The Marine's E-Mail Order Bride (Heroes of Chance Creek Book 3) Read online

  After five or six weeks of bantering and feeling her out to make sure there wasn’t a boyfriend lurking in the wings, Zane finally asked if she’d like to try to spend the weekend together if they could arrange time off simultaneously.

  Julie hadn’t answered for three days.

  By the time he received her next text, he’d beaten himself up ten ways from Sunday for being an ass and a fool. He wasn’t sure if he’d jumped the gun or if Julie thought they were still simply pals from boot camp. Her answer explained everything.

  “You do know I’m gay, right?”

  He hadn’t had a clue. It was his turn not to answer out of embarrassment that he’d read the situation so wrong, but she’d called and kept calling until he finally picked up.

  “Seriously, Hall? You thought I was hitting on you?”

  “I hoped you were.” He’d tried for a light tone but wasn’t sure it had worked. Their correspondence had tapered off, and he’d been back to the starting point. With only six months left to beat Heloise’s deadline, he’d decided a fake wife was the way to go. He couldn’t risk any more surprises.

  His new wife-wanted ad made it clear the marriage would be a business transaction plain and simple. Unfortunately, the answers he’d received were enough to turn his hair white—until he got a matter-of-fact note from Kenna North, mountain climber, whose father obviously felt the need to meddle in her life the way his Great Aunt Heloise felt the need to meddle in his.

  In order to secure a substantial inheritance, I need a fake husband for a period of six months, most of which time I’ll be out of the country on climbing expeditions. My demands are few. I need proof of the marriage, a water-tight pre-nup, and your agreement to divorce without contest when the six months are up. If you can keep your demands similarly reasonable, we may be able to make a deal.

  He had kept his demands as reasonable as possible. Six weeks on his family’s ranch to establish that she was indeed his willing fiancée, before a Thanksgiving wedding attended by all his kin. After that she was free to leave for her next climbing trip. An appearance or two when she was back in the country until the six months were up, by which time his aunt would have signed over the deed on the ranch to him and his brothers.

  It was all very simple. Cut and dried. Just the way he wanted his love life from now on until he had more time to dedicate to the process. The next time he proposed to a woman, he’d have lived with her for at least a year, he promised himself—long enough to know all her secrets. No one would catch him off guard again.

  The woman framed in the motel room doorway had him reevaluating all his plans. This wasn’t how he had pictured Kenna at all. From the little her photo had shown he’d imagined her as tall, muscular and matter-of-fact. What happened to her spiky haircut? Not that he missed it. Not one bit.

  “Hi, I’m Zane Hall,” he said finally.

  “I’m Kenna North.” She peered up at him, seeming as surprised at his appearance as he was at hers. He’d thought the photograph he sent her was a fairly good one, but maybe he’d been wrong.

  “Can I come in?”

  She hesitated, her gaze flicking over him. Zane stilled. Was she judging him? What would she do if he wasn’t up to snuff? His family was expecting to meet her tomorrow and he didn’t have a backup plan if she cancelled the deal. They didn’t know she had flown in today to spend the night in town. Kenna had demanded a grace period to make sure he wasn’t an axe murderer, as she put it, or otherwise unsuitable to masquerade as her husband temporarily. It had seemed like a reasonable request at the time.

  Now all he wanted to know was how soon he could get her into his bed.

  Zane caught himself. Wait… no. That wasn’t what this deal was about. He was done rushing into relationships. In fact, Kenna herself had been all too clear that touching each other was off-limits, save for the few kisses they’d need to share in public to fool his family.

  He was suddenly looking forward to those kisses.

  “How about we go for a walk instead? I’ve been sitting all morning,” she said. “Let me get my purse.”

