Harper George - A Marriage Deal With The Outlaw

A dangerous attraction in Montana!

Castillo Jameson has been hunting a murderer for years. The notorious outlaw never expected his search to lead to a standoff on a train—or having to save a beautiful woman caught in the crossfire...

Caroline Hartford has her own troubles—she wants to become a physician, but her parents demand she marry first. Then Castillo arrives at the wedding she’s attending, and Caroline has the perfect solution. She will keep the outlaw’s true identity a secret...if he’ll pretend to be her fiancé!

Outlaws of the Wild West

Pistols at dawn, seduction at sunset!

Meet Hunter Jameson, Castillo Jameson and Zane Pierce. These notorious outlaws make men quake in their shoes and set women’s hearts aflutter wherever their cowboy boots take them!

They pride themselves on their skill in the saddle and their prowess in the bedroom, but now these outlaws will be facing their greatest battle yet as they meet the only women with the power to tame their wild ways!

Read Hunter’s story in

The Innocent and the Outlaw

Castillo’s story in

A Marriage Deal with the Outlaw

Both available now!

And look for Zane’s story, coming soon…

Author Note

One of the reasons I love writing about the Wild West is because it was a place of great change. Towns sprang up overnight, and could become ghost towns just as quickly. Fortunes were made and lost on the turn of a card, or with a stroke of luck at a mine. Back East, people were divided by social structures and class. While that existed to an extent in the West, the barriers against moving up in the world were far easier to overcome. When it came to battling Mother Nature and outlaws, people were more likely to judge a man by his character than his bank account. The same was true for women. Necessity opened up professional opportunities that might have been closed off to women in more established cities.

That’s why I loved writing Caroline’s story. It was a great opportunity to dive into a character who had to overcome strict social and cultural mores to fulfil her dreams. I also loved the idea of Caroline having to find the one man who would support her. Who better than the outlaw Castillo, who’s had to overcome his own share of bias and hardships, to support her in reaching her dream?

If you’d like to learn more about the obstacles women had to overcome in the past, research Elizabeth Blackwell (1821—1910). She is the first recognised female doctor in the United States. A great online resource is American Memory from the Library of Congress. It devotes a section of its website to women’s history.

I hope you enjoy Castillo and Caroline’s story. Please connect with me on Facebook or visit my website at harperstgeorge.comto sign up for my newsletter for sneak peeks and exclusive contests.

A Marriage Deal with the Outlaw

Harper St George

www.millsandboon.co.uk

HARPER ST. GEORGEwas raised in rural Alabama and along the tranquil coast of northwest Florida. It was this setting, filled with stories of the old days, that instilled in her a love of history, romance and adventure. At high school she discovered the romance novel, which combined all those elements into one perfect package. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and two young children. Visit her website: harperstgeorge.com.

Books by Harper St. George

Mills & Boon Historical Romance

Outlaws of the Wild West

The Innocent and the Outlaw

A Marriage Deal with the Outlaw

Viking Warriors

Enslaved by the Viking

One Night with the Viking

In Bed with the Viking Warrior

Digital Short Stories

His Abductor’s Desire

Her Forbidden Gunslinger

Visit the Author Profile page at at millsandboon.co.ukfor more titles.

For Kathryn Cheshire. Thank you for your insightful feedback and all that you’ve done to help me grow as a writer.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Outlaws of the Wild West

Author Note

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

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

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Epilogue

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

The problem with having two identities was that someone would eventually figure them both out. Castillo’s grandfather had told him that with a frown when he’d learned that Castillo had started running cattle. It had been about five years ago, but it looked as if the prediction had finally come to pass.

Castillo Jameson, aka Reyes, leader of the notorious Reyes Brothers, lowered the brim of his hat to shadow his face. It was too late, though. The man at the other end of the train car had already recognized him as the leader of the gang of outlaws, wanted for crimes committed much further south than Montana Territory. Castillo could tell it from the stiff set of the man’s shoulders and the way the man’s left hand had shifted to the armrest, holding it in a white-knuckled grip. He tried to keep his attention focused on the scenery out the window, but his eyes twitched back toward Castillo in a nervous glance.

“Damn.” Castillo stretched his leg out a little farther and tapped the boot of his friend, Zane Pierce, who sat facing him. Zane glanced up from the drawing he’d been sketching, but once his dark eyes got a look at Castillo’s face he flipped his sketchbook shut and tucked it into the breast pocket of his coat. Visible holsters weren’t allowed on the train, but Castillo had a knife in his boot and a small-frame Smith & Wesson tucked into his coat. The problem would be confronting the man on a crowded train. Nearly every row was filled with people—many of them women and children—traveling west.

He waited for the man to pretend to look out the window again before nodding to Zane, who glanced over to set eyes on the man before leaning back in his seat. “Son of a bitch,” Zane said with a grin. “We’ve spent years hunting for Derringer. Never thought his son would show up when we weren’t looking.”

Castillo stared at the man from beneath the brim of his hat. He was too wary from years of getting close to his prey, only to face disappointment, to allow himself to hope now.

Zane’s words released the grip Castillo held on his control. His heart pounded like it was trying to beat its way out of his chest, and his fists clenched. Years of searching and they’d never been this close. Not once. His skin tightened like it was suddenly a size too small, but he forced himself to appear calm. “You sure that’s him?”

“Hell, yeah, I’m sure. That’s Bennett Derringer, Buck’s son. That little son of a bitch gave me this.” Zane raised his hand to indicate a pink scar that ran through his eyebrow and down his cheek, narrowly missing his eye. “I’ll never forget him.”

Castillo had met Buck Derringer and his family when the man had partnered with his grandfather. Before everything had gone to hell and Derringer had killed Castillo’s grandfather. Bennett, Derringer’s son, had been a teenager then. This man was young, maybe in his early twenties, with a full beard.

When Derringer had killed Castillo’s grandfather and run off with the money his grandfather had invested in their partnership, the Derringer family had disappeared, leading Castillo to think they’d changed their name. Castillo and his gang had heard tales of sightings, but those sightings had been from disreputable people and led to dead ends. The trail had long gone cold.