you with us?”
Realizing he’d been caught daydreaming, Marshall placed his beer mug on the table and glanced around the table. “I’m here,” he answered a bit sharply. “I was just thinking about a patient,” he lied. “Did you ask me something?”
“Yeah, we want to know about your date with Lizbeth Stanton. What was that all about?”
Grimacing, Marshall asked, “How did you know about that?”
Russ laughed. “Since when did anything stay a secret around Thunder Canyon? You ought to know Dax hears a stream of gossip in his motorcycle shop.”
Marshall shrugged. “Well, there wasn’t anything to it. She asked me out to dinner and I accepted. No big deal. She’s really more of a friend than anything.”
“Sexy as hell, though, don’t you think?” Dax tossed a wink at him. “And she’s just your style—a big flirt.”
Marshall was about to tell him to go jump off a cliff when he spotted Mitchell staring at him like a hound dog with perked ears.
“You say Lizbeth asked you out?” his brother asked. “Not the other way around?”
“That’s right,” Marshall answered. “But like I said, the two of us are just friends. In fact, while we were having dinner she encouraged me to go after Mia Smith.”
“I see.”
Marshall thoughtfully watched his brother tip the pitcher of beer over his near-empty glass. If he didn’t know better, his brother seemed unduly interested in Lizbeth Stanton, but that idea was ludicrous, he thought. Mitchell was the serious one. Flirty, flighty Lizbeth would be the last woman to fit his needs.
“Oh, so you’ve already moved on to this Mia now?” Dax asked. “Maybe we should be asking about her instead of Lizbeth.”
Rising to his feet, Marshall pulled several bills from his trouser pocket and tossed them onto the table to pay for his portion of the beer.
“Sorry guys. I’ve had a long day and there’s a patient I want to check on before it gets too late.”
“A patient! Are you kidding?” Grant exclaimed. “Since when did you ever worry about a patient after working hours?”
Since he’d met Mia, Marshall silently answered. Aloud, he said, “There’s a first time for everything, guys.”
He walked away, leaving every man at the table staring after him.
The next morning Mia had just stepped out of the shower and was toweling dry when she heard a knock on the door of her cabin.
Puzzled that anyone would be trying to contact her, she quickly pulled on a blue satin robe and knotted the sash at her waist as she hurried to the living area.
Even though the resort was basically safe and away from the dangers that lurked in city living, she still opted to use the peephole before simply pulling the door open to a stranger. But to her surprise the visitor wasn’t a stranger. It was Marshall, dressed in a green short-sleeved shirt and faded blue jeans. The tan cowboy boots on his feet reminded her that even though the man was a doctor, he still had a bit of Montana in him. And it was that rough edge that made him just too darn sexy for a woman’s peace of mind.
Her pulse fluttering wildly, she thrust strands of wet hair off her face and pulled open the door to find him smiling back at her.
“Good morning, beautiful,” he said softly.
The sweet, sensual greeting knocked her senses for a loop. Embarrassed that he’d caught her in such a disheveled state, she clutched the folds of her robe chastely together at the base of her throat.
“Hello yourself,” she replied while her mind spun with questions. What was he doing here at her cabin so early in the morning? And why did the sight of him make her heart sing? She was clearly losing control with him—and herself.
“Uh—I know it’s early. I tried to call, but there was no answer.” His dark gaze left her face to travel downward to where her puckered nipples were outlined by the satin, then farther down to where the edges of the fabric parted against one naked thigh. “I guess you were in the shower—or something.”
Just before Mia had stepped into the shower she’d heard her cell phone ringing, but even though she’d given her number to Marshall the other night after they’d dealt with Joey’s sprained ankle, she’d figured the only person who would be calling so early was Janelle. And Mia was still far from ready to talk to the woman.
“Yes, I was in the shower,” she repeated as though she didn’t have an ounce of brain cells. Then, realizing she couldn’t keep him standing on the small porch, she pushed the door a bit wider. “Would you like to come in?”
The grooves in his cheeks deepened as he stepped across the threshold and past her. “I thought you’d never ask,” he said as he glanced thoughtfully around the small but luxuriously fitted cabin.
Her hands shaking, she shut the door behind them and then adjusted the front of her robe to a more modest position.
“This is quite a surprise,” she said. “I wouldn’t have expected you to be up so early on a Saturday morning. Would you like coffee?”
She moved around him and into the kitchen. Thankfully she’d turned on the coffeemaker before she’d stepped into the shower and now the brew was ready to drink.
“I’d love a coffee,” he said as he followed her behind an L-shaped bar and into the small kitchen area. “And this might surprise you, but I’m not one to lay in bed on my days off. There’s too much to enjoy and life’s too short to sleep it
away.”
Grateful that the task of finding cups and pouring the coffee gave her a moment to collect herself, she said in a teasing voice, “Oh. Well, I figured with your nightlife you’d need the rest.”
He chuckled. “Nightlife? Now who’s been talking about me? I don’t have that much of a nightlife. Even though I was out last night—at the Hitching Post with my brother and friends.”
Turning, she handed him one of the mugs. Their fingers met and at the same time their gazes clashed. For a brief moment Mia’s breath stopped, as arcs of sizzling awareness seemed to zip back and forth between them.
“Friends?”
She realized the question was personal, that it was the same as saying I’m interested in you, but she couldn’t stop herself. If he’d been out with another woman last night, then his showing up here this morning wouldn’t be anything for her heart to sing about. Maybe it wasn’t anything to sing about anyway. But she couldn’t seem to get her heart to go quiet. Instead it was thumping and jumping joyously around in her chest.
“My old high school buddies.” A corner of his mouth slanted upward. “Guys—just in case you’re wondering.”
Feeling a blush coming on, she lifted the cup to her lips and sipped while she waited for the heat in her cheeks to subside.
“I guess it’s time to confess that I have heard gossip about you.”
One of his dark brows arched with amused speculation. “Really? Where?”
She lowered the cup and tried to keep her voice casual. “The Clip ‘N’ Curl.”
Marshall laughed. “The beauty salon in town? Mia, you’re supposed to hear gossip at a beauty salon. Something would be wrong if you didn’t.”
She did her best to chuckle along with him. Yet these past few days she’d not been able to completely dismiss what Marti had revealed about her sister and Marshall.
“This particular person I met there seemed to know you quite well. Or, at least, her sister did.”
His amusement turned to outright interest. “You don’t say. Well, who was this person?”
“Marti Newmar. She works at the coffee bar in the lounge.”
Sudden dawning crossed his face and then he glanced down at the cup in his hand, but not before Mia glimpsed something like regret in his eyes.
“Hmm. Marti. Yes, I’m acquainted with her. And yes, I dated her older sister, Felicia. It was nothing serious, though, and she’s gone on to other things. In fact, I don’t even think she lives here anymore.”
He sounded so casual, almost too casual. And a prick of warning sent a cool shiver down her spine. If he was that flippant about his past girlfriends, then who was to say he’d be any different with her?
But you don’t want him to be serious about you, Mia. You’re a fake, a phony.
Even if he did grow to love you, the truth would end everything. No, a mild flirtation is as far as this thing with Marshall could ever go.
Sighing, she leaned against the bar and stared across the expanse of living room. “Marti seems to think that her sister was in love with you.”
She could hear his boots shifting slightly, but she didn’t turn to look at him.
If she saw another dismissive look on his face she didn’t think she could bear it.
“I couldn’t help that, Mia. Felicia was—she wasn’t my type. I’m at fault for dating her in the first place.”
“Why wasn’t she your type?” Mia asked stiffly. “Because she was poor?”
“Poor? You think that’s why I ended things with her?”
There was such indignation in his voice that she glanced over her shoulder at him. He was glowering at her and she knew she’d hit a nerve, but at this moment she didn’t care. Maybe it was time Dr. Playboy was questioned about his dating ethics.
“I don’t know,” she said. “From the way Marti describes her home and family, it doesn’t match up to yours.”
“Well, the Newmars’ financial situation had nothing to do with anything,” he countered. “Felicia was—naive. That was the whole problem.”
Mia’s lips twisted. She’d been naive before, too. She’d been foolish to believe that Lance had loved her enough to stick with her through the good and the bad.
But even worse, it had been silly, perhaps even childlike, to believe that Janelle and her stacks of money could buy happiness.
“Why?” she asked, her voice brittle. “For believing a guy like you could care about a girl like her?”
He groaned. “Why are you trying to make me look like a cad?”
With a shake of her head, she said, “I’m not trying to do anything. Maybe you’ve already done it to yourself.”
There was a pregnant pause and then she heard a rough sigh escape him.
“Look, Mia, you’re probably right in thinking that I hurt Felicia. I’m sure I did. But I didn’t do it intentionally. I never led her on or tried to make her believe she was the special woman in my life. She was simply a pretty girl, a fun date. But she obviously wanted more than I was prepared to give. When I finally saw where her feelings were headed, I quickly ended things. If that makes me an unfeeling bastard, then I guess I’m guilty.”
Feeling a bit raw without even knowing why, she said, “Forget it, Marshall. I shouldn’t have brought the matter up anyway. You and I are just friends. And your past dating habits are no concern of mine. No more than mine are yours.”

29-10-07, 08:17 AM

المشاركة رقم: 12

المعلومات
الكاتب:	darla
اللقب:	سندريلا ليلاس

البيانات
التسجيل:	Aug 2006
العضوية:	11023
المشاركات:	5,556
الجنس	أنثى
معدل التقييم:
نقاط التقييم:	758

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مدونتي

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كاتب الموضوع : darla المنتدى : الارشيف

