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

  She’d done her best to keep the conversation mostly about him, deflecting his questions when they got too difficult to answer. She knew a lot about Kenna’s climbing expeditions, having helped to plan them and edit the papers she wrote about them. She’d seen thousands of photographs of every trip Kenna had been on, but she’d never done more than some moderate hiking herself, and she didn’t want to trip herself up.

  From time to time, Zane touched her hand again, and another wave of raw desire crashed through her body. She’d never felt such an insatiable craving for a man. She knew she should worry about the future, but she found it hard to think of anything but the present.

  He left when the sun was low in the sky, saying he had to be home for dinner or his brothers would want to know what had kept him away. She walked him to the door wrapped in her robe.

  “I’ll be honest—I never thought things would go like this.” He let his gaze slide over her again, his appreciation all too clear. Storm knew exactly what he meant. She hadn’t expected this either. “I’ll pick you up at ten tomorrow morning,” Zane went on. “My family thinks you’re coming in on a plane. I’ve had a hell of a time dissuading them from coming along to greet you at the airport, but I told them you wanted a few minutes alone with me before they swamped you.”

  “Okay. I’ll be ready.” She wished he could spend the night. Already she was second-guessing herself. It wasn’t that she regretted what they’d done. She didn’t. She just knew it couldn’t last, so maybe it would have been better never to have been with him at all.

  He leaned against the doorframe a moment, searching her gaze before he reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Don’t overthink this. I told you, it will all be okay. I’ll see you tomorrow first thing.” He leaned down to press a kiss to her mouth. When he pulled back, he chuckled. “Damn, Storm, you’re a hell of a woman. I’d be honored to have you as my wife.”

  She swallowed hard as the quick grin she’d already grown to like so much returned to his face. She’d be honored to have him as a husband. A strong, handsome man who’d had the guts and determination to serve his country for over a decade? A man who’d go to such lengths to ensure the ranch he loved stayed in his family? A man who saved helpless puppies from certain death?

  He was the polar opposite of child-like Todd.

  “Thank you,” she managed to say, wishing she could come up with something wittier. In a few short hours Zane had made her a believer again in men and marriage.

  He saluted her. “Until tomorrow. Sweet dreams tonight.”

  “You, too. Good-bye.”

  She waited until he’d disappeared from view down the stairs, whistling, before she went inside, closed the door again and sank to the floor, dropping her head in her hands.

  She wanted Zane more than she’d ever wanted a man in her life.

  Too bad he could never be hers.

  Chapter Three

  ‡

  “It’s strange being home, isn’t it?” Zane’s twin, Austin, said to him later that night. They were sitting on the back porch of Crescent Hall, both wearing jackets against the chill in the September air. “Feeling any qualms about leaving the service?”

  “Some.” That was to be expected, though. The Marines had been his life for twelve years. He was proud as heck of the time he’d served, and he wouldn’t give up a minute of it, but going home to Montana to ranch the property his forebears had carved out over a hundred years ago had always been his number one dream. His childhood seemed impossibly idyllic now. He and his brothers had lived and breathed cattle ranching under the supervision of their father, Aaron Hall, every day of their lives until Zane was seventeen. He’d thought he’d go on living right there forever—until his father’s sudden death.

  “The strangest part about coming home again for me was that Dad wasn’t here to meet me.” Austin took a swig from his bottle of beer and stared into the darkness beyond the porch lights.

  Zane was too used to his twin reading his thoughts to be surprised at Austin’s words. When the aneurysm struck down their father, their whole world had turned upside down. Completely unexpected, his passing left a hole in their family none of them knew how to fill. Seven days after his death, with the anguish of Aaron’s funeral still fresh in their hearts, a knock came on the front door that overturned things again.

  Zane had been halfway down the stairs when his mother answered it. The man standing on the front porch was almost as familiar as his father. Uncle Zeke had worked the ranch alongside Aaron, and was a daily presence in Zane’s life, living as he did in a clapboard house on a separate parcel that bounded the property. Zeke had never been talkative and he certainly wasn’t a cheerful man, but Zane hadn’t minded that. With the self-absorption of a teenager, he’d never given Zeke much thought at all.

