Their Christmas Bride (Bridgewater Ménage 5)

"Then why did you pull me from the stage as if I were guilty?" I asked.

"You would not listen," Mr. Quinn said. "You needed a firm hand."

I wanted to contradict him, but Mr. Porter—Porter, cut in. "It worked, didn't it? We will be firm with you if the need strikes." He paused and let that settle in. "Now then, I apologize if my attentions were not clear enough for you. Please know, I have had my heart set on you from the first time we met."

My eyes widened. "That was two years ago!"

He grinned. "You're mine, Allison. You've been mine all along. Just say yes and I will make up for all the lost attention." He leaned in so that only I could hear. "I promise you will not doubt my interest, for it is very, very eager."

I licked my lips at the idea of this big, burly, virile man being eager. His size blocked out the others in the room, took the air completely away, made my body warm in a way the freestanding stove could not, and I had no choice but to nod. I might have been desperate to get away from Mr. Matthews, but I was not crazy enough to turn this man down. I'd wanted him since the first time I met him as well. I wanted to fulfill every carnal thought I ever had about him and—

Worry filled me, then shame. I leaned forward so our heads were close. "What about Quinn? He's been very attentive as well," I whispered. The man was in the same room and surely he knew his attentions had been for naught. Would Porter worry I might think of Mr. Quinn once we married?

Perhaps he saw the concern on my face, for he touched his forehead to mine and I could do nothing but look into his dark eyes. "All will be right. Trust me."

I nodded one more time and whispered, "Yes."

That one word was all it took for Mr. Porter to step back, slip his hand once again in mine, turn us both toward the sheriff and say, "We're ready."

"Wonderful," the sheriff said, rubbing his hands together. "A Christmas bride."

It was when Quinn moved to stand on the other side of me, standing tall and proud as witness, that I became Mrs. Allison Porter, sealed with a brief, chaste kiss. As my first, it was gentle and left me unfulfilled, but the look in Mr. Porter's eye held a promise of so much more.

He shook the sheriff's hand, as did Quinn. "We'll let you get back to your family."

"The wife's got a goose in the oven, and the grandkids will have eaten all the fudge by now if I don't claim my share. Stay here for a bit, warm up before your journey home," the sheriff commented as he shrugged on his coat, took his hat down.

"That's kind of you, sheriff. We'll take you up on that offer," Mr. Porter replied.

"Ma'am." He nodded to me as he put on his hat and went out into the cold.

Quinn shut the door behind him, and then bolted it. Both men turned to face me, then approached. I backed up until I ran into the bars of the single jail cell.

"Now, wife, tell me again your reasoning for not coming to us when Matthews threatened you?"

"Mr. Porter, I—"

"Just Porter, Mrs. Porter," he replied. "I repeat, why?"

He moved in so that his chest touched mine. The back of my head rested against one of the metal bars as I looked up at him. "Because...because he wanted to marry me and you didn't."

His brow arched. "I didn't?" Looking to Quinn, who'd moved to stand at my side, he repeated, "I didn't?"

Quinn shrugged as his finger came out to tuck a wayward curl behind my ear. The action was gentle and light, a complete contradiction to the size and tenseness of the man. "We made ourselves quite clear, on more than one occasion. We just didn't stoop to use slander or force."

"Did he force you, Allison? I'd swear that kiss we just shared was your first, but if he hurt one hair on your head—"

I shook my head fiercely. "No. He didn't touch me. He wanted me to marry him, but I did not wish it."

"Why is that?"

I took a breath. "Because he did not turn my head or pique my interest like—"

"Like what, angel?"

The endearment seemed to slip from Porter's lips easily and it felt...good.

I was married to Porter and there was no way to back out now. I could pound on the sheriff's front door, even hold his wife's fudge as hostage, but he couldn't unsay the words. I was Porter's wife and nothing I said or did could change that. So I told them the truth. "Like you and Quinn."