The doorbell rang. He’d been so engrossed in his thoughts he hadn’t realized it had gotten so late.

  He opened the door and smiled at the beautiful sight in front of him. Honor stood there cradling a bottle of wine. She wore a red-and-white polka dot dress and some cute shoes that made her legs look amazing. Then again, her legs always looked good.

  “Come on in,” he said, taking the bottle from her arms because he knew what was coming.

  And what was coming was Bettie, bounding out of the bedroom and down the hall to greet Honor.

  Her eyes widened as she looked from the dog to him. “You . . . you got Bettie?”

  “I did.”

  She kicked off her heels and dropped to the floor, wrapping her arms around the wriggling dog. “Oh, Bettie. I’m so happy to see you.”

  Bettie was obviously equally happy to see Honor, her tail flapping wildly while she made squeaky dog sounds. Honor made her own squeaky sounds, too.

  He left the two of them in his entryway while he went into the kitchen and pulled the cork out of the wine bottle. In a minute or so, Honor came in, Bettie right at her ankles.

  “I don’t understand. Are you fostering her?”

  “No. She’s mine. Permanently.”

  “When did you bring her home?”

  “About three days ago.”

  “And you didn’t tell me?”

  “I wanted her and me to get acquainted first. She’s doing really well. She seems to be happy.”

  “Of course she is. She’s a great dog, isn’t she, Owen?”

  “Yeah, she’s pretty awesome.”

  “And I’m sure you’re loving having the company.”

  He looked down at Bettie. He could swear the dog was grinning at him. “Twenty-four-seven.”

  Honor gave him a surprised look. “You took her to the Screaming Hawk with you?”

  “She’s not big on being left behind, so yeah. She’s a hit with the customers.”

  “I’ll just bet she is.”

  Owen poured wine into a glass for her.

  “Thanks.” She took a sip, staring at him the entire time, then set the glass on the island. “You did this for me.”

  “What?”

  “Bettie. Bringing her home with you.”

  He lifted a shoulder. “Maybe.”

  She leaned into him, took his face between her hands. “Thank you.”

  She pressed her mouth to his. She tasted like mint, her lips soft and inviting. He couldn’t resist diving in for a deeper kiss, folding his arms around her, feeling her body pressed against his.

  But Bettie butted in between the two of them, whining.

  They broke apart, laughing.

  Owen sighed. “It’s like having a kid.”

  Honor laughed and bent down to ruffle Bettie’s fur. “She’s so sweet.”

  “She likes attention. And being the center of it.”

  “I can see that. You just love being loved, don’t you, Bettie?”

  At least the dog was getting loved on, so that was something.

  “I’ll get set up for our call,” he said. “You go play with Bettie.”

  She looked up at him. “Are you sure? I could help you.”

  He could tell that she didn’t want to let go of the dog, so he said, “I’ve got this, and I know you’ve been missing her, so go ahead and spend some time with her.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  And just like that, she was off, taking Bettie out back. He heard the dog barking and Honor laughing, which was kind of like the best music ever. They were both happy, and that was what mattered, so he got his laptop set up and cleared the table.

  He figured Honor would hang out outside for a few minutes with Bettie, but it was ten minutes until their meeting and she hadn’t come back inside yet. He went to the door and saw Honor sitting in one of the lounge chairs on the patio. Bettie was situated right next to her, her head on Honor’s lap while Honor stroked her hand over the dog’s head.

  Honor was talking, but Owen couldn’t hear what she was saying. He inched the door open just a crack.

  “You’re going to have an amazing life here, Bettie. Owen’s a great guy. He has so much love to give and he’s been alone for a while. He needs someone in his life and you’re the perfect fit for him. I thought you and I were going to be together, but I think this is a good thing for both you and Owen. I can already tell he loves you, even if he hasn’t admitted it yet.”

  She sat up straight. “Or maybe he has. Has he told you he loves you yet, girl? It doesn’t take long to fall in love, you know. Sometimes when it’s right, you just know.”

  He felt a twinge in his gut, or maybe it was more like a power-packed punch. He pulled the door all the way open. “Hey, you two, are you about done playing out here? Because it’s time for our call.”

  Honor shifted around. “Oh, really? Wow, that was fast. Come on, Bettie, let’s go inside.”

  They followed him in and Bettie padded over to her water bowl for a drink, while Honor went to the sink to wash her hands, then grabbed her glass of wine and took a seat at the table. The dog plopped down next to Honor’s feet and went to sleep.

  Honor blew out a breath. “I have to admit, I’m a little nervous.”

  “Me, too.” He reached across the table and took her hand, squeezing it. “But it’s all gonna be okay.”

  She nodded, and he typed in the information to connect them to the attorney’s office.

  A smiling brunette answered the call. “Hello, you must be Mr. and Mrs. Stone.”

  “We are. I’m Owen and this is my wife, Honor.”

  “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Jessica Greene.”

  “Nice to meet you, Jessica,” Honor said.

  “Okay, why don’t the two of you tell me what happened in Vegas and why you want an annulment.”

