The Bull Rider's Twins Read online

  But he could think of a bunch of places he’d rather Darla be than holed up with his brothers. As a crew, they were a fairly unimpressive group. They played Scrabble, and sometimes bridge. Some of them read books by foreign authors, and sometimes they watched movies in French, not to learn the language of love so much as enjoy it. They were basically nerds, and if there was one thing Judah didn’t consider himself, it was a pencil-carrying nerd. “Where are we going, and for how long?” he asked, grumbling to show her he didn’t appreciate being taken charge of, though secretly he thought it was sexy.

  “Just get in my truck and you’ll find out.”

  He shoved himself off the sofa. “Did Fiona put you up to taking me off her hands? She’s worried about me.”

  “Everyone’s worried about you because you’ve gone weird. But Fiona doesn’t know I’m rescuing you from yourself.”

  He blinked, hesitating as he tossed some random clothes into a duffel. “I don’t need rescuing. I don’t need nursing, either,” he said stubbornly.

  “Good, because Jackie can’t take care of you and three babies and her husband, and she’s the only nurse in the family I know of who’d be willing to take care of you. Can you carry that duffel or should I?”

  He glared. “Only one of my arms was shot, thanks.” Actually, he’d hang the bag around his neck like a Saint Bernard if he’d been shot in both arms. A man could stand to look only so weak in front of his woman.

  “Good. Then come on. There’s no time to waste.”

  “Why?” Judah strode after Darla, getting in front of her to open the driver’s door for her. “What’s the rush?”

  “Would you believe me if I said I can’t wait another minute to get my hands on you, Judah Callahan?”

  He smirked. “Now that’s more like it,” he said, and closed the door. Tossing his duffel into the truck bed, he hurried around to get in the truck. “What took you so long?”

  “So long to what?” Darla backed down the drive, waving at Sam and Jonas as they loped back to the bunkhouse, looking a little worse for wear. “What have they been doing?”

  “I think they rescued Judge Julie from our longhorn.” Judah squinted at his brothers, noting torn and dirty pants on both of them. “I’m kind of glad I didn’t make that rescue. I wonder if they left Rafe for dead.”

  Darla turned on the main road. “Why would they?”

  “Depends on how dead he was, and if an angel was smiling on him.” Judah focused his attention on Darla, not worried about his harebrained brothers. “Anyway, what took you so long to realize you couldn’t keep your hands off my rock-hard body? I should make you wait for playing hard to get.” He tweaked her hair. “It would serve you right.”

  Darla laughed. “My, you talk big, cowboy.”

  Judah leaned his head back and grinned, happy to let Darla drive him to her house. “But I can back up every word, sweetheart.”

  “This may not be the kind of visit you think it’s going to be. As you pointed out, I need protection, and so protection you’re going to be,” Darla told him. Judah waved at Judge Julie as they went by, and at his brother Rafe, who was lying on the ground, probably looking up the judge’s tight dress—if Judah knew his brother, and he was pretty sure he did—and thought life was sweet when you had a hot blonde like Darla who was gaga for your lovemaking. Of course, if she wanted to pretend it wasn’t all about the loving, and that she needed a bodyguard to keep her warm, he’d be her muscled protector—just for tonight. He’d rather keep an eye on her than listen to his brothers argue over words on the Scrabble board.

  And he wouldn’t be lying if he bragged that he could make love with one arm tied behind his back.

  TWO HOURS LATER, Darla parked Judah in a room at the StarShine Hotel in Santa Fe. He’d protested, but he ceased his halfhearted carping when he saw that she’d reserved the honeymoon suite. She detected a fairly enthusiastic gleam in Judah’s dark blue eyes, and a certain curiosity at what the little woman might be up to now.

  The cowboy was in for a surprise.

  “Why are we here?” he asked, in a tone that suggested he already knew, and Darla smiled at him blithely.

  “It was the only room big enough for the both of us,” she told him, her voice ever so sweet.

  He raised a brow. “I mean, why are we in Santa Fe?”

