“All you kept saying was to ‘come home.’ All I could think was that I have no home. I couldn’t stay at your place and look out the windows at what’s supposed to be my home and not be allowed to set foot on the property.”
“It doesn’t need to be that way, Gwen. You can come home as soon as Mr. Wilson returns this weekend, and by then it’ll most likely be yours. But I want you to be my wife. I want you to consider my home as your home. I already think of it that way.”
“I never had any indication that you felt this way.”
Roger shrugged and sighed. “What was the point in saying anything when you were on the road, constantly surrounded by younger men I couldn’t compete against? I can give you stability, safety, and security.”
“What about love?”
“You could learn to love me. I could learn to love you.”
The line was so clichéd, she almost looked around the room searching for the hidden cameras and the people ready to jump out and yell “surprise!”
“Darlin’, what can those two cowboys offer you that I can’t? You’ll be leaving next week anyway.”
They can offer me love. They don’t need to learn to love me. They already do.
“It’s the championships, isn’t it?”
A shadow crossed over Roger’s expression. “What do you mean?”
“You never intended to let me leave Colorado. You wanted me because of all the National Championships and because of my standing in the industry. You wanted a trophy wife?”
Roger blinked and shook his head. “I wouldn’t look at it quite that way, but the arrangement could be mutually beneficial.”
Roger had an angle for everything he did, but Gwen didn’t see any reason to grill him for the answer. The most important thing was the only possible answer she could give to his proposal.
Girl, stop and think before you speak. He’s not going to be happy with you.
Roger looked at her with those chilling blue eyes. “You don’t have to worry about the ranch either way, Gwen. Your father is my friend after all. I’ll still attend both auctions. You could consider the ranch and the horse as a wedding gift.” His tone was measured and without much emotion, like he was reasoning with a teenager.
Did he understand that he was asking her to prostitute herself? Gwen counted to ten before she spoke. “Roger, I appreciate what you’re willing to do for my family and the ranch, more than you can imagine. But even if I was desperate to not go back out on the road, I wouldn’t agree to marriage with you.”
Roger let out a long sigh. “It’s those two cowboys, isn’t it? They’re hardly more than one-night stands, Gwen.”
Gwen raised a hand to cut him off gently. “I’ve known Julián for a number of years. I think I’ve always—always loved him.”
So not the person I should be telling this to.
She continued as Roger looked down at his boots. “I love Chris, too. Right or wrong, doesn’t matter. But even then, I’ll still go out on the road to get back the ranch. Even though they love me, they’re willing to let me go, so I can have my dream.”
That’s true love.
“You’re my father’s best friend—”
Or were.
“—and you’re old enough to be my father.” Shit! Don’t insult him! She held her hands out placatingly. “Not that you aren’t in great shape. Please don’t take that as an insult. I swear I don’t mean it that way. But we’re from different generations, Roger. In the years I’ve known you, I’ve viewed you as a fatherly figure…and that’s it. Yeah, I could marry you but my heart wouldn’t be in it. And that wouldn’t be fair to either of us.”
Roger let out a terse sigh.
“I’m sorry.” She reached out to pat his hands but he rose from the couch before she could.
Roger put his hat on his head and shrugged as though his shirt collar was too tight. “I understand. You’ve always gone for what you believed in. This is no different. But you’ve always been impetuous too. I know where you get that from.”
Gwen eyed him carefully, on alert. “You’ve mentioned it several times.”
“I saw what your mother cheating on your father did to him. It reduced him over the last couple of years to the man he is today.”
Curious why he’d veer off subject like that, she asked, “How do you know she cheated?”
Roger raised an eyebrow and smirked. “You’ve spent ten years on the road, Gwen. You know how it works.”
Cognizant that her father was in the next room, she whispered, “You cheated with my mother?”