  Owen explained their situation while Jessica listened and took notes.

  “Okay, so you both got bombed, and the next day, neither of you remembered what happened. All you know is that you ended up with a legal marriage license and wedding certificate.”

  “That about sums it up,” Honor said.

  “And you still have no memory of said event?” she asked.

  “No,” Owen said.

  “Hmm. I don’t know if either of you have the basis to prove grounds for an annulment, according to the laws of the State of Oklahoma. Yes, you got married in Nevada, but neither of you are legal residents there, so if you do file in Nevada, you’d have to appear in court there. Do you know where you want to file?”

  She paused, waiting for them to answer.

  “Hang on a sec while we discuss,” Owen said, muting the sound on the laptop.

  “What do you think?” Honor asked.

  “I say we file here in Oklahoma.”

  Honor nodded. “Agree.”

  “Okay.” He punched the button to unmute. “We’ll file here in Oklahoma.”

  “Got it,” Jessica said, pausing as she was obviously making notes. “And neither of you committed fraud as far as I can tell, and that’s really the only valid reason I could see that would fly. So the question is, do we waste our time going through annulment proceedings, only to have the judge deny the request, or do we go forward with a divorce?”

  Honor looked over at Owen, who shrugged and asked, “What do you want to do?”

  “I . . . don’t know. I hadn’t considered that we wouldn’t be able to get the marriage annulled.”

  “It’s all right for you to take some time and consider your options, then let me know how you want to proceed.”

  “Thanks, Jessica,” Honor said.

  “Yeah, we appreciate you being forthright with us. We’ll let you know.”

  “Okay. Talk to you later.”

  She disconnected from the call.

  Honor leaned back in the chair, her hand absently stroking the top of Bettie’s head. “Well. That didn’t go exactly how we planned, did it?”

  “No. I thought getting an annulment would be simple. Guess it’s not so simple after all.”

  She didn’t say anything, but he finally did.

  “I could say I coerced you into marrying me. That I got you drunk and forced you into it, and that you weren’t aware of what was going on, so you didn’t consent.”

  She cocked her head to the side. “Owen. I will not agree to that.”

  He shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.”

  “You’d agree to say you committed fraud just so we could get an annulment?”

  “If that’s what you want.”

  “It is not what I want. And you shouldn’t want it, either. We’ll get a divorce.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely. Besides, divorcées are sexy. I’ll be so much hotter now.”

  He laughed. “Okay, hot stuff. Divorce it is. I’ll email Jessica and advise her to proceed with divorce paperwork.”

  “Fine.”

  “And now I’ll get started on dinner.”

  “Even better.”

  Fortunately, dinner didn’t take long to make and soon they were both sitting at the table.

  “This looks amazing, Owen,” Honor said as she looked down at the bowl. “Oh, and there’s bread, too.”

  He grabbed his fork. “I was given my orders about the bread.”

  She took a forkful of the food. “I was only joking. Okay, mostly joking. I do like bread.”

  He shrugged. “Who doesn’t?”

  They ate and talked about work. He told her about his work week and she laughed, listening to him talk about Bettie’s antics.

  “You’re so good with her,” she said.

  “She’s having fun. We both are.”

  Then it was Honor’s turn, and he enjoyed hearing about wedding stuff, mainly because it made Honor’s eyes light up.

  “Does it feel weird to be in a wedding at the vineyard next weekend?” she asked, pushing her now-empty bowl to the side.

  “Clay and Alice’s? No. After being a part of my ex-fiancé’s wedding to her new husband, which was possibly the most awkward moment ever, anything after that is easy.”

  “I suppose that’s true.” She took a couple of sips of wine, leaned back in the chair, then looked at him. “Was that hard?”

  “Was what hard?”

  “Erin and Jason’s wedding.”

  “No, not at all really. They belong together. Erin and I didn’t. It’s too bad that all that heartache had to happen—most of which I caused. I wish we had both seen that we weren’t right for each other long before my diagnosis. But it all turned out for the best in the end, ya know?”

  “I do know. And Erin is so happy and now she’s—”

  She went quiet and took another drink of wine.

  “Now she’s what?”

  She smiled. “Now she and Jason have started a wonderful new life together. You know, they’ve got the house and the two dogs. They’re both so happy.”

  “Yeah, they are. It’s like the universe corrected itself and all that had to happen was for me to get cancer, have second thoughts about marrying Erin and fuck everything up first.” He grimaced as soon as the words fell out of his mouth. “I didn’t mean that.”

  She reached over and laid her hand over his. “I know you didn’t. I also know everyone threw all their sympathy at Erin when it did happen, and no one seemed to be on your side.”

  “I didn’t deserve for anyone to be on my side. If I’d just told Erin what was going on, and that I wasn’t feeling the whole marriage thing, she wouldn’t have had her heart broken. And everyone wouldn’t have hated me.”

  “Not everyone hated you.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, they did. You did. Brenna did. Your parents did. Erin for sure did. All my friends sent me angry messages.”