Chapter 9

Before Marshall could say any more on the subject of Felicia Newmar or any other women he’d dated, Mia turned toward him and gestured to one of the tall bar stools pushed up against the varnished pine counter.
“Have a seat,” she invited.
He pulled out one of the bar stools and slung a long leg over the padded seat.
Mia placed her coffee mug on the bar, then carefully climbed onto the stool next to him. As he sipped at his coffee, she pulled a wide-tooth comb from the pocket of her robe and began to smooth the wet tangles away from her face.
As Marshall watched her deal with the mass of black hair tousled around her head, he couldn’t help but wonder why she’d confronted him about an old girl-friend and why he’d felt so compelled to defend himself. Before Mia, he’d not really cared what anyone thought of his dating habits. If a heart got broken here and there, he’d justified his part in the malady by telling himself the woman had learned a lesson about men, albeit the hard way. But now, to even think of breaking Mia’s heart troubled him deeply. Dear God, what was she doing? Taking a freewheeling bachelor and turning him into a conscientious but boring gentleman?
“I thought you might like to know that I stopped by the Wander-On Inn last night and checked on Joey,” he commented. “His ankle is coming along nicely.”
She looked at him with surprise. “You mean you interrupted your night on the town to check on a patient?”
A wry smile twisted his lips. “You see, I’m not all bad, as you seem to think.”
“I never thought you were all bad.”
Their gazes clashed and her eyes darted nervously away from him. He watched her put down the comb and pick up her coffee.
“I would offer to make you breakfast,” she said after a moment, “but I don’t have any food in the house. I’m afraid I’ve been doing too much eating out, letting others do the cooking.”
“Don’t worry about it. I actually stopped by to invite you out, anyway. I thought we could grab some break fast at the Grubstake and then do a bit of climbing.”
Her gaze swung back to him. “Climbing? As in mountain climbing?”
He grinned at her wariness. “Sure. You’re up to it, aren’t you?”
Even though he had mentioned the two of them going climbing together before, Mia had never believed he’d actually get around to asking her. Taking an inexperienced person on such a strenuous trek would be like taking a toddler on a shopping excursion.
“I don’t know.” She licked her lips as she weighed his invitation. Mia Smith, the heiress who wanted to stay hidden from the world, knew it would be wise to politely decline and send him on his way. But she was getting so weary of being that woman, so tired of pretending. And more importantly, it didn’t matter to her what this man’s motives to spend time with her were; being with Marshall simply made her feel good. And right now she needed that very much.
She said, “You’ve surprised me.”
“Good. A man shouldn’t be predictable.” His eyes sparkled with all sorts of innuendos. “At least, not to a beautiful woman.”
Her nostrils flared as her pulse fluttered. It would be so much easier if she could forget the taste of his lips, forget the feel of his strong arms wrapped around her, but she couldn’t and now as she looked at him her senses buzzed with erotic memories. This was probably how Marti’s sister had felt, she thought, charmed, helpless, ready to give the man anything he wanted.
“I’ll go climbing with you. Just as long as you don’t try to take me up something like Pike’s Peak.”
Marshall chuckled. “The highest mountain in Montana is Granite Peak and it’s many miles east of here. We’ll go up a baby mountain here on the resort.
Promise.” He used his forefinger to make a cross against his chest, then leaning toward her, he wound a strand of wet hair around the same finger. “You ought to know I wouldn’t hurt a hair on your head.”
Even though Mia desperately needed to draw in a deep breath, the air lodged in her throat. “I’m—um. It’s not my hair that I’m concerned about. It’s my bones.”
A deep chuckle rumbled up from his chest and his finger left her hair to slide down the stretch of thigh exposed by the part in her robe. “I’m a sports doctor, remember? I can fix broken bones.”
Yeah, but what about broken hearts? Don’t think about it, Mia. Just go. Have fun. Forget.
Carefully, she caught his wayward hand and placed it safely on his knee. “All right, doc,” she conceded. “You’ve talked me into it. What time did you want to go?”
His smile was a picture of pure triumph. “Great! I’m ready right now.”
Mia glanced pointedly down at her robe. “Well, I’m not. You’re going to have to give me time to get dressed. What should I wear?”
“You might want to settle on loose-fitting shorts. It’s going to be a warm, sunny day.”
Mia quickly slipped off the bar stool. “Give me five minutes,” she told him.
Just as she was walking across the living room, her cell phone began to ring.
Mia glanced at the small table where the device was lying and felt her spirits sink. Janelle had been ringing and ringing, no doubt determined to make Mia pick up and talk to her. So far, she’d not found the courage or determination to confront her mother.
“Go ahead,” Marshall spoke up from his seat at the bar. “I’m not in that big of a hurry. Answer your phone.”
Knowing it would look odd if she didn’t acknowledge the ringing, Mia picked up the phone and flipped it open. The caller ID flashed the name Janelle Josephson and her heart sunk all the way to her toes.
Snapping the phone shut, she said, “I—It’s nothing important. I’ll return the call later.”
The ringing stopped and Marshall watched her place the phone back on the table.
Her features, which only a moment ago had been smiling, had rapidly gone pensive, then guarded. Who could the caller be, he wondered. A family member? A lover? All along he’d sensed that something was going on with Mia Smith, something that she wanted to keep hidden.
He figured the answer could be found if he sifted through the call history information on her telephone. A name. A number. Someone from her past was obviously still reaching out to her. He desperately wanted to know, but he couldn’t push her. He had to be patient and wait to see if she would ever feel close enough to confide in him.
“Are you sure? We have all day for climbing,” he tried to assure her.
Suddenly she snatched the instrument up from the table again and this time slipped it into the pocket on her robe. “It’s nothing important, Marshall,” she said in a firm voice, then whirled and started out of the room. “Just let me change and we’ll be on our way.”
Marshall was still thinking about her odd behavior when she emerged from the bedroom a few minutes later wearing a pair of black khaki shorts and a white tank top. A white scarf secured her wet hair into a ponytail at the nape of her neck.
Even with a bare minimum of makeup her face was lovely, but at the moment it wasn’t her features that had snared his attention. With a will all their own, his eyes slid an appreciative gaze down her long, shapely legs and ended as her trim ankles disappeared into a pair of heavy brown hiking boots. The sight of all that honey-tanned skin was enough to distract him from the earlier phone call and he put it entirely out of his mind as he slid from the bar stool and walked over to her.
“Ready to go?” he asked.
Nodding, she patted the back pockets of her jeans. “I think I’ve taken everything I needed from my handbag.” She glanced eagerly up at him. “Is Leroy going to come with us?”
Laughing, he placed a hand at the small of her back and guided her toward the door. “Not this time. I want to devote all my attention to you, dear Mia.”
After a quick breakfast of hotcakes, they left the Grubstake and climbed into Marshall’s Jeep for a short drive to the north edge of the resort. Before they reached the base of the mountain, a meadow carpeted with pink and yellow wildflowers came into view and Mia gasped with delight.
“Oh, how beautiful! Can’t we stop here for a few minutes, Marshall?”
An indulgent smile curved his lips. “We’ll make a visit here on the way back,”
he promised. “I’m afraid if I let you wander out in all those flowers now, I’ll never get you up the mountain.”
She sighed as she gave the splendorous sight one last glance before she turned her gaze on his profile. “You’re probably right, doc. Most women tend to prefer picking flowers to climbing rocks. But I’m game and I’ll try to keep up.”
Reaching across the small console, he picked up her hand and gently squeezed.
“You’re a good sport, Mia. I like that about you. Believe it or not, you’re the only woman who’s been brave enough to go climbing with me.”
His admission warmed her heart, even though she told herself it shouldn’t mean anything.
“Maybe you mean the only woman crazy enough to go climbing with you,” she said with a wry smile.
His fingers tightened around hers. “You’re not crazy, Mia. You’re an adventuress. I knew that when I first saw you sitting on that boulder on the side of the mountain. A weaker woman wouldn’t have even attempted that much of a climb. You not only made it, but you made it alone. I was impressed.”
Mia’s lashes fluttered downward to partially hide her mixed emotions. He’d called her an adventuress and that much was true. Even before she’d graduated high school, she’d set off on a quest to find her real mother. In spite of having limited funds, even more limited means of searching and her adopted mother’s disapproval, she’d been determined, almost relentless in reaching her goal. She’d been brave enough to make calls to total strangers and badger those persons holding the key to private records. Yet once she’d actually found Janelle, her bravery and independent nature had melted. She’d allowed the woman and her money to very nearly swallow her up. It had taken Mia months and months to realize that her weakness had not only caused her to lose Nina and Lance, it had also caused her to lose herself.
Lifting her head, she did her best to push the dark thoughts from her mind. “You didn’t give me any impression that you felt that way,” she replied.
“I didn’t know you well enough. And you weren’t exactly inviting me to strike up a personal conversation.”
No, she thought miserably, when she’d first arrived at Thunder Canyon Resort, she’d gone out of her way to keep every encounter with staff and guests to a totally impersonal level. It was easier to maintain her guise as Mia Smith that way. But now Marshall was digging at the doors she was hiding herself behind and every moment she was with him she had to fight to keep from flinging them open and letting Mia Hanover pour out. The only thing stopping her was knowing the deluge of truth would end their relationship.
“So,” she said carefully, “do you think you know me now?”
To her surprise, he lifted her fingers to his lips. “Not as much as I’d like to, but enough to make me want you beside me.”
No one had to tell her that Marshall Cates was a dangerous flirt, a smooth charmer. Yet none of that seemed to matter whenever he touched her or flashed her one of his sultry grins. Mia realized she was losing herself to him and there didn’t seem to be any will inside her to stop the fall.
Moments later, he steered the Jeep onto a dim, washed-out road that led up the base of the mountain. When the going finally became too rough for the vehicle to handle, he steered it off the path and parked beneath a huge pine.
She helped Marshall unload the climbing equipment from the back of the Jeep, then stood to one side and watched as he strapped on a heavy backpack.
“What about me?” she asked. “Do I need to carry something?”
“You can be in charge of our water. Since I only brought two bottles, they shouldn’t be too heavy.”
“Two bottles? The day feels like it’s going to be hot. Won’t we be needing more water than that?”
