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Janet was surprised the weekend turned out to be such fun. She and Jeff had gone to different restaurants, had visited the Cowboy Museum and the Stockyards. Anything she’d wanted, somehow seemed to miraculously happen, or appear in her hand.
She’d learned that when they’d been browsing hand in hand in a jewelry store. She’d thought they were only window-shopping. But the moment she’d cooed over a piece, lickety-split, it had become hers.
Now back home, as she stood in the kitchen, she fingered the small diamond and emerald choker around her neck as she loaded the dishwasher—she hadn’t complimented anything after he’d bought it against her wishes. But since he had …
Her mother had left just that morning to go back to Shreveport and even though Janet had slept in Jeff’s bedroom the night before, she hadn’t moved her belongings in yet.
But now, Jeff walked in from outside and asked her if she needed help.
“Help with what?” she asked, knowing Hannah would be down for a nap for a while.
“Moving your stuff into our room.”
Why did that question make her blush, for God’s sake? The man had been relentless in his pursuit of her orgasms over the weekend, something that had shocked and thrilled her, his single orgasm mandate seeming to disappear like dust in the wind. Surely the idea of them moving her stuff shouldn’t make her think of sex. But it did.
“Okay,” she said as she closed the dishwasher and picked up a dishtowel to dry her hands. “Now?”
“Sure,” he said as he shrugged his shoulders in that laid-back, cocky way that only a man who wore boots on a daily basis could deliver. Her pulse began racing as she tried for a smile before turning toward the bedrooms.
****
The next day, Janet knew she needed to visit the clinic in town, she couldn’t put it off any longer. But she couldn’t just disappear without telling Jeff that she was leaving the house. So, she knew she had to mention it to him, or at the very least, had to mention that she and Hannah were going to town, so she told him when he came in for lunch.
“Why?” he asked, with that hooded look she didn’t care for—as if he were hiding something or not telling her something.
“I want to go to the library and the grocery store. I need some personal items, that’s all.”
He studied her for the count of three seconds. “Fine. Take the Mercedes.”
In shock, Janet blew the tea back into her glass when she pictured the luxury car that usually sat parked in the garage. “What?”
“Take the Mercedes,” he bit out. “You can forget driving that piece of shit you came here in. It’s not going to happen. I’m getting rid of it.”
“You can’t get rid of my car!” she protested.
“I damn sure can,” he belted out. As he pushed back from the table, the look he bestowed on her made her tremble … and made a hit of fever run through her blood that was so damn addictive she could barely breathe.
“That’s crazy!”
“Crazy? Seriously? Janet, that car’s not safe. You’re my wife now. You’re not driving the damn thing anymore. Do you honestly think I’m going to let you risk your safety?”
As she stood silently, trying to find words, he stared back, his eyes narrowing. “You seriously want to take Hannah out in that piece of shit?” His shoulders braced as his lips firmed. “It’s not happening. Nobody’s taking risks with that kid—you understand? Not even you.”
When she continued staring at him, more than a little shocked, he blew out a breath with a sigh. “Look. The Mercedes sits too much anyway. It needs to be driven. A car likes to be driven, so you’ll be doing me a favor by taking it. But if you don’t like it, or the color or something, then pack a bag for Hannah and we’ll drive to Layton and pick out something you do like.”
She didn’t know how to act or what to say. Of course the Mercedes was beautiful, but his arrogance was always the same, deep and thorough. “Is that the way it’s going to be?”
“Yes,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. “So take your pick. The Mercedes is only two years old but if you have a problem with foreign vehicles or something, then we’ll buy you something different.”
“So, you want to win this fight?”
“I’m going to win this fight. You’re not driving that piece of shit anymore. If it has some sentimental value you’re not mentioning, then I’ll cover it and store it in the barn but you aren’t fucking driving it—at least not off the property.”
“Okay, fine, get rid of it. But I don’t need a different car. Your car will be more than adequate. I’m sure I’ll love driving it.”
“Good, it’s yours now,” he said as if all was settled.
