Page 90 of Short-Straw Bride

So she drank him in from afar. His long legs, wide shoulders, the sandy hair at his neck that needed a trim. As she continued her inventory, a frown drew her brows together. His right arm lay curved against his side as if protecting it.

“You’re hurt,” she said, her reticence dissolving as concern for his health eclipsed all else.

His head came around. “I thought you’d left for the ranch.”

She dropped her gaze to the floor as she walked, ostensibly to avoid the hazards of wrinkled rugs and overturned furniture, but in truth she was afraid to meet his eyes—afraid of the disappointment she would read there.

“I stayed with Bexar, intending to ride out if the trouble moved outside, but then Cassie and Myra showed up and people started exiting the cabin. I . . . well . . . I figured the danger had passed.”

Travis’s hands closed around her shoulders. “I’m glad you’re here.” Something gruff rumbled in his voice. Something emotional and sincere.

Meredith raised her chin, but she had no time to judge what was in his eyes, for his lips descended upon hers and immediately demanded her full attention. His palms stroked upward to cup her face, and the tenderness in his touch banished her insecurities and planted new hope in the soil of her heart.

Her hands wandered over his ribs, pushing beneath his open coat, circling toward his back. But when her left hand rubbed against his side, Travis flinched. It was only for an instant, and his lips never broke from hers, but it was enough to bring Meredith back to the reality of the moment. She pulled away from his kiss.

She lifted the flap of his coat and grimaced at the sight of torn fabric bloodied from a wound. “I should get Crockett. You need to have that tended.” She pivoted and tried to move away, but Travis grasped her arm and refused to let her go.

“It’s not serious,” he said, stepping close to nuzzle her neck. “You can tend it for me later.”

Shivers danced across her skin as his warm breath caressed the lobe of her ear. “I don’t understand,” she murmured, trying to make sense of what was happening. “I thought you’d be angry with me.” His teeth nibbled on her ear, nearly scattering her thoughts. In desperation, she twisted away from him. “Stop that.”

Travis straightened and peered into her face, confusion etched across his brow.

Her voice grew scratchy. “How can you kiss me? You didn’t even want a wife, Travis. You only married me because your bad luck stuck you with the short straw. And now because of my foolish actions, you’ve forfeited your land.” She closed her mouth against the sob that rose in her throat, but a tear escaped her lashes before she could blink it away.

“Is that what you think?” He loosened his hold on her arm, but only enough to allow his hand to slide down and capture hers. “You think I married you because I lost when we drew straws?” He chuckled softly. “Oh, Meri. Sweetheart. I won the straw draw. I didn’t lose it.”

She stared at him, not comprehending the difference. “What are you saying?”

Travis grinned. “When we sat around the table that night, we didn’t decide to draw straws because none of us wanted to marry you. We drew straws because all of us wanted to marry you.”

Meredith blinked up at her husband. Could it be true? Had she been a prize, not a chore?

“And I’ll tell you something else.” He dipped his head and lowered his voice, his grin turning downright mischievous. “But you gotta swear not to tell the others.”

She nodded.

“I rigged the contest.”

“What?”

“I made sure that I was the one who ended up with the short straw.”

Meredith’s pulse quickened. “Why?”

Travis shrugged a bit, and if she didn’t know better, she could have sworn his skin pinkened a bit under his tan.

“At the time I told myself that you were my responsibility. That because of our previous encounter, I should be the one to marry you.”

A responsibility. Of course. Meredith forced her chin to stay raised and her back straight despite her yearning to curl up into a protective ball.

“But I was fooling myself.” Travis’s gaze met hers, and she caught her breath. The way he looked at her, it was . . . was . . . “Even then I was falling in love with you.”

It was love.

“I couldn’t stand the idea of one of my brothers marrying you. You belonged with me. I knew it. I couldn’t explain it, but I knew it. And over the last several weeks, I’ve only grown more sure. I love you, Meredith. I thank God every day for bringing you back into my life.”

Her heart felt as if it would burst, so full was her joy. But there was one issue she couldn’t ignore. “What about your land?”