  “Okay.” He put his hat back on and waited, giving himself a mental talking-to. Ten seconds in Kenna’s company and he was ready to renege on all the promises he’d made himself? Kenna was a very temporary bride and she was entirely unsuitable for him to pursue. She had made it clear her life was mountain climbing. She traveled the world and came home just long enough to set up her next expedition. He was very clear that he wanted a wife who’d make a future with him here on the ranch. No more detours down romantic paths that couldn’t work out. From now on he was waiting until he found a woman who wanted to marry and settle down right here as much as he did. “How were your flights?” he asked when Kenna returned. He looked her over again as she shut and locked the motel room door. Everything about her was overtly feminine. How had a tiny thing like her climbed all those mountains?

  “Just fine.” She seemed as nervous as he was as she led the way toward the stairs.

  “Where would you like to walk?” he asked.

  “Can you recommend a place?”

  “I can show you downtown.”

  “Sure.”

  They were silent as they took the stairs down to the street, and Zane searched for something to say, distracted by her figure as she negotiated the steps in front of him. There was something soft and sweet about her that made him feel protective of her—which was silly. This woman had explored some of the most dangerous places on earth. “I’m glad you’re here.” He was surprised to find he really meant it. He was glad she was here. In fact, he was looking forward to getting to know her a whole lot better. He frowned. Damn it, there he went again.

  “I’m glad I’m here too.” She shot him a look over her shoulder. “I mean, it’s strange but it’s… better than I expected.”

  Was that a blush tracing over her cheeks? Zane’s body responded with a throb of interest. “Strange because…”

  She shrugged. “Meeting like this. Lying to people about the fact we don’t even know each other.”

  Uh-oh. Was she having second thoughts? “I’ve done stranger things in the Marines. I’m sure you must have found yourself in some tight spots in the mountains.”

  She was silent a moment. “Oh… of course. The mountains. It’s just.” She waved a hand. “Marriage. That’s a pretty big deal, isn’t it?”

  When he didn’t answer, she glanced up again. They reached the bottom of the stairs and Zane led the way toward the street. “It is to me,” he finally said.

  “Really? Why did you agree to this, then?”

  He frowned as they walked side by side. “Same reason you did. I want my inheritance.”

  “Oh. Right. Of course.” She shrugged. “Sorry. Jet lag.”

  “Neither of us likes to lie, right? We’ve just been forced into it by our circumstances.”

  “You’re right; I hate lying. Especially about marriage.”

  Taken aback by her vehemence, Zane digested this in silence, turning left at the corner in order to avoid the busier roads. He didn’t want to risk one of his brothers driving by and spotting him with Kenna. They needed this chance to sync up their stories before he took her home.

  Since he’d only been back in town for a week, himself, normally he’d have taken the opportunity to analyze the changes in Chance Creek during his long absence. Today his attention was squarely on Kenna, though. In her e-mails she had struck him as the most practical of women. He hadn’t expected her to have qualms. Or to care about marriage.

  “I always hoped I’d get married… for real,” she confessed, keeping her eyes on the sidewalk. “I never dreamed I’d be faking it.”

  Her vulnerability pierced his heart. He’d never dreamed he’d be faking it, either. He had always seen himself as a family man, like his father. Recent events had made him wonder if he’d ever get to play that role.

  “You’ll marry again,” he said and frowned at the stab of disquiet his words had caused him.
At the moment, he didn’t want to think of Kenna with anyone. Except him. He shook his head at his inability to shift his thoughts about her to a platonic place. Hadn’t he learned anything from his experience with Julie? He didn’t know this woman. He couldn’t make any judgments about her.

  “I never thought I’d marry more than once,” she said quietly.

  She could have sucker-punched him and it wouldn’t have shocked him more. Kenna wasn’t at all the hard-nosed, unfeeling woman he’d chalked her up to be. She was a true romantic.

  She was looking for love.

  Well, hell, so was he. He wanted to be married. He wanted to start a family, just like his brothers were doing. It was Julie’s fault he’d put all of that off.

  Had he given up too soon? The situation with Julie was one to laugh at, really—not one to make him turn his back on his dreams.

  He looked Kenna over again.

  Maybe he had given up too soon.

  “What do we do next?” she asked.

