countable instead of facing the painful truth. That her own
twin sister had purposely set out to make love to Daisy’s
boyfriend just to hurt her. Because she had talked to Rose
that night. Had told her about the big blowup between her
and Kael. It would have been so easy for Rose to pretend
to be her. As children they’d swapped places often and
rarely had they been detected.
“Explain why Rose was dressed in your clothes and
wearing her hair in a ponytail? She knew exactly what she
was doing, Daisy.”
“That’s right, go ahead, pin it all on a dead woman.”
“You know Rose had been after me for years. Long
before you and I ever started going out together.”
Daisy had no comeback. She’d always suspected the
truth. That her twin sister had intentionally seduced Kael
while he was in a vulnerable state.
But even if her sister had seduced him, that in no way
exonerated Kael. What would have happened if he had
made love to her instead of Rose, and she had been the one
to get pregnant? Would he have come back and married
her? Daisy doubted it. Besides, she didn’t want a man who
would wed her only because she was carrying his child.
She wanted a man who loved her for herself.
“Daisy, you were the one issuing ultimatums, demand-
ing marriage or nothing. Well, I want to marry you now.”
“You don’t want to marry me. You want to dominate
my life. You think you can come in here and take over,
become this great dad. It doesn’t work that way, buddy.
Parenting is difficult work, and it’s going to take time to
build Travis’s trust,” she shouted.
“I’m aware of that.” Kael shouted right back, his chest
heaving.
Daisy realized her own breathing matched his hungry
inhalations and expirations.
He leaned in so close their noses almost touched, but
Daisy wasn’t backing off even though being this near him
sent warm tingles throughout her whole body. How could
she be so aroused by him when she was so angry? It
seemed physical attraction carried no rhyme or reason. One
look in those shadowy hazel eyes of his and her whole body
sparked with unquenched desire.
Kael must have felt it, too, because in the next instant,
he pulled her headlong into his embrace.
Shocked, Daisy froze as his strong arms bunched around
her waist and his lips dove down to seize hers in a kiss so
bold, so forceful, her toes curled.
He’d never kissed her like this before.
In the past his kisses had been teasing, cajoling, frisky
and sassy. They’d been the kisses of a playful boy.
This kiss emerged from a pure, unadulterated man.
It scared the pants off Daisy. And she had a feeling that’s
precisely what Kael had intended.
Trembling, she tried to push away, but her hands knotted
ineffectively against his chest as his tongue roughly de-
manded entry into the recesses of her mouth.
He was angry with her. She could taste it on him. Well,
dammit, she was angry, too!
Oddly enough, their mingled ire excited as much as it
frightened her. Daisy threw her head back and growled low
in her throat, intending it to be a warning. Instead, muffled
by his moist active bps, the noise sounded like a soft moan
of desire.
He devoured her. His fingers slid through her hair. His
heart thudded against her chest. His tongue strummed over
her teeth.
Daisy, overwhelmed by the sensations, closed her eyes
and allowed it to happen.
She savored the pressure of his arm on her shoulder,
delighted in his unique taste, reveled in his manly scent.
When at last she felt courageous enough, she opened her
eyes to find him staring intently at her.
Her pupils widened, her pulse quickened, her stomach
contracted.
“Stop it,’’ she cried, breaking away from him at last.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Giving you a taste of what our marriage will be like.”
His hair was disheveled, his collar askew. His breath was
ragged, his eyes murky with passion.
“You can forget about that. I’ll never marry you.”
“Not even for the sake of our son?”
That stopped her cold. Daisy frowned and rubbed her
forehead. ‘ ‘Even if I did agree to marry you, it would be
in name only. A cold marriage of convenience, so we could
both get what we wanted.”
“Why? Because you’re so afraid of the passions lurking
inside you? Because you’re terrified that if you taste the
honey of lovemaking, you’ll mm wild like your sister
Rose?”
“That’s a lie!” Daisy denied shrilly, but his words hit
far too close to home.
“You’re the most sexually repressed woman I’ve ever
met.”
His statement cut. If she was sexually repressed it was
because he’d ruined her for any other man. Before she had
time to temper her reaction, Daisy reached out and slapped
him soundly across the face.
Kael’s eyes glistened a warning. He ran a hand along his
jaw. “I suppose I deserved that, Daisy Hightower, but you
mark my words, you will be my wife, if I have to move
heaven and earth to accomplish it, me and you and Travis
are going to be a real family.”
Chapter Six
Sh e could not, would not, marry Kael Carmody.
Sucking in a ragged breath, Daisy stared at the tenacious
man towering above her.
