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“I need a fiancée.”
“And that pertains to me, how?”
“Just to get through the engagement party.”
“Dom, that’s only postponing the inevitable. You know what they say.”
“No. What?”
“‘Procrastination is a crime…. It only leads to sorrow…. I can stop it anytime…. I think I will tomorrow.’ It’s better to come clean. A clear conscience cuts down stress levels and will help you live longer.”
“Thanks for the diagnosis. Normally I would heartily agree with you. But I know those two stubborn women. If they’re not convinced my wedded bliss is just around the corner, they’ll refuse to take the trip. And I know how badly my mother has wanted this. On the other hand, if I throw a party, convince them I’ve never been happier and can’t wait to marry the woman of my dreams, my mother and grandmother can go on the cruise without a care in the world.”
“Shelby was the woman of your dreams?” Sky asked, her voice small, her guilt compounding by the second.
“My mother would have thought she was perfect. Her family has money. She went to all the right schools. Traveled,” he said pointedly. “She’s the kind of woman my mom kept house for and grew to admire. Beautiful, independent, educated. Able to take care of herself. Do her own thing and let her significant other do his. Stay in the background while he works. She would have been the perfect doctor’s wife.”
The ideal mate for Dr. Perfect until Sky had put in her two cents and kiboshed his dream and carefully laid plans. What she wouldn’t give for a do-over where she kept her mouth firmly shut.
“So what do you say?” he asked.
“I say you’re crazy.”
“This isn’t a psych evaluation.”
Sky shook her head. “It will never work. There are a hundred things that could go wrong. Maybe more.” She rested a hand on her hip. “Aren’t there laws against this sort of thing? Fraud? Alienation of affections? It’s a really bad idea.”
“I’m not asking for your opinion.”
“Then what are you asking?”
“Will you be the woman? My woman.” He looked heavenward for a moment, and let out a long breath. “What I mean is, will you be my fiancée?”
Maybe she was crazy, too, but for a split second she wished he were asking for real. To marry him. How insane was that? “I won’t dignify that with a response.”
“I’m not looking for dignity. A simple yes or yes will suffice.”
“I can’t do this, Dom.”
“Do I have to remind you it’s your meddling that cost me a fiancée? Think about my mother, a courageous woman who sacrificed everything for me. It’s my chance to do something nice for her. With your help. Before I have to lay the bad news on her that I’m not getting married, after all. You owe me, Sky.”
“When you said you needed a woman, I thought you were talking about something else.”
“Like what?” he asked, his mouth curving up to let her know he knew what she meant.
“Sex. I thought you meant sex—as in ‘he needed a drink and he needed a woman.’ Not necessarily in that order.”
“And you still invited me to dinner,” he reminded her, his deep voice brimming with laughter.
She sighed. “Yeah. We should both have a psych evaluation. Maybe we can get a group rate.” Shaking her head, she met his gaze and sighed. “Sex would have been so much simpler.”
Chapter Three
“Yes, but sex won’t solve my problem,” he pointed out, blue eyes gleaming.
“Then you’re certainly different from the average man.”
“Thank you.”
Sky couldn’t believe she’d brought up sex. Was she hoping to distract him from his crazy scheme? Or trying to veer his focus to something more personal? Not happening. Frankly, she would rather he keep trying to turn her into the great pretender. Since she already felt like the family black sheep who didn’t fit in, why not pretend to be someone else?
Besides, the idea of getting naked with sexy Dr. Delicious was better than chocolate without the calories, not to mention the benefits of the cardiovascular exercise. Unfortunately, sex wasn’t heart smart in the long run. She had tried to fit in with Wes, but he’d wanted her to be something she wasn’t. Fortunately she’d found out just before marrying him. At least Dom was up front about what he wanted. That was refreshing.
“Calling you different isn’t necessarily a compliment,” she said wryly.
“You’re changing the subject. What about this—I’ll pay for the rings after all. Will you help me out then?”
“It’s not about money. Dom, I feel obligated to point out again that this is wrong. Deceiving your mother. And your grandmother. It’s like tampering with the laws of nature. It’s like unleashing the powers of the universe. Maternal powers. Times two. Messing with the woman who gave you life and the woman who gave her life.” She shook her head. “That’s the double whammy. It’s a scary thing to do. I just don’t know—”
“You’re stalling. And being overly dramatic.”
“I bet you’re one of those doctors who doesn’t believe in alternative medicine, aren’t you?”
“I’m a doctor whose objective is to help the patient feel better using whatever works. If that method is deception, then I guess it can be filed under ‘the wrong thing for the right reason.”’
