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He chewed on a bite of pie, then washed it down with a drink of coffee, all the while studying her speculatively. “Which brings me back to my original question. Why are you looking to get married, and why me?”
“Because you’re safe, and you won’t demand anything from me.”
Her candid response seemed to surprise him. She hadn’t meant to be so blunt and truthful, but she didn’t regret her words. If they did marry, she’d be honest for the duration of their short-term relationship, and she’d expect the same from him in return, which meant she needed to be up-front with him now.
“My marriage wasn’t an ideal one,” she admitted, pushing her plate aside. “My husband was very controlling and manipulative, and when he died, his will stipulated that his brother Allen maintain control of the Double L until I remarried. Since I prefer to live alone, without a husband, that means I’ll never secure the ranch and cattle operation as mine. The Double L is Phoebe’s future, and with me barely making ends meet on the paltry monthly allowance Allen gives me, by the time she inherits the ranch there might not be anything left.”
“So you figure the best way for you to gain back control of the ranch and accounts is to get married?”
“Yes. Temporarily.” She had no desire to become emotionally involved with another man, or give up the freedom and independence she treasured. “All I’m asking for is one year of marriage.”
“That’s six months longer than I stay in any one place.”
She’d assumed as much, and was prepared to compensate him for his time. “I’m hoping I have the incentive to make your extended stay worth your while.”
His gaze dropped to her mouth, as intimate as a caress. “What kind of incentive?” he asked, his low, rich voice drizzling over her like warm honey.
There was that melting heat in his eyes again, and her entire body responded, glowing with expectation and need. “At the end of a year, I’ll give you the deed to one thousand acres of prime land in Montana.”
“Your parents’ land?” he guessed.
She nodded, hating to part with the property, but knowing her options were limited. “Yes.”
He blew out a stream of breath and rubbed at the back of his neck with a broad hand. “That’s quite an offer.”
But he hadn’t agreed. Yet. Feeling restless, Eden slid off the stool and rounded the counter into the kitchen to rinse off their dessert plates. The sink faced him, allowing her to keep an eye on him and gauge his response.
“I’d like to think of this as the barter system,” she said in a businesslike voice as she reached for their dishes. “One year of marriage in name only so I gain full control of the Double L in exchange for a deed to land in Montana. During our year of marriage you’d continue to work on the ranch as you are, but you’d live up at the main house for appearance’s sake. You can sleep in the downstairs guest room, and I’ll provide all your meals.”
He braced his arms on the counter. “In return for me playing the doting husband.”
She stacked their clean plates on the dish drainer. “Only when a convincing performance is required,” she said, wanting him to know that his husbandly duties wouldn’t be required on a full-time basis. “I know Allen will be skeptical of a sudden marriage, and I don’t doubt that he’ll ask around town about us, and stop by often.”
“And after a year?”
“We divorce, and go our separate ways.” She dried her hands on a dish towel, wishing her bargain didn’t sound so cold and calculating. “I don’t expect that you’d want to hang around any longer than that.”
Harsh laughter escaped him. “No, you’re right about that.” He stood and paced into the living room, a raw kind of energy pouring off him. “What about Phoebe?”
She knew what he was asking. How would she explain this unorthodox situation to her daughter? “She’ll know we’re married, of course. Just treat her the same way you do now, and I’ll do my best not to let her get attached to you.”
He moved to the window overlooking the ranch and scrubbed a hand down his face. “That would be for the best.”
Hope surged through her. “Then you’ll agree?”
Luke remained quiet, his body taut, as if he was struggling with deep, dark forces.
She knew what she was asking would change his way of life for a year, but he had to see the value of her proposal, for the both of them. Maybe he just needed time, and she could give him that. “Luke, I know this is very sudden and unexpected. Please, just take a few days and think about my offer.”
He turned back around and braced his hands on his lean hips, looking every inch a renegade. “And what will you do if I decline your proposition?”
She didn’t want to think about that, because he was the perfect man for the job. So, she lifted her chin determinedly and bluffed. “Then I’ll have no choice but to find another man who’ll appreciate my mutually beneficial offer.”
Two hours later, unable to concentrate on one of the suspense novels he liked to read at night before retiring to bed, Luke left his quiet apartment and followed the moon’s silvery glow toward the darkened barn. No matter how much distance he put between himself and the main house, Eden’s proposition pursued him, relentlessly dogging his heels, and preying on his mind like a plague.
Frustration snuck up on him, at her for enticing him with a chance at the freedom and independence that had eluded him for the past eight years, and at himself for wanting that land in Montana so badly.
But not at the cost of her reputation.
I’ll have no choice but to find another man who’ll appreciate my mutually beneficial offer.
Luke scowled at the moon, and stopped at the split-rail fence surrounding the paddock. Eden’s sassy reply didn’t seem to take her reputation into consideration. But then, he suspected her words had been a show of bravado, a dare to provoke him into agreeing to her outrageous, and very desirable offer.
