Chapter 2
There was something to be said for the power of the Ruban name.
It had gotten Casey and Ryder through blood tests without an appointment, gotten a court clerk out of bed and down to the county courthouse in the middle of the night to issue a marriage license, then dragged an old family friend out of bed before sunrise to perform the impromptu ceremony.
The waiting period most people would have experienced was waived for Delaney Ruban’s granddaughter.
“You all take yourselves a seat now,” Sudie Harris said, and pulled her housecoat a little tighter across her chest. “Judge will be here directly.”
Casey dropped into the nearest chair, well aware that Harmon Harris’s wife had taken one look at Ryder Justice and found him lacking in both worth and substance.
When Ryder refused a seat and walked to the window instead, something about the way he was standing made her nervous.
What if he was already sorry he’d gotten into this mess?
What if he was thinking about leaving? Nervously, she got up.
“Mr. Justice, I—”
He turned and she choked on her words. He was so big. So menacing. So much a stranger. What in God’s name had she done?
“What did you call me?” he asked.
She swallowed and the lump in her throat seemed to be getting larger by the minute. Oh, Lord. “Ryder. I meant to say, Ryder.”
His eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Casey Ruban was on the verge of a breakdown.
She might not know it, but he recognized the signs.
Her eyes were feverishly bright and the knuckles on her fingers had gone from red to white from the fists that she’d made.
Add to that, a breathing pattern that was little more than a series of short, quick gasps, and he figured it wouldn’t take much for her to fall apart.
“That’s better,” he said shortly. “Now sit down before you fall down.”
Casey did as she was told and then tried not to look at his backside as he turned away. It was impossible. In a few short minutes she would be tied to this man as she’d never been bound before, not only by law, but in the closest of proximities. Wife! Dear God, she was going to be that man’s wife.
She watched as he shrugged his shoulders in a quiet, almost weary gesture, rubbing at his neck and massaging the muscles with long, brown fingers. She couldn’t quit staring at his hands. Out of nowhere a random thought came barreling into her sleep-starved mind. I wonder if he’s a gentle lover.
Startled, she shuddered and looked away, wishing Judge Harris would hurry. She doubted there was little about Ryder Justice that was gentle, and the tension between them was making her crazy.
Tom between the fear that she was jumping into a worse mess than the one she was already in, and fear that at the last minute he wouldn’t go through with the ceremony, she wanted to cry.
Instead, she closed her eyes. All I want to do is go to bed and sleep for a month, then wake up and find out this was all a bad dream, she thought.
Somewhere in another part of the house a clock chimed five times. Startled, she glanced at her watch. Five o’clock! In a little over an hour the sun would be up. Footsteps sounded on the stairwell behind them. She stood and turned to face the man who was entering the room.
From Harmon Harris’s expression, he was none too pleased to see who awaited him. “Casey Dee, what on earth are you doin’ here in the middle of the night?”
“Getting married, and it’s not the middle of the night, it’s almost dawn.”
Regardless of whether it was night or day, Ruban women did not sneak around to get married, and Harmon knew it. He stared at the man near his living room window, then glared at Casey.
“Not to him?”
She gritted her teeth, preparing herself for a fight.
“Yes sir, to him. We have blood tests and the license right here.” She thrust the papers into the judge’s hands.
When he noted the dates he frowned, staring at her hard and long, from her head to the middle of her belly. Like Ryder before him, Harmon was assuming the only reason a woman would rush into marriage was to give a bastard child a name.
“Hell, girl, the ink is hardly dry on this stuff. What’s the big rush?”
“You can get that look off your face,” Casey muttered. “I’m not pregnant. I haven’t even been exposed.”
Bushy eyebrows lowered over his prominent nose as Harmon Harris laid the papers to one side and took Casey by the arm.
“I’ve known you a long time, Honey, and this isn’t like you. Before I perform any ceremony, I want an explanation.”
Casey’s gaze never wavered. “If Delaney were alive, you could ask him yourself. All I know is, I had forty-eight hours to find myself a husband or forfeit my inheritance to Miles and Erica.”
The judge’s eyebrows rose perceptibly. “You’re joking!”
Her shoulders slumped. “I wish I were.”
He glanced over her shoulder to Ryder. “I don’t understand.”