He glanced at her as he adjusted the pack to a more comfortable position on his shoulders. “You’re right, but trying to carry too much of it will only weigh us down. I’ve brought a filtration device along, too. And once we climb higher, there are several falls and pools where we can get water.”
She looked at him with fascination. “There are pools of water up on the mountain?”
“Several,” he answered as he took her by the arm and urged her away from the Jeep. “And one of them will make your flowered meadow look humdrum.”
“I’ll believe that when I see it,” she said with a laugh.
The day was bright and sunny, the breeze warm and gentle. The first two hundred feet of their climb were strenuous but fairly easy to maneuver with plenty of hand-and footholds. Thankfully Mia was accustomed to jogging in the high altitude of Denver, so her breathing was no more labored than Marshall’s as they levered and worked their way upward. During the slow climb he’d made sure to stop at frequent intervals to give her some lessons on the basic techniques.
Apparently his instructions had been a big help to her, because each time he’d glanced over his shoulder to make sure she was keeping up and each time she’d surprised him by being right on his heels.
Eventually he paused long enough for her to join him on a small rock ledge. “I think it’s time I made our trail a little more difficult,” he said. “This is no challenge for you.”
Groaning, she shrugged off the small pack she was carrying and dug inside for one of the water bottles. “C’mon, Marshall, give me a break. I’m already covered with sweat.”
While she took a long drink from the bottle, a cunning grin flashed across his tanned face. “You haven’t done any real climbing yet. We’re going to get out the anchors and ropes and make our way up that bluff.”
Mia’s gaze followed the direction of his index finger. When she spotted the bluff he was talking about, her jaw dropped. The red layers of rock appeared to be shaved off evenly without even the smallest of ledges to give a climber a toehold.
“You’re crazy!” she squeaked. “I can’t make it up there! Just look at my boots, they don’t have spikes!”
“Neither do mine. In fact, I wore these old cowboy boots today and they’re slick on the bottom and hell to climb in.”
Mia rolled her eyes. “Then why did you wear them?”
“For a challenge. And to put me on an even keel with you.”
She let out another groan. “And here I was patting myself on the back for keeping up with you. I didn’t have a clue that you’d handicapped yourself.”
Chuckling, he reached out and cupped the side of her face with his palm. “You’re doing great, honey. I’m proud of you.”
Shaken by the sweet sensation of his touch, she handed the water to him, then turned away to gaze out at the quaint town of Thunder Canyon spread beneath the endless stretch of blue Montana sky. Months ago, after Lance had walked away and her mother had died, she’d believed that no spot on earth would feel like home again. But this place was beginning to tug at her heart.
Or was it the man standing beside her?
“Maybe you’d better wait until we tackle the bluff before you say that,” she told him.
He moved closer and Mia’s eyelids drifted down as the back of his hand moved
against her bare arm.
“You’re going to make it,” he murmured. “We’ll make it together.”
Together. It was difficult for Mia to remember back to a time when she’d thought of herself as a part of a team. She had a few female friends back in Denver, but
they were Janelle’s sort, spoiled and out of touch with the real world. They’d readily accepted her into their circle and all of them were basically nice to her, but she’d never felt a connection with any of them and she’d quickly come to the conclusion that she didn’t want an idle life without goals or dreams. As for the young men who’d tried to court her, she’d felt frozen by their flippant attitude toward life and money and family.
“Mia? You’ve grown awfully quiet. Are you all right?”
She glanced over her shoulder and up at him. The look of concern on his face warmed her and made her wonder what it would be like if he really did care about her, even love her.
“I was just thinking,” she said, then before she could stop herself, she twined her arm through his. “Tell me about your friends, Marshall. The guys you went out with last night. Are they—special to you?”
A look of real fondness swept over his features. “Very special. We all grew up together—went to high school together and even now we make sure we all get together at least once a month. ‘Course, I call Mitch my brother and my friend.
He’s four years younger than me and a hell of a lot smarter. He owns and runs Cates International in Thunder Canyon.”
“That’s some sort of business?”
“Farming equipment.” His expression turned wry. “Not everyone around here has a gold mine where they can harvest nuggets.”
“Is your brother married?”
Marshall’s laugh was robust to say the least. “No. He’s as serious as a judge.
I’m not sure any woman could deal with him.”
“What about your friends? Do they have families?”
He thought for a moment. “Not exactly. Dax used to be married to Allaire, but their marriage didn’t last. Now he runs a motorcycle shop down in the old part of town. Then there’s Grant, I think I told you about him. He manages the resort. He’s a workaholic, but he’s finally managed to get himself engaged to the woman who runs his ranch, Clifton’s Pride. Russ has a ranch outside of town.
He’s from the old school—hates everything the gold rush has brought to Thunder Canyon. He used to be married a long time ago and has a kid—a son—but he never sees him.”
Mia frowned. “How sad.”
“Yeah. I think his ex didn’t want the connection—I’m not sure. Russ doesn’t talk about that part of his life. Anyway, he’s definitely single and I don’t see him changing.”
“So that’s all of them? Your friends, I mean.”
“No. There’s also Dax’s brother, DJ, but he took off to Atlanta and has been living down there for a while. He owns a bunch of barbecue places and we’ve been trying to talk him into coming back to Thunder Canyon. What with the gold boom, a barbecue joint around here ought to do handsprings.”
Mia smiled wistfully. “You’re lucky to have friends and especially lucky that you’ve stayed together for so long.”
“I’m sure you must have good friends, too.” He grinned impishly. “I’ll bet you were the prom queen or the cheerleading captain—someone that all the girls envied.”
Mia had to stop herself from snorting out a laugh. She’d been tall, skinny and gawky. Her clothes and shoes had mostly come from thrift stores and her hair had been worn with thick bangs and chopped off straight at the bottom because that was the only way her mother could cut it. A visit to the beauty salon had been out of the question. Necessities came first and there was rarely a dollar left over for luxuries. No, none of the girls she’d gone to school with had envied Mia Hanover.
Now Mia probably had more money than all of those young women put together. But it meant nothing. She’d give every penny of it away to go back to being that poor Mia whose mother was still alive and cutting hair with not much skill, but a whole lot of love.
Blinking at the mist of tears that had gathered in her eyes, Mia quickly looked away from him and adjusted the pack on her back. “We’d better be going, don’t you think?”
The abrupt change in her took Marshall by complete surprise. Moments ago she’d seemed eager to hear about his friends and then when he’d barely mentioned hers, she’d dropped a curtain and went off to someplace he wasn’t invited.
For a moment he considered taking her by the shoulders and asking her point blank about her life, her past. But so far the day had gone so well that he didn’t want to push his luck. There would come a time for him to gently pry at her closed doors and when that time arrived he would know it. Right now he was going to be ******* with her company.
For the next hour, as the two of them slowly made their way up the rough crags of the mountainside, Marshall tried to forget about the empty look he’d seen on Mia’s face when he’d suggested she’d been a star attraction in high school. He didn’t like to think that her past had been less than happy, but he wasn’t blind. In a sense she was like Doris Phillips, who’d come to his office for help. She was putting on a brave pretense at happiness, but underneath her smiles there was a wealth of pain.
But what had caused it? Marshall wondered, as he hammered an anchor in between two slabs of rock. A man? With Mia’s striking looks he’d be a fool to think a man hadn’t been a serious part of her life at some point. Hell, for all he knew she could already have been married and divorced. That notion left such a bitter taste in Marshall’s mouth that he felt almost sick.
With the last anchor in place, Marshall attached a strong rappelling rope and slipped it through a ring on his belt. In less than a minute, he’d swung himself down to the narrow ledge of rock where Mia was patiently waiting.
“I really think I’ve lost my mind. Are you sure I can do this, Marshall?”
Her question came as he girded a belt around her hips, then tested the buckle with a hard tug to make sure it was secure.
Straightening to his full height, he forced himself to rest his hands on his own hips rather than the sweet tempting curve of her behind. “We’ll take the easiest route. Just remember everything I’ve taught you. And once you begin climbing, don’t start staring down at the floor of the canyon. You might get vertigo and then we’d be in a hell of a mess.”
“I don’t get vertigo,” she said with a frown. “See, I’m looking down now and nothing—”
Before she could get the remainder of her words out, she felt as though the top half of her was swaying forward. Frantic that she was about to tumble head over heels down the mountainside, she snatched a death grip on Marshall’s arm.
He reacted instantly by snaring her with both arms and wrapping her tightly against his chest.
“Mia! Why did you do that?” he gently scolded as he cradled the top of her head beneath his chin. “If you’d lost your balance I might not have been able to catch you!”
Shivering with delayed fright, Mia clung to him and pressed her cheek against the rock hard safety of his chest. “I—I’m sorry, Marshall. I thought—I didn’t think it would bother me. I’ve never been affected by heights before.”
And Marshall had never been so affected by a woman before. It didn’t matter that the two of them were precariously perched on a small shelf of mountain or that jagged edges of rocks were stabbing him in the back. All he could think about was covering her mouth with his; letting his hands explore the warm curves pressed against him.
“Oh, honey, don’t scare me that way.” Anguish jerked his head back and forth as unbearable images flashed through his head. “If you’d fallen, I would have had to jump after you.”
Slowly her head tilted upward until her troubled gaze met his. “Don’t say such things, Marshall. I’m—I’m not worth trying to save, much less dying for.”
Softly, he pushed away the black strands of hair sticking to her damp cheek.
“Why not? I wouldn’t be worth much without you.”
To Marshall’s surprise tears suddenly gathered in her eyes and he could feel her trembling start anew, as though his words scared her even more than her near fall.
“Don’t say something that serious, Marshall, unless you really mean it.”
It suddenly struck him that he’d never been more serious. Losing Mia for any reason was something he couldn’t contemplate.
“I couldn’t be more serious, Mia.”
Disbelief flashed across her face, but Marshall didn’t give her time to respond.
Instead he gathered her chin between his thumb and forefinger, then lowered his head to hers.
“Don’t argue with me, Mia,” he murmured huskily. “Don’t say anything. Just let me kiss you.”
He could see questions shouting in her eyes, but her lips were silent, waiting to meet his. He groaned as a need he didn’t quite understand twisted deep in his gut, then his eyes closed and his lips fastened hungrily over hers.

