Suddenly Married by Loree Lough

whole embezzlement situation surrounding your dad has your emotions in such a tangle.”
    This embezzlement situation, she thought, has more than my emotions in a tangle. Her heart, her head, her very soul had been affected by the news.
    “You obey the speed limit, most of the time anyway, and you never cheat on your taxes. You have a little money squirreled away for the proverbial rainy day, and it doesn’t take much to make you happy. Three square meals and a cot and you’re content. Am I warm?”
    He was right on target. But she was too busy reacting to the fact that she’d never heard anyone but Jake Mackenzie use that phrase to admit it. Two of her father’s platitudes in less than a minute. Birds of a feather? she wondered, citing yet another cliché.
    “You’re sensitive, very sensitive, which is usually a good thing.”
    “When isn’t it a good thing?”
    “When you put others first and they don’t seem to give a hoot about what you need. It makes you mad, if you’re honest with yourself, real mad. Not because they’re thoughtless…because…” He scooted closer, took her right hand in his left and said with soothing compassion, “It makes you mad because you don’t like that their thoughtlessness hurts your feelings. You see it as a fault.”
    “Well, it is. ”
    There was a tremor in his husky voice, as thoughsomething had touched him deeply. “I haven’t disagreed with anything you’ve said so far, but I draw the line at that one. From what I’ve seen, you don’t have any flaws. I could put ads in every newspaper in the country and not find a person better suited to raise kids. My kids.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “You’re a bargain, even at two hundred thousand—”
    Dara snatched her hand away and stood abruptly. “I am not for sale, Noah Lucas! Not at any price!”
    He blanched. “Of course you aren’t I—I didn’t mean…I never meant to imply—”
    “My father’s reputation is important to me, very important. You’re one hundred percent right about that. But I won’t marry you just to preserve it. When I marry— if I marry— love will be the motivator, not money.” She stalked over to the French doors, crossed both arms over her chest and stared out at the relentless snowfall. Lord, she prayed, make it stop. The snow, the proposal, these feelings… make it all stop!
    She heard Noah leave the room. Had she made him angry? Hurt his feelings? Embarrassed him? Well, his offer to pay her to be his wife had made her mad, had downright humiliated her, and she didn’t see him feeling all guilty about that!
    Still, compared with Noah, she’d lived a life of comfort and ease from the day she was born. Dara didn’t relish the idea that her “poor little me” attitude had added to his suffering, even a little. She felt the prickle of tears behind her eyelids, felt a sob gnawing in her throat. Guilt? she wondered. Or self-pity? Whichever, she could not give in to it. Not here. Not now. Dara clenched her jaw, girding herself with resolve. She would not cry. She would not cry!
    She turned when Noah came into the room, armsoverflowing with pillows, blankets, sheets. He dumped his load onto the couch, shoved the coffee table out of the way. “It’s a queen sleeper,” he said, tossing a cushion aside. “I’ve never slept on it, but the salesman said—”
    “No need to go to all that trouble,” she said. “I’ll sleep on it just as it is.”
    Nodding, he put the cushion back into place. “Okay. If you think you’ll be comfortable,” he said, his mellow baritone edged with control.
    “I’ll be fine, really.”
    “You know,” he said, pocketing his hands and staring at the couch, “I never gave it a thought before tonight. Most folks would have turned their extra bedroom into a guest room, but I made a home office out of mine so I could bring work home, spend more time around the kids, you know?” He sighed with exasperation, smiled sheepishly. “I wish I