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Chapter 4
It was the night before the wedding and Tori sat on the bed in the room Chase had given her at the ranch and cried. She hadn’t meant to be so weepy the night before her wedding, but she couldn’t help it. She was marrying a man she didn’t love and feeling as though she had little choice in the matter. Her family was all tucked away here at the ranch and though Tori liked what she had seen of the ranch so far, she still didn’t want to be a prisoner here forever.
She glanced at the clock and saw the late hour that was creeping up. She didn’t want to look completely horrible for the wedding but she couldn’t sleep, not yet. She was too wired from all that had happened and all that was going to so she pulled on those holey jeans she liked so much to go with her plain pink T-shirt she had dressed in for bed, and quietly snuck down the stairs and out the front door.
**
Chase was in his downstairs office/study when he heard the front door open
and close. He realized one of his guests was up and about because Sophie, his
live-in age-weathered Texan housekeeper, never kept such late hours. He left
the pile of work that was stacked on his desk there and moved to the window.
He saw Tori’s petite frame move at a run across the
yard and toward the horse barns and he wondered just what she was up to. Hoping
she was only out for a
**
The horse barns were clean and modern. All the horse stock was indeed of the finest Quarter Horse she’d ever seen quality and Tori actually smiled as she looked at the rows of glorious animals living in such comfort and taken care of so well. It calmed her nerves to be near the animals and she coaxed a docile bay closer and gently patted its velvet nose.
Her sanctuary didn’t last long for another presence entered the barn not two minutes behind her. Chase had interrupted her revere and it didn’t surprise her. They hadn’t been alone together since that scene in the boutique dressing room and Tori was wondering when he’d corner her for she’d known all along that eventually he would.
“Can’t sleep?” he asked her and she kept petting the horse’s nose and shrugged.
“I usually opt for a ride when I can’t sleep,” he revealed and Tori looked at him then.
He saw her face was stained with tears and recognized in her blue-gray eyes a despair that hadn’t been there earlier in the night. She hastily wiped at her face, however, and stood bravely before him. Just as she would surely stand before him and everyone else tomorrow, reciting their vows of marriage.
“I wouldn’t…uh, take one of the horses out,” she said, shaking her head. “They’re your stock and…”
“And you can ride any of them you please. Well, the one’s that are trained anyhow. And I wouldn’t suggest you mess with our stud, Maniac.”
“Maniac?”
“Yeah. He’s got a few wires loose.”
Tori nodded and gulped. She was fidgeting with her hands and Chase was stunned to see her looking so forlorn.
Moving forward he held up a box. “I wanted to give you this. For the wedding. Well, unless your mother gave you some other family heirloom to wear.”
Tori shook her head. “She hasn’t given me anything yet.”
Tori opened the box he handed her and saw a single strand of pearls and matching earrings. Again, like her engagement ring, it was quite simple and she smiled when she touched them.
“They were my mother’s, passed down to her from her mother. She wore them when she married my father. I thought…well, since I don’t have any other family to pass them down to, I thought I’d give them to my bride.”
His words were very sweet, Tori thought, and unusually soft. Lately, since they’d agreed to marry, so much that he’d said to her had seemed like a demand. But these words and this gesture truly were endearing.
“Thanks. I…they’re lovely. I’ll wear them tomorrow.”
“Are you sure you’ll go through with tomorrow?” he then questioned.
Tori looked him over in his faded jeans and work-worn blue chambray shirt. His hair was slightly tousled and she thought he looked more handsome than any man she’d ever laid eyes on before. But despite her attraction, she still distrusted him and this entire marriage.
“Yes, I’ll go through with it,” she said stiffly and as tears rimmed her eyes again, Chase realized he had chosen the wrong topic. It would have been wiser to stick to horses and pearls.
Moving past her and disappearing into a room, Chase returned with a bridle and entered the end stall. He walked out of it two minutes later leading a gorgeous black and white Paint mare and stopping next to Tori.
“She’s lovely,” Tori cooed and patted the horse’s face. Immediately the horse thrust her head forward and begged for more.
“And docile. I just got her two weeks ago. I hadn’t decided what I was going to use her for. I was thinking about breeding her but she’s a damned good trail horse and she loves being ridden.” He patted the horse’s neck. “So, how about you take her? My wedding present to you.”
Tori gasped and shook her head.
“Oh, no. I couldn’t possibly. She’s too fine a horse.”
“Darlin’, all my horses are high quality. Take her. That way when you come down here in the middle of the night after one of our quarrels you have a horse to take off on,” Chase told her and Tori’s lips almost broke into a smile.
