Patricia Kay - His Brother's Bride-To-Be

Backlit by sunlight, he couldn’t see the expression on her face. She stopped when she saw him. Before she could react, he reached out and grabbed her arm.

“Why?” he said through clenched teeth. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Her whole body trembled. “T-tell you what?”

“Don’t play innocent with me, Jill. I know Jordan is my son. And you had no right to keep that from me. No right at all.”

He thought she would continue to deny it, but she didn’t. She just looked at him. Tears glistened in her eyes. The sunlight pouring into the barn lit her hair from behind, giving the impression of a halo. But this was no angel standing there.

This was a warm-blooded, sexy woman—and the mother of his child.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

For a moment Stephen wasn’t sure what he wanted more: to kiss her or shake her. The desire to kiss her won out, and he yanked her into his arms and covered her mouth with his own.

Dear Reader,

This book was truly a labor of love. I got the idea several years ago and it simply would not let me go. Finally I decided to see if I couldn’t figure out a way to tell the story so that it could have a happy ending, for that was the problem. In my head, I could see the story going so far and then no farther. But eventually all fell into place, and His Brother’s Bride-To-Be was born.

There were other problems besides the elusive happy ending. For one, I was setting the story on a ranch and I know absolutely zero about ranches, even though I live in Texas. Second problem was my complete lack of knowledge about horses. But these two problems were easily solved since my two critique partners are both avid horsewomen and were able to supply the background information I was missing. So a hearty thank-you goes to Alaina Richardson and Colleen Thompson. I don’t know what I’d do without you.

I love to hear from readers. Please visit me at www.patriciakay.com and drop me a line. I promise to write back.

Happy reading!

Patricia Kay

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Formerly writing as Trisha Alexander, Patricia Kay is a USA TODAY-bestselling author of more than thirty contemporary romances. She lives in Houston, Texas. To learn more about her, visit her Web site at www.patriciakay.com.

This book is dedicated, with love,

to all the wonderful readers who have written to me over

the years. Your letters and e-mails have meant so much.

Knowing that my books have brightened your lives or

helped you through a bad time is a gift I will always

treasure. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

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

Epilogue

Stephen Wells winced when he heard the unmistakable ring of his cell phone. Dammit. He’d meant to turn the blasted thing off before entering Jake Burrow’s office because he knew how much the old man hated interruptions. He especially hated cell phones.

Sure enough, Jake glared.

“Sorry,” Stephen said, digging the phone out of his pocket. He was about to switch it off when he saw the number displayed. Caroline? Giving Jake an apologetic look and a murmured, “I’ll just be a minute,” Stephen rose and walked out of the office.

“Hello?”

“Stephen? Thank God I found you.”

Although she was a year older than him, Caroline was his niece, the daughter of his older half-brother, Elliott. Stephen could hear the barely concealed panic in her voice, and he froze. All he could think was that something had happened to Elliott. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Daddy.”

Stephen couldn’t breathe.

“You’re not going to believe this, Stephen. He’s getting married!” With each word, her voice climbed higher.

Stephen blinked. Married? Elliott? That was impossible. “Where did you get that idea? Just who is he supposed to be marrying?” She had to be mistaken. To Stephen’s knowledge, Elliott hadn’t even dated anyone since the death of his wife fourteen months earlier.

“Where do you think I got that idea? From him! He called not five minutes ago to say he’s bringing this woman home with him.”

“I don’t—”

“And that’s not all. She’s younger than me!” Once again, her voice had climbed.

“Younger than you?” Caroline was thirty-four. Elliott was fifty-seven. “How do you know that?”

“Because Dad told me. Oh, he didn’t volunteer the information. I had to dig it out of him. And trust me, he wasn’t too keen about admitting it, either.”

Stephen didn’t know what to say.

“She’s obviously a gold digger,” Caroline said bitterly.

“Oh, c’mon, you’re jumping to conclusions.” But Stephen’s mind was spinning. When could Elliott have met this woman? And where? And why hadn’t he mentioned her to Stephen? “Just who is she, do you know?”

“Somebody he met on one of his business trips to Austin.” Austin was a five-hour drive from their southwest Texas ranch and Elliott, who had myriad business interests, traveled there often.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Stephen said softly. He’d known his brother was lonely since Adele’s death. Stephen missed her, too—she’d been a wonderful person—so he could imagine how Elliott felt. But…getting married? And so soon? To a woman so young? Stephen wanted to believe Elliott knew what he was doing, that this woman was worthy of his brother, that Elliott’s considerable fortune had had nothing to do with her willingness to become the second Mrs. Lawrence. Yet even as Stephen speculated, he felt guilty. Elliott was a good-looking, virile man in terrific shape. And fifty-seven wasn’t old by a long shot.

“You’ve got to come home, Stephen. He’s bringing her here tomorrow.”

“I can’t be there tomorrow. I’ll be back on Saturday.”

“I want you to be here when they get here. I’m going to need the moral support.”

“Look, Caroline, what’s the difference? Me being there or not being there? It’s not like they’re getting married tomorrow. Besides—”

“Besides, what?”

Stephen wanted to say his loyalty and sympathy lay with Elliott. If anyone deserved to be happy, it was him. But Stephen knew better. Caroline was upset enough. No sense making things worse. He chose his words carefully. “I just think we should reserve our judgment. Give your dad a break, you know?”

“A break! He’s obviously lost his mind! Anyway, I haven’t told you everything. She’s got a son. A son! And from what Dad said, he’s younger than Tyler.” Tyler was Caroline’s son. “I’m telling you, you’ve got to be here. You’re the one Dad listens to.” This last was said with an undertone of resentment.

Stephen stifled a sigh. He knew Caroline would give him no peace until he capitulated. And the truth was, he did think it might be a good idea to be there when Elliott and the woman and her son arrived, if only to act as a buffer between Caroline and the happy couple. Maybe he could seal the deal on the filly with Jake quickly and leave for home early in the morning. “All right,” he said with resignation, “I’ll do my best.”

But it took until noon the following day before the registration papers for the filly were ready and all the arrangements were made to ship the quarter horse out to the ranch the following week. Caroline hadn’t been happy when Stephen called to tell her it was impossible for him to get there before late afternoon.