She closed her eyes and her black eyelashes curled against her eyelids. “I would have my own house and my own horses. I would have a dog or two. I would have beautiful flowers in every room, and music. All of the furniture would feel soft against my skin. I would eat fruit and fajitas and pie. I would have enough money to hire helpers and pay them well. I would give money to Virginia so she wouldn’t struggle. It would be beautiful.”
“Would you have a husband?”
Her face fell again, and he felt some of the joy slip from her. “I don’t know,” she said and opened her eyes. “He would have to be a very gentle man. I would have to be sure that he would never ever hurt me.”
A sharp longing stabbed him deep inside. More than anything, Geoffrey wanted to be that man for Maria. He opened his mouth to tell her, but the sound of Lori’s Pomeranian yapping downstairs interrupted him. He glanced up. “What the devil-” He frowned. “What time is it anyway?”
“Around eleven, I think. We should go to bed,” she said and shifted away from him. It took everything he had not to pull her back into his arms as she dressed.
Hastily pulling on his briefs and jeans, he darted to the window and spotted Jackson ’s SUV in front of the house. His gut sank. “They’re back,” he muttered. “Lori and Jackson are back.”
Maria joined him at the window. “Lori,” she said, her voice dead.
His heart hammering, he turned to Maria. “I want to be with you more than anything,” he said. “But my family’s finances are in dire straits. They’re counting on me to get us out of the bloody mess. It’s not fair. It’s not right. But it is my duty. I must marry her if she’ll have me.”
“Tough being a duke, isn’t it?” she said, with a sad smile. “She’s pretty and rich, no scars-”
“Stop.” Geoffrey pulled her against him. “She’s not you,” he said. “And you are who I want. You are who I wanted before I even knew you existed.”
He saw the flicker of emotion and passion in her eyes before she closed them for a second. “But I don’t have what you need. You would suffer if you didn’t take care of your family. You must marry Lori.” She lifted on tiptoe to press her lips against his. “I won’t forget you,” she whispered. “I’ve never felt so treasured. You’ve been gentle with me.”
“You deserve so much more,” he said, feeling helpless. “You deserve-”
“Shhh,” she said. “We have this to remember, and I will always have your song. Good night, Geoffrey,” she said and left him staring after her. He felt as if his heart had been ripped from his chest.
Lori awakened the next morning in her bed at Virginia ’s ranch house with Kenny at her feet. It could have been three days ago or two weeks ago. She closed her eyes and opened them again. Had she really gotten married?
Her mind flashed back to the awful wedding ceremony and the two mind-blowing nights she’d shared with Jackson. She couldn’t have dreamed all that. She sat up in bed and thought about how they’d parted last night. He’d parked her duffel bag inside her bedroom and she’d held her breath, wondering if he would stay, wondering if he would ask her to join him. Instead, he’d muttered, “Good night.”
She’d fumed over his lack of passion for a good hour, then fell asleep. Kenny moved toward her and rolled over to offer his belly to be rubbed. Lori smiled and obliged him. She shouldn’t overthink her marriage to Jackson. The only rational part of it was that she now had access to her inheritance, and the first check she planned to write was to Virginia.
Rising from bed, she showered and dressed in jeans for the day. She walked downstairs and found Jackson, Maria, and Geoffrey in the kitchen. “Good morning.”
Maria looked down her nose at Lori. “Good morning. Did you enjoy your vacation?”
“I took care of some business, but yes, I did have some fun, too. I think it’s best to try to find the fun in as many of life’s moments as you can. Don’t you agree?” Lori asked, pouring herself a cup of coffee.
“It isn’t always easy to have fun. Some of us have to work,” Maria retorted.
“Yes, but-”
“I must go down to the barn now,” Maria interjected and left the room.
“Whew!” Lori said, looking after her. “Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”
“You shouldn’t criticize her,” Geoffrey said. “She hasn’t had it easy like you and I have.”
Lori felt as if she were striking out all around. She turned nervously to Jackson. “How are you?”
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll be here today, but I’m going to Dallas tomorrow.”
She nodded, feeling an odd uneasiness at the prospect of him leaving. “I’ll write the ch-”
“We can talk about it tonight,” he interjected and stood.
“Okay,” she said, wondering where the man who had ravished her body yet held her tenderly had gone. All she saw in Jackson ’s eyes was thinly veiled impatience. Her stomach twisted at his lack of emotion. She felt like a fool. Why? she wondered. It wasn’t as if she and Jackson had professed undying love. Oh, wait. They actually had done that during the wedding vows. But she was certain he hadn’t meant it. And neither had she. Had she?
“Do either of you know where Virginia is?”
“I think she’s with the campers this morning,” Geoffrey said.
“Okay, I’ll give her-” She corrected herself. “I’ll talk to her later.” She turned to Geoffrey. Her second task for the day was to tell him she couldn’t marry him. “I’m ready to get back to cleaning chores. Will you be joining me?”
He gave a heavy sigh and nodded. “You’re not going to eat?”
Lori’s appetite disappeared as she watched Jackson leave. “I’ll just grab a biscuit on my way out the door.”
Ten minutes later, she and Geoffrey walked to the cabins and began working. “Anything important happen while I was gone?” she asked him as she grabbed a bucket and headed for the bathroom.
“Just the regular everyday earthquakes and tidal waves,” Geoffrey said soberly.
Lori appreciated his deadpan levity. “All in one day, here in the middle of Texas. I’m surprised it didn’t make the news.”
“I am, too,” he said, grabbing a mop. “Lori,” he said and she glanced up at him.
“Yes?”
He locked his jaw and closed his eyes as if he were in pain, then dropped to his knee.
Oh, no, she thought. Not another proposal. “Geoffrey, before you-”
He lifted his hand and shook his head. “No. I must. It’s my duty. It’s the only way. I must. I-” He broke off and wailed. “I can’t do it.” He rose to his feet. “I just can’t. My family may lose everything, but I can’t marry you.”
Moved by his distress, she took a step toward him. “That’s okay, because I-”
“I just can’t,” he said, his voice breaking. “I’m in love with Maria, and it would be sacrilege to marry you.”
Lori felt her jaw drop. Shock raced through her. “Maria?”
“Yes, I’m sorry I’ve been deceptive. I tried to resist her. I really did, but the woman is a goddess.” He cleared his throat. “You’re perfectly nice and lovely, but Maria is-”
Lori bit her lip in amusement at the slight ego slap. “No, it’s okay. Something has happened, and I couldn’t marry you anyway.”
“Of course,” he said but clearly didn’t believe her.
“No, really,” she said.
“I’m sorry that I’ve wasted your time.” He sighed. “There will be hell to pay with my family. If I’m lucky, they’ll simply disown me.”
Lori felt a tug of sympathy for the kind British duke who’d followed her to the middle of nowhere and ended up falling for temperamental Maria. “Out of curiosity, how much money do you need to get things back on track?”
He named a sum that would force her to go to Jackson. Lori grimaced.
“I know. It’s a bloody fortune. And for you Yanks, the pound makes it doubly worse.”