The Naughty List Bundle - Kylie Adams [93]
His gaze hardened. “When’re you getting married, Malone?”
The words were casual, almost softly spoken, but they sounded lethal. And his stare was so intent, so burning, she looked at his chest instead of meeting his eyes. “None of your business.”
“I’m making it my business.”
The juice did wonders for settling her nausea and she finally felt more herself. Morning sickness was the pits, and she hoped she got past that stage soon, though now that the worst had happened and she’d been sick in front of Morgan, anything else had to be an improvement. “You do that a lot, do you? Butt in where you’ve got no business being? I bet that’s why you took the position of sheriff. It gives you a legal right to nose around into other people’s affairs.”
He looked off to the distance, and Misty, following his gaze, saw that the sun was beginning its slow climb into the sky. It was a beautiful sight, sending a crimson glow across the placid surface of the lake, bringing a visual warmth that had her feeling better already. She sighed, knowing she’d never forget this place and how incredibly perfect it seemed.
Then Morgan spoke again, reminding her of a major flaw to the peaceful setting. Him.
“We can sit here until everyone else joins us if you want, but I got the impression you’re keeping your departure a secret.”
She sighed again, actually more of a huff. “You’ve got no right to badger me about something that is none of your damn business, Morgan.”
“You’re family now,” he explained with a straight face. “That gives me all the rights I need.”
Something that ludicrous deserved her undivided attention. She stared at him, almost speechless, but not quite. “Family? Get real.”
He looked her over slowly, and she knew, even before he told her, that he was making a point. “Oh, you’re family, all right, because if you weren’t, we’d never have left that damn gazebo, that is, not until things ended in a way that we’d both have enjoyed. A lot.”
The tone of his voice, both aggressive and persuasive, sank into her bones. Her stomach flip-flopped and her toes curled. Damn him, how could he do this to her now, when she’d just been sick, when she didn’t like him, when he didn’t much care for her? It wasn’t fair that of all the men in all the world, Morgan Hudson had this singular effect on her.
But then, little in her life had been fair lately.
She shook her head, denying both him and herself. “You’re twisting things around—”
“I’m stating a fact.”
“The fact is that you want me as far from your family as you can manage!”
His shrug was negligent, but his gaze was hard. “As you pointed out, everyone else feels differently. Jordan even offered you a job.”
“Which I refused.”
His brows shot up. “You did?”
He sounded surprised, but then, she had been purposely harassing him by letting him think otherwise. That had been childish, and not at all smart. She sighed. “Of course I did.”
“Why?”
Exasperated by his suspicious tone, she explained, “This’ll be a shock, I’m sure, but I’m not the party girl you seem to think I am, Morgan. I realize both your brothers were likely just fooling around, but I don’t intend to take any chances. I’m not interested in fun and games, and as I already told you, I’m even less interested in being serious with someone. I didn’t want to accidentally encourage either of them, so I thanked Jordan for the offer, but declined, and I told Gabe I had other responsibilities and couldn’t hang around any longer. So you can relax your vigil. Both your brothers are safe from my evil clutches.”
He didn’t react to her provocation this time, choosing instead to hark back to his earlier question. “When are you getting married?”
He wouldn’t give up, she could tell. He looked settled in and disgruntled and determined. She was so tired of fighting men, her ex-fiancé, her ex-boss, even the damn lawyers and the judge. Maybe once she told Morgan everything, he’d be glad to be rid of her. She slumped into her seat, all fight gone. “I give up. You win.