“But…well, I didn’t get you anything,” Tori complained.
“You don’t have to. Now that I’m getting a wife tomorrow, I have almost everything I want.”
“Almost?”
“A willing wife and a romantic honeymoon that produced an heir would be everything I want,” he said with a smile. And it was the smile of a predator.
“Well, until you said romantic and heir in the same sentence as honeymoon, I was contemplating getting you a trip for a present,” Tori drawled. “But if you would expect it to be a real honeymoon, then we’ll just stick with our original plan to forgo one.”
“Still hell bent on denying me any romance, huh?” he questioned.
She blushed, then sighed and turned her face away from his direct stare. “Must we discuss this now? I’d rather not contemplate our future at the moment.”
“All right,” he said with resignation and wondered why anytime he mentioned intimacy she grew shy or agitated. Perhaps she had no or little experience. Or maybe, she was simply modest. He’d let it go for now, but sooner or later, they would have that discussion.
He nodded toward the horse. “Hop on. I’ll take you out to the training ring. You can ride.”
She brightened at that prospect and allowed him to grasp her foot and boost her onto the horse. Then he led her out the barn door and a few yards away was a training ring enclosed with white pipe fencing. Chase let the horse go in the paddock and then closed the railing gate and stood with his foot on the bottom rail and watched as Tori rode the horse bareback around in large circles.
The girl knew how to ride. It was obvious she’d learned at some time in her life, but he also noticed she rode like someone trained in English would ride. Both hands were on the reins instead of just one and she bounced perfectly with the trot.
“Girl, we’re going to have to teach you to ride like a proper cowgirl,” Chase teased as she trotted by, “instead of like a sissy Englishman.” (Hey, no offense to our buddies across the pond!! LOL)
Tori laughed and kept riding.
“I could do this all night,” Tori then said with a giggle and Chase ground his teeth thinking suddenly about something else he wanted her to ride all night. Funny how such sexual thoughts had been entering his mind tonight and had been since the moment he’d first seen her. She wasn’t overtly sexual and yet somehow that made her even sexier. She pretended not to want him and yet, he wanted her badly after having known her for a week. She was going to be his undoing and he wasn’t sure he possessed the patience to be married to her for long if she was going to refuse him everyday of their lives together.
She rode for a few more minutes and finally pulled the horse to a stop next to him at the rail. Tears had been replaced by a smile and Chase found it infectious.
“Oh, she’s great,” Tori beamed. “Thanks so much.” Tori leaned over the horse’s neck and patted her enthusiastically. “What’s her name?”
Chase was distracted for a moment by Tori’s radiant beauty and when he felt Tori’s eyes still upon him, he remembered her question and said, “Uh…Dream.”
“That’s a good name,” Tori said. Then she straightened and yawned.
“Come along, let’s put the horse up and put you to bed,” Chase gently ordered as he opened the gate and led the horse out.
By the time they reached the barn, Tori was half asleep atop the horse. He put the horse in its stall, pulled off its bridle and then gently tugged Tori off the top of the horse. She fell listlessly into his arms and he took a moment to stare down at her angelic face. Her eyes fluttered open and she caught him staring, but much to his surprise, she didn’t startle and try to struggle free.
The languid look in her eyes caused him to act before he could stop himself and he bent his head and pressed his lips to hers. She kissed him back with little prompting from him and the slow, sweet union caused him to drop to his knees in the fresh straw of the stall and cup the back of her head as he angled his mouth to fit more snugly against hers.
She moaned. It was a soft, sweet sound and he groaned in return, delving his tongue into her heated mouth.
She willingly accepted him and clung to him with her arms, holding on instead of pushing away. For a moment, Chase thought they had a chance together. For that moment, he was sure they could make it for their heat was so great. And though he had known her but a week he knew he was attracted, he knew he was intrigued and he knew…he just…knew.
Breaking the kiss, but just barely, Chase said in a husky whisper, “I know now what you can give me for a wedding present, sweetheart.”
“What’s that?” she asked and she appeared perfectly open and ready for any suggestion.
Slowly Chase slid his hand under her top as she rested across his thighs, cradled by one arm and secured by her hold around his shoulders. Her stomach was warm and firm and her breasts, small and aroused. He noticed she wore no bra and he liked the thought of her running around the house like that on a daily basis. She bit her bottom lip when he touched her chest and he realized they would have no trouble being sexually compatible in this relationship they were starting. And he planned on starting that tonight.
“You,” he answered her. “Here, right now.”
