Accidental Knight: A Marriage Mistake Romance(46)

The urge just hits me then.

Laying a hand on her bare knee, her good one, I squeeze very gingerly. Ignoring how my palm blazes with the simplest touch, I say, “You, your safety, was always Jonah’s biggest concern. Whatever the hell you want to believe, or don’t from me tonight, I hope you’ll trust that. He loved you, Bella. Loved you hard like some people never, ever do.”

She shakes her head, fighting the mist in her eyes. “Then why give it to me at all? Gramps had to know I wouldn’t want this burden. Why not just give it all to the town and a little piece for me and be done?”

I’d asked Jonah the exact same thing, and use the answer he gave me, “He said...a man doesn’t get wealth for himself. He gets it to share with others. His community, his home, and his family.”

The gentle smile on her face tells me it’s not the first time she’s heard something like it.

“Your grandpa wanted you to have what he’d gotten in life, and he wanted you to be able to decide what you want and don’t. You, woman, not others. His will says that six months from now, you can do whatever you want with North Earhart Oil and the ranch. Right now, we’re just playing scarecrow...or whatever the hell runs off vultures. You get the point.”

She giggles at my babbling and then lets out a sigh, glancing at the papers on the table. “And without this, without this elaborate insanity, Gramps knew my parents would snatch it away from me before I could decide.” She bows her head. “Or that I’d give into them. Give them what they wanted, whether it’s what I want or not.”

I nod, glad she’s coming around, slowly but surely. “This proxy marriage is just a shield. Same as me, only here legally so you have time to figure out what you want.”

I’m here for her physically and mentally, too. I told Jonah a hundred times I’d stop anything in her path, whether gunshots from Jupiter or emotional ambushes from Gary and Molly.

Shaking her head, she grins slightly. “Now I see why others always called him sly. I never saw him much that way, he was just Gramps growing up. It’s fitting.”

“He could’ve been called worse.”

“Trust me, he was. Especially by Mom.”

Believing that, I give her knee a pat and then stand up. “Gotta check those enchiladas. I hope you’re hungry.”

“They smell delicious. My appetite’s coming back.”

I hadn’t noticed. All I could smell was her shampoo, her clothes, her.

I’m not a damn monk. I haven’t been entirely celibate the past few years, but a woman hasn’t stirred need this hard in a long fucking time.

After a quick glimpse in the oven, I say, “Almost done. I’ll grab us some plates.”

“I’ll help!”

She has her hands on the seat of her chair to push herself upright, and the thin material of her shirt leaves no doubt those ample tits are confined by a bra. Barely.

My cock strains, pulling at my belt. Thank fuck I’m turned around where she can’t see, busy serving up our supper.

“No, darlin’, stay seated. You don’t want to move around too much yet. Let those strips adhere.”

She looks at her knee and then moves her hands off the chair. “Well, maybe you’re right.”

I let the breath out of my lungs. “I am. We used a higher-grade version of these in the Army and the docs always raised pure hell if people didn’t go easy on them the first twenty-four hours. Come tomorrow, you’ll be able to move around more freely.”

And I’ll need a cold damn shower.





9





The Thing About Shields (Bella)





I rub Edison’s furry black neck as he bites off a chunk of the candy cane in my other hand and chews it.

“It’s good to see neither of us are worse for the wear.” Glancing over my shoulder to make sure Drake isn’t in hearing distance, I whisper, “If you think that candy cane tastes good, you should’ve tasted the enchiladas I had last night. Oh my God, amazing. Full of shredded beef and cheese, and the sauce was just perfect.” After another glance, I lean in closer. “The scrambled eggs this morning were hella good, too.”

Edison flashes his teeth before he takes another bite off the candy cane. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he was smiling.

I laugh anyway. “You’re such a character. Never change, bud.”

The happiness he instills in me fades slightly.

I love him, but I still can’t fathom why those men tried to steal him. Something doesn’t add up.

Even though Drake filled me in on the proxy marriage and the will, and why Gramps did it all, I still don’t know what to do. My parents won’t give up easily.

Six months won’t make any difference. They’ve waited years for Gramps to die.

Drake walks out of the tack room. He’s wearing a black t-shirt and jeans, just like yesterday. His brawn and size makes him a good shield, but that also concerns me.

Being married to a man like him.

How do I ever explain this away to some future boyfriend? Do I just pretend it never happened?

And if anybody saw pictures, somehow, someway...I’d be screwed.

Drake, with his smirky, ink-scrawled mountain of a body sets the bar brutally high for every other man I’ll ever encounter on freer terms.