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Chapter 2
The next day, when Norton revealed his plan to his wife, Mary’s face paled against her gray-blonde bobbed hair and she put a hand to her chest and clutched at her silk blouse.
“Norton, you can’t be serious!” Mary said. “She’s just a baby, she’s…McNamara? Chase McNamara? But…well, he’s a cattleman. He lives out…in the country.”
Mary had been incensed at Tori for the little anti-fur rally fiasco not more than a week ago, ranting on about how she wanted to toss the child from the house and now she was complaining about Norton’s choice of a mate for Tori. It made no sense and Norton continued to argue his point.
“Mary, darling, just think, we’ve wanted Tori to find some direction for the longest while now. She hasn’t. You’ve tried setting her up with men from around here and they have all run out of this house screaming.” Mary frowned at his exaggeration, but he continued on. “Chase McNamara won’t be easily frightened away. If Tori doesn’t like him, then we’ll simply toss the idea. But if she does…what’s wrong with using her trust fund as leverage to push her in his direction?”
“Oh, Norton…I just don’t know. She’s so…young.”
“Mary, she’s twenty-four and we’ll both be dead from her antics soon enough
if we don’t give her a little nudge. Last week it was anti-fur, the month before
that the child labor protest at the Mexican border.
Then there was the anti-globalization mess in
Mary gasped with fright at that image and slowly nodded her head. “Perhaps you’re right, Norton. We can’t have Tori running amuck so. We need to…nudge her…like you said.”
“Good. Now, McNamara should be here shortly. Be sure Tori’s on her best behavior.”
**
Tori sat on her bed in her room and toyed with the hem of her khaki capris. She was debating just how nice she should look for the company that was coming over, when her mother knocked once and burst through her door. So much for her privacy, she thought. That’s how it had always been around the house. Her mother barged in whenever she wanted and her father…well, he respected her privacy and genuinely loved her, but he struggled to understand her.
Tori didn’t get what was so unusual about her. Just because she didn’t fit into her parents’ cookie-cutter world didn’t mean she was a freak of nature. Monica did fit, she fit perfectly, and Tori was convinced she was the freak of nature. Any woman who could stand being married to boring Roger Morse who looked like a balding plastic Ken doll and talked like a droid had to have some loose wiring. And here they accused Tori of being the odd one because she stood for causes that were important to her and wanted to use her wealth to do good and not simply to shop?
“Tori, you’re going to wear that?” her mother asked with disgust and Tori looked down at herself. She’d chosen a pink cotton peasant top with short cap sleeves and a line of delicate ribbon woven through the deep collar of the shirt. The ribbon dangled from the ends of her sleeves and gave it a casual, girlish look. She had yet to choose her shoes, but she didn’t think she looked horrid.
“What’s wrong with this?” Tori asked as she raked a hand through her short hair. It was blondish in color, but unlike her perfect sister’s it wasn’t golden blonde. It had lots of brown to it and if she spent the money dyeing it every month, it too could be just as perfectly flaxen as Monica’s, but she didn’t spend money on herself regularly and she kept her hair short for ease of styling. Besides, short hair complimented her features, she thought.
“Nothing is wrong with it exactly…it looks much better than those holey jeans and T-shirt you were wearing to breakfast. But…well, it’s just so casual.” Mary moved to the closet and pulled out a pretty floral dress that should only be worn to Sunday church services. “How about this one?”
Tori groaned and stood, reaching for her holey jeans that were thrown carelessly over her vanity chair. “How about I just put these back on?”
Mary frowned, returned the dress and came back with a pair of brown sandals. “I suppose that outfit will do then. Here, wear these.”
“Perfect,” Tori agreed and slipped into the sandals.
“Now,” her mother prompted as she moved in front of her and fussed with Tori’s hair, “please be on your best behavior. Mr. McNamara is an important business associate of father’s and we don’t want to make him feel uncomfortable.”