A marriage in name only.
Laughing at the incongruity of that, he leaned against the fence, and propped the heel of his boot on the bottom rung. He gazed up at the main house, unable to imagine any healthy, red-blooded male agreeing to her marriage of convenience scheme. A year of living with Eden would surely test a man’s self-control, and his libido. Granted, she wasn’t offering her bed or her body as part of the deal. The guest bedroom downstairs would lessen temptation, but she obviously wasn’t taking into account the day-to-day intimacies that a husband and wife shared that would surely heighten their awareness of one another. Living in the same house meant constant contact with each other, and the risk of casual touches turning into burning, needy caresses.
He already found her too attractive for his peace of mind. And as their relationship currently stood, this evening proved that they were struggling to evade their attraction, and trying to ignore its existence.
Releasing a deep sigh, he reached into his shirt pocket for one of the hard cinnamon candies he favored in lieu of a cigarette since he’d quit smoking four years ago. Unwrapping the disc, he popped it into his mouth, welcoming the sharp sting of cinnamon on his tongue that curbed his craving for nicotine.
His craving for Eden wasn’t as easily appeased.
As if his thoughts had beckoned her, the light in her upstairs bedroom went on. A moment later, she walked up to the window, pushed aside the sheer curtains, and lifted the casing to allow fresh air into the room. The diaphanous drapes fell back into place, enabling him to see her silhouette as she bent her head and began releasing the buttons down the front of her dress.
Her hair tumbled over her shoulders, looking like burnished gold from the lamplight reflecting off the strands.
He told himself to go, but his feet wouldn’t move. He told himself to look away, but his eyes remained riveted on her shadowy outline, which was far more provocative than seeing her without the flimsy obstruction of the curtain. This ethereal view of her was soft, unfocused, and teasing. He found himself completely enthralled with this unveiling…and powerless to resist her.
When the button task was done, she shrugged her shoulders and the dress slid to her waist, and with a subtle shimmy of her hips it glided the rest of the way to the floor. Next came her bra, allowing him a profile glimpse of her lush curves before she walked out of sight.
Luke’s breath left him in a rush, and his body throbbed in startling awareness and need. He crunched into the hard cinnamon candy, but the fiery flavor only inflamed him more.
When she walked by the window again, she was dressed in a gauzy nightgown that reached her thighs. She climbed up onto a high poster bed, and turned off the lamp. Darkness enveloped Luke as well, and for as much as he’d learned to live a solitary existence, at the moment he wanted to trade in his lonely life for a real home, family, a wife.
He could have that with Eden, for a year. In exchange for land in Montana, which would go a long way in expediting his personal dreams of having his own spread, and the security of being his own boss. But for as much as he would gain, he couldn’t dismiss what Eden might lose if someone discovered his past and brought it to light. Without a doubt, scandal and outrage would erupt. Her own reaction to his deception wouldn’t be pleasant, either. It never was.
Eden was so sure of him, so trusting in believing that he was a good, honest, hardworking man. He’d like to think he was those things, and could be all that she needed. Eight years ago he could have been, before another woman had destroyed not only his reputation, but the course his future would take.
Always drifting. Always running. Always alone.
That land in Montana beckoned, as well as his freedom, and Luke struggled with his conscience. He thought of Eden’s parting remark that she would find someone else to accept her offer, and felt something deep within his gut twist at the thought of another man reaping the benefits of taking her for a wife for a year.
She had to be bluffing, provoking him. She’d told him to take a few days and think about her offer, and he’d do just that—not because he was considering accepting her wedding deal, but to give her time to realize just how crazy this harebrained scheme of hers really was. To realize that taking a husband wasn’t the solution to her problem with her brother-in-law.
CHAPTER THREE
IF she had a husband, Eden firmly believed her biggest problems on the Double L would be solved. With Allen unable to control the trust Bryce had set up, her bills would be paid on time, she’d be able to expand her cattle operation, and she’d even be able to indulge in a few luxuries for Phoebe.
Unfortunately, the man she’d chosen to fill the role of bridegroom wasn’t cooperating with her plans.
With a determined stroke of the mascara wand, Eden applied a coat to her lashes, then swiped a shade of shimmering peach across her lips. Taking a step back, she eyed her reflection in the bathroom mirror critically.
A smile lifted the corner of her mouth. “Not bad,” she murmured, pleased with the subtle transformation from her everyday, “au naturel” look, to chic and sophisticated. She’d never been one to wear a lot of makeup, but she had to admit that the basics highlighted her green eyes, defined her cheekbones, and made her lips look full, glossy and alluring.
