The Cowboy's E-Mail Order Bride (2 page)

Broke, single and humiliated, her mother took up the threads of the life she’d put aside to marry and raise a family. A graduate of an elite liberal arts college, with several years of medical school already under her belt, she moved them into a tiny apartment on the edge of a barely-decent neighborhood and returned to her studies. Those were lean, lonely years when everyone had to pitch in. Autumn’s older sister watched over her after school, and Teresa expected them to take on any and all chores they could possibly handle. As Autumn grew, she took over the cooking and shopping and finally the family’s accounts. Teresa had no time for cultural excursions, let alone entertaining friends, but by the time Autumn was ready to go to college herself, she ran a successful OB-GYN practice that catered to wealthy women who’d left childbearing until the last possible moment, and she didn’t even have to take out a loan to fund her education.

Determined her daughters would never face the same challenges she had, Teresa raised them with three guiding precepts:

Every woman must be self-supporting.

Marriage is a trap set by men for women.

Parenthood must be postponed until one reaches the pinnacle of her career.

Autumn’s sister, Lily, was a shining example of this guide to life. She was single, ran her own physical therapy clinic, and didn’t plan to marry or have children any time soon. Next to her, Autumn felt like a black sheep. She couldn’t seem to accept work was all there was to life. Couldn’t forget the joy of laying a table for a host of guests. She still missed those happy, crowded Sunday afternoons so much it hurt her to think about them.

She forced her thoughts back to the present. The man before her was ten times more handsome than he was in his video, and that was saying a lot. Dark hair, blue eyes, a chiseled jaw with just a trace of manly stubble. His shoulders were broad and his stance radiated a determination she found more than compelling. This was a man you could lean on, a man who could take care of the bad guys, wrangle the cattle, and still sweep you off your feet.

“Ethan, aren’t you going to say hello to your fiancée?” One of the other men stuck out his hand. “I’m Rob Matheson. This is Cab Johnson and Jamie Lassiter. Ethan here needed some backup.”

Rob was blonde, about Ethan’s size, but not nearly so serious. In fact, she bet he was a real cut-up. That shit-eating grin probably never left his face. Cab was larger than the others – six foot four maybe, powerfully built. He wore a sheriff’s uniform. Jamie was lean but muscular, with dark brown hair that fell into his eyes. They had the easy camaraderie that spoke of a long acquaintance. They probably knew each other as kids, and would take turns being best man at each other’s weddings.

Her wedding.

No – she’d be long gone before the month was up. She had three weeks to turn in the story; maybe four, if it was really juicy. She’d pitched it to the editor of CityPretty as soon as the idea occurred to her. Margaret’s uncertain approval told her she was probably allowing her one last hurrah before CityPretty let her go.

Still, just for one moment she imagined herself standing side by side Ethan at the altar of some country church, pledging her love to him. What would it be like to marry a near stranger and try to forge a life with him?

Insane, that’s what.

So why did the idea send tendrils of warmth into all the right places?

She glanced up at Ethan to find him glancing down, and the warm feeling curved around her insides again. Surely New York men couldn’t be shorter than this crew, or any less manly, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been around so much blatant testosterone. She must be ovulating. Why else would she react like this to a perfect stranger?

Ethan touched her arm. “This way.” She followed him down the hall, the others falling into place behind them like a cowboy entourage. She stifled a sudden laugh at the absurdity of it all, slipped her hand into her purse and grabbed her digital camera, capturing the scene with a few clicks. Had this man – this…cowboy – sat down and planned out the video he’d made? She tried to picture Ethan bending over a desk and carefully writing out “Sweet. Good cook.
Ready for children
.”

She blew out a breath and wondered if she was the only one stifling in this sudden heat. Ready for children? Hardly. Still…if she was going to make babies with anyone…

Shaking her head to dispel that dangerous image, she found herself at the airport’s single baggage carousel. It was just shuddering to life and within moments she pointed out first one, then another sleek, black suitcase. Ethan took them both, began to move toward the door and then faltered to a stop. He avoided her gaze, focusing on something far beyond her shoulder. “It’s just…I wasn’t….”

Oh God, Autumn thought, a sudden chill racing down her spine. Her stomach lurched and she raised a hand as if to ward off his words. She hadn’t even considered this.

He’d taken one look and decided to send her back.

* * * * *

Ethan stared into the stricken eyes of the most beautiful woman he’d ever met. He had to confess to her right now the extent of the joke she’d been led into thinking was real. It’d been bad enough when he thought Rob and the rest of them had simply hauled him to the airport for a chance to laugh their asses off at him, but now there was a woman involved, a real, beautiful, fragile woman. He had to stop this before it went any further.

When she raised her clear blue gaze to his, he saw panic, horror, and an awful recognition he instantly realized meant she thought she’d been judged and found wanting. He knew he’d do anything to make that look go away. Judged wanting. As if. The girl was as beautiful as a harvest moon shining on frost-flecked fields in late November. He itched to touch her, take her hand, pull her hard against him and…

Whoa – that thought couldn’t go any farther.

He swallowed hard and tried again. “I…it’s just my place…something came up and I didn’t get a chance to fix it like I meant to.” She relaxed a fraction and he rushed on. “It’s a good house – built by my great granddaddy in 1889 for the hired help. Solid. Just needs a little attention.”

“A woman’s touch,” Rob threw in.

Ethan restrained himself, barely. He’d get back at all of his friends soon enough. “I just hope you’ll be comfortable.”

A snigger behind him made him clench his fists.

“I don’t mind if it’s rough,” Autumn said, eliciting a bark of laughter from the peanut gallery. She blushed and Ethan couldn’t take his eyes off her face, although he wished she hadn’t caught the joke. She’d look like that in bed, after…

Enough.