Chase moved his lips to Tori’s neck and kissed his way down to her collarbone. He didn’t even notice she’d stilled in his arms. He was too hot, too far gone with lust to realize Tori had stiffened and was trying to move away from him.
“Let’s start our relationship together by making love, Tori,” he said to her and suddenly she was scurrying off his lap, kicking away from him and crawling out of the stall.
Once on her feet, face flushed and heated from either the kisses or from anger, she shot out, “Don’t think you can lavish a few presents on me and then use your damned sex appeal to get me to give into you that easily, Mr. McNamara!”
Chase sat on his heels, dumbstruck by her assault and watched as those expressive eyes of hers filled with blue fire.
“I’m not going to be with you now or ever! I’ll marry you tomorrow because it’s the only way I can have access to my money, but don’t you dare think for a moment that I’ll be a wife in any true sense of the word to you,” Tori continued.
Slowly, Chase stood.
“Tori, that’s not what…I thought tonight was mutual,” he argued.
“No, none of this is mutual. I’m not turned on by you.” She was lying. She was more than turned on by the man but the way he had kissed her had frightened her. He was experienced, he was worldly and she was scared to death of making love with him for that reason plus several others.
“Well, darlin’,” he growled, “other women have professed otherwise. Maybe there’s just something wrong with you.” He was reduced to insults because it was late, he was frustrated and he was now in the mood for a fight.
“Then you can go ahead and keep sleeping with those women for all I care!” Tori shouted. “Maybe gifts turn them on, but you’re not going to bribe me.”
“All right, then, if that’s the type of marriage you want, Tori,” Chase countered. “But just remember, when the day comes that I want a baby, you will make yourself available to me. Is that understood?”
Tori hated him in that moment and with a scream of outrage she turned on her shoe and raced out of the barn. He could rot in hell with all those other women for all she cared and he could be miserable in this marriage forever. She’d see to that and she’d never step foot in his bed. Never.
**
For Tori, her wedding day was a sad occasion. She didn’t want for this day to be so sad. She had never much thought about getting married in the past, but now that she looked upon the smiling guests, her proud parents, her bitter sister and all the beautiful simplicity of the ceremony and reception by the pool, she wanted desperately for it to be a happy occasion.
It was all she could do to keep from crying throughout the day. Of course, when she did shed tears, the guests simply attributed it to tears of joy, not sorrow. And there was a reason why she was sorrow filled—Chase. The night before, when he had given her his mother’s pearls and Dream she had been ecstatic. He’d made her happy. She’d actually thought that she could learn to care for the man. But then he had kissed her. And those kisses had turned heated…too heated for Tori’s comfort. Chase moved quickly, he was a man of the world when it came to women and getting what he wanted and Tori felt completely out of place and left behind. Instead of confessing her inexperience, she had rebelled. It was typical Tori behavior. When placed in a difficult situation, instead of admit a weakness, rebel. It had worked all her life, but it hadn’t worked with Chase. That behavior had only resulted in a heated argument and now the cold shoulder by Chase.
They were a couple. They were husband and wife, but they were barely speaking.
“
“Let’s not drink ourselves under the table, Tori,” Chase remarked as he sat next to her and she glared at him.
“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t dare,” she snapped. “That would only give you the opportunity to have your way with me.”
She watched as that strong jaw of his worked with irritation and she was just waiting for him to snap back. He held his tongue, however, and she actually felt badly for saying such rude things on their wedding day. After a moment, she tried to smooth things over some by asking, “Chase, why did it have to be so soon? Why…”
He turned and looked at her with eyes that gave nothing away, but he said nothing and only waited for her to continue.
“Why couldn’t we have gotten to know one another first?” She wanted to add that she could have learned to care for him if only given time, but didn’t.
In a very business-like tone, Chase replied, “Because, once I set my mind to something, I don’t like to wait around. And I’d decided a while ago I wanted a wife.”
Staring down at her uneaten food and glass of champagne, Tori mumbled, “I don’t think I’ll make a very good wife.”
Chase should have used that opening to try and mend the rift between them. He failed to, however, for he was surrounded by his pride after last night’s fiasco. He had opened himself up to Tori, given her things he thought she’d like, shown his attraction to her and she had accused him of being a worthless scoundrel only after one thing. She’d even gone as far as to tell him to get his pleasure from other women. She obviously didn’t care a drop about him or this relationship. Despite the fire he’d felt between them from day one, she had completely rejected him the night before and it would be a very long time before he’d put himself back out there for her to stomp on.
