GINA WILKINS - Husband for a Weekend

Words of praise for Mills & Boon ®from New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling authors

“When I started writing for Mills & Boon, I was delighted by the length of the books, which allowed the freedom to create, and develop more within each character and their romance. I have always been a fan of Mills & Boon! I hope to write for it for many years to come. Long live Mills & Boon!”

—Diana Palmer

“My career began in Mills & Boon. I remember my excitement when they were introduced, because the stories were so rich and different, and every month when the books came out I beat a path to the bookstore to get every one of them. Here’s to you, Mills & Boon; live long, and prosper!”

—Linda Howard

“I owe a great deal to Mills & Boon for allowing me to grow as a writer. Mills & Boon did that, not only for me but for countless other authors. It continues to offer compelling stories, with heroes and heroines readers love—and authors they’ve come to trust.”

—Debbie Macomber

“Mills & Boon books always touch my heart. They are wonderful stories with the perfect happy ending.”

—Susan Mallery

“How could I not love a series devoted to my favorite things—complex families and deep friendships? I’m so proud to have been a part of this wonderful tradition at Mills & Boon.”

—Sherryl Woods

GINA WILKINSis a bestselling and award-winning author who has written more than seventy novels for Mills & Boon ®. She credits her successful career in romance to her long, happy marriage and her three “extraordinary” children.

A lifelong resident of central Arkansas, Ms Wilkins sold her first book to Mills & Boon in 1987 and has been writing full-time since. She has appeared on the Waldenbooks, B. Dalton and USA TODAY bestseller lists. She is a three-time recipient of a Maggie Award for Excellence, sponsored by Georgia Romance Writers, and has won several awards from the reviewers of RT Book Reviews .

Husband for a Weekend

Gina Wilkins

www.millsandboon.co.uk

“You don’t think I could make it work?” Tate Price asked his friend and business partner, Evan Daugherty.

Evan shook his head, his mouth quirking into a faint smile. “No. For an hour or so, maybe. But not for an entire weekend.”

“Want to make a bet on that?”

Kim Banks shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Um, guys?”

The two men in the party of five at the restaurant table ignored her, even though she was the one who had unwittingly initiated this good-natured confrontation.

“I’ll take that bet,” Evan said, his gaze locked with Tate’s smiling amber eyes. “Say, a hundred bucks?”

Tate’s firm chin lifted in response to the provocation. “You’re on.”

“Seriously, guys. We’re not doing this. My mother will just have to be disappointed in me—again.”

Kim might as well not have spoken at all, for the reaction she received from her regular Wednesday lunch mates.

“I tend to agree with Evan.” Kim’s coworker Emma Grainger absently speared bamboo chopsticks into the noodles on her plate as she focused on the conversation. “I’m not at all sure this scheme would work.”

Before Tate could reply his sister, Lynette Price, another coworker of Kim’s, jumped in. “Tate could definitely do it. He’s, like, the king of practical jokes.”

Emma tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear and shook her head. “Married people give off a certain—well, vibe. Tate and Kim just don’t have it.”

“Because they haven’t tried for us,” Lynette countered logically.

Growing increasingly uncomfortable with this line of talk, and hardly able to even look at Tate now, Kim cleared her throat. Maybe she should not have told her friends about the bizarre appeal her eccentric, five-times-married mother had made during an out-of-the-blue phone call last night. It turned out that, unbeknownst to Kim, her mother had been lying for more than a year that Kim was happily married to the father of her nine-month-old daughter. Now her nutty mom had asked Kim to bring the baby—as well as someone pretending to be Kim’s husband—to an upcoming family reunion.

Kim had learned years earlier to shrug off Betsy Dyess Banks Cavenaugh O’Hara Vanlandingham Shaw’s antics, because she would drive herself as crazy as her mom if she took it all too seriously. Humor and avoidance had become her two weapons of choice against her mother’s periodic campaigns to draw Kim back into the chaos from which she had escaped nine years earlier, as soon as she had turned eighteen and graduated high school. Though Kim had assured her amused friends that she had no intention of complying with this latest wacky request, somehow the conversation had wound around to whether anyone—specifically Tate—could hoodwink Kim’s extended, estranged family into believing he’d been married to Kim for some eighteen months.

She shot a quick look at Tate then. Despite the incredible twist their conversation had taken, he lounged comfortably in his seat, looking as fit and undeniably hot as ever. Seeing her looking at him, he winked, and she dropped her gaze quickly to her plate, feeling her cheeks warm. For the past five months, Kim had been trying to hide her attraction to Tate from her friends, and she thought she’d done so successfully. She’d tried just as hard to deny it to herself, but that had been a much more futile effort.

“Tate would also have to convince them he’s her kid’s dad,” Evan pointed out. “So not only would he have to pretend to be in love with Kim, he’d have to look comfortable with her kid. Having the kid shriek every time he picks her up would hardly help his case.”

“Her name is Daryn,” Kim muttered. “And I—”

“That wouldn’t be an issue,” Tate said with a chuckle. “I just wouldn’t pick her up. Kim could be the hovering mom who doesn’t give anyone else a chance to take the baby.”

“And it’s not like Daryn is old enough to talk, so she wouldn’t be a problem,” Lynette agreed.

Emma propped an elbow on the table as she looked at the men with a contemplative frown. “This still doesn’t sound like a very good bet for you, Evan. Why would anyone openly challenge Kim about whether she and Tate were really married? You’d need a more definitive sign to prove Tate was able to convince Kim’s family that he’s her loving husband.”

Evan looked intrigued. “Like what?”

“Grandma’s ring,” Lynette chimed in eagerly.

Kim choked. “Oh, now that’s going too far.”

She had confided in her friends that her long-widowed maternal grandmother was disgusted with her children’s and grandchildren’s dismissive attitudes toward their marriage vows, resulting in an appalling number of divorces among them. Grandma Dyess had informed everyone that the first of her grandchildren who entered into a union that Grandma herself believed would last would receive her diamond engagement ring. So far Grandma had refused to endorse any of her grandchildren’s choices, and rightly so, since only one of the seven was currently married and Kim had heard that union was a shaky one. Still …

Lynette waved a hand dismissively in response to Kim’s protest. “I didn’t say you should take the ring under false pretenses. Obviously, that would be wrong. But if you and Tate could convince Grandma to offer it to you, that would mean he’d won the bet.”