He was cocksure arrogant, smug beyond belief, and she
didn’t trust him. Not for one minute. The mere idea of
hitching herself to this man for eternity had panic surging
through every inch of Daisy’s body. Being buried alive
would produce less anxiety.
“I mean what I say,” he warned, placing a hand on the
door frame, effectively barring her exit. ‘‘We’re going to
get married, so get used to the idea.”
Daisy stood stock-still, fists knotted at her sides, mind
whirling as she weighed her options. If she refused to let
him see Travis, he’d have her in court before she knew
what hit her. Although she doubted a judge would take
Travis from her, Kael just might win joint custody. Partic-
ularly if the truth of her financial situation came to light.
“What do you say?”
“Not if you were the last man on the face of the earth.”
She raised her chin and forced herself to look at him
“Don’t be stupid, Daisy Anne, marriage is the most log-
ical course of action.” The lines of his face were hard,
unyielding.
She swallowed. Just as she suspected, Kael wanted to
marry her because it was logical, not because he truly loved
her.
The old familiar ache, no less sharp after all these years,
sprang up inside her. How could she agree to such an ar-
rangement when all she could expect was more pain? She’d
spent enough time pining for a man
too hung up on his
career to give her the kind of love she needed.
Kael Carmody played second fiddle to no one. Not in
the rodeo arena and not, she felt sure, in marriage. If she
wed him, she would lose control, over her life, her farm,
her son, everything.
And nothing frightened Daisy Anne Hightower more
than the loss of control.
From the moment her parents had been killed, she’d as-
sumed the role as head of household. Cleanly, swiftly, with-
out complaint, she’d abandoned her own hopes and dreams
in favor of doing the right thing. At sixteen years old she
had orchestrated funeral arrangements in the midst of mak-
ing decisions about the honey farm. Daisy had gone to court
and gotten herself declared an emancipated minor. She’d
succeeded on sheer grit and hardheaded determination. Fin-
ishing high school at the top of her class while at the same
time adequately providing for her family, she had a lot to
be proud of.
It had been very difficult, but Daisy had attained a level
of emotional independence rarely achieved by someone so
young. Especially a woman. She was used to getting her
own way, and that’s how she liked things to be. In fact, in
all her endeavors, she’d only been thwarted once—when
Kael Carmody had chosen his bull riding over her.
She’d never been able to manipulate him as she had Rose
and Aunt Peavy. Ultimately that had been the sticking point
between them. Never mind that once upon a time, she
would have given everything in her possession to become
his wife. That time had long since passed. She wasn’t about
to go running back to him with open arms, no matter how
bright the old flame burned within her. She’d die before
she let Kael Carmody know how she really felt.
What about Travis?
The thought reared in her mind. Indeed, what about her
child? The boy deserved to know his father, and Kael, for
all his faults, deserved a chance to prove himself. Not to
her, but to his son.
“We don’t have to get married for you to be a father,”
Daisy said. “You live right next door. That should be good
enough.”
Kael reached out and touched a lock of her hair. He
gently caressed it between his index finger and thumb.
Daisy suppressed a shiver and cast her eyes to the floor.
“Maybe I want more than being a father.”
Daisy inhaled sharply and took a step backward. ‘ ‘What
do you mean?”
“I’ve missed you, Daisy.” His voice was hoarse, husky,
like he’d shouted too long and too hard.
“Don’t tell me you didn’t have rodeo groupies chasing
you around the circuit, because I know better, Kael Car-
mody.” She spouted the first thing that came to her mind,
anything to pick a fight and keep her anger going. She
couldn’t handle the feelings that whooshed through her
when Kael turned tender.
“You’re never going to let me live down my mistakes,
are you?’ ’
“It’s a little hard when your biggest boo-boo is a seven-
year-old child.”
“Well, it’s obvious you’re not going to forgive.”
“That’s right,” she replied, turning her heart to stone
and refusing to be swayed by the remorseful expression on
his face. ‘ ‘Why should I?’ ’
“For Travis’s sake. For my sake.” He hesitated a mo-
ment. “For your own sake.”
“You’re forgetting one thing,” Daisy said, her tone
sharp edged.
“What’s that?”
“A marriage should be based on love.”
“We used to love each other, once. Remember?” His
fingers lingered on her shoulder, sending warm tingles over
her skin. “We could try again.”
Daisy shook her head. She didn’t want to resurrect those
old memories. She opened her mouth and told him a bald-
faced lie. A fib designed to protect her heart and push him
away. “That’s where you’re wrong, Kael Carmody. I never
loved you.”
