Catherine Mann - The Rancher's Seduction

The last thing this bachelor rancher needs?

Temptation beneath the mistletoe!

Rancher Marshall Steele’s emotions are on lockdown—until he meets his beautiful new housekeeper. A desire this strong won’t lead to anything but trouble. And yet Marshall can’t stop wanting Tally Benson—her beauty, her kindness. As the holidays heat up, he vows to have her and then let her go. But will their passion survive the secrets she’s been keeping?

USA TODAY bestselling author CATHERINE MANN has won numerous awards for her novels, including both a prestigious RITA® Award and an RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Award. After years of moving around the country bringing up four children, Catherine has settled in her home state of South Carolina, where she’s active in animal rescue. For more information, visit her website, catherinemann.com.

Also by Catherine Mann Contents Cover Back Cover Text About the Author Booklist Title Page Copyright Dedication One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve Epilogue Family Tree Extract About the Publisher

The Baby Claim

The Double Deal

The Love Child

The Twin Birthright

The Second Chance

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

The Rancher’s Seduction

Catherine Mann

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-07698-2

THE RANCHER’S SEDUCTION

© 2018 Catherine Mann

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 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

To Vickie Gerlach—

a dear reader and treasured friend!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text The last thing this bachelor rancher needs? Temptation beneath the mistletoe! Rancher Marshall Steele’s emotions are on lockdown—until he meets his beautiful new housekeeper. A desire this strong won’t lead to anything but trouble. And yet Marshall can’t stop wanting Tally Benson—her beauty, her kindness. As the holidays heat up, he vows to have her and then let her go. But will their passion survive the secrets she’s been keeping?

About the Author USA TODAY bestselling author CATHERINE MANN has won numerous awards for her novels, including both a prestigious RITA® Award and an RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Award. After years of moving around the country bringing up four children, Catherine has settled in her home state of South Carolina, where she’s active in animal rescue. For more information, visit her website, catherinemann.com .

Booklist Also by Catherine Mann Contents Cover Back Cover Text About the Author Booklist Title Page Copyright Dedication One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve Epilogue Family Tree Extract About the Publisher The Baby Claim The Double Deal The Love Child The Twin Birthright The Second Chance Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Title Page The Rancher’s Seduction Catherine Mann www.millsandboon.co.uk

Copyright ISBN: 978-1-474-07698-2 THE RANCHER’S SEDUCTION © 2018 Catherine Mann Published in Great Britain 2018 by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 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

Dedication To Vickie Gerlach— a dear reader and treasured friend!

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Epilogue

Family Tree

Extract

About the Publisher

One

Tallulah Benson had been told at a young age that she’d been given an exciting name to go with a fairy-tale future. She just wished her life hadn’t stalled out at the floor-sweeping version of Cinderella. No crystal slippers for her. She spent her days in sneakers.

She climbed the icy steps to the porch on the sprawling ranch home. To call it a log cabin would be an understatement since the two-story structure sported over eight thousand square feet—or so the job assignment had stated.

Bottom line, Tallulah—Tally—was grateful to have steady work as a housekeeper to pay her bills. If this latest gig cleaning for one of the oil-wealthy Steele family members went well, her résumé would be padded for more jobs cleaning for the rich and famous, which carried a substantial bump in her hourly rate. She needed the work. Both of her parents had died before her eighteenth birthday. She had no cushy savings or family safety net to fall back on.