She glanced at the outrageously expensive wedding gown hanging across the room used for brides in the church in which she'd grown up. Obeying. Love, honor and obey. Did she really have a grasp on what the word meant? Not according to her father. Not according to most people in town. She tended to go her own way about things...and sometimes had to pay a price for it. Considering that Colby had known her most of her life, he understood that she had trouble staying within boundaries. At least he should understand that, since he'd heard her complain numerous times about having gotten her bottom burned because she stepped into the "gray area."

She wasn't quite sure why all of a sudden she'd become obsessed with the three key words in the wedding ceremony. Maybe because they were really big words--okay, small letter-wise--but huge in meaning. She'd been too lost in the excitement of the moment last night at the dress rehearsal to think about the vows. She hadn't even thought about them when Colby had teased her when he'd dropped her off at her father's ranch. But now she remembered the hint of challenge in his dark eyes as he'd taunted her with "love, honor and obey."

Had he been referring to a few weeks ago when she'd told him she wanted to cut off her almost waist-length blonde hair and dye it auburn? He'd said "Absolutely not!" to both the cut and the dye job. It had rubbed her wrong, so she'd done both. Okay, she really needed to stop being so obstinate. With the first cut of her hair, she'd nearly had heart failure, but it was too late to change her mind by then. She'd hated having red hair. Of course, Colby had been disgusted with her for going against his wishes. He'd been a little sympathetic when she'd shed a few tears about the shorter hair. But he'd turned her bottom red --like her hair-- anyway for acting so impulsively. If she would just listen... If she would just not get her back up... Yada, yada, yada. Still, she'd bleached her hair back to almost the original blonde shade.

The truth was that she'd been born breach. She couldn't even manage to "obey" (follow, really) the normal way of being born. And she'd spent twenty-six years disobeying her father's rules whenever she pleased and then suffering the consequences. Marriages were about equal partnerships, not having to follow anyone's rules. They were about adult relationships, about sex. She was definitely okay with the "sex" thing. Especially with Colby.