29-10-07, 08:24 AM

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الكاتب:	darla
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كاتب الموضوع : darla المنتدى : الارشيف

Chapter 10

Two hours later, after climbing nearly to the timberline of the mountain, then descending back to their starting point, Mia and Marshall returned to the Jeep and were now traversing the rough track of road that would eventually carry them back to the resort.
Mia was hot, tired and thirsty. Her knees were scraped raw and she’d cut a painful gash in her palm, but those problems were minor discomforts compared to her spinning thoughts.
The kiss Marshall had given her on the rock ledge had frightened her with its intensity and she was still wondering what had been behind it and his suggestive words. He couldn’t be getting serious about her. They’d only known each other a few days. On top of that, he wasn’t a man who wanted to get serious about any woman. And even if he were, she was carrying a trunk full of baggage. All he had to do was open the lid to see she wasn’t the sort of woman he’d want to gather to his heart.
“Are you too tired to stop by the meadow?”
Marshall’s voice interrupted her burdened thoughts and she glanced over to see he’d taken his eyes off the road and was directing them at her. Just looking at him pierced her with a longing that continued to stun her. She’d never expected to feel so much desire for any man. Even Lance, whom she’d believed that she’d once loved, had never elicited the hungry need she felt for Marshall. What did it all mean? And where could it possibly lead her, except straight to a crushed heart?
“I’m tired, but I did want to take a closer look at the flowers.”
The corners of his lips turned softly upward. “Good,” he said. “There’s something I want to talk with you about before we get back to the resort.”
Her brows lifted with curiosity, but she didn’t have time to ask him to explain further. By now the road had leveled and they were quickly approaching the flower-filled meadow.
Moments later Marshall parked the Jeep along the side of the road. As she waited for him to skirt around the vehicle to help her out, she made a feeble attempt to smooth her mussed hair. She was trying to do some thing about the dirt and blood caked on her palm when he jerked open the door.
“What’s the matter?” he asked as she quickly closed her hand away from his sight.
“Uh—nothing. I just gouged my hand a little on a rock. I’ll clean it up later, when I get back to my cabin.”
With a frown of concern, he gestured for her to give him her hand. “I’m the doctor around here, remember. Let me see.”
Mia was reluctant to let him treat her, even for a basic scratch. Something had happened to her when he’d kissed her up there on the mountain ledge. It was like he’d woken her sleeping libido and turned it into a hungry tigress. Letting him touch her, for any reason, was enough to send her up in flames. But she could hardly explain any of that, so there was nothing left for her to do but place her hand upon his palm.
“Mia!” he exclaimed as he gently probed at the deep gash. “Why didn’t you tell me you’d hurt yourself? This is going to have to be cleaned. Otherwise the dirt might cause infection. It might even need a stitch or two. And you’re going to need a tetanus shot. We need to go to the office where I have the equipment to deal with this.”
With a nervous laugh, she swung her legs over the side of the bucket seat and pulled her hand from his grip. His gaze dropped instantly to her raw knees and he shook his head with misgiving.
“You look like you’ve met up with a grizzly bear and lost the fight. I’m sorry, Mia. When I asked you out this morning it wasn’t with the intention of getting you hurt.”
“I’m not hurt, doc. Just scraped a little. Now help me out. You can take care of my wounds later. After I take a look at the flowers.”
Seeing he wasn’t going to deter her, he took a firm hold on her arm and helped her to the ground.
“Don’t even think about trying to get away from me,” he told her as he guided her into the deep grass of the meadow. “I don’t want any more cuts and bruises on you.”
The two of them walked several yards into the quiet meadow before they found a seat on a fallen log bleached white by years of harsh elements.
Mia sighed with pleasure as she looked around at the thousands of tiny pink and yellow blooms carpeting the surface of the meadow. “It’s like a fairy-tale world,” she said in a hushed voice. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so pretty.”
“I have.”
“You mean the pool of water you showed me up on the mountain? Well, it was beautiful,” she admitted with another sigh. “But not as much as this.”
Without warning, his hand came against her face and he turned her head so that she was facing him. Her heart jolted at the tender glow she found in his brown eyes.
“I’m not talking about the pool on the mountain,” he murmured. “I’m talking about this.”
His fingers brushed against her face, as though her cheek was a rose too delicate to touch. Mia couldn’t stop the strong leap of her heart or the blush that crawled up her throat and onto her face.
“You’re a terrible flatterer, Dr. Cates. I never know what will come out of your mouth.”
The faint grin on his face was both wry and wistful. “I never know myself.
Sometimes I get into trouble for saying what I’m thinking. And right now I’m thinking I’d like to lay you down in all these flowers and make love to you.”
His admission shattered Mia’s composure and for a moment all she could do was stare at him. Then suddenly she realized she had to get away from him, before she fell into his arms like a complete fool.
Quickly, she started to push herself up from the log, but he caught her by the arm and tugged her back beside him.
“We’d better go. Now!” she blurted sharply.
“Calm down, Mia. I’m not going to act on my words. I was simply telling you what I felt. Surely it isn’t a surprise to you that I want to make love to you.”
Mia slowly breathed in and out as she tried to still the rapid beating of her heart. She could have told him that it wasn’t him she was afraid of, but rather herself. Yet to do that would only reveal that she was falling for him, that she wanted the very same thing he wanted—to make love to him in a bed of flowers.
Bending her head, she said in a thick voice, “You’re right, Marshall. I’m not some innocent young woman. I’m twenty-six years old and I—I’ve had a man in my life. We were close for a long while—very close. And I…don’t want to give myself to anyone like that again.”
She looked up to see his brown eyes searching her face and she felt a little more of her resistance slip, a little more of the hidden Mia screaming to come to the surface.
“What happened? He wouldn’t make a commitment?”
No, he’d gotten tired of her obsessive hunt for her mother, Mia thought. Tired of her putting their relationship on hold while she’d pored over names and telephone numbers, searched through stacks of birth records and driven miles to strange places with the mere hope that she’d find a lead. By the time she’d actually found Janelle and fell into her newfound fortune, her relationship with Lance had suffered greatly. Yet she’d thought, hoped, that having financial security would change everything for the better and that she and Lance could finally be happy, marry and start a family. But the money had only caused more of a wall between them. He’d walked away, but not before accusing her of being selfish and unfeeling. Dear God, he’d been right, she thought sickly. And that was the hardest part she’d had to live with.
Bitterness coated her tongue when she answered, “He made a commitment, but then…changed his mind.”
Silence settled around them until the raucous screech of a hawk lifted Mia’s gaze toward the blue sky. The predator was circling, searching for a weak and easy prey to wrap his talons around. Only the strong survived in this world, she thought sadly. And she wasn’t strong. She’d been weak and needy enough to allow Janelle to get her hooks in her, to draw her away from Nina, the only mother she’d ever known.
“I’m sorry you had to go through that, Mia. But I can tell you why it happened.”
Her nerves went on sudden alert as she dared to look at him. Did he know? Had he guessed at the terrible mistakes she’d made?
“You can?” she asked in a strained voice.
His smile was gentle, almost loving, and her hammering heart quieted to a hard but steady pound.
“Sure I can. Call it what you want. Fate or the hand of God. That thing you had with the other guy ended because you were supposed to wind up here—with me.”
Hopeless tears poured into her heart until she was sure it was going to burst, but she carefully hid the pain behind a wan smile.
“Marshall, you’re just so…”
When she couldn’t finish, Marshall did it for her. “Sweet? Romantic? Yeah, I know,” he said, his eyes twinkling. “I just can’t help myself.”
Sighing, she slipped off the log and bent down to pick a handful of delicate wildflowers. Marshall watched as she lifted the blossoms to her nose and wondered why the more he learned about her, the more he was growing to love her.
Love. Was that what it was? This endless need to see her face, hear her voice, have her beside him? He’d never felt like this before. Never felt so protective of a woman, so mindful of her feelings. He wanted more than just sex from her.
He wanted to cradle her in his arms, wipe away the sadness from her eyes and cherish her for the rest of his life. If that was love then he’d fallen like a rock tossed into a river.
“My parents are having a little farewell dinner for my twin brothers this weekend,” he said suddenly. “I’d like you to go with me.”
She turned to stare at him and he could see doubts running rampant over her face. He wanted to reassure her with promises that he’d never hurt her, but he figured anything he might say right now would ring hollow. He was going to have to earn her trust. Show her that he wasn’t the same sort of man that had changed his mind and walked away from her.
“Where is this dinner going to be?” she asked finally.
“At my parents’ home.”
As she chewed thoughtfully on her bottom lip, Marshall rose to his feet and laid a hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry, Mia, it’ll be a casual affair. And my parents are nice, laid-back people. You’ll like them.” He squeezed her shoulder. “And I know they’ll like you.”
Her eyes drifted up to his. “I’m not sure it would be a good idea.”
“It would mean a lot to me,” he said softly. “A whole lot.”
She drew in a shaky breath and then a wobbly smile slowly spread across her lips. “All right, Marshall.”
Leaning his head back, he gave a loud yip of joy.
That Saturday, as Marshall drove the two of them to the Cates homestead on the west edge of town, Mia continued to ask herself what in heck had possessed her to agree to this outing. Meeting a guy’s parents was a serious thing. Or, at least, it was where she came from. She wasn’t sure that Marshall meant anything significant by his invitation. But if by some odd chance he did, then she was digging herself into a deeper grave. She couldn’t continue to let Marshall believe she was simply a rich young woman who’d been raised in a nice, wealthy family. Yet to confess would only mean the end of their time together. And her hungry heart just wasn’t ready for that yet.