  “Oh.” She waved a hand. “I knew you were worried about me being at Rancho Diablo in case someone tried to kill you, and I knew you’d be worried about being at my house in case someone tried to kill you, so I thought it’d be best to bring you someplace no one would be able to try to kill you. You know. In case someone tries to kill you.” She smiled at him. “And we never planned a honeymoon, so this seems as good a place as any. I always wanted to stay here,” she said, slipping off her shoes and coat. She noticed she had Judah’s attention, so she pointed to the bed. “Why don’t you make yourself comfortable while I take a bath? Be sure to prop that arm up.”

  “You didn’t bring your nurse’s uniform by any chance, did you?” he asked, his tone hopeful. Trust her guy to be the one with a nurse fantasy. Darla headed for the bathroom, planning to lock herself in and draw a nice, full tub.

  “I’m sorry. I’m off duty. But you don’t need anyone to take care of you,” she called. “You just relax and let me know if anyone comes to the door.”

  “Are we expecting someone?” Judah asked.

  “No. But just in case someone does come and tries to, you know, shoot you or something. I don’t want to be in the tub when it happens.”

  She thought she heard him mutter, and smiled to herself.

  Thirty minutes later, when she came out of the bathroom, Judah was sound asleep, which had been her plan all along. She grabbed her robe and her things and slipped into the room across the hall, locking the door behind her.

  JUDAH AWAKENED twelve hours later, if his watch was right. He thumped on it to make certain it was still working. Apparently it was, because it corresponded to the clock radio next to the bed, which Darla had tossed a towel over for reasons he couldn’t decipher.

  Had he made love to her? Was that why he’d slept so long? Nope, he hadn’t had so much as a kiss or anything pleasant like that. He passed a hand over his stubble, testing his arm. It was sore as hell, but not so sore that he couldn’t pleasure Darla to the depths of her being.

  So what had gone wrong with his little lady’s seduction?

  He felt the bed beside him, patting around for a soft, round body. There was time enough before checkout to give Darla a rousing dose of what she’d clearly wanted last night. After all, he was a stud, not a dud.

  There was no sexy, warm female next to him, and the bed felt suspiciously undisturbed on her side. He flipped on the bedside lamp, realizing that not only had he not made love to Darla, she hadn’t even slept in the room.

  He tapped his watch again. No, twelve hours really had elapsed, and she hadn’t spent them with him.

  Which made him wonder if he’d said something to upset her. “Bath,” he said, “and I fell asleep. Possibly I should have offered to bathe with her, but she seemed determined to be alone.”

  So that wasn’t the problem.

  “I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t have been sleeping alone,” he muttered, and went to find Darla. There was a door that looked as if it connected to another room in the suite, so he banged on that, and a moment later she opened it, wearing a stunner of a white nightie. His breath left him.

  “Yes?” Darla said, and he frowned.

  “Why are you in there?”

  “Where else would I be?”

  He took in her pretty pink toenails, and sweet lace in a V down her front, almost to her belly. In fact, if she shifted just right, perhaps he could see a little bit more of Darla. The peekaboo effect really had his attention, so he decided to play it soft and smooth. “Shouldn’t you be with me? In that nice comfy bed?”

  She shook her head. “No, that’s a honeymoon suite. I’m not on my honeymoon.” />
  “Oh,” he said, “that’s what this is about. You’re annoyed.” He had a sneaking suspicion he was caught in a plot, which shouldn’t be happening in a honeymoon suite.

  Other things should be happening, like lovemaking.

  “Any chance I can convince you to let me order you breakfast in bed?”

  She smiled. “I’d like that. Ask them to bring it to the B suite.”

  He glanced over his shoulder. “Am I in the A side?”

  “Yes,” she said, her tone like cotton candy. “A is for ass.”

  He blinked. “Oh. This isn’t a weekend for seduction. This is about showing me what I’m missing out on.”