“The end justifies the means?”
“Why not? I told you, I use my powers only for good.” He folded his arms over his chest. “What do you say? Mine is a just cause.”
“But when they get back from the trip, you still have to tell them the wedding isn’t going to happen. It’s what they want most in the world.”
“It’ll happen,” he said. “I just need to find another bride.”
“Silly me. What was I thinking?” she said, smacking her forehead. “Of course brides just grow on trees.”
“I didn’t mean it like that. All I need is time to look for someone.”
“Like you’ve got tons of time.”
“What does that mean?”
“Your fiancée told me she didn’t have an engagement ring because you couldn’t find time to shop. And you couldn’t find a few hours to come with her to put in your two cents on wedding rings. What makes you think you’re going to have the spare time to find another woman to marry you?”
“Can we focus on one problem at a time, please? Or would you like to continue to borrow trouble?”
“If it will prevent you from putting me on the spot, I can keep it up indefinitely.”
One dark eyebrow rose. “Are you going to help me or not? Yes or no.”
“I can’t just give you an answer off the top of my head. It’s not that simple.” She sighed. “There’s a lot to think about. I just don’t know.”
“I’m going back to Houston on Sunday. Is tomorrow enough time to make a decision?”
“It will have to be.”
Sky had no idea why she hadn’t simply told him no. Right then and there. No way, no how. Not in this lifetime. But it was too final. And somehow, the simple, two-letter, one-syllable word to end this crazy scheme once and for all would not come out of her mouth.
Procrastination is a crime; it only leads to sorrow. Tomorrow she had to tell him she couldn’t impersonate his fiancée. Then tell him goodbye forever. She didn’t know when or how it happened, but she would certainly be sorry about that.
The following afternoon Dom paused in the doorway of the Black Arrow Courthouse and surveyed the ravaged building. Black soot covered the interior walls. Evidence of water damage was testament to the efforts it had taken to put out the fire he’d been told had happened several months before.
A little while ago he’d stopped by Sky’s shop to see her, but she hadn’t been there. The older woman behind the counter who introduced herself as Sky’s mother, Alice, had told him where her daughter could be found. She’d volunteered the information that Sky was taking the opportunity to say goodbye to her brother before he left for Washington.
As he wandered through the courthouse, Dom noticed that the damage seemed to be confined to several rooms containing records. The caustic smell of smoke permeated the building and tickled his throat.
Voices drifted to him. He followed the sound, which led him to a wing off the main building and a courtroom untouched by the fire. The bench, witness chair, defense and prosecution tables and spectator seating had suffered no ill-effects that he could see. As her mother had said, Sky was there with three men.
He stopped in the doorway and watched from behind the spectator chairs. With their backs to him, the group continued their discussion, the sound of their conversation echoing loudly in the empty room. Two of the men were roughly his height, which made them about six feet tall. Both had dark hair like Sky’s. He’d bet they were two of the “big burlys” she’d warned him about last night and he wondered which one knew three hundred ways to kill a man.
The third guy had different coloring. As Dom stood there, he heard the man say, “Bram, why don’t you take care of arranging for damage estimates on the courthouse, the newspaper office and Black Arrow Feed and Grain. When you have a bottom line, send it to my father.”
Bram ran a hand through his short black hair. Even from this distance the sheriff’s badge on his tan shirt was visible. As were the leathers around his waist that included a big gun. “Look, Rand, I know you’re family. But this isn’t your problem. Or your father’s. I’m sure Joe Colton has better things to do.”
So he was Rand Colton, Dom thought. He’d heard of the wealthy Coltons of California. Apparently Sky was somehow related.
Rand held up his hand. “It is our problem. My uncle Graham is responsible. Someone in the family is always cleaning up after him, usually my father. Graham is furious about the fact that his father Teddy was never legally married to his mother. But he only hired Kenny Randolph to find and destroy birth records and any other documents linking the Coltons here in Oklahoma with Teddy Colton. Graham wanted money, not mayhem. Although that’s what you get when you hire a convicted felon, he never intended for anyone to get hurt or for property to be damaged. Someone from my branch of the family caused the problem and we intend to make it right. Family sticks together.”
“I second that,” Sky chimed in.
“My father sent me here to take care of it.” Rand turned sideways, revealing his grin, then he looked at the other two men. “No one says no to Joe Colton Senior. I don’t want to hear any more about it.”
“Whatever you say,” Bram said, nodding. “Frankly we’re still in a state of shock about the inheritance. Still trying to figure out what to do with it. No thanks to Kenny.”