The Cates home was a brick two-story structure set on five acres of a gently sloping property dotted with large shade trees. A wooden rail fence cordoned off a large front yard landscaped with beds of blooming perennials and neatly clipped shrubs. A concrete drive led up to a double garage. Presently the garage was closed and Marshall parked his Jeep next to a white pickup truck with logos on the doors that read Cates Construction—Built to Your Needs.
As Marshall helped her out of the vehicle Mia stared at the professionally done sign. “I thought you said your brother’s business was called Cates International. That says Construction.”
“That’s another Cates,” he said with a laugh. “The pa of the herd. Dad’s been in the building business since he was a very young guy. Started out with his dad—my grandfather. Before the gold strike most of their business was over in the Bozeman area. The economy in Thunder Canyon was so slow that the city did well to build picnic tables for the town square. But now Dad and his employees can’t keep up with all the contracts being thrown at them from a number of townsfolk.
He thinks it’s great, but Mom isn’t so happy. For years now she’s been planning for them to take a trip from coast to coast, but that’s been postponed until Cates Construction catches up or the town goes bust.”
“Marshall, quit dallying around and come in! We’ve all been waiting for you!”
Mia looked over her shoulder to see a middle-aged woman with chin-length pale blond hair standing on the small square of sheltered concrete that served as the front porch. She was dressed casually in tan slacks and a white sleeveless blouse. The warm smile on her face made Mia feel instantly welcome.
“Coming, Mom!” he yelled, then wrapping an arm around the back of Mia’s waist, he urged her toward a wide sidewalk that bordered the front of the large house.
“You’re a true doctor, son. Always late,” Edie Cates fondly teased as Marshall
guided Mia up the steps.
“I like to keep with tradition,” he joked back, then quickly thrust Mia forward.
“Mom, this is Mia Smith. She’s a guest at the resort. And, Mia, this is my mother, Edie, the beautiful female of the bunch.”
“The only female of the bunch,” Edie said with a laugh.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Mrs. Cates.”
Expecting the woman to shake hands, Mia was surprised when she slung an arm around her shoulders and began leading her toward the door. “It’s Edie, my dear.
Don’t make me feel any older than I already do with that Mrs. stuff. And I’ll call you Mia, if that’s okay with you.”
“Of course,” Mia told her. “And thank you for having me as a guest tonight.”
“It’s our pleasure,” she said. She opened the door and ushered Mia inside while leaving Marshall to follow. “None of our sons have been brave enough to bring a girl home to meet us until now. Marshall has definitely treated his parents by inviting you.”
Mia tossed a look of surprise at Marshall, but he merely winked and grinned.
Edie ushered them through a small foyer, a formal sitting room, then on to a den where the rest of the Cates family was congregated in front of a large television. A major league baseball game was playing on the screen, but the sound was turned low, telling Mia that the four other Cates men had been doing more talking than watching.
Over the next few minutes Mia met Marshall’s father, Frank, a tall, well-built man with salt and pepper hair and a jovial attitude that reminded her of
Marshall. Mitchell, the second oldest son, was an attractive man with the same dark coloring as his brothers, but very quiet. Especially when she compared him to Matthew and Marlon, the young twins, who were continually telling animated stories and swapping playful swings at each other.
After all the introductions were over, Edie passed around soft drinks and Marshall directed Mia to take a seat at the end of a long couch. If anyone noticed that he tucked her into the crook of his arm, they didn’t let on, but Mia was riveted by the warmth of his torso pressed against her side, the weight of his hand lingering on her upper arm.
He was treating her as though she were someone special in his life and he wanted his family to know it. The idea was a thrilling one to Mia. Even though she knew this time with him couldn’t last forever, she decided that this evening she was going to relish it. After all, leaving Thunder Canyon would come soon enough.
After a few minutes of light conversation and much bantering between the four brothers, Edie rose from her husband’s side and announced she was heading to the kitchen to check on dinner. Wanting to feel useful, Mia instantly rose to her feet and offered to help.
“I can manage, Mia,” Edie said. “But I’d love the company.”
With a smile for Marshall, Mia quickly eased out of his gentle clasp and followed the woman out of the room and down a short hallway.
“Mmm, something smells delicious,” she exclaimed as the two women pushed through a swinging door into the large, brightly lit kitchen.
“Lasagna. I hope you like Italian food. All the boys love it. Frank prefers steak, but since this is the twins’ last night at home, he wants them to be treated.”
“I love pasta of any sort,” Mia told her as she watched the other woman open the oven door on a gas range and peer into the hot cavern.
“I do, too. And it shows in all the wrong places.” Chuckling, she patted one shapely hip.
“I think you look beautiful,” Mia said sincerely. “And you certainly don’t look like you’ve had four children.” Nor did she look as though she’d had the nips and tucks from a plastic surgeon that Janelle and thousands of other women chose to have in order to appear youthful.
Edie removed the large glass casserole dish full of bubbling lasagna and carefully placed it on the top of the stove. “You’re very kind, dear. And very pretty. I can see why you caught Marshall’s attention.”
Feeling more than awkward, Mia let the woman’s comment slide. “Is there anything I can do to help? Make a salad? Ice glasses?”
With a knowing chuckle, Edie glanced at her. “Don’t want to talk about that, huh? Well, don’t worry, I’m not a nosy mother. Now that the boys are grown, I stay out of their private lives unless I’m asked advice.” She moved on down the counter and began to pull silverware from a drawer. “It’s better that way.
Otherwise they resent the interference.” She laughed. “‘Course there are times I’d like to tell them plenty.”
Mia joined her at the cabinet counter. “I wish my mother were so understanding.”
Edie glanced up from counting a handful of forks. “Does she live close to you?”
In the same house, but Mia wasn’t going to admit that. It made her sound like a child who was now all grown up but too indolent to leave home. When actually the circumstances of living with Janelle were nothing close to that. Mia had fought against moving into the Josephson mansion. She’d wanted to keep her independence and privacy. But Janelle had played on Mia’s soft heart by pointing out that she’d gone for twenty-five years believing her baby had died, surely living in the same house with her was not too much to ask. Not wanting to hurt her mother any more than she’d already been hurt, Mia had agreed and moved into the stately house. Ultimately that move had been a mistake, one that she was still paying for.
“Yes. And she can be very controlling. That’s one of the reasons I’ve been vacationing here in Thunder Canyon,” she admitted before she could stop herself.
“Sometimes a person needs a little breathing room.” She slanted a regretful glance at Marshall’s mother. “That sounds pretty awful, doesn’t it?”
Her expression empathetic, Edie reached over and touched Mia’s arm. “No. It sounds perfectly human to me.” She smiled warmly and with an ease that totally charmed Mia, she quickly changed the subject by pointing to a cabinet above her head. “Now if you’d like to ice the glasses, you’ll find them there. Looks like there’re seven of us tonight. A nice lucky number.”
Midway through dinner it struck Mia that the Cates were the sort of family she’d always dreamed of being a part of. Marshall and his siblings were close enough to bicker and tease without fearing that their love for each other could ever be shaken. They had parents that still adored each other after decades of marriage.
Obviously Edie and Frank had raised their four boys with love and that love had stood as an anchor for them as they’d grown into men. If either parent was the controlling, smothering sort, it wasn’t evident to Mia. Of course, with a guest present, she assumed that everyone was probably on his or her best behavior.
Still, as far as she could see, there were no taut undercurrents or furtive glances of impatience between family members. All Mia could see was genuine affection and it filled her heart with golden warmth, like a treasure chest spilling over with incomparable riches.
As the group dined on plates of lasagna accompanied by hunks of garlic bread, Mia drank in the easy ambiance like sips of wine to be savored. With Marshall at her side showering her with attention and affectionate glances, it was easy to let herself dream that she was home and she was loved.
“Did you make any extra lasagna, Mom?” Marlon asked as the meal began to wind down. “You know Matthew and I will need something to eat once we get to the dorm.”
The roll of Edie’s eyes was tempered with an indulgent smile. “I’m sure there’s not a place on campus that sells food,” she teased. “That’s why I made an extra pan. When you get to your dorm room just make sure you keep it in the refrigerator. You can’t leave it sitting out, then rake off the mold expecting it to be good.”
Mia looked at Matthew, who was sitting directly across the table from her.
Marlon was striving for a career in business agriculture while Matthew was working his way toward a law degree. Both twins appeared eager to head back to school, although she could sense they were going to miss being home. “When will you two be leaving?” she asked.
“In the morning,” Marlon spoke up before his twin could answer. “As soon as I can kick Matthew out of bed.”
“Hah!” Matthew tossed at his brother. “I’ll be the one doing the kicking. You don’t even have your bags packed.”
Marlon shot him a droll look. “That’s because I’m not the dandy you are. I don’t need trunks of clothing or hours to pack it. Five minutes to fill a duffle bag will be enough for me.”
From the end of the table, Frank chuckled. “Well, I know one thing,” he said to the twins. “Both of you are going to miss having your mom do your laundry and cooking.”
Edie smiled at her two youngest sons, then settled a privately shared gaze on her husband. “Oh, Frank, you know I’ve spoiled the twins the same way I have you and Marshall and Mitchell. And just like you three, they take it all for granted. Once they get back to college, they’ll forget all about their ole mom and everything I’ve done for them.”
Both twins groaned with loud protest and everyone around the table began to laugh. Except Mia. She wasn’t hearing the laughter or seeing the teasing faces.
She was suddenly back in Denver and Nina Hanover was begging her to come home, which at that time had been a little apartment in Colorado Springs. Nina, a little drunk and full of a whole lot of pain, had accused Mia of forgetting her mother, the mother that had raised her from a newborn, the mother that had worked and sacrificed to keep a roof over Mia’s head and food on their table.
The memories were suddenly too much for Mia to bear and, as tears began to blur her vision, she frantically realized she had to get away from the dinner table before she broke down completely.
“Please excuse me,” she mumbled, then before Marshall or the rest of the family could respond in any way, she scraped back her chair and rushed from the room.

