Hard Luck Ranch by Nan Comargue Page B

took in the new house and its sparse but tasteful furnishings. “It appears as though your luck has changed, dear Wesley.”
    The endearment made Ev raise his eyebrows.
    Emma gave a ripple of laughter. “Your friend is surprised at my calling you ‘dear’,” she said. “He doesn’t seem to realize just how close two people can become over the course of a voluminous correspondence.”
    Wes nodded. “I tried to tell Ev—”
    “Voluminous correspondence,” Everett said. “I didn’t go far in school but I seem to think that means writing letters to each other. To my way of thinking, writing letters are a poor substitute for meeting someone and looking them in the eyes.”
    Emma laughed again. “Of course, I have to disagree. Wes and I have discussed every topic under the sun in our letters—except, of course, for you.” She glanced toward Wes. “But I will agree that meeting him in person is different altogether. It simply proves that his eyes are as warm and brown as I pictured them.”
    Everett hesitated to answer. A note in her laughter made him pause. It was nerves he heard jangling through her words. The woman was living on them. He realized how callous he was being, questioning her, taking out his frustration with Wes on her.
    To have come here to Texas from clear across the country took guts—and desperation.
    “You must be tired,” he said curtly, stepping back to tip his hat to her. “I’ll leave you two alone.”
    “Ev!”
    Wes’ voice stopped him just outside the door. He turned halfway back toward the house.
    “Yes?”
    “You will be at the wedding, won’t you? Reverend Maybee promised to marry us as soon as Emma arrived.” Wes turned solicitously toward his bride. “Can you be ready in an hour or so, sweetheart?”
    Before Emma could agree, Everett broke in. “The lady looks dead on her feet, Wes! Show some consideration. You two will be just as married if you have the ceremony tomorrow as you would be today.”
    Then he wouldn’t have to picture the two of them fucking like bunnies tonight.
    Damn it, of all the terrible things he’d secretly predicted of Wes’ unknown bride, he’d never imagined that he would want her.
    Wasn’t it bad enough that he was already in love with Wes?

Chapter Two
     
     
     
    It helped that the hard-eyed sheriff was gone but Emma hardly knew what to say to her husband-to-be. Her husband. Soon it would be the truth.
    She sat upstairs in the big bedroom— his bedroom—and surveyed the results of a long hot bath and bit of careful dressing. It helped to slip her fingers between her thighs and play with her pussy until the tension drained from her body, leaving it pulsing with energy and satisfaction. Tonight, perhaps, it would be Wes’ fingers in her cunny. He looked more than capable of showing her how it was truly done. She shivered with the thrill of anticipation.
    Emma had to admit that Hard Luck Ranch hardly lived up to its name. It boasted of all the amenities of her former home and it also held the benefit of being empty and not yet stamped with any particular personality.
    It was a place she could make into a home.
    Emma met her wide open blue eyes in the mirror. Its blurry surface softened the anxiety she knew was lurking in them, as well as the tremble she could feel on her lips. She’d brazened out that initial introduction well and yet…
    After his friend had left, Wes had seemed distraught. He’d hidden it well behind his smile but she could sense it strongly. That man, Everett, meant a great deal to her future husband. Which probably meant she would be seeing more of him in future.
    Emma frowned at her reflection. Wes was attractive, there was no doubt about that. He accorded perfectly with the image she’d prepared in her mind, that of a perfect spouse. He was kind and warm and anxious to please. Yes, he would make a good husband.
    But Everett seemed the opposite. He was a cool man, she could tell, but then again he would need to be