  He realized right away that day something had changed. His mother must have too, because she stepped back without offering Zeke a greeting, the door still open wide.

  “You know why I’m here,” Zeke had said.

  Something held Zane on the stairs when he wanted to go stand beside his mother. He didn’t know what was happening. He just knew it wasn’t good.

  “Zeke—”

  His uncle ignored Zane’s mother’s plea.

  “I’ll give you a week. That’s it. I’ve waited long enough.”

  A week? Zane remembered his confusion at the time. A week for what? To mourn their father? To get back to work?

  But already the truth was creeping over him.

  A week to leave.

  “Zeke, no!” His mother’s voice was thick with tears. Zane had gripped the bannister so hard he thought he’d snap it, but he’d been raised to show the man respect. He didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know how to stop the nightmare unfolding in front of him.

  “One week.” Zeke put a foot on the threshold and Zane’s mother shrunk back. “I’ve never said one word about the injustice of it. Now it’s my turn to live in the Hall.”

  Only when his uncle turned to go had Zane spotted his cousin Darren standing behind him. He’d never forget the look on Darren’s face.

  Pure triumph.

  Even now the memory had him balling his hands into fists.

  “It feels good to be back, though,” Austin said, interrupting his thoughts. “It keeps surprising me how it’s different, but at the same time it’s like nothing’s changed now that we’ve gotten the place fixed up again.”

  Zane knew what his brother meant. Zeke and Darren had strutted around the place like a pair of peacocks during the family’s last week there, acting as if they couldn’t wait to run the place once Zane, his brothers and his mother packed their things and travelled to Florida to stay with Zane’s aunt.

  As soon as they were gone, however, Zeke and Darren showed their true colors. They let the place go. Darren moved out when the two of them quarreled a few years later. Zeke couldn’t keep up with the work, and by the time he passed away the ranch had fallen into ruin.

  “You and Mason did an excellent job,” Zane answered his brother.

  “All those years seemed like a long time when I was away, but now it feels like I never left. Not that I’m wishing away my time in the Army.”

  “Of course not.” Although Zane knew Austin’s last tour had been hard.

  Once they moved in with their aunt, it had soon become obvious she didn’t have room in her small house for four teenage boys. He’d never forget the day his older brother, Mason, called them together and told them his plan. Enlist in the service and make his own way in the world. It had made sense to Zane—to all of them. He and Austin had enlisted too, and Colt had followed as soon as he was old enough.

  “I’ll never forget the day Mason called and told us Crescent Hall was ours again,” Austin said, breaking into his thoughts.

  “Me, neither.”

  Six months ago, when Mason had summoned them all to a four-way video call to tell them Zeke had passed away and the ranch was theirs agai
n, Zane had been so shocked he hadn’t known what to say. It turned out Zeke had never changed his will to leave the place to Darren. His old will stipulated the ranch reverted to their Great Aunt Heloise on Zeke’s death, and she’d decided to pass it to Zane and his brothers.

  He wondered what Darren thought about that. He’d never shown much interest in the ranching operation but he was married now, with a passel of kids of his own, and he must have wanted the house, at least.

  Of course, there were certain conditions Zane and his brothers had to meet to get the spread. He shook his head. Any sane men would have run when they heard them, but the prize was Crescent Hall, one of the oldest ranches in Chance Creek, Montana. You didn’t run from that.

  Fix up the ranch and Hall—the three story, gray gothic mansion that gave the spread its name. Stock the ranch with enough cattle to make it a going concern. Get married and produce at least one heir among the four of them—all within the space of one year. Those last two conditions had caused quite a stir among his brothers.

  “Can’t believe I’m married, either,” Austin said, right on cue.

  Zane had to laugh. “Can’t believe I’m about to be.”

