Ty stepped out into the hallway.
He was dressed in black, with a starched white shirt. But it wasn’t an ordinary suit. Ty wore a tuxedo—and wore it well. The expert tailoring emphasized his broad shoulders, while the jacket skimmed along his torso and nipped in at his waist. The trousers fell loose and long over black shoes. A lock of dark wavy hair had settled across his brow. He looked like he’d stepped out of the pages of a bridal magazine’s photo shoot of the perfect groom.
As his gaze danced over her, the smile that spread across his face paid her a compliment like no words ever could.
But what intrigued her most was the gorgeous bouquet of flowers in his hands. Beautiful red roses, baby’s breath, and purple orchids. The sentiment behind it dried her mouth.
“You look beautiful, Mandy.” His fingers fondled a strand of her hair and then freed it to swing against her shoulder. “Stunning.”
The look of pleasure in his eyes made her believe him, made her feel, in that moment, beautiful.
“For you.” He held out the bouquet. “I know there are many things missing from this ceremony. Hell, I don’t even have a ring to give you, but I wanted you to at least have beautiful flowers.”
She reached for them. A tingle flitted through her as her fingers scraped his hand, reminding her of the swirl of his thumb over her hand after he’d asked her to marry him. She brought the bundle to her nose and took a deep breath of rose-scented air. Her favorite fragrance.
“Thank you,” she said with heartfelt sincerity. It was a sweet gesture—and so totally unexpected it made everything she was going to say more difficult.
He looked at her, the smile fading as his thumb stroked down her cheek, bringing with it a pleasurable shiver. She wished she didn’t respond this way every time he touched her.
“You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”
“No. Not really,” she lied. “But I did want to be sure we understand each other. Marriage carries certain expectations,” she began. “And I want…I want to be the one who decides if and when…those expectations are met.” She looked up at him through her lashes.
He took a step back, as if to see her more clearly. “Of course.” He sounded offended.
“It’s just…this is not a real marriage. There’s no love between us. We don’t trust each other…”
“I’m attracted to you. And if you’re honest with yourself, you’re attracted to me.”
“For you, that’s enough, I’m sure.” She couldn’t disguise the edge in her voice. “But it’s not for me. Sex isn’t just about pleasure…”
“It will be pleasurable. I can promise you that.”
She ignored the kick of her pulse. “It’s about feelings.” And she counted on his role as arbiter of her company’s fate to keep at bay whatever misguided feelings she may have once had for him. She’d been too young to understand what it meant to be in love, and yet, no other man had ever elicited the depth of feelings he had that fateful summer.
“Like with Mitch Lockhart?”
What did he know about Mitch Lockhart? And why did he care? “I don’t need to defend my previous decisions. But I do need to explain this decision so you’re realistic and not under any illusions.”
“Shoot.”
“If you think I am doing this for any reason other than to become the head of Prescott Rodeo Company and keep it from being sold, you are wrong, Ty. You gain regardless. I risk…everything that’s dear to me, everything I’ve fought for. My heritage, my company.” My self-respect.
He curved a finger under her chin and tilted her face up so she could see him. It was too easy to get lost in those dark, intense, intriguing eyes.
“And just so you’re realistic, I play to win. So there’s no way we’re not going to bed together. It’s not a matter of if—it’s only a matter of when. I can be damn irresistible.”
With a smile that gave truth to his words, he stepped back and held out his arm.
“We’ll see,” she said, hoping her voice held more conviction than she felt at the moment. Placing her hand on the wool sleeve covering hard bone and muscle, her legs weak, she walked with him into Brian’s office to become Mrs. Ty Martin.
*
“You really didn’t have to do this, Mom.”
Mandy sat next to Ty and across the linen-clad table from Sheila and Harold in a booth at the Cattle Baron’s Grille in the historic Cheyenne hotel of the same name, and tried to ignore the warm thigh pressed against her leg and the flush of her body in response.