29-10-07, 08:25 AM

المشاركة رقم: 14

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الكاتب:	darla
اللقب:	سندريلا ليلاس

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التسجيل:	Aug 2006
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كاتب الموضوع : darla المنتدى : الارشيف

Chapter 11

Mia’s abrupt departure from the dining room halted all laughter and Marshall stared in stunned silence at his parents and brothers.
“What happened?” Mitchell was the first one to ask. “Did somebody say something wrong?”
Edie looked across the table at Marshall who was already tossing down his napkin and rising to his feet. “Son, you’d better go see about her. I got a glance at Mia’s face as she turned away from the table and I thought she looked sick. Dear heaven, I hope my cooking hasn’t upset her stomach.”
Marshall headed out of the dining room. “Don’t worry, Mom,” he tossed over his shoulder. “I don’t think it’s anything like that. The rest of you finish dinner and I’ll go check on her.”
After checking the guest bathroom and finding the door open and the light off, Marshall hurried to the den. When he didn’t spot her there, he stepped through a sliding back door and onto a small patio. During dinner, the sun had fallen and now golden-pink rays were slanted across the backyard.
At first glance he didn’t notice the still figure standing with her back to him in the shadow of a poplar tree. But as he turned to step back into the house, a flash of her coral-colored blouse caught his eye.
Quickly, he made his way across the yard to where she was staring out at the ridge of nearby mountains. If she was aware of his approach, she didn’t show it, even when he came up behind her and gently placed his hands on her shoulders.
Through the thin fabric of her blouse, he could feel her trembling and concern threaded his softly spoken words. “Mia. What are you doing out here? Everyone is worried.”
Several moments passed and then she reached up and wiped at her eyes. The realization that she’d been crying hit him hard.
“I’m…sorry, Marshall,” she said in a raw, husky voice. “I—didn’t mean to upset your family. They’ve all been so wonderful to me. Too wonderful.”
The painful cracks in her voice struck Marshall right in the heart and he slowly turned her to face him. Tears rimmed her beautiful eyes and spilled onto her cheeks. Marshall wiped them away with the palm of his hand.
“If everything is so wonderful then why are you out here crying?”
Bending her head, Mia stared at Marshall’s boots. She’d gone and done it now, she realized. There was no way she could easily explain away her behavior. Not without giving away the past she desperately wanted to keep hidden. But he was expecting an explanation and she was so sick of the deception she’d been playing.
“I—uh—guess I just got swamped with memories, Marshall. Your family is so nice and I guess it hit me all over again that mine is gone.”
“Gone?” he repeated blankly. “I remember you saying your father died long ago.
Are you telling me that your mother has passed away, too?”
She lifted her gaze and the concern she saw in Marshall’s eyes gave her the strength to release the words bottled in her throat. “Yes. About a year ago.
She—uh—was killed in an auto accident. And I—I’ve been having a hard time dealing with—the whole thing. I miss her terribly. Her death—” She paused, swallowed, then tried to keep her voice from breaking. “Her death has left a hole in me, Marshall, and I—just don’t know how to fill it back up.”
With a gentle shake of his head, he said, “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I know that doesn’t mean much, but I really don’t know what else to say. If I told you that I understand what you’re going through, I’d be lying. I’ve been blessed. I don’t know what it’s like to lose a loved one.”
She blinked furiously at the fresh tears that threatened to spill onto her cheeks. “My parents were like yours, Marshall. They loved each other very much and they loved me—maybe more than I realized—until they were gone. It troubles me that I didn’t appreciate them as much as I should have.”
He reached out and smoothed a hand over the crown of her head. The soothing touch caused Mia’s eyelashes to flutter down and rest against her cheeks. If only she could always have him by her side, she thought longingly. To soothe her when she hurt, to laugh with her when she was happy, to simply love her for who and what she was.
“We’re all guilty of that, Mia. I hate to admit it but there have been plenty of times that I’ve taken my family for granted and forgotten to show them how much they mean to me. Fortunately they know that I love them anyway. I’m sure your parents knew that you loved them, too.”
Over the past months Mia didn’t think her heart could hurt anymore than it already had, but the pain ripping through the middle of her chest was so deep it practically stole her breath.
“I hope so,” she choked out. “But it’s different for me, Marshall. My family…well, I wasn’t raised up like you.”
“I never expected that you were,” he countered. “Dad has always made a nice living for his wife and children, but I’m sure it can’t compare to your family’s wealth.”
She shook her head viciously back and forth and the truth, or at least part of it, demanded to be let out. “No—you have it all wrong, Marshall. I wasn’t born into wealth. Will, my father, raised potatoes and alfalfa hay and Nina, my mother, was a simple housewife. We lived in a modest farmhouse outside of the little town of Alamosa down in southern Colorado. We weren’t rich—just rich in love. It’s—” she paused long enough to draw in a deep breath and lift a beseeching gaze up to his “—it’s taken me a long time to realize that, Marshall.
Too long.”
Marshall would be lying if he said that her admission hadn’t taken him by surprise. Learning she wasn’t a born heiress was the last thing he’d expected to hear. But her stunning declaration couldn’t compare to the emotions piercing him from all directions. He’d never imagined that he could feel someone else’s pain this deeply. It had emanated from her like a tangible thing and wrapped around his heart like an iron vice. And like a flash of lightning, Marshall suddenly realized he was just now learning what it truly meant to be a doctor to the needy and a man to the woman he loved.
“Oh, Mia. I’m glad you told me. And if you think it could make me care about you less, then you’ve got it all wrong. I don’t care that you weren’t born into wealth. None of that matters. All I want is for us to be together.”
He cared about her? Dear God, maybe it didn’t matter to him that she’d come from a modest background, Mia thought. But he couldn’t begin to imagine the whole story. And he wouldn’t be nearly so understanding if he found out she’d caused her mother to turn into a drunk driver. Nina Hanover had turned to a bottle of vodka to drown out her sorrows. First to forget that she’d lost her husband, then more heavily because her daughter had deserted her for a pile of riches. Or at least, that’s the way it had seemed to Nina. Actually, Mia hadn’t ignored her mother because she’d stopped loving her. She’d simply grown weary of dealing
with Nina’s drinking and whining and pleading. It had been easy to let Janelle shield her from all of that and give her a quiet haven away from Nina’s emotional problems. But Mia couldn’t forsake Nina entirely and one day she’d agreed to meet her for lunch. She’d had plans of talking her mother into entering rehab and finding the help she needed. But Nina had ended any and all of Mia’s hope when she’d climbed behind the wheel of a car and crashed on her way to meet Mia.
“Marshall, I…” The rest of her confession lodged in her throat like pieces of poisoned bread. She couldn’t tell him the rest. Not tonight. Maybe she was wrong, even greedy for not telling him everything. But she wanted this fairy-tale time with Marshall to keep going for as long as possible. “Thank you for understanding,” she finally whispered.
For long, expectant moments, his dark gaze gently skimmed her tear-stained face and then suddenly his head was bending down toward hers, blocking out the last bit of twilight.
When his lips settled over hers, she didn’t even try to resist. The taste of his tender kiss was the very thing she needed to soothe her aching heart and before Mia realized what she was doing, she rose up on tiptoes and curled her arms around his neck.
Marshall was about to place his hands on her hips and draw her even tighter against him, but thankfully, before their embrace could turn into something more passionate, he caught the sound of footfall quickly approaching from behind.
With supreme effort, he quickly lifted his head and turned to see his mother watching them with a frown of concern.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude,” she quickly apologized. “We were all getting a little worried about Mia. Is everything all right?”
Clearing his throat, Marshall arched a questioning brow down at Mia. Of course everything wasn’t okay with Mia, he realized sadly. It was going to take her a long time to recover from the recent loss of her mother. But at least for the moment her tears had dried and a wan smile was curving the corners of her lips.
Mia stepped toward Marshall’s mother. “I’m fine, really, Edie. And I’m so sorry that I ruined the last of your dinner. Please forgive me. I guess—I got a little too emotional thinking about my own family.”
Edie closed the short distance between them and wrapped Mia’s hand in a warm clasp between the two of hers. “Don’t bother yourself one minute over it. You didn’t ruin anything. We’ve loved having you. Would you like to come back in now and have coffee? I’m afraid that the twins have already dug into the brownies, but there’re plenty left.”
Mia glanced back at Marshall and all he could think about was taking up their kiss exactly where they’d left off.
“I think Mia’s had enough of the rowdy Cates brothers for one night,” he told his mother. “If you and Dad won’t mind, I’m going to take her home.”
Edie’s understanding smile encompassed both Mia and her son. “Of course we won’t mind. As long as you two promise to come again soon.”
“You can bet on it,” Marshall told her, then bent and placed a kiss on his mother’s cheek. “Tell everyone goodbye for us, will you?”
“Sure.”
Edie turned and disappeared through the patio doors. Marshall took Mia by the arm and led her around the house to where his Jeep was parked.
Before he opened the door to help her in, he gathered her back into his arms.
Then resting his forehead against hers, he whispered, “I hope you don’t mind that we’re leaving. Do you?”
The suggestive tone in his voice set her heart thumping with anticipation. “No.
I’m ready to go if you are.”
He placed a quick, but promising kiss on her lips. “I couldn’t be more ready.”
Once they were in the Jeep driving back to the resort, Mia stared, dazed, out at the darkened landscape. Marshall had said he cared about her. He couldn’t love her, she mentally argued. Could he? Especially now that he knew she wasn’t a born-and-bred heiress.
She didn’t realize he’d passed her cabin and had driven them on up the mountain to his house until the vehicle came to a final halt and she looked around her at the encroaching pine forest.
“This isn’t my cabin, it’s yours,” she stated lamely. “What are we doing here?”
He shoved the gearshift into first and pulled the key from the ignition. “I didn’t think you needed to be alone right now. And I wasn’t sure you’d invite me in if we stopped at your place.”
Her heart melting at the tender look on his face, she reached over and touched his hand with hers. “I was going to invite you in. But this is just as good.”
Leaning toward her, he slipped a hand behind her neck and pulled her face toward his. His lips were warm and searching, inviting her to forget everything but him.
Mia was about to wriggle closer when Leroy’s loud barks caused her to flinch away from him.
“Oh. Leroy scared me!” she exclaimed.
“Damn dog,” Marshall muttered. “He has no timing at all.”
“Yes, but he’s a sweetheart,” Mia crooned as she looked toward the front-yard gate. The dog was reared up on his hind legs, pawing eagerly at the wooden post where the latch was located.
Mia laughed and Marshall shot her a droll look. “Hey, beautiful, you’re confused. I’m supposed to be the sweetheart around here. Not Leroy.”
She was still laughing as they crossed the yard and entered the house with a happy Leroy trotting behind them. But the moment he shut the door and drew her into his arms, he swallowed up her chuckles with a kiss hot enough to curl her toes.
“I think Leroy is watching,” she whispered when he finally lifted his lips a fraction from hers.
“Not for long.”