But as he turned toward the mudroom, Janet said, “But just so you’ll know. I’m giving in on this because a vehicle isn’t important enough to argue about and we need to try to compromise. So understand that just because you’re winning on this subject, it doesn’t mean you’ll get your way with every single thing. You’re going to have to learn to compromise, too. Sometimes it will be you who has to bend.”
He seemed to listen and hear her words, because his nostrils flared in reaction. His eyes smoldered as he held her within his sights, his legs braced apart. She had no idea what he was thinking, but her stomach quivered as he continued to impale her with a heated gaze. Finally, he turned away and stalked into the mudroom where all the keys were kept on a pegboard and a second later, a set came sailing through the air in her direction.
She reached out and snagged them in mid-air.
****
Really? She thought he needed to learn how to compromise? She didn’t think he was compromising already? Wasn’t he compromising when he allowed her to leave the ranch at all? He didn’t like it when she left. He liked it when he knew where she was and that she and Hannah were safe. So, what the hell? Wasn’t that a compromise?
And what about the fact that he’d maintained control once again and hadn’t ripped off her goddamn clothes when he’d walked inside for lunch? He’d forced himself to sit nicely and eat his food, because he’d had her this morning once already, and he was trying to be a fucking gentleman and just come in and eat his damn lunch. But she didn’t make it easy, because somehow, she kept getting prettier and prettier every godforsaken day. Wasn’t he compromising when he’d sat his ass down in his chair and soothed himself just by watching her glide around the room?
And don’t even get him started on the goddamn condoms. Before they were married, sure. He knew he had to use a fucking condom. But now? Wasn’t he the one compromising when he wanted nothing more than to get her pregnant so he could have her completely and forever? What the fucking hell?
He was already compromising so damn much he felt like his head was going to split in two. But he wasn’t going to fuck up now. This was too damn important to him. He was on a mission to have her head over heels and if that meant snapping his teeth together and not telling her exactly how the hell much he’d been compromising already, then so be it.
Because he wasn’t going to win just the fight—he was going to win the goddamn war.
****
When Janet left, she drove straight to the clinic and had a check-up while the nurse kept Hannah occupied for a few minutes. There hadn’t been a wait or a line, so it hadn’t taken nearly as long as she’d thought it might.
While she was paying, Janet was rather shocked that the receptionist looked at both her and her paperwork rather condescendingly. “You married Jeff McIntyre? How long have you known him?” the woman asked, as if it were
her right to question her in any way she damn well pleased.
There was something in the receptionist’s tone and questions that put Janet’s back up. The woman was a little older than she was, very pretty but hard looking. Janet didn’t usually make snap decisions about people, but she knew right away that she didn’t like this person—and she damn sure wasn’t going to let her question her so derisively without a comeback. So she smiled a wicked little smile and said, “Long enough, evidently. And I think it was more like Jeff married me, you know?” Take that, bitch.
Maybe she’d alienated the woman for life, but Janet really didn’t care. There were plenty of other women in this town she could be friends with, weren’t there? She’d already made one and she was saving her visit to the library because she wanted to have all her errands finished so she could enjoy her time with Annie.
So she chose to forget about the incident at the clinic as she drove straight to the grocery store, not necessarily because she needed something so desperately but because she’d told Jeff that she was going to the grocery store and she needed to make that true.
A few minutes later, she pulled up, climbed from the car and unbuckled Hannah from the car seat. She walked inside with her daughter balanced on her hip and went straight to the aisle with the feminine products. Buying a few personal items, she also grabbed some candy and junk food for Zach. (She wasn’t trying to buy his affection. She really wasn’t. Sometimes kids just seriously needed candy.)
She didn’t really need anything more, nor could she carry anything more without getting a cart, so she went to the check-out line and found Gladys manning the operation instead of her husband. “Hi,” Janet said, putting her purchases on the counter.
“Well hi yourself, darlin’. How’s this little sweetheart doing today?” the older woman asked as she reached out and patted Hannah on the arm.
Janet was about to respond in the positive when Gladys let out a shriek as she spied the rings on Janet’s finger. “Oh, my Lord! You let that man have his way?”