  “I always knew you were smart, cowboy.” Darla smiled at him, and his gut tightened. “We could be on a honeymoon, but we’re not, because of a tiny bit of lead. We could be making love, but we’re not, because you broke up with me, because of a fractional piece of lead. And so,” she said, “I’m sleeping without a husband, which I hate, because I really had my sights set on a certain cowboy. And so my children will be born without their father’s last name, all because of a teeny weeny, miniscule—”

  “That’s it,” Judah said. “If you went to the trouble of getting a honeymoon suite, you probably also went to the trouble of making certain there was a justice of the peace around who would marry us after you drove me insane with that bridal nightie.”

  Darla smiled. “Maybe.”

  “Did you bring a dress and all the rigmarole a bride needs? I’d hate for you to marry me without feeling like a real bride.” Ten years from now, would she look back on their marriage as a quickie, low-budget affair? He tried to buck himself up to hero status in her eyes. “If you’re determined to do this, we could fly to Hawaii.”

  She handed him a menu. “Order breakfast. You’ll need it to fortify yourself for giving up your bachelorhood. Fiona packed your tux. You’ll find it hanging in the cabinet. I can’t wait for Hawaii, Judah, because you might get shot. Although I can get you a bulletproof vest for under your tux, if you’re worried.”

  She closed the door.

  “I’d like to think she’s worried about me being shot,” Judah muttered, “but I think she’s trying to tell me something.”

  He went to order breakfast and then locate the tux the little woman had thoughtfully commandeered on his behalf. Who was he to tell a lady wearing a white lacy nightie that he wouldn’t run through a hail of bullets for just one night in her bed?

  Chapter Sixteen

  Fiona peeped in after Darla closed the connecting door between suite A and suite B. Jackie followed, as did Aberdeen, and Darla’s mother, Mavis, with Corinne and Nadine waiting behind them. All her friends were here, and for Darla, sandbagging Judah like this couldn’t have been more perfect.

  “Is he gone?” Fiona asked.

  “With his marching orders,” Darla said. “Come in.”

  “We’ll get you into this beautiful gown post haste,” Jackie said, “though I’m not afraid Judah’s going to change his mind.”

  Darla wasn’t afraid of that, either. Not anymore. If she’d learned anything, it was that her man was stubborn and opinionated, and if Fiona said he really wanted to be caught, because he was too worried about the danger to Darla to go willingly, then maybe she was on to something.

  “Judah did say once that he’d never be caught dead at an altar,” Darla said as Jackie eased her into the magic wedding dress, and Fiona said, “Well, he nearly was dead at the altar, so he was almost right, for once. We’re just not going to tempt Fate a second time.”

  “If it wasn’t for the children,” Darla said, “getting married wouldn’t matter to me so much.” But the instant she said the words, she knew it wasn’t true. The magic wedding gown sparkled on her, drew in light, making her catch her breath. “I love him,” she murmured. “I always have.”

  “I know,” Jackie said. “That’s why this time we’re not taking any chances. It’s all about the gown.”

  It was true. The moment she’d waited for was here, and right. Deep inside herself, she knew Judah wasn’t afraid of marrying her, he was afraid of hurting her. “Thank you all so much for helping me,” Darla said. “I treasure your friendship more than you can ever know.” She hugged her mother, and then, hearing Judah pound on the door adjoining their rooms, said, “You hide in here until we’ve left.”

  The ladies concealed themselves in the large bathroom and the huge walk-in closet, and Darla opened the door. Judah, just as handsome as he’d been last night in his tux, stared at her. “New gown?”

  “The one from last time had a few bloodstains on it,” Darla said. “I thought I’d wear something else for good luck.”

  “The luck is all mine. Wow.” His eyes glittered as he took her in. “We could see how fast I can get you out of that gown now, and then go to the J.P.”

  “No, thank you,” Darla said quickly, more than aware of the listening ears concealed in her room. “I’m not sure what time the office closes.”

  Judah nodded. “That’s probably a wise plan, but you know, you could change my mind. I’m easy.”

  “I know.” Darla was blushing all over, and if she ever got the nerve to tell Judah where the wedding guests had been hiding, he would probably blush, too.

  Or maybe he’d just be proud of himself.

  “Then I guess we’re going to run this route,” Judah said, “if you’re sure you want to marry me.”