Then his voice lowered. “Why not marry Lash Marlow? You’ve known him nearly all your life. Why this man?”
“Because he’s not Lash.”
The judge didn’t comment. He didn’t have to. Casey’s answer pretty much said it all.
“Who is he?”
“His name is Ryder Justice.”
“I know that,” the judge said. “It says so on the papers. What I’m asking is who are his people?”
Casey shrugged. “I haven’t the faintest idea, and quite frankly I don’t care. What I do know is I will not be coerced, especially by a dead man, into marrying someone I do not even like, never mind the fact that I don’t love him. Do you understand that?”
Suddenly Casey and Harmon realized they were no longer alone.
“Is there a problem?” Ryder asked.
There was something about the look on the big man’s face that made Harmon Harris release his grasp on Casey’s arms.
Harmon sighed. “No, I don’t suppose there is. Casey is of age and enough of her own woman to do as she chooses.” He turned. “Sudie, go next door and wake up Millard Shreves. We’re gonna need ourselves another witness.”
Casey relaxed as Judge Harris’s wife hurried to do his bidding. It was going to be all right.
“It will take Millard a bit to get out of bed,” the judge explained. “If you two want to freshen up before the ceremony, the guest bath is down the hall on your right. However, you’re going to have to excuse me for a bit. I’m going to be needing some coffee.”
Having put the wheels in motion, he left Casey and Ryder alone in the Harris parlor with Sudie’s crocheted doilies and silk flower bouquets.
Casey put a hand to her hair, feeling the disarray.
She started to the bathroom for a quick wash then remembered Ryder.
Was it safe to leave him alone, or would he bolt at the first chance he got?
She glanced back at him, and to her dismay realized he was watching her. It was almost as if he’d read her mind.
“Go on,” he said. “I’ll be here when you get back.”
There was something compelling about this man, something she couldn’t quite name.
There was a strength within him that a couple of days’ worth of whiskers and a faded T-shirt and jeans could not hide.
Right now his eyes seemed blue, although at first they’d seemed gray.
Their color was as changeable as the weather.
She hoped his disposition did not seesaw as well and knew she was staring, but she couldn’t help it.
Although she was afraid of what he might tell her, there was something she needed to know.
“Why did you agree to go along with this madness?”
His expression hardened. “Don’t dig too deep, Casey. You might find worms in the dirt you’re taking out of the hole.”
Startled, she pivoted and headed for the bathroom, telling herself it was exhaustion that was making her shake, and not the implied warning in his words.
* * *
“…pronounce you man and wife. What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.”
Judge Harris’s clock began to chime.
Once. Twice. Three times it sounded.
Casey exhaled slowly.
Four times. Five times. Six times the gong echoed within the silence of the room.
She went limp, and were it not for the firm grip Ryder had on her arm, she wouldn’t have been able to stand. But she’d done it. It was over! The Ruban empire was safe, but dear God, could she say the same about herself?
“Congratulations. You may kiss your bride,” Harmon added, although he doubted, considering the reasons for the ceremony, there was much to celebrate.
Both Ryder and Casey stared, first at Judge Harris who’d just granted permission for something neither had been prepared to act upon, then at each other as they contemplated the deed.
To Casey’s dismay, her vision blurred.
Ryder had intended on holding his ground until he saw her tears.
It was her weakness, rather than the bulldog determination with which she’d gotten them this far, that made him do what he did next.
He’d entered into this farce without giving a thought for consequences, much the same way he used to go through life.
But that was before he’d killed his father and lost his nerve to fly.
Intending only to assure her, he cupped her cheek with the palm of one hand, gentling her much in the same way his brother, Royal, tended the horses on his ranch, giving them time to adjust to his presence.
“Easy, now,” he said softly, and when he felt her pulse beginning to slow, he lowered his head.
Casey saw him coming. Her lips parted. Whether it was to voice an objection or to ease his way, Ryder didn’t know and didn’t care. His focus was on her mouth and the woman who now bore his name.
Casey’s breath caught at the back of her throat and this time, had Ryder not been holding her up, her legs would have given way. Whatever her intent had been, it stopped along with her heart when Ryder Justice kissed his wife.
It should have been awkward—their first joining—but it wasn’t. The ease with which they touched, then the gentleness with which the kiss deepened felt right, even familiar. At the point of embracing, the judge’s voice broke their connection.