Johanna Lindsey - A Man to Call My Own

"If you didn't want to watch, why'd you come down?" he asked out of the blue.

"Excuse me?"

"You had your eyes squeezed shut. Worried I was going to take a fall?"

"Of course not," she denied primly. "I merely had dust in my eyes. And I didn't go there to watch you. I was just wandering, lost in thought."

"Anything interesting?"

"What?"

"In your thoughts?"

Was he insulting her? Suggesting her thoughts were usually dull? Probably. Or maybe he thought she was Amanda. Of course! Otherwise, he would have remarked on her changed appearance. And his question could have been an attempt at flirtation with his bride-to-be. He undoubtedly expected Amanda to tell him that he had been in her thoughts.

"I heard the preacher isn't coming," she said. "That his wife isn't feeling well, and he didn't want to leave her alone in town."

Chad sighed in disappointment. Because she'd passed up the opportunity to flirt with him? Or because he was in a hurry to set the date for his wedding?

She should straighten him out, but she was too angry that he was mistaking her for Amanda—yet again.

And it infuriated her that she'd been afraid for him, not once, but twice in the span of a few minutes. She had to stop caring what happened to him. Whether he married Amanda or not, he was still lost to her.

CHAD LEANED AGAINST A tree trunk, his hat tipped low, sipping a warm whiskey. One couple had approached, plates of food in hand, intending to sit under the tree to eat, but had sought shade elsewhere when they saw him there. He wasn't in a sociable mood, and it probably showed.

Confusion was giving him a headache. He watched the twins, sure he knew who was who, yet he'd made such a colossal mistake in the stable that day, he wondered if he could ever be absolutely sure. Amanda, flamboyant, flitting about, animated, with Spencer following her around like a lost puppy. Marian, quietly conversing with some of the town ladies, demure, laughing softly, smiling with genuine humor.

He had no doubt today who was who. Spencer certainly didn't have any doubt. He'd zeroed in on Amanda as soon as he'd arrived and hadn't let her out of his sight since. Chad couldn't tell if Spencer was having any luck wooing her, wasn't even sure if that was still his intent. But he sure was amusing her, and she obviously enjoyed flirting with him.

Amanda was staying well clear of Chad. Smart girl. She knew she deserved a good throttling because of the trick she'd pulled on him. She just didn't know him well enough to know he'd never hurt a woman. But he'd have no hesitation at all in telling her what he thought of her and her damn convoluted scheme to drag him to the altar.

"I thought you were pulling my leg the other day, when you said the Laton sisters are twins," Lonny remarked as he came up to join Chad beneath the tree. "I mean, I know twins are supposed to look the same, but those two were like night and day—until now. How the hell do you tell them apart?"

"Marian's wearing beige today."

"Yes, I know. I told her how pretty she looked, and she blushed up a storm. But what if they were wearing the same dress?"

"Then you'd notice the mannerisms. Marian is shy. Amanda is anything but."

"And if they're both being quiet and shy-like?" Lonny ventured.

"Then you're flat out of luck."

Lonny looked at him askance, since he'd almost growled his reply. But considering where his own thoughts had been, he didn't need it rammed home that if one of the twins wanted to pretend to be the other, how easily she could pull it off.

Lonny frowned thoughtfully before he said, "There must be another way. Surely their parents had no trouble telling them apart."

Chad shrugged and finished off the whiskey he'd been nursing. "Probably not, but then parents get the benefit of living with them from the day they're born. The rest of us get stuck with guessing—right or wrong."

"You don't sound too happy about that."

"Would you be? If the woman you thought you made love to turned out to be the wrong woman?"

Lonny blinked then crowed, "I told you it was Amanda that day!"

"Shut up, Lonny," Chad snarled, and walked away.

He headed straight for Marian. He wasn't sure what he was going to say to her, but this confusion in his mind was driving him nuts. He still felt, deep down, that it had been her that day in the stable. It had just felt so right, making love to her. Yet when all facts—including Amanda—said otherwise, he knew he was wrong, and he just couldn't bear it that he was.