  He had to take a second to get his bearings. Do next? He could think of a lot of things he’d like to do next, but he couldn’t suggest any of them to this delicate nymph. “I guess we get to know each other better.”

  Chapter Two

  ‡

  Storm wanted to get to know Zane better—a lot better. But how did you do that in the space of a single afternoon?

  Walking sedately through the outskirts of the little town wasn’t telling her much of anything. She knew he’d had a career in the military over a decade long, so she supposed he couldn’t be a quitter. He held himself ramrod straight, which told her he was confident, but there was a hint of a sense of humor in the way he smiled at her that assured her he knew how to have fun. Still, that wasn’t enough. She wanted to know everything about Zane Hall. She could barely keep herself from staring at him, and the butterflies in her stomach whirled every time he returned her gaze.

  He pointed out landmarks to her as they went. The barber shop where he’d had his hair cut as a boy. A corner store where he’d bought comic books.

  The first time their hands brushed as they walked, she felt a little thrill. The second time she wondered if that touch was deliberate. She slid a glance under her lashes at the man beside her only to find him looking back at her. A knowing smile curved his mouth and her breath caught in her throat. Was he flirting with her?

  Their fingertips touched again and just for a second—a space of time so short she thought she must have imagined it—his fingers tangled with hers and gave her a little tug. She bit her lip as a jolt of desire ripped through her.

  He was flirting with her.

  Searching for something to say to cover her confusion, she nearly laughed with relief when they turned another corner and met up with a teenage boy walking two golden retriever puppies on a leash. Storm ducked down quickly and let the puppies sniff her hand. They practically fell over each other to butt her palm with their noses. She ruffled their fur, hoping that would give her the time she needed to figure out this latest turn of events. When she’d agreed to take Kenna’s place she’d figured it would be a chore to pose as her boss. Zane had changed her mind in a heartbeat. Six weeks pretending to be his fiancée? Staying close to him? Holding hands? Maybe… kissing him?

  Hell, yeah. She could do that.

  Would he want to take things even further, she wondered, burying her face in the first puppy’s fur. Just for the sake of authenticity of course—so they’d really know each other. She stifled a giggle. God, she was bad. There was no way she was going to sleep with Kenna’s fake husband. It was absolutely out of the question.

  Zane was chatting with the dogs’ owner, thank goodness, so he hadn’t noticed how hard she was blushing again. She couldn’t help imagining what Zane’s body would be like. How he would touch her, what it would be like to make love…

  She stifled a groan. She couldn’t even think like this. Zane was off limits. He was just a job.

  “You don’t mind us petting them, do you?” Zane was asking the boy.

  “No, that’s okay.” Zane crouched down beside her. “Just watch out—Lance is a…” The teenager laughed when one of the puppies jumped right up on Zane. “He’s a climber.”

  “He sure is.” Zane tousled the dog’s fur and scratched behind his ears until the puppy was in a paroxysm of happiness. Lance licked Zane’s face while the other puppy tried to find a way to join his friend. Dancing back he leaped up and bowled Zane over. Zane sat down hard on the sidewalk and laughed. “They’re a handful.”

  “Sorry. Ben, get down. Ben!”

  You can always tell what a man’s like by the way he treats his pets. Storm blinked when her father’s voice rang through her mind. When had Mitch said that? One day when she was eight or nine and they’d been walking along West Cliff Drive, coming home from surfing. They’d seen a man be cruel to a dog and Mitch had intervened, first filming the incident on his waterproof camera, then threating to send the movie to Animal Welfare. That was her father all over, champion of the weak.

  “No problem, don’t worry about it,” Zane said. “They’re good dogs, yes they are.” As he rubbed and petted both of them, crooning a kind of baby talk they seemed to love, Storm’s heart melted. If you could tell a lot about a man by the way he treated pets, then Zane was a caring, happy, friendly man.

  The kind of man she’d always wanted to meet.

  Stop it, she told herself sternly. She didn’t need a friendly man. She needed one who stepped up and took responsibility when the chips were down.