“Of course not, mother,” Tori said automatically, having lost count of the hundreds of times her mother had coached her like this before. It was always important to be polite when guests came over. She had learned that since she was a child and despite how she loved to torment her parents from time to time with her antics, she would never embarrass them in front of guests at the house. She did, after all, possess standards and she knew very well how to behave like a lady when necessary—unless of course her mother was inviting over another one of those horrid stiffs from the country club she wanted her to date.
“Good, now, let’s go wait in the front living room for our guest.” Mary stared hard at her daughter and Tori just knew her mother was going to tell her to put on some make-up or something. But when Mary simply hugged her with the kind of hug she always gave Tori at the airport, Tori suspected something was up.
She didn’t ask however, and she obediently followed her mother downstairs and
into the parlor where their guest had already arrived. She heard her father
speaking and then the man answered. He had a deep voice with the slightest
Her father and Mr. McNamara rose when she and her mother entered the room and the first thing she saw was her father smiling at her and saying, “Ah, there’s my wife and daughter now, McNamara.”
Tori shifted her gaze from her father to their guest
and felt her mouth fall open. Handsome was hardly the word to use to describe
the man standing tall before her. He was lean and broad, his skin tanned from
the
“Oh, Chase,” Mary said immediately with a cheery ring, “how nice to see you again.”
Mary moved forward and gave Chase McNamara a brief hug and kiss on the cheek and Tori felt compelled to do the same because she was positive it would be thrilling. She didn’t greet all her friends like her mother did, however, though she wanted to this time. She’d never met this man before and so when her mother tugged her forward and said, “This is my youngest, Tori,” Tori simply stuck out her hand and felt Mr. McNamara enclose hers with long, warm fingers and felt complete electricity.
“It’s nice to meet you, Tori,” the man said and Tori nodded.
“Uh, yes. Same here,” she squeaked out and when her mother frowned at her, Tori realized Mary thought she was being rude. But what her mother didn’t understand was that Tori was simply dumbstruck. After all, she was female and any female with viable hormones would react this way to this man. He was breathtaking and from the devilish look in his eye, Tori had a feeling he was nothing like her brother-in-law, boring Roger Morse.
“Your father has told me a lot about you, Tori,” Mr. McNamara continued and when he didn’t immediately let go of her hand, Tori felt her knees grow a little weak.
“I hope it wasn’t all bad,” Tori said with a small smile and when the man chuckled and patted her imprisoned hand with his other, she again felt electricity.
“No, not all bad. Then again, I suppose that depends on your definition of bad,” he said easily and Tori had a feeling this man knew of her many exploits that had embarrassed her family over the years. And what was so good about it, was that he didn’t seem to care.
Placing her hands on Tori’s shoulders, Mary explained, “Tori’s just very…passionate about things she believes in. I hope Norton stressed that.”
“Yes. And I find that admirable. I look forward to hearing about it over lunch, Tori,” he said and Tori wondered just how she was going to eat lunch with this man sitting at the same table.
It had been years since any man had affected her like this. It was odd, but while they dined on the back porch, overlooking the pool and trees and gardens, Tori found herself almost stuttering. She only spoke when asked a direct question and her parents constantly bombarded her with questions, almost as if they were trying to force her to talk. She kept her answers brief.
Mr. McNamara had insisted over lunch that she call him Chase and though she said very little to him, he seemed awfully interested in her. Tori couldn’t understand why. She wasn’t, after all, a stunning beauty like Monica. Now, she was the type of woman men paid attention to. Not that Tori thought less of her own appearance. She was pleased with her petite build and firm curves, but she certainly never attracted men like Chase McNamara. Surely some rich socialite down at the country club had her eye on him because this man was a complete knockout.
As lunch wound down, Tori started to breathe with a sigh of relief. As was usually the case, the men would retire to her father’s study to discuss business, drink brandy and smoke cigars. She stood with the intention of clearing off the table before the men left when her mother halted her.
