She brushed away his hand and sat up, clutching the sheet to her. “I think you’d better tell me, Jordan.”
He saw that he was way too far into this now to escape. “Come on, Kelly, you know what I mean. We both used our heads in deciding to get married. We didn’t have a lot of silly illusions. We made a sensible decision that will benefit both of us.”
“In other words, a successful merger.” Her voice was heavily laced with chilly disdain. She gestured at the rumpled bed. “And this? I suppose this is just one of the perks for the executives?”
Actually, it was, but he was wise enough to keep that particular observation to himself. “Now, Kelly…”
She climbed out of the bed, dragging the sheet with her. He was certain no one had ever exited a marriage bed with more dignity, with more icy contempt.
“Don’t you ‘now, Kelly’ me,” she said, waggling a finger under his nose. “I made love to you tonight, Jordan Adams. I did not seal a damned business deal!”
With that she stalked from the room, the sheet trailing after her like the train of an impromptu bridal gown. Unfortunately, Jordan had the distinct impression that not only the honeymoon, but quite possibly the marriage, as well, was over.
Chapter Twelve
Kelly was still steaming at dawn when she heard Jordan coming slowly down the stairs, his steps heavy. She’d been on the front porch most of the night, wrapped in her sheet, rocking in an attempt to calm her fury.
It hadn’t worked. Now, anticipating him joining her on the porch made her blood boil and her palms sweat. She’d wanted another hour or two to get her temper under control and all of her defenses solidly into place. When she faced him again, she had hoped to be cool, calm and collected. She was nowhere near that when he appeared.
Dressed in a pair of faded jeans, unsnapped at the waist, his hair becomingly tousled, his eyes still sleepy, Jordan opened the screen door and stepped outside. Looking at him made her heart climb into her throat. She refused, however, to let the mere sight of him get to her. Loving him so desperately, wanting him, was what had made her suspend judgment and agree to marry him when she’d known better.
Discovering that he still thought of their marriage as some sort of twisted business arrangement within seconds of also discovering that their passion was extraordinary had left her reeling. It confirmed every dire prediction she had made for a future built on such flimsy turf.
Even though he was waiting, she refused to meet his gaze.
“Good morning,” he said eventually, sounding wary.
She remained stubbornly silent.
“Still mad, huh?”
Huddled in the rocker, she refused to utter a word.
Jordan was not a man easily defeated. He walked in front of her so she couldn’t ignore him and hunkered down. He put his hands on her thighs to still the rocker. The touch guaranteed her attention.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I swear that I didn’t mean to upset you.”
She scowled at him. “But you did mean what you said, right?”
He stood and raked his hand through his hair in an impatient gesture. “Yes, no,…Hell, what do you want me to say? Do you want me to lie to you?”
A good white lie might be welcome about now, she thought irrationally, then sighed. “No, I suppose not.”
“Sweet pea, we just need a little time to adjust. This is new to both of us. Once we’re settled in Houston…”
Warning bells went off in Kelly’s head. “‘Settled in Houston’?” she repeated very slowly. Her gaze locked with his. “I am not settling in Houston. We agreed to split our time. Weekends, holidays and vacations here. Weekdays there. That was the deal.”
She made sure there was no mistaking where she put the emphasis. She managed to make the time they would spend in Houston sound like exile in Siberia. Jordan blinked at her adamant tone.
“We did discuss that, but—”
“No buts,” she insisted, cutting off any speculation that there was room for more negotiation. “We agreed.”
“Let’s be reasonable,” he began again.
She wasn’t in the mood to be reasonable. Being reasonable and practical and pragmatic—to say nothing of caving in to her hormones—was what had gotten them into this disastrous situation.
“We had a verbal contract,” she said, throwing his favorite sort of terminology back into his face. “Are you trying to wriggle out of it?”
He winced, but didn’t back down, either. “Now, Kelly…” he began in a placating tone that set her teeth on edge.
“Forget it. We can end this marriage just as quickly as we arranged it,” she warned.
Even as she spoke, she spotted the stubborn thrust of his chin and recognized that she might have pushed Jordan too far. She didn’t much care. If this marriage wasn’t going to be a partnership, if his promise of compromise had been so much hot air, they might as well discover it now.
“We are not ending this marriage,” Jordan said quietly, eyes blazing. “As for where we live, we’ll work it out.”
“We already have,” she said again.
His jaw tightened. “Fine. Pack your bags. We’ll pick up Dani first thing tomorrow and drive back to Houston.”
Kelly was shaking her head before the words were out of his mouth. “Not tomorrow. I can’t leave the ranch with no one in charge.”
“No problem. I’ll call Daddy. He can deal with your hand to make sure chores get done until we make other arrangements.”
“But the cats…”
“The damned cats will be taken care of. Weekdays in Houston,” he reminded her, throwing her own words back in her face. “We’ll settle anything having to do with the ranch next weekend. Daddy can screen some candidates for foreman while we’re gone.”
Backed into a corner now, he wasn’t going to budge on this. If