  “I’m glad you’ve found the one,” Austin said.

  “Yeah.” Zane took a drink from his beer, wishing it was that easy. As far as he and Kenna had taken things today—Storm, he corrected himself—he couldn’t fool himself into thinking they’d live happily ever after just like that. His thoughts might have gone straight toward the long term, but that didn’t mean hers had. For all he knew she saw him as a holiday fling. She’d talked a good game, but maybe that was all it was—talk. He took another drink. He had no doubt Storm would haunt his dreams tonight.

  Three times they’d been together—each time better than the last. Already he wanted her again. This couldn’t be some short-term thing.

  He should have said something to Storm about it, but what? Hey, I’ve known you for an afternoon and now I’d like to marry you? He was sure that would have gone over well. Besides, they were getting married soon. He couldn’t be the only one wondering if the terms of that wedding would change between now and then.

  He’d better take this one day at a time, like he’d done with everything else since he’d learned they could inherit Crescent Hall. Heloise and her demands. He shook his head. She sure had him and his brothers jumping. They’d pitched in the money it had taken to get the ranch up and running again. Mason and Austin, who’d left their branches of the service sooner than he had, managed to fix up the barns, stables, outbuildings and the Hall itself. They’d stocked the ranch with cattle, horses and equipment to run it right. They’d both found wives, per Heloise’s instructions, and Mason would be a father in March. They’d learned that Colt had a son, as well, from a teenage fling. Colt didn’t know about his son yet—he was out of communication due to his current mission with the Air Force.

  All that was left was for Zane and Colt to marry before Heloise’s deadline. Colt had stated right from the start he didn’t intend to leave the Air Force to ranch, but he’d promised to do his part anyway and get hitched.

  Despite all his worries, contentedness filled Zane when he thought it all over. Family. He knew now it was all about family. The men he’d worked with were a kind of family too, but his career had kept him rootless, and he ached to build something permanent. He ached for the land he’d grown up on, the business he’d learned from the time he could walk. He longed to bring up his own family there and teach his own sons the way his father had taught him. He wanted to be surrounded by those who loved the ranch as much as he did—whose goals matched his.

  He wanted a wife, too. A wife just like Storm. As soon as he’d gotten near her today, it had been all he could do not to wrap his fists in that hair of hers and tug her in close. He’d wanted to breathe in her California sun-kissed scent. He’d wanted to bury himself in that lithe, sweet body and forget all about the past.

  He’d done it too. He couldn’t believe it, but he had.

  Three times.

  Was Storm thinking of him now? Was she wondering all the same things about him he was wondering about her? It was more than just her body that enticed him. It was her desire for a home and family, and to create a life together with a husband. He’d begun to doubt women like her even existed. It was exhilarating to find out he was wrong.

  Is that how she thought of him? He remembered how she’d clung to him when he’d pulled back from his last kiss. He shifted uncomfortably as his brother spoke again. “What’s Kenna like?”

  “She prefers to go by Storm,” Zane began. “And she’s… beautiful.”

  Austin grinned at him. “You got it bad, buddy.”

  Zane nodded slowly. His brother was right.

  “How do you like Montana? Is it as awful as it sounds?” Cheyenne asked when Storm called her that night.

  “It’s pretty, actually.”

  “Ugh. I don’t believe it. I bet it’s freezing.”

  “Brisk, maybe, but hardly freezing.”

  “You wait, by Thanksgiving you’ll be an ice cube.”

  “Let’s hope for the best.”

  “How is Kenna? Nervous?”

  Storm braced herself. She’d considered withholding the truth from her mother, but she wasn’t sure how many lies she could keep straight. Besides, once Cheyenne heard about the bonus, Storm was sure any qualms she had would disappear. The packet of fake identification papers had arrived just after Zane had left, like Kenna said it would, and Storm wondered how much money her boss had spent to get them done—and what strings she’d had to pull to achieve it. Grateful she was alone, she’d opened the envelope and pulled out a driver’s license, birth certificate, even a passport. Her face and Kenna’s name and address. She was beginning to feel like she’d entered an alternate universe. “Kenna isn’t here, actually. She’s decided to take another trip, instead.”

