Kayla & the Rancher, Paige Tyler [story read aloud TXT] 📗

she was done, she turned to Cord, a smile on her face.

“That was actually more fun than I thought it would be,” she said, handing him the pistol. “Can we come out and do it again?”

He laughed. “Whenever you want,” he agreed.

He spent a little bit of time teaching her how to load and unload the pistol before announcing that they were done for the day.

As she watched him place the gun back in the holster that was belted around his trim hips, she couldn’t help but notice that he was hard beneath his

denims. Dragging her gaze away, she lifted her head to find him regarding

her intently. Blushing, she looked away, but he caught her chin with his

fingers and gently forced her to look up at him. He made no other move, but stood gazing down at her, and she held her breath. Then, finally, he bent his head to kiss her.

Kayla melted against him with a sigh of pleasure, her lips parting under his, and they were both breathing hard when Cord lifted his head.

“I’m so hot for you that I don’t think I can wait much longer for our wedding night,” he said, his hoarse with need. “When is that dress of yours going to be finished?”

Kayla, still heady from his kiss, looked up at him with fluttering lashes. “I should have it done in a day or two,” she said breathlessly.

He kissed her again, tugging gently on her lower lip. “Then what do you say to getting married on Sunday?”

Smiling, she nodded in agreement, but before she could speak, he kissed her again.

It was a long time before they got on their horses and went back to the house.

Happier than she would have thought it possible for one person to be, Kayla went into town the following day to put the finishing touches on her wedding dress. As was usually the case, Rachel was busy with customers when she

walked into the store, so she went directly upstairs, eager to get to work.

Attaching the lace to the hemline was an easy task and after she was done, she tried on the dress, excited to see how it looked. It fit perfectly, the design accentuating her slim waist and curvy figure, the fine lace barely skimming the floor as she moved. She was just studying her reflection in the full-length mirror when Rachel walked in.

“Kayla, you look beautiful,” the blond girl said as she came into the living room. “And that dress is absolutely amazing. Cord won’t be able to take his eyes off you.”

Kayla smiled, exhilarated by the thought of Cord seeing her in her wedding dress. “I certainly hope not,” she said, admiring the way the dress swirled around her feet when she moved back and forth. “We’re getting married on

Sunday.”

Rachel walked over to the sofa and sat down, her brow furrowing as she

looked up at Kayla. “You haven’t told Cord the truth yet, have you?”

Kayla turned to look at her friend. “I’ve thought about it, but I just can’t. Not yet. Maybe not ever.”

“You’re not serious!” the other girl exclaimed. “Do you really want him calling you Abigail on your wedding night?”

Kayla’s heart ached at the thought, and she bit her lip. In the beginning, pretending to be Abigail had been easy, but now every time Cord said the

other girl’s name, Kayla felt as if a knife was being plunged into her breast.

That alone was enough to make her want to tell him the truth. But then she thought of the alternative. If she told him the truth, and he rejected her, she didn’t think she could take it. It would be better to let him call her Abigail for the rest of her life.

“You have to tell him, Kayla,” Rachel said quietly.

“And what exactly do I say, Rachel?” she demanded. “How do I tell him that my name is really Kayla Mathison, and that I’m from New York? Do you real y think he’ll care that I was running away from an arranged marriage to a man named William Delmont, the man my father wanted me to marry? How is he

going to react when he learns that I lied about being his mail-order bride, that I’ve been lying to him all along?” She answered without giving the other girl a chance to say anything. “I’l tell you how he’s going to react. He’ll be furious and he won’t have anything more to do with me.”

Rachel frowned. “You don’t know that, Kayla.”

She shrugged. “But I can’t be sure, so I won’t take that chance.”

Her friend sighed. “And what if Cord finds out from someone else that you

lied, Kayla? How is he going to react then?”

Kayla hesitated for a moment, and then shook her head. “There’s no way that he could find out, Rachel. Unless you tell him, of course, and you already assured me that you wouldn’t.” Impulsively, she sat beside the blonde and

took hold of the girl’s hands. “Please promise me that you won’t say anything to him,” she pleaded.

Rachel gave her a small smile. “You know that I won’t, but I’m telling you again that this is a bad idea,” she said, and then sighed at the look on Kayla’s face. “You really will make a beautiful bride.”

Anything that Kayla would have said was interrupted by the sound of

footsteps on the stairs.

“Rachel, are you up here?” a male voice said from the top of the stairs, and both Kayla and Rachel looked in the direction of the open doorway to see

Dalton Jeffries looking into the room.

Kayla’s heart thudded in her chest. What was he doing here? she wondered.

After the other night, she didn’t even like to be in the same room with him.

Especially when he was eyeing her so boldly.

“Well, Miss Murray, Holderness sure is a lucky man,” he said.

Beside her, Rachel got to