  Twelve years in the Marines, a little voice said. Didn’t that suggest Zane could be responsible when the situation called for it?

  She wasn’t sure what happened next. One minute both puppies were climbing all over Zane. The next minute Lance spotted a Corgi being walked across the street, tugged free of his collar and made a break for it.

  Instantly, Zane leaped to his feet, spilling Ben to the sidewalk. Before Storm could call out, Zane had given chase. He caught up to Lance just as a truck screeched to a halt to avoid hitting the puppy. The driver slammed a hand on his horn. Zane stood his ground, scooped Lance up and gave him a once over before turning to come back.

  “That’s the second time he’s gotten free,” the teenager said, hurrying to meet him. “Lance, what are you thinking?”

  Zane helped the boy get the dog’s collar back on. “See, here’s where it’s defective. You’d better get him a new one before you take him out again.”

  “I will.” The teen pet Lance a couple more times, as if to prove to himself his dog was really all right. “Thanks. I’m going to take them home.”

  “Sounds like a good plan.” Zane turned back to Storm as the boy walked back the way he had come. “Sorry about that. Should we get some lunch?”

  Sorry about that? The man was apologizing for what he’d done? She could only nod. She’d gotten her answer. Zane was responsible. He wasn’t afraid to put himself in danger if it meant protecting someone—or something—else. He wasn’t at all like Todd.

  “You could have gotten hurt.”

  “Nah. There’s not much traffic in Chance Creek.”

  All it takes is one car, she wanted to say, but didn’t. He didn’t want her to make a big deal out of it. Brave, responsible, caring and humble.

  A dangerous combination.

  “Look, we shouldn’t eat at a restaurant since you’re not supposed to be here yet. How about I walk you back to your motel and go grab some takeout. There’s a new place that’s half Mexican, half Afghan food. Fila’s. It’s pretty good.” He took her hand as if it was the most normal thing in the world and led the way. Storm allowed herself to appreciate the feel of a warm, strong male hand wrapped around hers. His palm was calloused from work and the size of his hand made her feel delicate. She fought an urge to lean against him and increase the intimacy of the gesture. She didn’t know how a man she’d just met could affect her so deeply, and she tried to match a word to her emotions. She’d been at
tracted to men before, of course, but she had never felt such raw hunger for one. She wanted more of him—much more.

  Lust, she thought. This is lust. Pure, unbridled, unstoppable lust. The combination of Zane’s strength and kindness had touched off a firestorm of desire in her she didn’t know how to quench. From the glances he shot at her from time to time, she’d say she wasn’t the only one affected by the touch of their hands.

  They didn’t speak much as they made their way back to the motel and up the stairs to the second floor.

  “Kenna, can I ask you a question?” Zane stopped outside the door to her room.

  “Of course.” No matter where her gaze rested, the Marine was fascinating, from his direct gaze, to the curve of his smile to the hollow at the base of his throat.

  “When you realized what you had to do to get your inheritance, what did you feel?”

  Storm searched for an answer. Kenna had been furious, of course, but she couldn’t say that to Zane, not when the way he was looking at her told her he too was struggling against a current of desire.

  “You know what I felt?” he went on when she didn’t reply, and his deep, warm voice touched off a new wave of want within her. “Relief. I wanted to marry anyway, but I was beginning to think I was the only one in the world who felt that way. The guys in my unit acted like marriage was a death sentence. Even the women I met seemed to think that.” He shrugged. “You’d think no one believed in marriage anymore. I do, though. I’ve always known exactly what I want. To get my family’s ranch back, to fall in love with a beautiful woman, and to start a family with her. When I heard Heloise’s conditions for inheriting the ranch, I thought, ‘Well, now I’ve got an excuse for going out and getting a wife.’” He laughed, but it was a bitter sound. “I’ve never told anyone that.” He looked away and the brim of his hat hid his face from view for a moment. When he turned back toward her his gaze was direct and searching. “What about you? Have you ever wanted something like that?”