He merely looked at her, watched her sad profile, then stood and moved away to speak with his guests. No one attending the wedding had any clue the bride and groom were both miserable. At least, that was the impression Chase got from his guests. Until he ran into the maid of honor, Tori’s sister, that is.
“Is she still pouting?” Monica inquired of him as she held a crystal flute of wine in her hand. Nails were perfectly manicured and she filled out the simple soft violet dress nicely. But there was something about her that Chase didn’t like, nor did he trust. Ever since he’d heard how cruelly she’d spoken to Tori at the dress shop and then watched the fakeness she’d displayed that day over lunch, he knew to be wary of her.
“She has some adjustments to go through still,” Chase replied simply.
“Adjustments? Chase, you put it in such a positive light.”
He wasn’t feeling very positive, but he refused to whine to anyone else about it. He merely shrugged.
“I mean, here’s my little sister, the biggest pill in Texas, married to one of the most handsome and eligible men in the state and she’d rather pout,” Monica pointed out. “If I were her, I’d be celebrating and giving up my ungrateful attitude.”
“Were you ecstatic on your wedding day?” Chase inquired.
Monica lifted one indifferent shoulder. “I suppose I was feeling a mixture of happiness and regret. Regret because I was leaving my family behind in a sense.”
“Maybe that’s all Tori’s feeling,” Chase surmised.
“Hardly,” Monica laughed. “My sister doesn’t care at all for our family. In fact, if you’re not poor or destitute, she doesn’t care about you period.” Looking Chase in the eye, Monica added bitterly, “She won’t care for you, Chase. She won’t even think about you. She won’t realize what she has in a man like you.”
Monica’s hand had slipped to his tuxedo sleeve and she ran her fingers up and down his arm suggestively. He stared at her with surprise, then made a polite excuse and left. Thinking only that Monica somehow envied her little sister, Chase went directly to Tori, placed his hands upon her bare shoulders and bent down to tell her, “Let’s dance, sweetheart.”
Tori obliged him and he caught Monica’s stares out of the corner of his eye. Her ice blue eyes were throwing daggers at Tori and Tori didn’t seem to notice in the least. He had half a mind to mention to Tori what Monica had said and suggested, but he refrained. Tori was dealing with enough troubles just accepting the fact of their wedding. She didn’t need her sister’s jealousy to contend with as well.
And he didn’t believe Monica’s words. No person who cared so much about fury animals and child labor was incapable of loving their family. Tori loved her parents, she just felt misunderstood. It was obvious. He’d seen the way she’d hugged her father and mother at the end of the day. He’d watched her even give her sister a warm hug despite the ice-queen’s lack of response. No, Tori knew how to love…everyone. There probably wasn’t a person on the planet she disliked…besides him.
**
The guests had departed and only the caterers remained behind clearing off the dishes and tables out by the pool. For all practical purposes, the wedding had been a success, but for the man and woman now bound by that ceremony it more than likely had been anything but.
They sat in the front living area with Tori’s family as the night wore on sipping drinks and reminiscing about the day’s activities. Mary couldn’t stop talking about how beautiful everything had been and as Chase stood by the bar, putting ice in Norton’s Scotch, he insisted, “It was all Sophie’s doing. You’ll have to be sure to tell her in the morning how much you enjoyed everything.”
Mary stared at Chase and blinked as though having no recollection just who Sophie was. Chase almost laughed, for anyone who had attended the wedding couldn’t have missed Sophie in her gray bun hair-do and tacky flowered dress. What Sophie lacked in fashion sense, however, she made up for in spunk and dedication. Chase had known her all his life and she had sat in the front row at the wedding today and shed tears like a mother for him. He’d been warmed by her emotion, for it was so rare she ever showed weakness.
“Sophie?” Mary asked back.
“Yes, my housekeeper. The woman in the front row at the wedding,” Chase explained.
Mary frowned. “Oh, I thought perhaps she was a distant relative of yours. Not your…”
“Housekeeper,” he repeated and as he handed off Norton’s drink to the man, Chase stared hard at Mary as if daring her to say something else, something derogatory.
“Oh, well…yes, she did do a magnificent job. I’ll be sure to tell her so in the morning,” Mary finally said and then turned to Tori and wrapped a loving arm around her daughter.
There was little conversation, Chase noticed, in this family. And when they did speak, it was mundane and only touching on the surface. He would be polite because Norton was an old friend and the Ambroses were now the in-laws, but it didn’t mean he enjoyed the quiet strain.