She’d rolled her hair into the hot rollers her sister had given her a few years ago, but she’d never used before because she’d never had a reason, or an occasion, to primp. The end results of those curlers were soft waves that tumbled to her shoulders, adding to the sensual aura she’d created. She also wore a new pair of formfitting black jeans, a white blouse with a western design patterned in black piping with pearled snaps down the front, and her waist was cinched with a black-and-silver belt.
Her chin lifted confidently, matching the enthusiastic sparkle in her eyes. “This ought to make Luke sit up and take notice,” she said to her image in the mirror.
She’d given Luke a week to think about her proposition and accept her offer, and all she’d got for her patience and waiting was Luke reverting back to the polite, courteous hand she’d originally hired. He spent the long days out on the range until the sun set. When he rode back to the main ranch in the evenings, he avoided being alone with her, and didn’t encourage casual conversation. From what she’d learned from Jake, Luke was spending his nights down at The Silver Spur.
She found his evasive behavior exasperating, but a challenge as well. Her renegade cowboy had yet to see just how stubborn and persistent she could be.
Turning, she headed into her bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed to pull on her black leather heeled boots. She refused to put her pride on the line and beg for Luke to help her, but she had no qualms about using feminine wiles to prompt him into accepting something she knew he wanted, coveted even. The way his eyes had glimmered with interest when she’d mentioned that land in Montana, along with their attraction to one another, gave her hope that he only needed a little prompting to agree to her one-year proposition.
Tonight would tell, when she followed through on her bluff to find another candidate who would appreciate her profitable overture. For the first time since Bryce’s death, she was going out in public with the pretense of finding herself a man. There was only one man’s attention she sought, and with luck, and a little jealousy, she’d have him—for a year.
“Mom, is it almost time for you to take me to Ashley’s?”
Eden glanced up as her daughter entered her room, an overnight bag in hand, looking anxious to get to her best friend’s house where she was spending the night. At eight years old, Phoebe was sprouting like a weed and was taller than most of the girls in her third-grade class. Her legs were long and coltish, her body slender yet sturdy from riding her horse, and doing her share of chores around the ranch.
She wore the long sable hair she’d inherited from her father in a single braid down her back, and her wide hazel eyes sparkled with youthful bliss. Like any young girl who adored her daddy, Phoebe had been devastated when Bryce had died, but over the years she’d adapted to life without him, and it just being the two of them.
Smiling easily, Eden stood and crossed the room to the dresser. “We’ll leave in just a few minutes, honey-bunch.”
Phoebe dropped her bag on the floor and plopped down on the four-poster bed on her stomach. Propping her chin in her hands, she regarded Eden with a small measure of curiosity. “You sure look nice, and you smell pretty, too.”
Eden slipped on a pair of dangly silver earrings, and met Phoebe’s gaze in the mirror. “Thank you,” she said, certain there was more to come from her inquisitive daughter.
Phoebe didn’t disappoint her. “Are you going on a date?”
Eden was grateful that Phoebe didn’t sound opposed to the idea, but tonight’s quest didn’t really qualify as a date in the traditional meaning of the term. “No, not really a date,” she said, choosing her words carefully. “I’m just going out with a friend for the evening.”
Enthusiasm brightened her eyes. “A man friend?”
If Eden’s plan worked, she’d definitely land her man. “Yes, a man friend.”
Phoebe’s smile was both hopeful and yearning. “Will I get to meet him?”
Eden didn’t want to think of the complications of that…yet. “We’ll see,” she said, playing it safe by being vague. Coming back to the bed, she sat beside her daughter. She stroked a hand over the crown of her head, down the length of her soft, thick braid, and toyed with the end. “What do you think of Luke, Phoebs?” She needed to know, because it was important to her that Phoebe connected with Luke. There had been other hands she’d hired that her daughter hadn’t taken to.
Rolling to her back so she was looking upside-down at her mother, Phoebe shrugged. “I like him. He’s always really nice to me, and he shares his cinnamon candies with me.” She grinned impishly. “He told me where he keeps his secret stash of candies in the tack room, and told me I could have one any time I wanted.”
Eden laughed with amusement and relief. “He did, did he?”
Phoebe nodded, clearly won over by Luke’s simple but thoughtful gesture. “He also likes to play with Mouser, and has special treats for her, too. Yesterday I helped him make a soft bed for Mouser since she’s going to have her kittens soon.”
Eden wasn’t surprised to hear what a softy Luke was beneath that brooding facade of his. She knew he was a kind, gentle man, despite his attempt to keep everyone at arm’s length. Now, if she could just break through his frustrating reserve and convince him to agree to her bargain…
Hopefully, tonight’s performance would change his mind.