  “But… why are you there then?”

  She closed her eyes. “Because I’m taking her place.”

  Cheyenne’s reaction was just as shrill and outraged as Storm had expected and it was some minutes before she could get her to calm down. “Listen, it’s not as bad as you think.”

  “How can it not be?”

  “Zane only wants a temporary wife.” She squashed the pang of regret that coursed through her. No one had ever made her feel the way Zane did. No one had coaxed her to the edge of ecstasty three times in a single afternoon. He had to be the sexiest man she’d ever met. The most intriguing, too. She couldn’t believe she’d tossed caution to the wind and made love to him—again and again and again. “It doesn’t matter who he marries.”

  “So he knows you’re not Kenna?”

  Storm didn’t answer.

  “Oh, Storm—you’re making a huge mistake,” Cheyenne said.

  “Kenna’s paying me thirty grand.” She waited a beat. Just like she’d thought, the sum silenced her mother.

  “For pretending to be her for six weeks?”

  “That’s right. She’ll get her inheritance, Zane will get his. They’ll divorce in April with no one the wiser.”

  She could almost see the cogs turn in her mother’s brain. “I guess if no one is being hurt by the deception…”

  “No one’s going to get hurt.” Even as she said it she knew it for the lie it was. She was going to get hurt—bad. When the time came to split from Zane, she didn’t know what she’d do.

  “Well… do what you think is best.”

  Storm rolled her eyes at her mother’s attempt to remove herself from any blame. “I will.” She couldn’t keep the edge from her voice. She was doing this to save Cheyenne’s house, after all. Her mother could have sold it at any time and they’d all be far better off than they were right now. Zane wouldn’t think she was Kenna, for one thing.

  Of course she’d never have met him, either.

  “Keep me posted. And Storm—”

  “Yes?”

  “Don’t fall for this man,
whoever he is. Remember it’s a fake, and remember you don’t belong in Montana. We need you back home with us when this is all over.”

  “Got it, Mom. ‘Bye.” She hung up, unable to stay on the line any longer. She didn’t want to think about leaving Chance Creek. In six short weeks this would all be over and she’d take a plane back to California, leaving Zane behind forever. Of course Cheyenne wanted her to come home. She was a built in baby-sitter, wage-earner and housekeeper all in one. What about what she wanted, though? When would she ever stop being Cheyenne’s daughter or Kenna’s assistant and start her life as an independent woman? A woman free to marry a man like Zane?

  She thought of the balance remaining on the cottage’s mortgage.

  Maybe in another twenty years.

  Chapter Four

  ‡

  “Ready to meet my family?” Zane asked when Storm answered the door the following morning at ten sharp. His time in the military had made him punctual among other things. Storm seemed to appreciate punctuality, too. She was dressed in a pretty, flowery skirt, a soft blouse and sandals, with a jacket over her arm and her handbag slung over her shoulder. He leaned down to steal his first kiss of the day, but frowned when Storm pulled back almost immediately. He took in the shadows under her eyes and his heart sank. Had she tossed and turned, waiting for sleep to come like he had? She looked almost—haunted. “Something wrong?”

  “I… I don’t think I can do this.”

  A wave of disappointment washed over him that had nothing to do with earning his inheritance and everything to do with wanting to be with Storm. She’d been the center of all his dreams last night—his waking as well as his sleeping fantasies. He’d counted the minutes until he could see her again. How could she think about calling anything off? “What do you mean, you can’t do this?”

  “This is all wrong. We’re lying to everyone—lying to ourselves. It’s…” She trailed off, her gaze begging him to understand. He did understand, too. It was killing him to fool the people he loved the most, but it was Heloise who’d put him in this position. You couldn’t put a deadline on love, but that’s exactly what she’d done.