So was his sanity. “I’ve seen it before.” He’d also seen a feminine leg before, but for some reason, viewing even an inch of her bare skin kicked his libido into overdrive.
After one last look at the burgers, Dallas rushed into the house, braced both palms on the kitchen island and took a few deep breaths. If he didn’t calm down and get with the program, all his plans for the evening would go up in smoke. He couldn’t act on his need for her until she knew all the truth.
When he finally gained his composure, he took the plate full of lettuce, tomatoes and pickles from the fridge, along with the bottle of chardonnay. He thought about popping the top on another beer but figured that wouldn’t help his predicament at all. He needed to keep his guard up and his sex drive down for the time being.
He brought the hamburger fixings and put them on the wooden picnic table, then handed Paris the wine. “Sorry about the plastic cup. I don’t have any fancy barware here. Hell, I don’t have any fancy dinnerware, either. That’s why we’re eating on disposable plates.”
She took a drink of the chardonnay and rested the cup in her lap. “Not exactly environmentally friendly, but I suppose they’ll do if we don’t have a choice.”
He didn’t want her to believe he was a total Neanderthal. “They’re plastic, too. I throw them in the recycle bin before I leave so George can properly dispose of them.”
“That’s good to know. How is dinner coming along?”
He checked the burgers, all the while considering giving her a kiss. Only one kiss. But like the potato chips resting on the red checkerboard tablecloth, he wouldn’t be able to stop with just one. “Looks like they’re about ready. Do you want cheese on yours?”
“Sure. I’m in the mood to splurge a little.”
Dallas hadn’t realized she was standing behind him until that moment. After laying the cheese slices on the burgers, he put the spatula down and turned around, only to run headlong into some fairly fantastic green eyes and a mouth that looked like it wanted to be kissed. Maybe that was just wishful thinking. “What else are you in the mood for?”
She slid her arms around his neck and pressed her great body against his, indicating she might be willing to make his wish come true. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe a little slap and tickle after we eat. Maybe a little of that before we eat.”
Man, she was killing him. “Aren’t you hungry?”
“Yes, but not only for food.” She rubbed against him and it hadn’t been an accident. “Just humor me, okay?”
With the last scrap of his control in shambles, Dallas gave her a full-throttle, no-holds-barred kiss. A tongue-dueling, fire-starting kiss that gave the barbecue grill behind him a run for its money.
But damn, he wanted more. He wanted to use his mouth somewhere else, and that meant disregarding his original plan of ignoring her. To hell with it.
He pushed the straps off her shoulders and then lowered the dress’s bodice to do what he’d wanted to do earlier that day. He bent his head and took one breast into his mouth while Paris threaded her hands through his hair to hang on. When he circled her nipple with his tongue, she released a purely sexual sound that made him so hard he wanted to strip out of his jeans then and there. Instead, he slid his palms down her back, clasped her butt and pulled her against the erection that wouldn’t die unless he did something about it. But if he acted in haste, he could make a mistake of monumental proportions. As bad as he wanted to be inside her, he thought of all the reasons why he couldn’t.
Dallas let her go and took a step back. He had to look her straight in the eye when he made the revelation. “We need to have a serious talk before this goes any further.”
Paris’s lips looked swollen and her eyes hazy, but she didn’t seem to be too mad over the interruption. Yet. “Talk about what?”
“A change in the marriage terms.”
“I’m sorry, Dallas, but I’m confused.”
She wouldn’t be confused much longer, but she sure as hell might be ready to slug him. He saw no choice but to blurt out the sorry truth.
“Darlin’, we’re going to have to get divorced.”
* * *
Surely she hadn’t heard him correctly. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah, I am.”
Paris pulled the dress back into place as her mind reeled from Dallas’s proclamation. “Now? We’ve barely been married a day.”
“No, not now. When the year ends.”
She could not believe he would go back on his word. So much for trusting another man. “We both agreed we would get an annulment. In fact, you promised your attorney would find some way to accomplish that goal.”
Dallas took her by the hand and showed her to the table where they sat on opposing benches. “I spoke to him today,” he began, “to ask him why it was taking so long to get the final agreement drawn up. He informed me that if we annul the marriage, that would be like it never existed in the first place, and that would go against the terms of the will.”
Darn the family feud. She struggled to remain calm and sensible when she wanted to shout from frustration. “Then Worth could take control of the ranch and this charade would have been for naught.”
“That about sums it up.”
And she didn’t like it one iota. “Great. We’ll be forced to get a divorce and I’ll be marked as a woman who just can’t make any marriage work.”
“Not if the divorce is my fault and I take the fall.”
She supposed at this point they didn’t have any choice. “How would you do that?”
“You could tell everyone I cheated on you.”
Impossible. “That would be two cheating husbands. People could interpret that as I’m a total fool, or a cold fish in bed. What else do you have?”
“Maybe I drink too much.”
She’d never seen him have more than one beer. “Anyone who knows you could disprove that. Any other brilliant ideas?”
“Yeah, I could tell the truth. I don’t want any kids and that’s a deal breaker for you.”
Shock rendered her momentarily silent. Under the circumstances, that shouldn’t matter to her, but it did. His disclosure did put the kibosh on any future with him, as if she’d really believed that would happen. “You don’t want a child to continue your legacy?”
“Nope. I have five brothers who can take care of the procreating.”
For a man who appeared to be all about family, he certainly seemed opposed to having one of his own. “Why exactly do you feel this way?”
He stared at some unknown focal point behind her. “When you have the misfortune of being born to a man like my dad, it makes you doubt yourself and your ability to be a good husband and father.”
She reached over and touched his hand to garner his attention. “As far as I know, infidelity isn’t genetic, and I sense you’d be a great father.”
“You don’t know me that well.”
True, but she believed she was getting there. And she still had twelve months to learn even more, although she realized that was all she would ever have with him. “I know you love animals and you’re willing to set a baby bass free. That speaks to your patience and compassion and some paternal instinct.”
“I’m basically married to someone for the sake of a parcel of land. Some might say that speaks to my selfishness.”
Obviously both of them put a lot of stock in other people’s opinions. “I don’t