Rand nodded. “Jesse, when you get back to Washington, can you use your spy-guy expertise to get a lead on Kenny?”
Jesse nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.” He looked at Sky. “Did you distribute that mug shot of Kenny to the rest of the family? Everyone needs to know what he looks like and keep their eyes open.”
“It’s taken care of,” she assured him. “But he’s long gone by now.”
“Don’t be too sure, little sister. None of us can afford to let our guard down. He attacked Willow, so we know he’s not above harming a woman.” He glanced at Bram. “You did check out the jewelry store and her apartment above for security?”
Bram nodded. “Along with your father. Uncle Thomas agreed the system is state of the art. He insisted on having it monitored. If it’s tripped, help will be there in minutes.”
Jesse looked at her. “Maybe you and I need to go over some of those self-defense moves I showed you—”
“We’ve got company,” Rand said, looking suspiciously at Dom.
“Hi,” he said. The three men turned as one to watch him move closer. Maybe he could use some self-defense moves. He noticed the color that crept into Sky’s cheeks when he met her gaze.
Three speculative gazes slid to her as Sheriff Bram Colton said, “I don’t recall seeing you before.”
“Just got into town yesterday,” Dom explained. “I’m a friend of Sky’s.”
Dom couldn’t help thinking this was like a scene from a B Western, where the handsome stranger walks into the saloon. He wondered if Sky thought he was handsome and was surprised when he realized it mattered to him that she did.
He remembered her remark last night about sex being less complicated. He wasn’t so sure, but it would probably be dynamite. Studying her now, he noted that flushed cheeks were the only clue that she was uneasy. Otherwise, she was serene and sophisticated. Dressed in a slim black skirt, high heels and a cream-colored sweater that smoothed over her gently curved hips, she looked refined and feminine. Every inch the up-and-coming businesswoman. It was a bonus that she was sexy as hell.
“Dr. Dominic Rodriguez, this is my brother Jesse, my cousin Bram, and Rand Colton, my newfound cousin.”
Dom shook hands with the men, then met Bram’s black-eyed gaze. “I couldn’t help overhearing, Sheriff. Mug shot? I heard you talking about the thug hired by the other branch of the family. But why is Sky involved in distributing his picture?”
“She volunteered.” Grimly, Bram looked at the other two men. “The whole family has a stake in catching the creep. He assaulted my sister Willow and damaged several buildings here in town while he was gathering information about us,” he said ruefully. “When Graham finally gave up the scheme, Kenny was hung out to dry and he swore to get even with all the Coltons. He’s a slippery little weasel and he’s wanted for a lot of bad stuff. Until we put him away for good, we all have to watch our backs.”
“I see,” Dom said. There was enough testosterone in this room to sink a boatload of bad guys. And it was rubbing off on him.
He studied Sky, her clear eyes, creamy skin, shiny black hair. She stood straight and proud and fearless. For reasons he didn’t understand, that made him want to keep her close to him so he could protect her. Whoa. What was that all about? She didn’t need him. The thought bothered him and to save his soul he couldn’t figure out why.
Still, she was probably right. This Kenny scumbag was no doubt long gone. He’d be an idiot to show his face anywhere near a Colton—especially since the family was littered with lawman types.
Jesse cleared his throat. “Sky, we’re finished here. If your friend—”
“We’re not friends exactly. More business acquaintances.”
Studying her carefully, Jesse’s eyes narrowed. “Any business I should know about?”
“Down boy. Don’t make Dom defend himself. He’s a doctor and needs his hands for surgery.” She looked sadly at her brother. “But I have to go. It’s time for me to get back to the store. And you have a plane to catch. I guess this is goodbye.”
“Yeah.” He pulled her into a bear hug. “Take care of yourself, sis. Stay out of trouble.”
“You know me.”
“Yeah. So I say again, stay out of trouble.”
She laughed, then stepped away. “I love you. Take care.”
“You, too. Don’t worry about Kenny. We’ll get him. Besides, he wouldn’t dare show up around here. So you’ll be safe in Black Arrow.”
“I know.” She kissed his cheek, then stepped out of the circle of his arms. “Say hi to Samantha for me. His new wife,” she said to Dom.
At least someone managed to pull off a wedding, he thought.
“Congratulations.” He held out his hand.
“Thanks,” Jesse answered, squeezing his palm—hard.
Dom nodded. “Nice to meet you. All of you,” he said, shaking hands all around.
“’Bye guys,” Sky said, raising her hand in farewell as a chorus of deep voices responded.