She was trying to guess his intentions when he suddenly bent and scooped her up in his arms.
“Marshall!” she squeaked. “You’re going to drop me!”
“Then you’d better hang on,” he warned with a chuckle.
Flinging her arms around his neck, she clung to him tightly as he began to walk out of the living room. When his route took them down a narrow hallway it was obvious he was headed to a bedroom and she wasn’t so naive that she had to ask why. For the past few days, she’d felt the two of them drawing closer and closer, ultimately leading them onto this path and this very moment.
Seconds later, Marshall entered a room, kicked the door shut behind them, then set her on the floor. Black shadows filled the corners and shrouded most of the furniture, while faint shafts of light sifted through the windows and slashed across part of the bed and the upper half of his face. The illumination was enough to give Mia a glimpse of his heated gaze and it arced into her like a sizzling arrow.
Her heart was suddenly pounding, pushing heated blood to every inch of her body as his hands came up to cradle her face.
“You can tell me you’re not ready for this, you know,” he whispered gently. “But I hope you are.”
He was giving her the opportunity to walk away from him and the intimacy he was offering. He was giving her a moment to analyze her feelings and consider the consequences of making love with him. But Mia didn’t need the extra moment to question the rightness or wrongness of being here. She was sick of analyzing and agonizing over every decision she made, tired of guarding her true feelings. She wanted to be a woman again and for tonight that was enough to justify stepping into his arms.
Slipping her arms around his waist, she rested her chin in the middle of his chest and tilted her face up to his. “I want you, Marshall. Here with you is the only place I want to be.”
Groaning with a mixture of relief and need, he skimmed his hands down the sides of her arms. “I want you, too, baby. So much.”
Her breath caught as his head slowly lowered down to hers and then she forgot all about breathing as his lips settled over hers and his hands clasped her waist and drew her against the length of his body.
Like a desert wildfire, his kiss raged through her body, turning her insides to molten mush. His tongue pushed its way past her pulsing lips and then she was lost, groaning with abandoned pleasure as he explored the dark cavern of her mouth, the rough edges of her teeth.
In a matter of moments a tight ache started somewhere deep within her and began to spiral outward and upward until she was twisting and clinging, fighting to find the relief his body would give her.
Fueled by her heated response, Marshall continued to kiss her as his hands quickly went to work releasing the buttons on her blouse and finding his way to the warm flesh beneath. Her skin was smooth beneath his fingers. He couldn’t touch her enough as his hands slid upward, along the bumps of her ribs, then around to her spine where they climbed until his thumbs snared in the fastener on her bra.
With deft movements he unhooked a pair of eyelets and the garment fell apart, the loosened tails dangling against her back. He broke the kiss and their gazes locked as he slowly pushed the blouse from her shoulders, then slipped the straps of her bra down her arms.
Beneath the trail of his fingers, he could feel goose bumps breaking out along her skin, telling him just how much he was affecting her. As for him, he felt like an awkward teenager, touching a woman for the first time. His heart was pounding. Blood was rushing to his head, fogging his senses, filling his loins to the aching point. He’d never wanted so much. Needed so much.
He was asking himself what it could mean when the bra fell away from her breasts and the perfectly rounded orbs were exposed to his gaze. The lovely sight of puckered rose-brown nipples momentarily froze him and then slowly, seductively, he raked the pads of his thumbs across the delicate nubs.
Almost instantly Mia’s head fell back. A moan vibrated in her throat. Bending his head, Marshall slid parted lips along the arch of her neck, over the angle of her shoulder, then lower until he was tasting the incredibly soft slope of her breasts.
When his mouth finally fastened over one taut nipple, Mia was panting, thrusting her fingers against his scalp, urging him.
When he finally lifted his head, he was shaking from the inside out and wondering if he was in some glorious dream that would end at any moment. But Mia’s warm flesh brushing against his was enough to remind him that she was real and waiting to become his woman, his lover. The implication brought a tremble to his hands as he reached to undo the front of her jeans.
“Let me do this,” she whispered as his fingers fumbled with the button at her waist. “It will be faster.”
Not in any condition to argue with her, Marshall eased away from her and while he struggled to fling aside his own shirt and jeans, he darted hungry glances at Mia until she finally pushed the denim off her hips.
With his own clothes out of the way, he stood watching as she stepped from the pool of fabric. The sight of her plump breasts and tiny waist, the curves of her hips and the long firm muscles of her thighs just waiting for him to touch and taste was enough to leave him just short of speechless.
“Mia. Oh, Mia,” he whispered.
Stepping forward he lifted her onto the queen-sized bed, then followed her onto the down comforter. As he enfolded her in his arms, she pressed her cheek against his and the sweetness of her gesture pierced his heart, filling it with something warm, something that had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with love. The idea scared him, but the feeling was so thrilling that he couldn’t stop. Couldn’t look back.
“Marshall, I didn’t know how much I wanted this—you—until tonight. But when you kissed me out in your parents’ yard…I don’t know. Everything felt different—right. Does that make sense?”
At this moment nothing made sense to Marshall except the extraordinary need to kiss her, hold her, feel his body sliding into hers.
“Making sense doesn’t matter,” he said thickly. “You and me together—that’s all that matters.”
Rolling her onto her back, Marshall used the next few minutes to make a feast of the mounds and hollows of her body and each nibble, each tempting slide of his tongue sent shivers of longing down Mia’s spine. In a matter of moments she forgot everything except the desire that was surging higher and higher, begging her body to connect with his.
When she began to moan and writhe beneath him, he eased back enough to slip the scanty piece of lace from her hips. The black triangle of hair springing from the juncture of her thighs beckoned his fingers. For a moment he teased the soft curls and then, lifting his gaze to hers, he stroked lower. Her eyes widened with surprise, then closed completely as he gently, coaxingly touched the intimate folds between her thighs.
“Marshall, Marshall,” she said on a thick, guttural groan. “Don’t torment me like this. I need—”
The rest of her words stopped on a gasp as one finger slipped into the moist heat of her body. Stock still, she waited, barely breathing as he stroked and explored that secret part of her. But after a few short moments the teasing rhythm of his movements was too much for her to bear.
Crying out with a mixture of intense pleasure and pain, she reached for the boxers riding low on his hips and, hooking her thumbs in the waistband, pulled them down around his thighs.
“Make love to me, Marshall. Please.”
The urgency of her whispered plea was like throwing accelerant on an already raging fire. On the verge of losing all control, Marshall forced himself to move away from her and over to a chest of drawers where he fished out a small packet and quickly tore it open.
When he returned to her, Mia hardly had time to notice that he’d been dealing with protection. All at once his knee was parting her thighs and his hands were slipping beneath her buttocks, lifting her up to meet the thrust of his arousal.
A sudden rush of fiery sensations brought a keening moan to the back of Mia’s throat and, seeking any sort of anchor she could find, her fingers latched a tight grip around his upper arms. Bending forward, he began to move inside her and when she slowly began to move with him, he brought his lips to hers and growled out her name.
“Mia. Mia. Touch me. Love me.”
Happy to comply with his sweet request, she swept her palms over the hard muscles of his chest, down his ribs and abdomen, then back up until her fingertips lingered at his hard nipples.
With each bold foray of her hands, she heard his breath catch, felt his thrusts quicken. Frantic to keep pace with him, she wrapped her legs around his and clung to his sweat-drenched shoulders.
At some point the room around her spun away, leaving a black velvety place where only she and Marshall existed. With each rapid plunge, he drove her to a higher ledge, where her heart was hammering out of control, her lungs burning with each raspy breath.
They took the climb together, racing frantically toward the peak of the mountain where a crescent moon poured silver dust and lit their pathway to the stars.
She was straining, her body screaming for relief, when Marshall’s lips came down over hers to swallow up her cries and nudge them both over the last precipice of their journey. He drove into her like a man possessed, his hands and hips gripping her to him as he spilled his very heart into her.
His throaty groan of release launched Mia even higher and, like a rocket gathering steam, she shot straight through a bright, molten star. She cried his name as lights glittered behind her tightly closed eyelids. And then she was drifting, glowing, falling back to earth on a cloud of emotions.
When Marshall’s senses finally returned, he was still breathing raggedly and sweat was rolling into his eyes and down his face. Beneath him Mia’s body was damp and lax, her face covered with a tangle of black hair.
With a groan that sounded like it belonged to someone else, Marshall rolled to her side and reached to push the veil of hair away from her cheek. As his fingers brushed against her neck, he could feel her pulse hammering and he bent and pressed a kiss to the throb of her heartbeat.
“I’m not sure I’m alive,” he murmured. “Are we in heaven?”
The corners of his lips tilted into dreamy smile. “I think I just went there.”
Slipping a hand over her belly, he latched onto her hip bone, then rolled her onto her side and against the length of his body. After cuddling her head in the crook of his shoulder, he pillowed his jaw against the crown of her hair and closed his eyes in exhausted *******ment.
For the first time in Marshall’s life words seemed inadequate to describe what he’d just experienced. Joy was swimming around inside him, warming him like bright sunshine. Maybe that made him a sappy fool. But he didn’t care.
“I knew it would be good with us,” he murmured, then silently cursed himself for emitting such a stupid remark. Hell, good was a long way from portraying the connection he’d felt to Mia. Why couldn’t he tell her that? Because he was a chicken, he realized. Because even though she’d made love with him, his hold on her was still too fragile. Any remark suggesting a future together would send her running.
“Mmm. How did you know that? Experience?”
Sliding a finger beneath her chin, he tilted her face up to his, but the darkness of the room hid her expression. He touched the pad of his forefinger to the middle of her lips.
“Oh, Mia, I thought I knew what being with a woman was all about. But making love with you—” He shook his head, then chuckled with wry disbelief. “It felt like the first time. No—not the first time. The only time.”
Her heart wincing with regret, she lifted her fingers to his face and slid them along the length of his jawline. “You’ll feel differently about that in the light of day. Especially if you see me when I first wake up,” she tried to tease.
His arms moved around her back and hugged her even closer. “I hope that means you’re going to stay here with me tonight.”
She was wondering how to best answer that question when his arms tightened around her even more.
“Don’t bother answering,” he said, “because I’m not going to let you out of this bed for any reason. Except breakfast, maybe.”
She tried not to let the possessive tone in his voice thrill her, but it did.
Everything about the man thrilled her. And tonight she needed to be close to him, needed to let herself believe that she could be loved.
Bringing her lips up to his, she kissed him softly, temptingly. “Will you be doing the cooking?”
His sexy chuckle fanned across her face and curled her toes.
“Just tell me what you want

