The Texan's Contract Marriage - By Sara Orwig Page 0,59

if that would be all right.”

“My plane will take you. Actually, we can go to Dallas and spend the weekend there. Ashley will fly home and Ginny and the girls can take Noah. How’s that?”

Camille laughed. “All of us flying to Dallas so two little girls—”

“And one big one,” Marek interrupted.

“So they can play with Noah for a couple of days. I don’t care. I’d like to spend the weekend in Dallas.”

Marek raised his phone. “Ginny, we’re not doing this every weekend, but we’ll come back to Dallas. Ashley is going home to Saint Louis. We’ll come early Friday and you can have him from Friday around noon until Sunday afternoon. How’s that?” He held the phone away as squeals erupted.

Shaking his head, he said, “Tell the girls to calm down. They’ll see a lot of him. Okay. See you Friday. I’ll tell them.”

He put away his cell phone and looked at Camille and Ashley. “Profuse thanks, ladies, for sharing Noah. I’m sure you could hear the girls’ screams of joy that he’s coming for the weekend.” Marek glanced at Noah. “He’s oblivious to all this hoopla. I may have to have a talk with my sister and tell her to get those girls new dolls or, better yet, get another baby in the family. Maybe you can pick out new dolls for them,” he said to Camille.

Camille laughed. “The girls seemed totally fascinated with him and he likes them, but then, Noah likes everyone.”

“He’s Kern’s son,” Marek remarked. “Thanks again, hon,” he said to Camille.

“He’ll be happy,” she replied, thinking of Marek’s casual endearment. The hon was so lightly stated, yet the term was a warm, fuzzy blanket wrapping around her heart, making her feel that he cared about her.

*

Friday, Camille saw the Rangel jet take off with Ashley on board, headed to Saint Louis. In the next hour, she watched Ginny and the girls come by Marek’s Dallas house to pick up Noah. Finally, Camille turned to look at Marek as he closed and locked the door behind his sister and her brood.

“We’re alone,” he said when he faced her. “Come here, Camille.”

*

Monday when they returned to the ranch, Marek held Camille’s hand on the plane. The weekend had been fabulous. The more he made love to her, the more he wanted her. That amazed him. In so many ways, from that first day he had met her, she had constantly surprised him.

June approached, when she would be locked into performing for two weeks, and he knew he would see almost nothing of her in that time. He didn’t like the thought. When had she become important to him? It was as if he couldn’t get through a day without her in his life.

He shifted to look at her. Camille was dressed in red slacks and a matching red silk blouse. A red scarf encircled her hair at the back of her neck. He wondered whether she was wearing red or black underwear, vowing to buy her something sexy soon. Very personal, very sexy. His blood heated at the thought. He glanced out the window without seeing anything. Was he falling in love with his wife? The question startled him. He had constantly credited his feelings for Camille to pure lust, but did it go beyond that? Had she replaced the void left in his heart? He would always love Jillian, but there was only a memory and a heartache over her loss. Camille was here, filled with zest and life.

Could he have already fallen in love with his wife without realizing it? He turned again to look at her. How he wished they were alone. He would like to take that red scarf off her hair and let the mass of midnight hair fall freely over her shoulders. He wanted to bury himself in her heat and softness. Am I in love? The question nagged at him as he stared at her. She turned to look at him. “You look deep in thought.”

“I’m thinking about the changes we need to make at the ranch. We’ll need a nursery that can easily be transformed into a suite for a little boy. You’ll need a music room. We can do that.”

“That I do want,” she said, a somber note in her voice.

“Anything worrying you?”

She smiled. “Not at all. Just curiosity, and maybe I’m a little overwhelmed. My life is changing swiftly. You came into it like a bolt of lightning and absolutely fried my old life instantly.”

He leaned closer