Baker's Bargain (Culpepper Cowboys Book 5) Read online

  Marcus woke to the smell of bacon wafting up from the kitchen, so he quickly dressed and went down the stairs to find his wife in the kitchen putting eggs, bacon and toast on plates for them.

  “I didn’t know how you like your eggs.” Grace found she couldn’t meet his eyes after what they’d done the night before. In fact, she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to meet his eyes again. She stared at a point just below his chin instead.

  He took the plates from her hand and set them on the counter, kissing her softly. “Good morning.”

  She smiled, still not meeting his gaze. “Good morning. I hope you’re hungry.”

  He frowned at her, hating that she was having such a hard time with the adjustment from a platonic relationship to marriage. “I am.” He carried both of their plates to the table while she poured them coffee and took them to the table.

  “Are we going to church this morning?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “I don’t think so. Not the day after our wedding. We’ll go next week.” He rarely missed a week in church, but he knew they needed the short time they had together before they returned to work.

  She nodded, knowing her parents would never approve, but knowing God would probably understand. “All right.”

  “Are you excited about meeting Valerie and Jesse later?” he asked, wanting to chase the haunted look from her eyes. She made him feel like he’d done something wrong by making love to his wife.

  She grinned, nodding. “But you know, I was thinking about you so much, I’d almost forgotten.”

  He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “I like hearing that.”

  “I do care about you a great deal, Marcus. I’m sorry I’m not good at showing it.”

  “I know you do.” He just wished they could get over the awkwardness. “Have you ever read the Song of Solomon?”

  She shook her head. “My parents said that part of the Bible wasn’t meant to be read by unmarried girls. We weren’t allowed.” She’d considered reading it, but there were so many other things she wanted to do with her free time that had nothing to do with reading the Bible.

  “Are you kidding me? Where do they get their ideas?”

  She sighed. “From the church they raised us in. We weren’t allowed to have any real friends either. It was just us and our cousins. No outside influences.”

  “Wow. Well, you’re married now. I want you to read the Song of Solomon. Better, yet, we’ll read it together. I want you to see what God’s inspired word says about sex. It’s all there.”

  She nodded, biting her lip. “I’m sorry I’m so backward about this. It’s just hard to erase a whole life’s worth of teaching.”

  “It is, but we’ll work on it together. All right?”

  “Yes, of course.” She stared intently at her meal as she ate, not wanting to get caught looking at him.

  “Can I ask you something?” he asked.

  She nodded. “You’re my husband. You can ask me anything you want.” And she was required to answer with all honesty. She frowned. Being married was harder than she’d realized it would be.

  “Are you ever going to look at me again?”

  She blushed, raising her gaze to his for the first time all morning. “I’m just embarrassed.”

  “I know you are, sweetheart, but I don’t want you to be. What we did together was a beautiful thing that God created for us to do. You have to get out of your head that it’s wrong or dirty, because it’s not!”

  She shrugged. “Tell my parents that would you?”

  “I would love to. What’s their phone number?”

  Her eyes widened, fear entering them. “Oh no.”

  “What?”

  “I haven’t told them I’m married. I need to do that.”

  He sighed. “We can call them together. Maybe a Skype call?”

  “That’s how Joy told them she was getting married and introduced them to Kolby.”

  “Well, then that’s what we’ll do, but when you’re in a better mood. Maybe after we meet with your actor friends this afternoon. Or maybe tomorrow night.” Or maybe never.

  She reached over and gripped his hand. “Have I thanked you yet for not being angry with me for wanting to meet them the day after we marry? I know it’s a strange thing.”

  “It is, but it’s also a once in a lifetime opportunity for you. I wouldn’t stop you from doing it.” He remembered something then. “Are you finished eating?”

  She nodded. “Why?”

  “I got you a wedding gift, and I want to show it to you.” He stood, taking her hand and leading her to the backdoor. Once they were outside, he pointed to a blue-green SUV. “I found you a car to match your eyes.”

  She laughed. “A car to match my eyes?”

  He nodded. “Well, you needed a car, and I know you like to look good. You’ll look really good in a car that matches your eyes.”

  She turned to him, burying her face against his chest. “What did I ever do to deserve a man like you?”

  “Well, it must have taken months for you to memorize all those lawyer jokes.”

  She made a face. “I’m not sure that’s a plus, though!”

  He shrugged. “Do you want to test drive it?”

  “As soon as I do the breakfast dishes.”

  “Ethel will be really angry if she finds out you did any dishes. She wants you to leave them for her. She thinks you do enough work when you’re out of the house.”

  Grace frowned. “I can’t leave the dishes I dirtied for someone else to do tomorrow. That’s crazy.”

  He shrugged. “I think you’re going to have to.”

  “I’ll go and rinse them and put them in the sink then. Are you ready to go?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, I’m good. I’ll probably just wear shorts.”

  “We’ll be home before we go meet Valerie and Jesse, though, right? I want to be wearing a skirt when I meet them.”

  He caught her by the waist and pulled her to him, kissing her softly. “Sounds good to me.”