Daisy Anne was not a good liar. The tip of her nose
tended to turn red when she told a whopper, and right now
the cute upturned tip was vividly crimson. Kael forced him-
self not to grin. No matter what she might claim, the
woman still cared about him. Now how could he get her
to see that they were, and always had been, meant for each
other?
At this point the smart course of action was to withdraw
and let her stew about her situation for a while. What he
was about to do was low-down and underhanded but the
only way he knew of getting through Daisy’s stubborn
pride.
“When I offered to help you rebuild the honey farm,
that was before I knew about Travis,” Kael said, playing
his trump card.
Daisy looked startled. “What are you suggesting?”
“I’d like to add a contingency to that offer. Marry me
or the deal’s off. No insurance money. No assistance with
the actual labor. No help of any kind.”
‘‘I don’t believe this.” Daisy smacked her palm against
her forehead. “This is blackmail.”
“See what it feels like to be issued an ultimatum, Daisy?
Not fun, is it?” Kael had to admit turning the tables on
Miss High-and-Mighty Hightower offered a modicum of
was time she had a taste of the hot seat.
“You’re despicable.”
“That may be, but it’s your call, Daisy. Marry me or
risk sacrificing your family’s honey farm.”
“Why would you want to marry someone who doesn’t
want to marry you?” she retorted, the irritation in her face
easy to read.
“Because that someone is the adoptive mother of my
child.”
“You’d make Travis suffer just to get back at me? If the
farm goes bankrupt we’d lose everything.”
“Oh no, Travis will lack for nothing. I’ll feed him, clothe
him, buy him toys. I just won’t save your farm.”
“Damn you, Kael Carmody,” she said. “I regret the day
I ever clamped eyes on your sorry behind.”
“I’m aware of that,” he replied coolly. “But you’ll get
used to the idea. Tell you what, Daisy, I’ll give you a week
to make up your mind. In the meantime, I’m ready to in-
troduce myself to my son.”
Daisy raised a hand to her mouth. ‘ ‘Can’t we wait a little
while longer? Ease Travis into the idea?”
“I don’t think so. You’ve kept me waiting seven years.
It’s way past time.”
“Don’t you dare go against me on this, Kael Carmody!”
She shook her finger in his face. “If you tell Travis behind
my back, I’ll make your life a living misery.”
Kael gritted his teeth. Her condescending manner rubbed
him the wrong way. He was tempted to take her haughty
self over his knee and give her a good spanking. Instead,
Kael reached down and picked his ha
t up off the floor from
where it had fallen when he’d kissed her.
“All right. We’ll play it your way for a while. I’ll give
you a week to think over my proposal.” Kael thrust his
chest out with more bravado than he felt. The woman was
just stubborn enough to call his bluff. If push came to shove
and she still refused to marry him, Kael didn’t have the
heart to stand by and watch Daisy lose the only thing she’d
ever loved besides Travis. He would bail her out and be
stuck without any bargaining chips.
“You have changed,” Daisy said quietly. “I was wrong
before. Unfortunately, the change wasn’t for the better.”
Kael shrugged. “A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta
do.” With those parting words, he turned and sauntered out
of the room, quietly stmggling against the pain in his leg
and trying his best not to limp.
“Bad news?” Aunt Peavy peered at Daisy through her
thick glasses from her vantage point at the kitchen sink,
where she was peeling apples for a homemade pie.
Three days had passed since Kael Carmody had issued
his ultimatum. Three days of worrying, cursing and pacing
the floor. Three days of feeling like an animal caught in a
trap with no way out save gnawing a paw off.
Daisy hung up the telephone and sat down at the kitchen
table. “Worse than that. The green monster has officially
expired. Willie said it’d cost three thousand dollars to fix
her, and the thing’s not worth five hundred.”
“Oh, Lordy, no.” Aunt Peavy sighed and laid a dramatic
hand over her chest. “Not more problems! What are we
going to do?”
For once Daisy wanted to join her aunt in her overre-
action to bad news. She suppressed the urge to lay her head
on the table and bawl her eyes out. She’d been strong for
so long, she didn’t even know how to let down her guard
and simply sob her sorrows away.
“Maybe you better call Kael and tell him you’ll marry
him.”
“Aunt Peavy!”
“Well,” her aunt said defensively. “You got any better
ideas?”
“I’ll get a job.”
“Doin’ what? It’s not like jobs are poppin’ out all over
everywhere in Rascal.”
“I know.” Daisy plowed her hands through her hair. “I
was thinking about applying in Corpus.”