“Tori, honey, your father and I will take care of that. Why don’t you show Chase the grounds?”
Tori wrinkled her brow, waiting for the punch line to this joke she wasn’t in on, when Chase stood, stripped off his navy blue suit jacket and agreed, “I’d appreciate that, Tori. Would you mind terribly?”
Would she mind? That was absurd. But instead of laugh at that joke, she simply shrugged and watched as long legs carried Chase around the table toward her. He placed a large hand on her back and steered her down a nearby path and as that path narrowed in one of her mother’s gardens, his hand slid down her arm, caught her hand and tugged her along the one-person path behind him.
Tendrils of heat coursed through her system just from that touch. The trail of his fingers down her arm, the friction of his skin against hers on her hand…it was enough to make her swallow with a mixture of fear and sweet anticipation.
She couldn’t remember the last time she had been interested in any man. Usually she was too busy concocting plans to make her parents angry so they’d hand over her trust fund and allow her to lead her own life. Not that she didn’t feel very passionate about her causes. The world was full of corruption and pain and she had a big heart, she felt it all. Her life had been simple, easy. And though her parents didn’t understand her and her sister looked down at her, she still had always been loved and cared for and given what she needed. It didn’t mean she was going to turn into the perfect socialite, however, just to win her inheritance and she had a feeling this man understood that about her. That’s why she was so intrigued and so…attracted.
“Ah…do you like the outdoors, Chase?” Tori asked from behind as he led her toward some destination rather than touring the grounds.
“Love them,” he said then halted in a small clearing where a bench sat under a willow tree. He sat her down and remained standing and looked around. Beautiful he thought. The grounds were lovely, but he was more interested in the feisty pixy in front of him.
“But I’m more of an open range kind of guy. As lovely as these flowers are, you won’t catch me cultivating any,” he added.
Tori smiled at him. She possessed a radiant smile that reached all the way to her silver-blue eyes and he remembered hearing her laugh during lunch. It was honest and real and she only laughed when something truly humored her and not to simply be polite.
“No, I don’t suspect we would see you doing that,” she agreed. “Tell me, what is it you do with your time then?”
“Business…ranching business. Cattle, horses, farming, oil. And before you spout off, we try to be as environmentally friendly as possible.” He had seen the glint entering into her eyes. When she was about to start ranting, he noticed her eyes turned more blue than gray…icy blue.
“I was going to ask that,” she admitted. “That’s good that you’re aware, but there’s other ways to….”
Before she could finish her speech, for he knew exactly what she was going to say, Chase laid a hand on the railing of the bench and leaned in very close. With a direct stare and a low voice he said, “I understand that you want to save the world, sweetheart, but let’s get a few things clear now. The fact is, people eat red meat and most of the world’s cars currently run on gasoline. So, until that changes, I’m not changing my business.” He straightened as he watched her gulp and her blue-gray eyes widen with either shock or anger. He couldn’t tell which. He continued, “And as for raising horses, well-bred stock and not glue factory flea-bags, and growing food, I would assume you don’t have an issue with that.”
“No,” she answered stiffly, “no issue there.”
“Then we meet half-way at least.”
The heat of the spring season was starting to stifle, even in the shade, and Chase rolled up his shirtsleeves and started to yank off his red tie.
“I didn’t think you were a suit man,” Tori commented and stood before him. She reached up and unknotted his tie for him then slowly slid it from around his neck. She wasn’t a tall girl, probably only five-feet, five-inches and her short dark blonde covered head reached only to his chest. But he liked the look of her, very much. She would fit in nicely on his ranch…better than she fit in at this stuffy, old-world décor mansion.
While she held his tie, Chase smiled at her with a crooked grin and admitted, “No, I’m not. Only when necessary would I dare don a suit and tie.”
