Charlene Sands - The Texan's Wedding Escape

From friendship to passion...to forever?

Only if she doesn’t marry the wrong man first...

Lauren never got over her childhood crush on Cooper, but she’s grown up now and ready to settle down. She even agrees to plan her upcoming wedding at his ranch, but in close quarters, she’s second-guessing her groom and yearning for Cooper’s forbidden embrace... Then she discovers the rancher’s ulterior motive. Will she walk down the aisle with the wrong man?

CHARLENE SANDS is a USA TODAY bestselling author of more than forty romance novels. She writes sensual contemporary romances and stories of the Old West. When not writing, Charlene enjoys sunny Pacific beaches, great coffee, reading books from her favorite authors and spending time with her family. You can find her on Facebook and Twitter, write to her at PO Box 4883, West Hills, CA 91308 USA, or sign up for her newsletter for fun blogs and ongoing contests at www.charlenesands.com.

Also by Charlene Sands Contents Cover Back Cover Text About the Author Booklist Title Page Copyright Dedication One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Extract

Her Forbidden Cowboy

The Billionaire’s Daddy Test

One Secret Night, One Secret Baby

Twins for the Texan

Sunset Surrender

Sunset Seduction

The Secret Heir of Sunset Ranch

Redeeming the CEO Cowboy

The Texan’s Wedding Escape

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

The Texan’s Wedding Escape

Charlene Sands

www.millsandboon.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-474-07636-4 THE TEXAN’S WEDDING ESCAPE © 2018 Charlene Swink Published in Great Britain 2018 by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental. By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher. ® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries. www.millsandboon.co.uk Contents Cover Back Cover Text About the Author Booklist Title Page Copyright Dedication One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Extract

Version: 2020-03-02

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Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text From friendship to passion...to forever? Only if she doesn’t marry the wrong man first... Lauren never got over her childhood crush on Cooper, but she’s grown up now and ready to settle down. She even agrees to plan her upcoming wedding at his ranch, but in close quarters, she’s second-guessing her groom and yearning for Cooper’s forbidden embrace... Then she discovers the rancher’s ulterior motive. Will she walk down the aisle with the wrong man?

About the Author CHARLENE SANDS is a USA TODAY bestselling author of more than forty romance novels. She writes sensual contemporary romances and stories of the Old West. When not writing, Charlene enjoys sunny Pacific beaches, great coffee, reading books from her favorite authors and spending time with her family. You can find her on Facebook and Twitter, write to her at PO Box 4883, West Hills, CA 91308 USA, or sign up for her newsletter for fun blogs and ongoing contests at www.charlenesands.com .

Booklist Also by Charlene Sands Contents Cover Back Cover Text About the Author Booklist Title Page Copyright Dedication One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Extract Her Forbidden Cowboy The Billionaire’s Daddy Test One Secret Night, One Secret Baby Twins for the Texan Sunset Surrender Sunset Seduction The Secret Heir of Sunset Ranch Redeeming the CEO Cowboy The Texan’s Wedding Escape Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Extract

One

He hit Delete on his laptop, wiping out names and phone numbers of the women he’d dated, wanted to date or just plain thought were freaking gorgeous. Instantly, Cooper Stone’s fun-loving, party-till-you-drop days were over, ended by a finger stroke on the keyboard. It was equivalent to burning his little black book, only nobody carried a little black book anymore. Things had gotten too damn sophisticated, but the end result was the same. Cooper Stone was out of the running. It was a long time coming, six months to be exact.

He wouldn’t miss those names.

Not like he missed his buddy, Tony Abbott.

One minute he was laughing alongside him in the car, their heads thrown back, enjoying life to the fullest, and the next, he was silenced by the stony sound of death. The quiet in that moment still rang in Cooper’s head, still tormented him. Everything had stopped, everything had gone numbingly cold. Tony had died instantly and the drunken driver behind the wheel of the car that had plowed into them had escaped without injury. So had Cooper. And he’d never forgiven himself for that.

Deleting those names was only a formality. He hadn’t been a party animal since that night. And he never would be again. Some things just left a mark and the imprint of that horrible crash brought him full circle. He now lived quietly on his ranch at Stone Ridge and poured himself into his entrepreneurial businesses.

“Hey, Coop, you need some company today? I’m willing to drive out with you.”

“Thanks, bro. But you don’t have to do that. I’ve got this.”

Cooper rose from his desk in the study and put on a lightweight tan jacket. It was late spring, the sunshine giving way to gray clouds that were moving in fast. Texas weather could never be counted on and it was fitting, he supposed, that this day was as glum as his mood. These bad-weather days made it easy for him to stay inside and work, giving him an excuse not to visit friends or to go to parties. Ole Coop wasn’t fun anymore. And that was fine with him.