Janelle Denison - The Wedding Deal

Eden’s voice faltered as she struggled to find the right words.

Luke swallowed hard, and sympathetic to her discomfort, he supplied, “Have an affair?”

She snatched her hand back, shock enveloping her features. “Oh, goodness, no!” Then she laughed, as if she found his wrong assumption amusing. “I don’t want us to have an affair, I want us to get married.”

“Married?” Luke repeated incredulously, feeling as though he’d just been prodded with a fiery branding iron. His entire body burned. He’d been prepared to divert a seduction, not a marriage proposal!

To have and to hold…

Their marriage was meant to last—

and they have the gold rings to prove it!

To love and to cherish…

But what happens when their promise

to love, honor and cherish is put to the test?

From this day forward…

Emotions run high as husbands and wives discover

how precious—and fragile—their wedding vows are….

Will true love keep them together—forever?

Marriages meant to last!

Part-Time Marriage (#3680)

by Jessica Steele

The Wedding Deal

Janelle Denison

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To my nephews, Corey, Tanner and Brendan. May you all grow to be strong, handsome heroes no girl can resist.

As always, to Don, the perfect hero.

Thank you for being mine.

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

PRESSING a hand to her stomach to still the batch of butterflies swarming in her belly, Eden Lowe glanced out her kitchen window toward the bachelor apartment above the garage for the third time in the past five minutes, hoping to catch a glimpse of the dark-haired, lean-hipped cowboy she’d recently employed as a hand at the Double L—a man who could be her salvation, if she could just convince him to agree to her daring, and very brazen proposition.

An hour and a half ago she’d been down in her office finishing up paperwork when Luke Bodene had ridden up after spending a full day out in the North pasture mending a split fence. She’d deliberately waited for him, and when he’d walked into the barn, she’d exited her office.

As always, he’d been excruciatingly polite. He’d acknowledged her with a courteous nod of his head, and touched the tips of his long fingers to the brim of his broken-in Stetson that covered pitch-black hair in need of a haircut. The silky-looking strands layered past his ears, and brushed the collar of the dusty, sweat-stained chambray shirt that molded to wide shoulders, a muscular chest, and a lean torso honed by pure physical labor.

“Good evening, Ms. Lowe,” he’d murmured cordially, his voice a low, velvet rumble that matched the flickering warmth in his rich, golden-brown eyes.

Her pulse had leapt, as it seemed to do whenever they made eye contact, or he spoke to her. Outwardly, she’d maintained her professional composure. First and foremost she was his boss, and it was important to her that her hands knew she was the one in control of her ranch and employees.

“Luke, would you mind coming up to the kitchen in the main house when you get the chance? I need to speak with you.”

For a moment, his jaw clenched and his eyes seemed to turn granite hard. Then an odd look of resignation had eased across his expression. “I need to take care of Diablo after the long day he put in,” he said of the gelding he’d brought with him the day he’d drifted onto the Double L and asked if she needed an extra hand. Like most cowboys, his horse seemed to be his best friend, but this man seemed more of a loner than most. “And I’d like to get cleaned up myself, unless you need to speak with me immediately?”

There was the slightest defensive edge to his voice, as if he expected a reprimand of some sort. She’d smiled to alleviate the sudden tension swirling around him. “No, go ahead and see to Diablo and yourself. That’ll give me a chance to shower and change, as well.”

As soon as the words escaped, she’d wished them back, especially when she caught the curious upward quirk to his brow. The last thing she wanted him to think was that she was primping for him—but she couldn’t deny that when she extended her unorthodox offer to Luke she wanted to be dressed in something other than old, faded jeans, a wrinkled blouse, and work boots.

He’d turned, and she’d watched him head toward his horse’s stall, her gaze unerringly drawn to the way his soft worn jeans paid homage to his toned buttocks and hard thighs. He was, undeniably, a breathtakingly attractive man, and much to her dismay she found she wasn’t immune to his good looks, his unconsciously sexy swagger, and those bedroom eyes fringed in thick lashes that seemed to hold an equal dose of temptation, and something far more reserved.

But for all his appeal, he’d never made an improper advance toward her, unlike some of the men she’d hired in the past, inaccurately believing their boss to be a lonely widow in need of male attention. No, despite his remote attitude, Luke Bodene was a gentleman, and that’s exactly why she’d chosen him to help her out of a very delicate predicament.

If he’d ever show up!

Chewing on her bottom lip, she cast a quick glance at the clock on the wall. Down in the barn she’d been filled with confidence, but with every second that ticked by with no sign of Luke, her fortitude wavered. The pot roast dinner she’d painstakingly prepared warmed in the oven, and if she waited much longer the meat would dry out and taste like shoe leather. If he was the kind of man who judged a woman by her cooking skills, in another half hour she wouldn’t stand a chance of impressing him with her culinary talents.

A sudden bout of dread and apprehension filled her, making her question the insane, but viable plan that had taken up residence in her head a few days ago. Uncertainties assailed her, yet she refused to allow any doubts to obstruct her goals, or her chance at an independent future.

She had no choice but to proposition a man she’d known less than a month. A gorgeous, brooding, solitary cowboy who suited her purpose perfectly. Now that she’d finally gathered the nerve to state her arrangement to him, she could only hope Lucas Bodene would appreciate and accept the generous payment she was willing to offer in exchange for his services.

One year was all she was asking. Twelve months of a marriage in name only while he continued to work her small cattle operation, and played the part of her husband in the eyes of Maddox, Texas. Once he fulfilled his end of their wedding deal, he’d collect the handsome parcel of land in Montana that had belonged to her parents, they’d file for divorce, and he’d continue on his way, and out of her life. A desperate plan for an equally desperate need to secure her and her daughter’s future and regain control of her life, and the ranch her brother-in-law held just out of her full reach.

According to a stipulation in her late husband’s will, her brother-in-law Allen Lowe had every right to exert his authority over the ranch that had become Eden’s livelihood, since he’d been granted control over the Double L’s finances until she remarried. For the past two-and-a-half years since her husband Bryce’s death, and the stunning announcement that he hadn’t trusted her with the cattle operation they’d built together, Allen had gloried in holding his power over her head. He never let her forget that he maintained ultimate influence over every decision she made, every penny she spent. More times than not, he thwarted her attempts to expand or buy extra supplies, just to prove that he was, indeed, in control.