  He grabbed the keys while she put on shoes and got her purse. She’d never driven him, and really had rarely driven at all. Honor had always preferred to be behind the wheel, so she’d happily ridden shotgun everywhere since they’d gotten their licenses.

  When they got to the vehicle, she spent a couple of minutes adjusting the seat. “You obviously drove this,” she said with a frown. “I feel like a Lilliputian compared to you.”

  He grinned at her. “Yeah, you do seem awfully tiny. Are you sure you’re done growing?”

  She glared at him. “If I’m not, what does that say about you?”

  “Yeah, let’s not go there.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that.” She grinned over at him. “Well, where do you want me to drive?”

  He shrugged. “Why don’t you just drive toward the mountains, and we’ll stop when we feel like it.”

  She glanced at the clock in the car. It was just past nine. “It feels weird to be out and about on a Sunday morning and not in church.”

  “Honestly, it does to me too, but we’ll do better spending time alone together and getting to know each other better.”

  She smiled at him before pulling out onto the road. “What do you like to do in your spare time?”

  “I don’t have a lot of spare time. I work, and then I come home and help out on the ranch when I have time. My foreman and I are trying some new breeding methods, trying to develop heartier, leaner cattle.”

  “That sounds…fun!”

  He laughed softly. “Almost as much fun as watching Lazy Love?”

  “Well, you know I’m biased about that show.”

  “Only a little.” While they drove, he explained about the different things they saw, telling little stories about places he’d been along the way. “We went on a field trip where we had a picnic at that river once,” he said pointing off to the right.

  “It looks beautiful. I’d picnic there.”

  “Maybe we can do th
at on Saturday.”

  She frowned. “Didn’t I tell you? We set our schedule so we’ll always be closed on Mondays, but open on Saturdays.”

  “That stinks for me. Maybe I can make Saturday a day for paperwork and try not to schedule clients on Mondays going forward.”

  “I’d really like that if you can make it happen. If not, I completely understand.”

  After they’d reached the base of the mountains, he had her turn around on a side road. “I don’t want you to try to navigate the mountains until you’re used to this vehicle.”

  She frowned at that. “I’m not sure I’ll ever feel up to driving in the mountains.”

  “We’ll have to see. It’s kind of important to be able to do that around here.”

  “I can see why.” She concentrated on the road as she pulled back out to head toward the ranch. “When will I get to meet your parents?”

  He frowned. “I guess I should tell them I’m married, huh? Although I’m sure Grandma already has.”

  “Will they be mad we didn’t wait so they could be there?”

  “Nah. They eloped. They don’t think anyone should have to go through the stress of a big wedding.” He stared out the window. “I got engaged in college, and we were going through the stress of wedding planning, and Mom kept telling me to just run off with her and marry her, but she wouldn’t go for it.”

  “What happened?” She really couldn’t imagine him being engaged to someone, and even though it was years before, she felt a bit jealous at the idea.

  “Car wreck. She was hit by a drunk driver and killed.”

  “I’m so sorry. What was her name?” She felt terrible for her momentary jealousy. It had been a long time before, but no one deserved to die that way.

  “Erin. Erin Krol.” He hated to think of her and how she’d looked the last time he’d seen her, all broken in a hospital bed.

  “Tell me about her.”

  He shrugged. “She was a nursing student. One of the most sarcastic people I’ve ever met in my life. Fun to be around. She was always on some kind of crusade to help others.”

  “Do you still miss her?”

  “She died six years ago. I loved her with everything inside me, but memories fade. I think she would have been a good wife for me, but I’m not unhappy that I’m moving on with my life without her.”

  Grace nodded. “You’ll have to show me her picture when we get home.”

  “I can do that.” Marcus felt strange talking to her about Erin. She seemed to have been a lifetime ago to him. “Does it bother you I never mentioned her?”

  “Well, considering we’ve only known each other for a week, I’m sure there are a lot of things we’ll learn as we go. It’s the nature of marrying so quickly.”

  “Do you regret marrying so fast?”

  She shook her head. “Absolutely not. I’m still a little shy around you.” At his laugh, she sighed. “Okay, so I’m still a lot shy around you, but I’ll get over that in time.”

  “I’m sure you will. I’ll help.”

  “How will you help?”

  He grinned, glad she was paying attention to the road. “Oh, I have some ideas…”

  “Forget it. I don’t trust your ideas.” Grace pulled into his driveway and parked the car, breathing a sigh of relief she was finished driving. “I’m glad I won’t have to drive much further than the Culpepper Ranch on a regular basis. I really don’t like driving.”

  “I guess I can drop you off at the bakery every day if you really need me to.”

  “Absolutely not. I can do it. I’m just not fond of it. I want to be able to drive when I need to.”

  She opened the door and slid out of the car, heading toward the house. “Are you hungry? Should I fix lunch?”

  He shrugged. “I could eat. It’s noon, so if we want to eat before we go, we should do it now. We’ll need to leave at about one-thirty to get there when you want to.”

  “I’m really excited and really nervous to meet them both.”

  “Have you ever met a celebrity?”