He didn't reach her before she got whisked away to the dance floor by one of the men from town. There were several other couples twirling about the stage, ineluding his father, who was dancing with Red. Spencer was also up there with Amanda, using the dance as an excuse to hold her in his arms.

Chad watched the twins for a while and managed to calm down. You could tell them apart. You just had to observe them when they didn't know you were watching, to see all the little things that made them so different from each other.

Not that it was going to help him out of the mess he'd landed in. Only Spencer could do that. But even if Spencer succeeded in getting Amanda to marry him, Chad still didn't stand a chance with Marian now. You didn't make love to one sister, then ask the other one to marry you.

Lonny approached him again, hesitandy this time. "I owe you an apology."

"Accepted," Chad said absently.

"Don't you want to know why?"

"I know why, so keep your foot out of your mouth and say no more."

"Thanks," Lonny sighed. Then, "You going to have to marry the wrong woman?"

"Probably."

"Then shouldn't you warn Spencer to back off?"

"Hell, no. I may have been stupid and blind not to realize I was getting bamboozled, but Spencer's the only hope I have right now of being saved from a marriage I don't want. He knows what happened and still wants Amanda. I'm wishing him all the luck he can muster."

"Well, hell, if you wanted someone else to win her over, why didn't you say so. I would have been happy to do you that favor."

Chad rolled his eyes. "The old saying that I wouldn't wish her on my worst enemy doesn't apply—I'm wishing just that. What I wouldn't do is wish her on a friend. She's one woman you don't want to tangle with, kid. And you're going to have your hands full. I'm not going back to Red's."

"Because of this mess?"

"No, because you're capable now of taking over."

Lonny's shoulders squared a little widi pride. "I won't let you down, or Red."

"I know you won't."

The current dance ended. Lonny moved off to find a partner for the next one. Chad continued to just watch from the sidelines. Marian seemed to be enjoying herself, had men lined up waiting to dance with her, a few impatiently cutting in before each dance ended. He wasn't going to intrude, didn't want to put a damper on her fun with his current lousy mood, but he should have left the area, because he finally got annoyed enough to do some cutting in himself.

She was expecting the quick change in partners by then, which was to his advantage. It didn't give her a chance to turn him down for a dance. But he sensed the change in her immediately, he just wasn't sure what it was. Tension, annoyance, or maybe just plain dislike.

"Relax, I'm not going to step on your toes," he told her.

"Shouldn't you be dancing with Amanda?"

"She's already partnered."

"So was I."

"Yes, but you were dancing with a man known to get carried away on the dance floor, swinging his partners about, tossing them up in the air. Women who know him tend to hide if they see him coming.

You couldn't have known." He said it with a straight face.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You're joking, right? Or do I actually owe you some thanks?"

He smiled at her. She humphed, but only because she didn't get a direct answer. He even caught the slight lifting of her lips, indicating a grin was lurking there.

"Don't bust a gut laughing," he said, still straight-faced.

She laughed, and the change in her was immediate, the stiffness gone, a sparkle in her eyes. God, she was beautiful when she let her guard down. And the dance floor was crowded enough by then that no one would notice if he held her a little closer than he should. Which was a mistake. Smelling her, touching her, his desire rose so quickly, he was nearly overcome with the urge to kiss her. But the music ended, and her shyness returned.

She stepped away from him. "Thank you, that was pleasant."

He didn't trust himself to say anything at the moment. He didn't have to. She moved off the stage, unaware just how close he'd come to making a spectacle of them both.

FOUR MEN LINGERED BEHIND the stable after the bronco riding ended. They hadn't watched it, but the crowd there had made enough noise that no one had heard them ride in and tie their horses behind the stable.

Two of them were throwing dice on the ground as an excuse for being there, in case someone came by. Another was keeping watch around the side of the building. And the fourth man was leaning back against the wall, nursing a hangover. He'd indulged too much the night before, and had even missed the explanation of why they were there.

"You're damn lucky my cousin Billy took that job cleaning up in the sheriffs office, hoping to get information you'd find useful," Arnie Wilson said as he tossed the dice. It was his farm they used as a hideout in the area. "Think he'd do just about anything to join up with us."