Luke wasn’t into drinking and carousing like most hands were, and preferred to keep to himself. In fact, he’d just recently, as of a week ago, started frequenting The Silver Spur in an attempt to avoid Eden in the evenings. Making himself scarce during the day was easy since the ranch and cattle occupied his time. Staying in his apartment at night left too much opportunity for Eden to visit him again, and plead her case. The time in between when he had no choice but to talk to her, he kept their conversation strictly business, and though she’d had ample opportunity to broach the issue of her offer, much to his relief she hadn’t.
A week had passed since Eden’s proposition, and he was beginning to think that she’d given up on her outrageous idea, and her threat to find someone else. While one part of him was grateful for the respite, another part worried about her future as it stood in her brother-in-law’s controlling hands.
Just a few days ago he’d ridden in early and overheard Eden in her office in the barn, arguing with Allen on the phone. She had creditors who were demanding payment on accounts that were running over thirty days, and she needed an increase in her monthly allowance to keep her accounts open. Judging by the angry way she’d slammed down the phone and the very unladylike oath she’d muttered, he’d surmised that Allen hadn’t acceded to her request.
Rolling his shoulders in an attempt to shake off the guilt preying on his conscience, Luke finished his first bottle of beer, then motioned to the burly man standing across the bar and ordered another. For the hundredth time, Luke told himself that Eden’s welfare wasn’t his concern. He was merely a hand who was doing his job, but he couldn’t help but feel culpable, since he knew he could help her out of her predicament.
Frustrated with his thoughts, he redirected his mind and attention to the people out on the dance floor. It was Saturday night, and the establishment was full and rocking. There was a lot of good-natured ribbing going on at nearby tables, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Although Luke found it amusing to watch the men flirt with the single ladies in hopes of getting lucky, and vice-versa, he wanted no part of the one-night-stand scene. A few women usually approached him to dance, or to attempt to draw him into conversation, but he’d politely refuse their company, preferring to be left alone.
After the first hour, word usually spread that the dark-haired cowboy at the bar was a solitary man, which only served to heighten speculation about his reputation, and intrigue women even more.
If they knew the truth about his past, they wouldn’t be so eager to attract his attention.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” a deep voice drawled from a table next to the bar. “Is that Eden Lowe?”
“Sure does look like Eden,” another man confirmed, his voice infused with masculine interest.
A low whistle expressed male appreciation. “Yep, that’s her,” a third added. “And if I do say so myself, she sure is lookin’ mighty fine, boys.”
At the mention of Eden’s name, Luke’s entire body grew taut. Unable to believe that she’d venture to such a rowdy establishment when she didn’t strike him as the type to patronize the local bar, he squinted toward the entrance of The Silver Spur, struggling to see through the haze of stale cigarette smoke hanging in the air and the crush of people shuffling across the sawdust-strewn floor.
He saw a cloud of russet curls first, the rich shade enough to verify that his lady boss had, indeed, ventured into rowdy territory. As the crowd alternately shifted and cleared, he caught a full-length glimpse of her, and his mouth went dry.
She looked absolutely stunning. And sexier than the fantasies that had plagued him the past week. Gone were the fresh face, efficient braid, and conservative clothes she wore to work the ranch on a daily basis. Her body-hugging black jeans and blouse showcased her voluptuous curves, and had most of the men in the establishment doing double takes. He was no better, considering he couldn’t pry his gaze from her, either.
She glanced around, saw him, and a sultry smile lifted the corner of her mouth. She started through the crowd toward the bar at a leisurely stroll, stopping occasionally to talk to someone she knew, then continued on. A good-looking cowboy lightly grabbed her wrist to stop her, and just when Luke would have vaulted across the room to intervene Eden laughed at something he said and seemingly chided him good-naturedly for whatever comment he’d made. The other man grinned, and let her go.
The deep breath Luke took did little to calm the frustrated anger skirting the edge of his temper.
“I wonder what she’s doing here at The Silver Spur,” one of the men at the table behind Luke speculated. “She hasn’t been here for years, from what I know.”
Luke took a long drink of his beer and narrowed his gaze on Eden, wanting to know the same thing.
“Maybe she’s lookin’ for a good time,” another at the table suggested, a leer in his voice.
“Oh, I’d be happy to show her a good time,” the third one drawled, cocky and self-assured.
Luke’s blood began to boil and the hand resting on the surface of the bar curled into a tight fist. He turned his head and glared at the young men, but the trio at the table had their gazes trained on Eden, and wolfish grins pasted on their faces.
He swore beneath his breath. Did Eden even realize what a pretty little hen she was in this den of foxes? Before the night was over, if she wasn’t careful she’d be gobbled up.
“Good evening, Miz Lowe,” one of the men at the table said as she neared. His gaze took a slow trip down the length of her, his interest obvious.
“Hello, Tom,” she acknowledged pleasantly. “How are Mary Jane and that new baby girl of yours doing?”
The tip of the young man’s ears turned red at the mention of the woman and child he had waiting for him at home. “They’re doing just fine.”