  “Okay, so maybe people were upset. I was upset. But then we all found out the truth and everything changed. And by then Erin realized she was in love with Jason, and the two of you talked it out and realized you weren’t in love with each other anymore.”

  He sighed. “Yeah, I guess.”

  She squeezed his hand. “You still feel guilty about it.”

  “Can’t help it.”

  “You have to let it go, Owen. It’s in the past, and they’re happy together. It did all turn out right in the end.”

  In his head, he knew that. In his heart, he’d hurt someone he once loved. And that was unforgivable, because Owen hated hurting anyone.

  He also hated that he’d brought a downer to this conversation. “Anyway, how was the food?”

  She must have realized he needed a turn in topic, because she grinned. “My bowl is empty, this teriyaki sauce is the bomb and I want you to cook for me every night. You can make that happen, can’t you?”

  “Well, in case you’ve forgotten, I am your husband, so your wish is my command.”

  She let out a soft laugh. “Oh, I definitely haven’t forgotten. And I can come up with some serious wishes.”

  “If you want me to manufacture a car, or make clothes for you, you’re pretty much out of luck. But if those wishes have to do with making you food or . . . other things I’m really good at, I’m all yours.”

  She walked her fingers along his forearm, making his muscles tense in a good way. “I’m very interested in those other things you’re good at. Care to tell me about them?”

  “I’m more of a show rather than tell kind of guy.”

  “Then show me, Owen.”

  He stood and pulled her out of the chair, threaded his fingers through her hair and kissed her, a slow, seductive kiss meant for exploration, to test her reaction, to make sure she was in.

  Yeah, she was in. All in, because she rose up, wrapped her hand around his neck and pulled his head down to hers, made a moaning sound in the back of her throat that made his dick quiver, and if there hadn’t been food on his table he’d have her laid out there right now like a feast.

  Instead, he satisfied himself by teasing kisses down along her jaw, then her neck, feeling her body shiver in response. He took a nibble of her earlobe before continuing his trek down her throat to her collarbone, happy that her dress was low-cut so he had access to more of her skin.

  She had a death grip on his arms and she reared back. “Owen.”

  He tilted back to look at her. “Yeah?”

  “Bedroom. Now.”

  It was all he needed to hear. He scooped her up in his arms and carried her down the hall to his room, setting her on the edge of his bed. He looked down at her.

  “You sure?”

  She gave him a half smile, the kind that made his balls tighten.

  “Pretty sure we’ve done this before. And, yes, I’m sure.”

  He wished he could remember that night. But either way, he wanted her. She was all he thought about when he lay in this bed at night, wanting to undress her, to feel the softness of her skin under his hands, to be able to explore her body and taste every inch of her.

  And now she was here, and this time nothing and no one was going to interrupt them.

  Bettie walked in and climbed into her dog bed, circled a few times, then laid her head on her paws and went to sleep.

  Okay, then. Time to focus on Honor.

  * * *

  • • •

  HONOR’S HEART WAS beating so fast, she was surprised Owen couldn’t hear it. She’d been so disappointed the other night when they’d been interrupted at the house, and then she hadn’t seen him for a few days and hadn’t been able to tell him how much she’d missed being alone with him.

  Now here she was, in his bedroom, and he was giving her a look that told her he had definite ideas. She liked that.

  She was so ready for this. And they were technically married, so she had every right to use the husband merchandise as often as she wanted to for the duration of that marital relationship, right? So why miss out on a good thing? And from her still somewhat faint memories of that one night, said merchandise was extremely good.

  “You’re thinking,” he said.

  “Am I? I mean, yes, I am. How can you tell?”

  “There’s this line that appears between your brows when you’re deep in thought.”

  “I have lines? You mean like wrinkles?” She quickly reached up and rubbed that spot above her nose to see if she could feel it.

  He sat on the bed next to her. “No, not a wrinkle. Your face is perfect. Beautiful and perfect. Now tell me what you’re thinking about.”

  “It might hurt your feelings.”

  “I can take it.”

  “I was thinking that we’re married and you’re my husband and via the unwritten rule in our marriage contract I should be allowed to use the merchandise.”

  He stared at her for a few seconds, then tilted his head back and started laughing.

  “Yeah,” he said. “You definitely should use me at your every convenience.”

  “Oh, good. Then you should get naked.”

  “As I said earlier, your wish is my command.”

  He pulled off his boots and socks, then stood and drew his shirt over his head and tossed it onto his dresser.

  Honor soaked in every inch of his revealing skin. He undid his belt buckle, then drew the zipper of his jeans down before shoving them over his hips, leaving him in only his boxer briefs.

  This had been the most enjoyable—and okay, only—striptease she’d ever experienced.

  She motioned to his boxer briefs. “Okay, let’s have those, too.”

  He shoved the briefs down, and wow, was he ever glorious. And packing. And he was hers, at least for the time being. She felt rather smug about that.

  “Now you,” he said, grasping her hands and pulling her to stand up. He turned her so her back was to him.

  She looked at him over her shoulder. “Can’t I just sit here and stare at your gorgeous naked body?”