  She shook her head. “Well, I met this woman who travels around teaching women’s Bible studies once, and my mother totally fangirled her, but I’ve never met anyone famous whom I cared to meet.”

  “Am I allowed to ask for pictures of them with you?”

  “I’ll hate you forever if you don’t,” she said with a wink, wandering into the kitchen and finding something to fix. “Would sandwiches be all right? Then I’ll have time to shower and change before we leave.”

  “Sure. I don’t care.” He eyed her for a moment. “Exactly how many times per day do you shower?” She seemed to always be showering to him.

  “Oh, you know how I was raised. Cleanliness is next to godliness and all that.”

  “That’s not really answering my question.”

  “At least twice a day. Sometimes more.”

  He raised an eyebrow at that. “Are you OCD or something?”

  “Not at all. I just like to be clean and neat. I get messy with all the flour that I’m constantly working with, so I shower before and after work. Then it kind of seems to carry over onto the weekends too. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?”

  “No, of course not.” He sat on the counter and watched as she put sandwiches together. “Thanks for fixing lunch.”

  “It’s not really called fixing lunch when it’s only sandwiches,” she said, rolling her eyes.

  “It is when you cut them into nice little triangles and serve them on real plates.”

  “What would you have done? Fake plates?”

  “I’d probably have eaten it from a paper towel while standing up in the kitchen.”

  She laughed. “Well, I guess we can stand in the kitchen to eat them if that makes you happy. I was planning on going into the dining room, though.”

  He grinned. “I’m just not going to bother with the table when it’s only me.”

  “But since there are two of use, the table is acceptable?” she asked, a grin on her face.

  “Well, sure!”

  They carried their plates to the table and she went back to the kitchen to get some tea for each of them. When she returned, she found him watching her. “What?”

  He shrugged. “Just thinking about how beautiful you are.”

  She blushed at that. She hoped he wasn’t remembering what she’d looked like while they were—she felt her face flame even brighter.

  “What are you thinking?”

  She shrugged, avoiding his gaze again.

  “Tell me.”

  “It’s nothing.”

  “It’s obviously not nothing, or you’d tell me. What’s going on in that head of yours?”

  “I was hoping you weren’t thinking about what I looked like while we were—you know.”

  He grinned. “No, I don’t know. While we were what?”

  She glared at him. “I’m not going to say it, and you can’t make me.”

  “While we were making love? It’s not dirty or wicked, you know.”

  She shrugged. “I wish I could convince myself of that. It’s not as easy as you make it sound.”

  “We’ll work on it.”

  She finished eating and picked up their plates, rinsing them and putting them in the sink. “I’ll be back in a few. I need to get ready.”

  “Is it okay if I wear this?”

  She shrugged. “You can wear whatever you want.”

  He looked down at himself with a frown as she left the room. He knew enough about women to know that what she really meant was she wanted him to change. Fine. If it would make her happy, he could put on a pair of slacks and a nice shirt. It wouldn’t kill him.

  9

  Grace dressed carefully in a skirt and blouse, fixing her hair and make-up before leaving the bathroom. She found Marcus sitting on the bed, reading a book, obviously waiting on her. “Do I look all right?” she asked worriedly.

  His eyes drifted from her perfectly fixed hair, down to her toes and
back. “You look so beautiful I don’t want anyone else to see you. I think I’ll keep you here and have my way with you.” He rolled off the bed and got to his feet, walking toward her. His hands went to her waist and he pulled her toward him.

  “Don’t smudge my lipstick!” she protested as his head was descending toward hers.

  “Really? I can’t kiss you? We haven’t even been married for twenty-four hours yet!”

  She sighed. “Fine. Kiss me, and then I’ll fix my lipstick. I think we have enough time.”

  “I don’t want to kiss you now.” He made a face at her. “Can’t believe you won’t let me kiss you just because you put makeup on. I’ll have you know I’m an excellent lipstick blotter.”

  She pulled his head down to hers, kissing him. “Sorry. I’ll remember next time to just wait to put my lipstick on until after we’ve kissed.” She hurried back into the bathroom to fix her lipstick and brought out a washcloth, washing her lipstick off him. “There. Now you look all manly again.”

  “I don’t look manly with your lipstick on?”

  She shook her head. “No, not very.” She looked him up and down, approving of his clothes. “You look much better now.”

  He slipped his arm around her waist, steering her toward the door. “Let’s go meet your people.”

  “My heart is beating so fast, it feels like it’s going to jump out of my chest.”

  “How come you didn’t feel that way last night?”

  She blushed. “I did. I just didn’t tell you I felt that way.”

  “Tell me next time, would you? It’s good for my ego.”

  “I don’t think your ego needs any help at all.”

  Marcus frowned. “Are you saying I have a swelled head?”

  She shrugged. “If the hat doesn’t fit…”

  He sighed. “I get no respect. I expected to be treated this way after ten years of marriage, but not the first day!”

  “Do you know how to save a drowning lawyer?”

  “Please God, save me from lawyer jokes!”

  “Take your foot off his head.”

  He groaned, but refused to respond to her. Maybe if he quit reacting, she’d quit telling the awful jokes.