29-10-07, 08:27 AM

المشاركة رقم: 15

المعلومات
الكاتب:	darla
اللقب:	سندريلا ليلاس

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التسجيل:	Aug 2006
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كاتب الموضوع : darla المنتدى : الارشيف

Chapter 12

When Mia woke the next morning, she was momentarily startled by the strange room, but as she sat up in Marshall’s bed, everything about the night before came rushing back to her. And the memories were enough to send a scarlet wave of heat across her face.
Oh, my, oh, my. She glanced at the empty spot where Marshall had lain beside her. Never had she behaved with such abandon. She’d responded to Marshall as though he’d been her lover for years rather than hours. Nothing had inhibited her. Nothing had stopped her from showing him how much she wanted him.
Well, she could be thankful she hadn’t made a slip of the tongue and confessed that she loved him, she thought dryly, as she climbed from the bed and snatched up her clothing from the floor. At least she’d still have a shred of pride to hang on to whenever he eventually sent her packing.
Minutes later, after a quick shower in the private bath of his bedroom, she jerked on her jeans and blouse and hurried out to the kitchen. Marshall spotted her just as he was ending a call on his cell phone.
He snapped the instrument shut and hurried over to place a quick kiss on her lips.
“Good morning,” she murmured shyly, then glanced at the phone he was dropping into pants pocket. It was six o’clock. She wouldn’t expect him to be getting calls at this early hour. “Is anything wrong?”
He grimaced. “Afraid so. One of the guests is having some sort of chest pains.
He thinks he pulled a muscle while rowing on the river yesterday. His wife is afraid it’s his heart. I’m going to check him out. You can’t be too careful with something like this.” He glanced regretfully down at her. “There goes our breakfast for now. But I did have a chance to make coffee before the call came through. Why don’t you have some and I’ll be back as soon as I can. If I don’t have a line of patients waiting on me, we could go to the Grubstake later for breakfast.”
Mia quickly shook her head. “Don’t worry about me. Go. Tend to your patient.
That’s the most important thing. I’ll walk home to my cabin after I have a cup of coffee,” she assured him.
Relief washed across his face. “You’re too understanding, Mia.” He planted another brief kiss on her lips, then turning to go, he tossed over his shoulder.
“I’ll see you later. This evening. Promise.”
She waved him out the kitchen door and seconds later she heard the Jeep drive away.
Later that morning, after Marshall had determined that his early bird patient was suffering from a pulled ligament rather than a heart attack, he wrote the man instructions for care at home, along with a prescription for inflammation.
The couple was just leaving his office when Ruthann arrived for work.
The redheaded nurse stared at Marshall as though the sight of him had sent her into shock. “What are you doing here?”
Marshall shot her a droll look. “I’m the doctor around here, Ruthie, remember? Marshall Cates, M.D.”
Rolling her eyes at him, she marched over to his desk and dropped a white sack full of sugary doughnuts and cream-filled pastries. “Shouldn’t you add BS to that?”
He followed after her and snatched up the sack. As he pulled out a doughnut, he asked, “What does that mean?”
Ruthann banged the heel of her palm against the side of her head. “Do I have to spell it out for you? It’s something you shovel out of the barn and you’re full of it.”
He bit off half the doughnut and swallowed it down after a few short chews.
“Hell! That’s not what I mean! Why are you insulting me by implying that I work banker’s hours? I am a doctor,” he reminded her pointedly. “I do have emergency calls.”
Her brows shot up. “I thought you regulated those to Dr. Baxter.”
“Not anymore.”
“Since when?” she countered.
Frowning, he dropped into his desk chair and pulled another pastry from the sack. “Since a few days ago,” he answered with a tinge of annoyance. “Since I decided I needed to do more around here to earn my pay.”
Ruthann slapped a palm against her forehead and sank into a chair angled toward the front of Marshall’s desk. “My God, let me sit down! I think I’m hallucinating—I think I’m actually seeing a doctor with a conscience.”
He leveled a gaze at her. “Sometimes it stuns me that you can be such a mean woman.”
She started to laugh and then another thought must have struck her because she frowned at him in confusion. “What was the emergency that called you out of your bed this morning?”
“Chest pains. But it was nothing serious. The patient and his wife were very relieved. And grateful. Made me feel good to help them. Even if I did have to miss cooking breakfast.”
This time Ruthann did laugh, although the sound was more like a snort.
“Yeah. Sure, Marshall. You slave over the stove every morning, then eat a sack of pastries after you get to work.”
Dusting the powdered sugar from his hands, he leaned back in the cushioned leather chair. He was exhausted. But it was the most pleasant sort of exhaustion he’d ever felt in his life. Mia had kissed him, touched him, whispered to him, turned him inside out with her lovemaking. He felt like a new and different man.
And suddenly all the things he’d considered unimportant in life were now shouting at him to take a second look.
“Ruthie, do you think I’d make a good father?”
The startled nurse scooted to the edge of her chair. “Did you get drunk last night?”
Only on love, he thought. It was crazy. Foolish. He’d never imagined that the bug would bite him. He’d thought he was immune. But he felt like a grinning idiot and it was downright glorious.
“No. And I asked you a perfectly logical question,” he shot at her.
She drew in a long breath and slowly released it. “Don’t you think you ought to be a husband first?”
He pondered her question as he reached for another doughnut. “Yeah. That would be the way to do it, wouldn’t it? A husband and then a father. Yeah. I could do it. Just follow after my dad.”
“Well, I have to admit that Frank Cates is probably the best example of both.
But as for you—you’re thirty-four years old. You’ve gone through women like a stack of cotton socks. No,” she said with a shake of her head, “if you had a wife you’d only end up breaking her heart and then I’d really hate you.”
“I wouldn’t do any such thing,” he countered.
She snatched up the bakery sack before he could reach for the last pastry.
“You’re not only crazy this morning, you’re eating like a hog. Why in heck are you so hungry?”
A wicked grin spread across his face. “Exercise, Ruthie. You ought to try it some time.”
With a roll of her eyes, she left the room, carrying the last sugary treat with her.
Later that day, Mia sat on the porch of her cabin, trying to read, trying to forget the endless times Janelle had rung her cell phone today and, even more, trying to come to terms with the fact that she’d fallen in love with Marshall.
An objective friend would probably tell her that she was simply still glowing after a night of good sex. But Mia didn’t have a close friend here on the resort to confide in. And even if she did, she wouldn’t go along with that reasoning.
Yes, being in Marshall’s arms had given her a glimpse of ecstasy, but it hadn’t just been sex. Not with her half of the partnership. The only reason she’d allowed him to carry her to his bed was the love that had been growing in her heart, building until she’d been unable to shut it down or hide it away.
Now what was she going to do about it? she wondered miserably.
Fool! There’s nothing you can do about it. Marshall believes you’re a sweet girl who unfortunately lost her parents. Once he gets the real picture of who you are, he’ll turn his back and walk away.
Painful emotions knotted her throat and misted her eyes, making it impossible to read the open book on her lap. She was trying to compose herself and will the attack of hopelessness away when the sound of an approaching vehicle caught her attention and she looked up to see Marshall’s Jeep braking to a halt next to her rental car.
Desperate to hide her turmoil from his perceptive gaze, she quickly dashed the back of her hand against her eyes and rose to her feet. By the time he’d jogged up on the porch to join her, she’d managed to plaster a bright smile on her face.
“Hello, doc.”
His lips tilted into a sexy grin, he slid his arms around her and locked his hands at the back of her waist.
Mia’s heart fluttered with happiness as he brought a soft, sweet kiss to her lips.
“Hello, beautiful,” he murmured.
“My, that’s a special greeting.”
The grin on his lips deepened. “You’re a special girl. My girl,” he added softly.
Her heart winced at the sincerity in his voice. The idea that he was actually starting to care for her only made matters a thousand times worse. It would be wrong to lead him into a relationship that could go nowhere. Yet she wanted him so. Needed him so. Oh, God, help me, she silently prayed.
Dropping her gaze away from his twinkling eyes, she buried her cheek against the middle of his chest. “How did your emergency go this morning? I hope everything turned out okay.”
“It did.” He rubbed his chin against the top of her head. “The guy’s heart checked out perfectly fine. He had a pulled ligament.”
“That’s good.”
“Yeah. I’m just sorry it interrupted our breakfast together. That’s one reason why I’m here. I thought I’d make up for it by taking you to the Grubstake for a quick bite. And then…”
His suggestive pause had her tilting her head back to look up at him. The sultry squint of his eyes told her he’d already planned a repeat of last night and Mia realized if she wanted to avoid an even bigger heartache, she’d turn tail and run. But she couldn’t. Not when everything inside her was hungering to be back in his arms.
“Then what?” she softly prompted.
“We’re going on a bike ride.”
Her eyes widened. “A bike ride! Where?”
He chuckled at the surprise sweeping across her face. “Up the mountain from my house. Where we found Joey and his mother. I never got to show you my special spot up there. Are you up for it?”
At this moment she felt certain she could run for miles. As long as he was by her side.
Smiling, she eased out of his arms and picked up the book she’d left laying in her lawn chair. “Just let me change into some jeans. The last time I went up a mountain with you my knees were ground into hamburger meat.”
Laughing, he followed her into the cabin.
Two hours later, after eating hearty sandwiches and fries at the Grubstake, Mia and Marshall rode up the mountain, two miles past the spot where they’d found Joey, then left their bikes at the side of the road to walk into the woods.
When they first ventured into the thick forest of tall aspens and fir trees, Mia expected a long steep hike over treacherous boulders, but it turned out to be more of an easy stroll along a lightly beaten path.
“Do other resort guests know about this place of yours?” she asked as she closely followed him through a stand of aspens.
“I doubt anyone else has ever found it. I’ve never seen anyone else climbing up this far.”
“Hmm. Well, no one else is a mountain goat like you are,” she teased.
“Just wait. You’ll see that this trip was worth it.”
Moments later they rounded another stand of trees and suddenly an open area appeared before them and Mia gasped with shocked pleasure.
There before them were slabs of red rock towering at least fifty feet above their heads. Water was spilling over the top of the ledge, falling and tinkling against the rocks until it reached a natural pool edged with tall reeds and blooming water lilies. The spot was so incredibly beautiful that it seemed more fairy tale than real.
Mia’s first instinct was to rush forward to get an even closer look, but before either of them took a step, Marshall grabbed her arm and silently pointed to a mule deer with a fawn at its side slipping quietly from the trees and over to the pool’s edge.
As mother and baby drank, Mia looked up at Marshall and smiled gratefully.
“Thank you for bringing me here,” she silently mouthed up at him, so as not to give away their presence and startle the animals.
Marshall responded by bending his head and pressing his lips to hers. The kiss was full of tenderness and something else that Mia had never felt before. It tugged at her heart and filled her chest with such emotion that she could scarcely breathe.
When he finally lifted his head, they both turned their heads to see that the doe and fawn had disappeared. Marshall slipped his arm against her back and urged her toward the waterfall.
“Come on,” he said quietly. “Let me show you where I come when I really want to think.”
When they returned to Marshall’s log house later that evening it was no surprise to Mia that the two of them ended up in his bed. Nor was it a surprise that their lovemaking was even more earthshaking for her than it had been the night before. Her heart was well and truly entangled with the man and each time she’d given her body to him, her very soul had gone with it.
This morning after cooking her a leisurely breakfast, he’d dropped her off at her cabin on his way to work. He’d kissed her goodbye with the promise of calling her later in the day to talk over plans of getting together tonight.
Since that time, Mia had been prowling around her cabin, unable to relax, unable to concentrate on anything except this impossible situation she’d fallen into.
Situation. No, it was far worse than a situation. It was a complete and utter disaster. This thing between them was snowballing, racing along so quickly that she didn’t know how to put on the brakes, much less stop it. But stop it she had to. Now. Tonight. Before Marshall found out she was really Nina Hanover.
The ring of her cell phone interrupted her pacing and for a moment she simply stared in dread at the instrument. If Marshall was calling what was she going to say? Just enough to put him off without alerting him that something was wrong? Yes, she thought, frantically. If she had tonight alone, then maybe she could figure out how she was going to deal with him tomorrow.
For once she wished that the caller actually was Janelle. But the ID number glaring up at her was Marshall’s and she was forced to answer. Otherwise, he’d wind up on her porch and she wouldn’t be able to find the resistance to stay out of his arms.
Swallowing hard, she pushed the talk button and spoke. “Hi, Marshall.”
“Hi, darlin’. I’m five minutes away from leaving the office. Tell me where you’d like to eat dinner. How about driving over to Bozeman? I doubt you’ve been off the resort since you first arrived.”
It was true. Once Mia had decided to temporarily settle at Thunder Canyon Resort, she’d ventured no farther than town. She’d not wanted to show her face on any of the major cities along the interstate, just in case Janelle had private investigators out looking for her. And there was little doubt in Mia’s mind that the woman had been searching for her. Since finding Mia’s note explaining that she was taking an extended trip to give herself time to think, Janelle had probably whipped into action, doling out money to anyone who’d make a concentrated effort to find her runaway daughter.
“Uh—no, I haven’t been to Bozeman.” Her voice sounded strained even to her own ears, but she couldn’t help it. Her heart was breaking and all she really wanted to do was throw down the phone and sob until she couldn’t shed another tear.
“Is something wrong, Mia? You sound strange.”
She swallowed again as her throat clogged with a ball of guilt and regret.
“I—well, actually there is something wrong. My head. I—developed a migraine this afternoon. And it’s really cracking. I don’t think I can make it out of bed.”
“Mia, honey! You should have called my office earlier! I can prescribe you something for the pain or if necessary give you an injection. Just hold on. I’ll be there in five minutes.”
“No!” she blurted, then realizing how frantic that sounded, she added, “I mean, there’s no need for you to come over. I took something a few minutes ago and I’m going to try to sleep.”
Several moments passed before he finally replied. Mia got the feeling that this sudden change in plans had really taken him aback. Well, it had done more than that to her. The pain that had started in her chest was now radiating through her whole body, leaving her numb and dazed. If there was some sort of painkiller that could wipe out this love she felt for him, then she desperately needed it.
“All right, Mia. But I’d feel much better if you’d let me examine you.”
“Don’t be silly, Marshall. It’s just a headache. I’ll be fine tomorrow. I’ll call you then.”
She could hear him drawing in a rough breath. The sound brought tears to her eyes and she swiftly squeezed them shut.
“I—I was really planning on us being together tonight,” he said softly. “The house is going to be damn hollow without you.”
She was choking, dying from the bitter loss washing over her. “I’m—sorry, Marshall,” she spoke through a veil of tears. “I didn’t want the evening to end like this, either.”
“You can’t help it if you’re sick, honey. Try to get some sleep and I’ll check on you in the morning.”
Relieved that he’d accepted her excuse, Mia quickly told him goodbye. But once she’d pushed the button to end the call, she broke into racking sobs that continued until she’d cried herself to sleep on the sofa.
When Mia woke the next morning, her heart was so heavy she could hardly push herself into the kitchen to make coffee. For all she noticed, the bright sunshine pounding against the windowpanes of the cabin might as well have been fierce raindrops. The first real joy she’d found since Nina passed away was over. The first real love she’d ever felt for a man couldn’t be continued. She couldn’t hold on to the happiness that love should bring to a young woman’s life. And all because she’d made horrible choices in the past. Choices that painted her as a selfish gold-digger and someone that a good man like Marshall could never love.
After a quick cup of coffee, Mia decided the best thing she could do this morning would be to leave the cabin and go for a walk in the forest. That way when Marshall called or dropped by to check on her, she’d be gone. It was a cowardly way for her to behave, but she wasn’t sure she could face him just yet without breaking down in tears.
She had changed into clean jeans and a white peasant blouse and was walking swiftly away from the cabin when she heard a vehicle approaching her from behind.
Her whole body heavy with dread, she turned to see Marshall’s Jeep bearing down on her. He skidded to a stop beside her and hopped out with the athletic ease she’d come to associate with him.
“Good morning,” she greeted, tilting her chin, bracing herself for what had to be.
“Good morning, yourself,” he said, his stunned gaze whipping over her face.
“What are you doing out here? I thought you were sick?”
Her heart was pounding so hard she thought she might lose her coffee right there in front of him. “I—was going out for a little hike this morning.”
“After being bedridden with a migraine? Don’t you think that’s a little much?”
Of course he would view it that way. He was a doctor. Oh, God, help her, she prayed.
Clearing her throat, she glanced away from him and continued to pray for strength. “Okay, Marshall. I confess. I didn’t really have a headache last night. I…knew if I didn’t tell you something like that…you would…well, the two of us would end up in bed together again.”
Looking even more stunned, he closed the distance between them and put a hand on her arm. The contact sent shivers of excitement and aching regret through her rigid body.
Bemused, he shook his head. “I don’t understand, Mia. I thought you wanted us to be together—to make love.”
Tightening her jaw to prevent her lips from trembling, she said, “I did. But I’ve been thinking it all through. And I—Well, this thing between us is going too fast. Way too fast.” She forced herself to look at him and quickly wished she hadn’t. Pain was clouding his brown eyes and the idea that she’d put it there made her even sicker. “I believe that we…need to cool things between us for a while.”
He sucked in a deep breath then slowly blew it out and as he did, his eyes narrowed to two angry slits. “Why don’t you just come out and say what you really mean, Mia. You jumped into bed with me. You’ve had your fun. And now you want out. Well, it looks like I was wrong about you. Dead wrong.”
She froze inside. “What do you mean?” she asked tightly.
His face like a piece of granite, he said, “I didn’t believe you were just one of those rich little teases out for your own enjoyment. I thought you were different—sincere. But it looks like the joke is on me, isn’t it? I’ve got to admit, Mia, you really had me fooled. I thought—Oh, to hell with what I thought.
You obviously don’t give a damn what I think anyway!”
He turned and climbed back into his Jeep and though everything inside Mia was screaming at her to call him back, to explain that she hadn’t been teasing him, using him, all she could do was stand there, her gaze frozen on the vehicle as he drove away.
Once his Jeep rounded a stand of trees and disappeared from view, finality set in and washed over her heart like a crushing wave. Everything between them was over. She’d accomplished what she’d set out to do. Now all she had to do was get over the only love of her life.