The Marriage Bargain. Susan Fox
that kept her every word and act under rigid control had also dictated her secret aversion to adopting any manner or look that could even remotely be interpreted as a challenge to Candice. It had meant no makeup, no stylish hairstyles, no feminine clothes. She’d smothered almost every natural desire or instinct that might have invited unpleasant comparisons. Or ridicule.
Wes had given her an excuse to indulge her long repressed instincts and she’d gone a little overboard. He now had a bride who wouldn’t shame him in front of a justice of the peace, but she could never go back to the Four C’s looking like this. After the ceremony, the fine clothing and makeup would come off. Everything she’d bought today would be neatly folded into a box or a bag and the magic would be hidden away in a closet in her bungalow on Four C’s. Because it was essential to keep their marriage secret, she doubted anyone but Wes Lansing would ever see her like this. She struggled against the private pain of that.
His bride was a Corbett. He’d kept that fact firmly in mind all afternoon and he’d watched her closely for any sign of perfidy. At first, he’d seen nothing but a reserved, aloof young woman. But the way her gaze frequently shied from his until she rarely looked his way, made him increasingly suspicious. What were her real motives for marriage?
Wes took this moment to study her as he looked through the open door into the suite’s bedroom. Unaware of him, Hallie stared into the cheval mirror in the corner. The unguarded play of emotion that crossed her face fascinated him. She searched her reflection as if she’d never seen it before. And maybe she hadn’t. He knew instantly that it wasn’t conceit that made her stare at herself, it was surprise. The chic female image in the glass bore no trace of the ranch hand he’d left Texas with.
He read her wistful, almost poignant expression and got a fresh glimpse into what her life had been like. Candice Corbett was a spoiled, selfish little witch. The shy, reclusive Hallie probably suffered enough from her cousin without calling attention to the fact that she was beautiful enough to put Candice in the shade if she’d ever half tried.
What kind of female was Halona Corbett? Why would she put up with the mistreatment of her family years past age eighteen when she could have left home and struck out on her own?
He’d seen the passion in her eyes when she’d said she’d not been able to stand by and do nothing to get Four C’s, and yet instinct told him she’d stayed for more than a ranch. Could she have been so undermined by her upbringing that she didn’t realize that she could go anywhere else and have a better life? Did she have so little self-confidence?
Or did she cling to the ideal of loyalty and duty to family? There was no way to equate family loyalty and duty with her choice to marry into the clan that took up the other side in a generations-long feud. Unless it was part of some new Corbett scheme. Could she be using him in some twisted way to earn her grandfather’s approval?
Halona Corbett was a mystery wrapped in an intriguing package. What had started that afternoon as a daring chance to reclaim the homestead had evolved into much more by nightfall. There was no denying that his instant attraction to her had made her offer of a bargain more compelling, and that his vigilance that day had made him even more aware of her as a woman.
In the end, he had to remember that she’d been raised on morals and values that changed to suit selfish whims. She was a woman who’d been taught from the cradle that dishonesty was permitted if it was carried out with cunning and style.
Which was why he’d insisted on the prenuptial agreement that secured the Lansing homestead and prevented her future claim to Red Thorn. If Hallie turned out to be no different than any other Corbett, he’d have something to take into court.
He stepped into the bedroom to get her attention. God help her if she went back on her word.
Hallie caught sight of Wes in the mirror and was ashamed to be caught looking at herself. Admiring the way she looked. A hot flush spread up her face to her hairline.
Wes was so ruggedly handsome in his severe black three-piece suit that her breath grew unsteady. He looked powerful and unabashedly male, and she felt a peculiar excitement. Something feminine in her had came to vibrant life and she suddenly craved an acknowledgment from him, some sign of male approval from a man so blatantly masculine that his nearness made her heart race.
Her gaze went to Wes’s as if drawn by a magnet. She saw the dark flicker of interest in his eyes, but then it vanished and left her with the sinking feeling that she’d imagined it. To conceal her disappointment, she glanced away from him, self-conscious. She turned from the glass and walked to the dresser where she’d left her handbag. She felt his gaze follow her every move.
Wes’s voice was carefully neutral. “Did you call the hospital?”
“Yes,” she answered quietly. “There’s no change.”
“Still want to go through with this?”
The question made her look over at him. She could tell nothing from his solemn expression. “Do you?”
Wes’s dark gaze narrowed on her face and she felt herself go tense. He was searching again, seeking. How on earth could she go through with a marriage to this man? She felt no more comfortable in his presence now than when she’d walked into his house that afternoon. Though they would never live under the same roof as man and wife, she wasn’t certain she could tolerate the pressure of his occasional presence or the confusion of emotion and sensation he made her feel.
“Some folks will believe you’re betraying blood to marry me.”
His grim words made her heart fall. The guilt that had nagged her all day suddenly blossomed. She thought of the ranch and what it meant to her, then she thought of her family and the cruel words that had driven her to this.
You’ve been a shame on this family since your mama brought you home to me, Hank had said. Bastard’s one thing, but I won’t let a misfit inherit Four C’s.
Her throat thickened with pain. There were only a handful of times in her life that her grandfather had ever spoken kindly to her. And those times he’d been manipulating her.
“Wouldn’t they believe the same of you?” she asked softly.
“They might. But the difference is, Hank raised you and he’s still alive. You owe him for taking you in.”
The familiar frustration began to rise. “He took in Candice, too. I don’t think you’d ask her about family loyalty.”
“I wouldn’t have to. Candice is so loyal to Hank that marrying me would be seen as a scheme to get Red Thorn.” His gaze suddenly sharpened on her face and his voice went dangerously soft.
“If you have anything else in mind but our bargain, any twisted notion that you’re putting me in a situation that Hank can exploit, you need to know that you’re the one who’ll suffer most. You mean nothing to me. Being my legal wife will matter even less.”
Hallie felt something in her heart quiver and shrink in on itself. He meant every word and she had no doubt that he’d be utterly ruthless with her. His judgment would be swift and sweeping. His retaliation would be brutal and calculated to devastate.
She could see that he was already so suspicious of her that one wrong word, one mistaken action could provoke him to act first and check the facts later. She would never think to conspire against him, but how easy would it be for Hank, if he lived long enough to find out, or Candice, to make it look as though she had?
Emotion roared up and sent a stinging fullness into her eyes. She’d been so desperate to get the ranch that she’d blinded herself to the very personal peril Wes Lansing represented. To have him state it so starkly made her feel foolish and hopelessly naive.
She was standing between two ruthless men who placed no value on her above making her a handy target for their displeasure. And perhaps she deserved it for putting herself in range when she was too powerless to fight either of them and win.
Hallie gripped her handbag, then looked away from him before the telling blur in her eyes could spill over