Page 42 of The Cowboy's Forbidden Bride

And now they were alone and she felt wild and bubbly and he was still refusing to have sex with her. How she had managed to end up with one of the most famously carnal men around, and was still technically a virgin, she would never know.

Much less how she was now his virginwife.

Cat made a frustrated noise. “It’s not like it has to take too long, we can just get it over with and—”

But the look Wilder slid her from behind the wheel was so blazing hot, so filled with a dark sort of amusement that made all that fizzing inside her seem toboil over, that she forgot what she’d been about to say.

“…oh.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, in a low voice that matched the look in his eyes.“Oh.”

And that, obviously, was then the only thing Cat could think about when they arrived at Mountain Mama to rounds of applause that almost drowned out the murmurs of speculation at the sight of them.

Cat couldn’t blame anyone for spreading a juicy rumor or two. If she’d been attending this party, she would have thought that the bridehadto be pregnant too. She had picked a wedding dress that allowed everyone a nice, long look at her midsection and its lack of a pregnant belly, but she knew that wouldn’t stop people talking.

Only about ten months of a continued lack of said belly would do that, and she knew that everyone in town would be counting. But the truth was, having never been even remotely scandalous in all her life, Cat kind of enjoyed being the focus of all that speculation.

The day was bright, but cold. She slipped on the white puffy jacket she’d gotten specifically for the occasion and was happy that there were heaters set around the patio so it was only a little bit chilly. Which, in Montana, was the same as warm.

The Bennet sisters served pizza. Everybody gathered around and offered congratulations. Her brothers managed to tone down the glowering. Her mother, Zeke Carey, and his wife Belinda stood in a knot on one side of the patio, laughing uproariously. Almost all of her friends were here, and happy to celebrate her. Even the three wild Stark brothers were dressed nicely and managed not to cause their usual commotion.

It was sweet. It was nice.

It was exactly what Cat had planned and she couldn’t wait for it to be over.

“I hope you have good intentions toward my brother, Cat,” came a voice from beside her some while later when she was taking a breather at the side of the festivities.

She looked up and realized instantly that even though the man beside her sounded like Wilder and certainlylookedlike Wilder, he wasn’t Wilder at all. She knew it instantly, even before she registered the fact that he wasn’t wearing the clothes she knew perfectly well her husband—her husband—was wearing today.

Ryder.

“I’ll admit that it’s refreshing that someone is actually concerned about my intentions,” Cat confided in him. “So far I think the entire town has put Wilder on notice. Everyone’s watching him. Everyone’s certain that he’s going to snap me in half like a twig.”

Something that currently sounded delightful, if she was honest. Especially if it involved kissing.

“I’m more worried about you,” Ryder said. “And not because I think he’s going to hurt you.”

“Thank you,” she said, and she meant it. “I’ll have you know that I was not only a willing participant in my disgrace, I pretty much engineered it, too.”

“I suspected you might have.”

“Are you going to warn me off of him?” Cat almost hoped that he would. Because that might make her feel dangerous and sophisticated, and wouldn’tthatbe fun?

Ryder smiled then, and it was amazing to her that he could truly lookexactlylike Wilder and yet… that smile was just a smile. It didn’t rearrange the cells inside her body.

It didn’t make her feel foolish and strong, all at once.

“Just go easy on him, Cat,” Ryder drawled. “I’m not just the pretty one, I’m the tough one, too.”

And she watched him as he went back into the crowd, holding himself slightly apart from all these people who had known him his whole life. But she forgot about that not long after because it was finally time for Wilder to take her home.

Out in front of the pizza place, Wilder’s truck waited. Better yet, so did he. Cat said goodbye to her friends and neighbors and hugged her mama, then walked toward it, loving the way her wedding dress brushed against her legs, making her feel wildly feminine—something that the banked fire in Wilder’s gaze only exacerbated. In all the best ways.

But she tried to get it together, because her brothers were standing between her and him, like one last hurdle she had to clear before she could have what she wanted. What she wanted, Cat thought as she drew close, was to kick the hurdles, but she didn’t.

There were too many people watching. And besides, her mother wouldn’t approve.

“Do you want me to throw you the bouquet, Tennessee?” she asked sweetly. “Maybe a little romance would fix your personality problem. What do you think?”

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