“Give me the keys,” he said to Rob. When his friend hesitated, he held out a hand. “Now.”

Rob handed them over with a raised eyebrow, but Ethan just led the way outside and threw Autumn’s suitcases in the bed of the truck. He opened the passenger side door.

“Thank you,” she said, putting first one foot, then the other on the running board and scrambling somewhat ungracefully into the seat. City girl. At least her hesitation gave him a long moment to enjoy the view.

Rob made as if to open the door to the back bench seat, but Ethan shoved him aside, pressed down the lock and closed the passenger door. He was halfway around the truck before Rob could react.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“Taking a ride with my fiancée. You all find your own way home.” He was in the driver’s side with the ignition turning over before any of them moved a muscle. Stupid fools. They’d made their beds and they could sleep in them.

He glanced at the ethereal princess sitting less than two feet away. Meanwhile, he’d sleep in his own comfortable bed tonight. Maybe with a little company for once.

CHAPTER TWO

Fatigue overtook her as soon as they gained the highway. Autumn hadn’t slept a wink the night before, excitement over the challenge of the undercover assignment, something she hadn’t attempted before, alternating with fear of exposure, or worse – failure. She didn’t know what to expect, or how far she could string this man along before she had to admit it was all a ruse.

Actually, she hoped she’d never have to admit to her deception. She and Becka had carefully concocted an escape story – a dead aunt whose funeral Autumn had to attend. If things got too rough, she’d whip out her excuse and be on the next plane to New York. Then she’d write her story and Ethan would never even know about it. Montana cowboys didn’t read CityPretty, did they?

She wondered if she could spin the article off into something longer. Maybe give it a “where is our culture going” edge and send it in to New Yorker magazine? Or play up the romantic aspect and sell it to Cosmo?

Perhaps she could write a book?

“You hungry?”

Autumn jumped. She’d all but forgotten the man driving the pickup. “Sorry?”

“Are you hungry? We could grab a burger.” He pointed at a mom and pop joint coming up on the right. She arched an eyebrow. Really? His first meal with his fiancée and the cowboy was going to take her to a burger joint? She bit back a smile. This article was going to write itself.

He seemed to realize his mistake. “Or, we could grab a steak at DelMonaco’s Grill.”

“Sure. That sounds nice.”

Darn, CityPretty’s readers loved snarky articles that skewered the mannerisms of the lesser orders – that is, anyone who wasn’t a young, upwardly mobile urbanite. If she could portray Ethan and his friends as a bunch of country bumpkins, so much the better. She frowned, as uncomfortable with this type of journalism as she had been her first day on the job. What could she do, though? She needed to eat.

Ethan accelerated and she watched the burger joint slip past into the rear view mirror. The silence between them lengthened until she clutched the floral print fabric of her dress with both hands to try to keep from talking. She wasn’t accustomed to long silences. New Yorkers talked a mile a minute; especially her co-workers.

“Did you grow up around here?” she asked several minutes later when she couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Yep. I live on the same ranch where I was born.”

“Oh – is your family still there, too?” She’d never thought about that and she experienced a moment of real fear. She could fool a young cowboy…maybe. But a cowboy’s mama? That sounded a lot harder.

“My folks are gone. Died in an accident last year.”

“I’m sorry.” And she was. Really. But relieved, too. How sick was that?

“Got a sister in Billings. I see her now and then.”

She nodded, fascinated by the muscle that tightened along the line of his jaw. There was a story there, she was sure of it. What did his sister do that made him so tense? And how did he make every plain Jane sentence he uttered sound so damn sexy? He was talking about his family, but he could have been crooning a love song with that rough, masculine tone. Maybe she should have crossed the Mississippi a long time ago.

Hormones. Ovulating. Get a grip, Autumn.

“What about you?” he asked, glancing her way for a fraction of a second. “Your folks still alive?”

“Yes. My mom lives in Manhattan. Dad’s long gone. Last I heard he was in Rio.”

“You grew up in the city, but you hate it?”

“No, I…” She let the sentence trail off. Whoops, nearly blew her cover story already. “Right,” she said with a forced smile. “I hate it. I can’t wait to get out of there for good.”

He gave her a measured look. “Isn’t that why you’re here?”

“Right!” she said again. “Yeah. I just…I mean…maybe you and I…” Man, she had to pull herself together, fast, or he’d see through her in a minute. “I mean, I hope it works out – you know, between you and me.”

She couldn’t look at him, and she noticed he was keeping his eyes on the road now. “Yeah. Me, too,” he said gruffly. “Here we are.”

* * * * *

What the hell was he saying? Ethan pulled sharply into a parking spot and hit the brakes, grinding the Chevy to a stop. This was insane. He had to tell her she’d been fooled before the whole thing got out of hand. Oh, who was he kidding; the situation was already far past out of hand. He took a deep breath and considered his next move. The least he could do was buy the pretty lady next to him a nice steak dinner before he broke the news. That way he could ask her a few more questions – find out why a woman like her would ditch her job and family back in New York and fly all the way out here to get married to a perfect stranger.

Who did that kind of thing, anyway?

He looked her over out of the corner of his eye as he slid his seatbelt off and exited the truck. Walking around the cab, he opened her door and tried not to stare at the expanse of her leg visible as she slid out of the seat. She smoothed her dress down as soon as she hit the pavement, but not before he got a pretty clear view of her shapely thighs.

Come on, Ethan, you’ve seen lots of legs before.

But none that affected him quite like this. Not even Lacey’s.

He had to admit part of it was knowing this woman had voluntarily come all the way from New York to marry him.
Him
. Based solely on the asinine video Rob put up on the web, she’d deemed him worthy of being her partner, protector – and lover – for the rest of her life. The prettiest package he’d ever seen and she’d delivered herself right to his door – practically.