Tori nodded and looked him up and down as she wound the tie around her hand. It was fine silk, as she suspected it would be, for the man did have taste despite his insistence that he hated suits. And it was still warm from his body. That discovery caused her to shiver slightly.
“My ranch is nice, I have a big house, but it’s not pretentious,” he added. “You might like it.”
Tori shrugged. Was he asking her to come visit or simply making small talk? She couldn’t read everything about him. She could read in his eyes, however, when he grew devilish or angered. When he’d barricaded her on the bench not two minutes before she had seen how dark his eyes turned and she realized few people crossed him for he was daunting when he looked so.
“I like horses,” Tori blurted out, not wanting to sound rude to her father’s guest and merely leave his remark about his house hanging with a shrug. How was to she to have responded to that without sounding too forward or interested in him?
He smiled at that, reached out and tugged on a wisp of her hair. “Then you could have your pick of my stock.”
Tori laughed for she noticed the man could be both daunting and flirtatious and already she was seeing more in him in this brief conversation than her sister’s husband had in his entire being. She liked this man already and she wondered if her father would have him over again anytime soon.
“My father would tell you I’d pick the sorriest, mangiest beast on your property,” Tori drawled with humor.
Chase cocked his head arrogantly. “We don’t carry mangy and sorry. I’m afraid you’ll have to make due with something of higher quality.”
“Well, that will never due,” Tori joked. “Us bleeding-hearts only go for mangy and sorry.”
Chase chuckled and smiled at her. Tori liked the look of those strong, kissable lips in that expression and she caught herself staring wistfully.
“I like you, Tori,” Chase suddenly said as if making a decision about it. “And I assume your father told you why I came here today?”
Tori nodded. Business, of course. Why would Chase even ask?
“Good. And I have a feeling you don’t find me totally repulsive,” he added.
Tori laughed. “Why would anyone think that about you?”
“Just checking.” He visibly paused, looked her over very carefully, then leaned forward and placed a warm kiss on her cheek. He took his tie from her hands that were now completely still as a result of shock from the tiny kiss and whispered, “I’ll show myself out. I’ll be seeing you real soon, Tori. We need to make some arrangements you and I.”
He took three steps down the path, then halted and turned back around. Frowning, he asked, “Uh, you don’t have any allergies, do you?”
His odd question broke Tori out of her revere and she shook her head and laughed again. “No, why do you ask?”
He shook his head then. “Never mind. Bad experience last week. That’s all. Good-bye.”
“Bye,” Tori called after him and she stood, immovable, as she watched those long legs carry him away.
**
It took Tori a half hour to return to the house. She replayed every word, every touch between her and Chase McNamara over and over in her head. He was a dream. She could even forgive the oil and cattle he dabbled in for he was so incredibly handsome and sexy and confident that she was beyond attracted. And, he was definitely the first of her father’s associates whom she had ever truly liked.
When she returned to the house her parents were in a deep discussion in the front parlor. Chase’s name was mentioned a few times and both her parents seemed rather happy in their banter. When Tori entered the room, however, their conversation immediately halted.
“Tori, darling,” Mary said with more enthusiasm than was necessary. “Tell me, how did you enjoy your walk?”
“It was fine. Mr. McNamara is a very nice man.”
“And attractive?” Mary asked with hopefulness.
Tori frowned. Something was up.
“Well, yeah. Isn’t it obvious, mother?”
Mary smiled broadly and turned to her husband who in turn smiled.
“Good,” Norton said and then asked, “Tomorrow, Tori, would you be willing to come with me to the office for a little while? There’s some business you need to be privy to.”
“All right. Sure.” It wasn’t unusual for her father to request her to accompany him to the office. It was his way of trying to get her interested in the family industry and on occasion she would placate him, go to the office and act like an intern for a few days until he realized she really was disinterested in the entire business world he operated in. But Norton Ambrose was determined and to this day he had not given up hope that Tori would change her mind.
“Very well. Tomorrow, around
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Reluctant Bride – Chapter 3