Marie Ferrarella - His Forever Valentine

A Real Cowboy. A Real Home?

Rafe Rodriguez never reckoned on playing hero to a beautiful, big-city stranger. But when he saves Valentine Jones from a charging bull, this Rodriguez brother’s fate is all but sealed. The Hollywood photographer is on location in Forever to scout out an authentic dude ranch. And nothing could feel more real—or right—than the fiery feelings Val’s awakening in Rafe. And he knows just how their real-life romance should end!

Haunted by tragedy, Val knows life isn’t like the movies. Still, a girl could get used to having a sexy protector like Rafe around. The Texas rancher is wreaking havoc with her credo of never settling in one place. Is Val headed for heartbreak again? Or has she finally found a place to belong with this cowboy who’s starting to make her believe in forever?

“Run?” Val echoed incredulously. “Why would you tell me to—?”

This was no time for debate. Instead of biting off a few choice words of explanation, Rafe grabbed her hand. Rather than pushing her ahead of him, he went the other route. He pulled her in his wake.

Hard.

And then she finally heard it. She heard the cause for his alarm. The sound of something pounding on the ground seemed as if it was reverberating right through her, like an earthquake in the distance.

The “earthquake” felt as though it was coming closer by the moment.

Val turned her head in the direction the sound was coming from.

That was when she saw it.

A bull.

A huge black bull was charging directly at them.

Dear Reader,

Forever, Texas started out as a onetime, one-book idea. One story, about a sheriff and an abandoned baby—and the lady lawyer looking not just for the baby but her runaway sister, as well. But once she—and I—“came” to Forever, the people I wrote about tended to stick in my mind. The main two characters got to play out their story, but what about the others? What about the sheriff’s deputy, Alma, and her five brothers? What about his sister, Ramona? And then there was the heroine’s sister, not to mention Miss Joan, the lady with the slightly too-red hair who ran the diner and oversaw everyone else’s lives. What about all their stories? So I decided to start exploring those avenues, finding out what made these people tick. What made them happy.

This time around, we come to Gabe’s twin brother, Rafe, a rancher content with his lot and pretty much minding his own business—until he stumbles across a vivacious woman with a camera, taking pictures of his land. She turns out to be a location scout for a film company—and wouldn’t you just know it, she thinks that his family’s ranch and the town of Forever are a perfect place to shoot their new movie.

By the end of the story, the term perfect location takes on a whole new meaning for Valentine Jones and for Rafe. And Miguel Rodriguez now has just two sons left to marry off. Who will it be next? Curious? Y’all come back now, y’hear?

In conclusion, as always, I thank you for reading. I wouldn’t be here without you. And from the bottom of my heart I wish you someone to love who loves you back.

All the best,

Marie

His Forever

Valentine

Marie Ferrarella

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marie Ferrarella, a USA TODAY bestselling and RITA® Award—winning author, has written more than two hundred books for Harlequin, some under the name Marie Nicole. Her romances are beloved by fans worldwide. Visit her website, www.marieferrarella.com.

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To

Anastasia Ault

Who Makes Me Remember

Why I Write

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Excerpt

Chapter One

She was gorgeous.

Had he forgotten his tan Stetson at the house, the way he occasionally did, Raphael Rodriguez might have been inclined to believe that he’d gotten sunstroke and was having his very first hallucination.

But his Stetson was firmly planted on his head—he actually reached up to touch the brim to make sure it was there. And, although it was rather warm for the middle of January—winters here in Forever, Texas, were usually mild—it’s wasn’t that hot. At least, not hot enough to produce either heatstroke or mirages. This morning, initially, there’d even been a slight nip in the air to remind him that winter wasn’t quite finished with them yet.

All in all, this had been a more eventful winter than usual, at least for his family. It had been a winter where his twin brother, Gabriel, had found the girl of his dreams. Gabe and the woman he called “Angel” were getting married in April.

Rafe had to admit—although only silently to himself—that he was somewhat envious of his twin. Angel was incredibly sweet and he’d never seen Gabe so happy. At times, the man seemed to be walking five inches off the ground.

The thought of finding someone of his own to settle down with had been on Rafe’s mind a great deal lately.

Was that why he thought he saw this gorgeous vision in the distance now? She couldn’t be real. Not this beautiful redhead with a killer body standing smack dab in the middle of his ranch.

His family’s ranch, Rafe amended. The property belonged to his family in the truest sense of the word since their father, Miguel Sr., had changed the deed to the ranch from listing him as the sole owner to putting down all their names, dividing the property in equal shares between all of them.

That particular action had come about at their father’s insistence because they’d all had a part in keeping the bank from foreclosing on the ranch. Each one of them had gotten at least a part-time job, turning over their meager paychecks to their father so that he could stay abreast of the mortgage and their late mother’s mountain of medical bills. That selfless act, the senior Rodriguez had said, was what entitled them to an equal share of the sprawling ranch.

As he drove his Jeep in closer, Rafe couldn’t take his eyes off her.

A woman like that looked completely out of place in a place like this. She had to be a figment of his imagination. But he’d already figured out that he wasn’t experiencing sunstroke and all he’d had to eat this morning were scrambled eggs and some coffee that could have been labeled as solid. The regular housekeeper was on vacation visiting her sister so it had been Miguel Jr.’s turn to cook, or do whatever it was that his oldest brother felt passed for cooking.

But Mike kept things simple, so it was safe to say that Rafe hadn’t ingested anything that would have caused a hallucination like this in the middle of his morning.

Steadily decreasing the distance between them, Rafe couldn’t help wondering when the woman was going to disappear. He couldn’t get over the feeling that she just might be a mirage created by his brain because he was currently without female companionship and Eli, Alma and Gabe were all either married or spoken for.