And when Tori continued to sit next to her mother, looking like a dejected child and eking out sympathy from Mary Ambrose, Chase just knew the night had the potential to end badly.
Suddenly and without warning, Mary said to her husband, “You know, Norton,
I was thinking…we should bring Tori back to
Chase narrowed his eyes on the woman, but Mary Ambrose was blue-blood and intimidated by little. Then Chase glanced over at Norton who seemed to be considering his wife’s words.
“I suppose we could make such an arrangement,” Norton said, and Tori started to perk up. “That is…if McNamara here agrees.”
Tori then sunk back into the couch and Chase almost chuckled for she was already learning to understand him.
“Sorry, McNamara does not agree,” Chase interjected. “Tori’s my wife now and my wife’s place is at this ranch. Feel free to visit anytime you like. But Tori stays here.”
Mary gasped, Monica chuckled and Tori looked incensed. She was about to say something, he knew, but he cut her off as he moved forward and held out his hand to her.
“And it’s been a long day,” he said. “Come along, Tori.”
Tori rose, but she avoided his hand. Chase dropped it to his side with a shrug and placed a hand upon her back to steer her out of the room and up the sweeping staircase. He could feel the tension in her back, it had been there all day, and he was positive if she kept it up, she’d be in knots that even the best masseuse couldn’t undo.
When they reached the landing at the top of the stairs, Chase turned to Tori and said, “I wish you wouldn’t be so upset about all of this.”
“Well, I am,” she said tightly.
Chase placed his hands upon her bare shoulders and looked down at her. She wore only a slight hint of make-up and a wreath of flowers in her hair. She was absolutely lovely and the pearls he’d given her the night before finished off the look.
He trailed a finger along the pearl choker and said, “I’m glad you wore these. My mother would have said you made a beautiful bride.”
Tori nodded then asked, “Where are your parents, Chase?”
“Gone. Deceased. My mother died when I was much younger in a car accident. And my father…well, he was much older than her, nearly forty-five when I was born and he died just two years ago of natural causes.”
“And you’re the last in the McNamara line?”
“The last,” he repeated.
Tori felt some sympathy for him as she realized just why he had been so motivated to marry her. He didn’t want to be the last in his family and leave this world with no heir to his fortune. He didn’t want to be forty-five when he had children. She completely understood, but she still felt sorry for herself that she had been the woman put in this unlucky situation when she wasn’t ready to be someone’s wife or mother.
“I understand now, Chase, why you pushed for this…arrangement…but like I said earlier, I don’t think I’ll make a very good wife, especially not to a high-powered cattle rancher. You’ll be disappointed in me, you’ll see. Just like my family is disappointed in me.”
“They do love you,” Chase insisted.
Tori shrugged. “In some ways. But I’m still a disappointment.”
“Well….you’re my wife now, not a disappointment,” Chase said lightly and Tori realized that despite that hard shell, he certainly possessed a lot of tenderness inside.
Discovering that tenderness, Tori felt compelled to kiss him. But she remembered how kissing him would only lead to more kissing and touching and then ultimately into bed. And she didn’t want to end up in his bed because…well, it was the only thing she had to hold over his head. The only card she had to play in this marriage of convenience. And she was still hurt and angry by the situation and until she could reconcile all of that, she certainly couldn’t give over her body to him. Chase already controlled her future and fortune, he certainly wouldn’t control her body and mind as well.
“We’ll see if you’re still saying that in a month,” Tori quipped and turned to walk to her room.
Chase’s hand caught her arm and yanked her back to him. With determined eyes and a firm tone, he told her, “I’ll be saying that for the rest of my life, Tori, because you’re not going to scare me off with all your tough talk. You could love me, I could love you. We need to give it time. You need to give us a chance.”
“Funny, you never struck me as the romantic type,” she said, eyeing him up and down. “Why do you care to fall in love? I thought you just wanted a vessel to produce your heir to your cattle throne.”
Chase could have lost his temper at her barbs, but that was just what the little pixy wanted. Instead, he yanked her against him and branded her with a good, solid kiss to her mouth. It lasted only a few seconds and when he released her, she shot daggers at him with her eyes and covered her mouth with her hands.
“I want more than a vessel for reproduction, Tori. I want a wife. I want a lover. I want a partner. And you, dear, are going to be all that. You will fall in love with me and you will come to be willingly. Otherwise, you’ll never have what you want most, and that’s your blasted money!”
Turning on a heel, Chase slammed into his room with just enough force and aggression to leave Tori guessing as to just how far this man would take this charade of a marriage.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Reluctant Bride – Chapter 5