  “I’m not one hundred percent certain,” Darla said coyly, “particularly as you once told me that marriage was for whipped men, and you wouldn’t be caught dead doing it.”

  “Got you into bed that night, didn’t I, though?” Judah kissed her hand as Darla blushed again. “I knew you were the kind of girl who just couldn’t resist a challenge.”

  “Come on,” she said, knowing that later on she was going to get a lot of teasing from her lady friends—and heaven only knew what her mother thought about everything she was hearing. Fiona was probably shocked, too.

  Judah smiled at her. “You’re the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen.”

  “Really?” Darla asked. “Have you seen many?”

  “My fair share,” her sexy rascal of a man said, “but somehow, you’re the only woman who’s ever made me feel like getting married is magical.”

  “Let’s go before the magic wears off, then,” Darla said, and Judah just smiled as he took her hand. He walked past the closet and banged on it, and then the bathroom door and banged on that, too, and said, “Ladies, don’t be late to the wedding!” and Darla wondered if he’d just played hard to get to see if she wanted him enough to drag him to the altar.

  He was the most infuriating man she’d ever known—and she was head over heels in love with him.

  JUDAH WASN’T CERTAIN why he knew this moment was the best of his life, but the second that Darla Cameron said “I do” he felt like a new man. A better man. He couldn’t have explained the emotions that swept over him as he watched her face while she spoke the words. All he knew was that something he’d waited for all his life had just agreed to be a part of him forever, and it was a very precious thing. He couldn’t imagine not having Darla beside him at this moment and every other, and when he slipped the ring on her finger and she gazed up at him with wide, beautiful eyes, he just knew the moment was magic.

  And he wanted it to last forever.

  WEEKS AFTER THE WEDDING, gifts were still arriving at Darla’s house, which now contained one cowboy husband and a bunch of well-wishers. Of course, everyone in Diablo wanted to know why she and Judah had married out of town. Darla simply told everyone that they’d decided to take a leaf from Aberdeen and Creed’s wedding manual. Folks were satisfied with that, except that they were dying to see a wedding at Rancho Diablo.

  Her house had become a shrine to weddings and babies. Darla had never seen so many presents. “These children will lack for nothing,” she told Judah, and he grinned as he unwrapped a pair of tiny pink snakeskin cowboy boots.
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  Then the smile slipped from his face. “Wait. Why are these pink, Darla?”

  She glanced over at the boots. “I don’t know, but they’re darling.”

  “I know that.” He studied them, mystified. “But they should be blue. Blue is for boys. My sons will not be wearing pink boots, even if they’re in a cradle where I can cover them with a blanket.”

  Darla laughed. “Babies don’t wear cowboy boots in a cradle. They’re for later on. Toddler age.”

  “We’ll have to take these back.”

  Darla put down the crystal bowl she’d just unwrapped and went to look at the card. “The boots are from your brothers. Every single one of them signed the card. And there are two pairs of boots.” She giggled. “I never realized the Callahans are so into gag gifts.”

  “I’m tired of gag gifts,” Judah grumbled.

  Darla looked at him. “What do you mean?” she said, wondering if he was referring to the gag gift that had brought them together in the first place.

  Judah dropped the boots back into the box. “Uh-uh,” he said, “you’re not going to catch me that easily. I love gag gifts. I love my brothers’ insane sense of humor.” He kissed her cheek, her neck, finding his way to the buttons of her dress, which he casually popped open. “Don’t worry that I meant the original, granddaddy of them all gag gift, because I didn’t.”

  “You’d better not.” She pulled away from his interested perusal of her cleavage. “Keep unboxing. We have a lot of thank-you letters to write.”

  “This house isn’t going to be big enough for all of us and all this stuff,” Judah pointed out.

  Darla smiled. “Jackie and Aberdeen warned me this conversation would come up.”

  “Why?” He shook his head. “By the way, I’m not writing the thank-you letter for these pink boots. You can do that one.”

  Darla ignored his anxiety over the baby-girl boots. “Because somehow Jackie and Aberdeen said they found themselves eventually moving out to Rancho Diablo. I intend to hold firm, however.”