If you expect me to pack up and leave without a fight, then you have another think coming About the Author Title Page Dedication CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN EPILOGUE Copyright
If you expect me to pack up and leave without a fight, then you have another think coming
On the contrary, darlin, he said, his smooth drawl at odds with the resentment she detected in his voice. I fully expect you to stay.
Wariness pulsed through Josie with every heartbeat. Was he tricking her somehow? Letting her believe. that he wasnt going to take away the only home she and Kellie had? I...I dont understand.
Theres a stipulation to the deed, he said very carefully, as if he wanted her to understand what he was about to say. A provision your father set and I agreed to before I won that last poker hand.
What kind of stipulation?
Seth OConnors smile was grim. That we get married.
Janelle Denison has read romances ever since she was in high school. She never intended to become a writer, but her love of books and romance led to writing the kind of emotionally satisfying stories shes enjoyed from Harlequin over the years. While perfecting her craft, she worked as a construction secretary, but recently decided to quit her day job to write full-time.
Janelle lives in Southern California with her engineer husband, whose support and encouragement have enabled her to follow her dream of writing, and two young daughters, who keep life interesting and give her plenty of ideas for the young characters she includes in her books.
Janelles greatest hope is that her romances leave her readers smiling and feeling as if theyve made a couple of new friends. After all, nothing is more enjoyable and heartwarming than watching two opposites struggle against all odds, then fall in love despite those odds.
Bride Included
Janelle Denison
www.millsandboon.co.uk
To all the wonderful friends Ive made who have helped me along this incredible journey, from the struggles in the beginning, to sharing the joy of each sale. There are too many of you to name, but each one of you played a part in making this dream a reality.
And, as always, to Don, who makes every story special, just by believing in me.
CHAPTER ONE
MOM! Josie McAllisters ten-year-old daughter, Kellie, burst into the kitchen, her wide green eyes filled with panic. Theres a big man on a horse riding across the pasture. Hes headed toward the house and he looks mean!
Josie frowned and washed her hands, sticky from the biscuits shed just cut out for dinner. Are you sure its not one of the ranch hands?
Im sure! Kellies chest heaved with panting breaths and her face was flushed, as if shed bolted across the hundred yards separating the stables from the main ranch house. Ive never seen him before!
Josie wiped her hands on a terry towel, a twinge of uncertainty rippling through her. It was Sunday, and even though her foreman, Mac, usually stopped by to check on the stock, the rest of the hands spent the day with their families. Shed heard Mac pull his old beat-up Ford out of the driveway over an hour ago, which meant she and Kellie were alone.
Normally, that wouldnt be cause for concern. Shed lived in this house her entire life, and not once had a stranger or drifter threatened her or her father. She trusted the men theyd hired and had been lucky in that respect.
Tears filled Kellies eyes, and she tugged urgently on her mothers arm, gaining her attention again. Josie wanted to believe her daughter was just being overly dramatic, but Kellie had never been the theatrical type. She was shy and mild-mannered, and had certainly never been prone to hysterics before.
Tossing the hand towel onto the counter, she gave her daughter a reassuring smile. Come on, lets go see who it is.
Instead of opening the front door as shed normally do to greet a visitor, she gave in to caution and pushed back the cream sheers covering the window in the entryway. She glanced out just as a man dismounted from a beautiful chestnut down by the stables and draped the horses reins on the hitching post.
The man was bigat least six foot two, with wide shoulders that tapered into a trim waist, lean hips and a horsemans thighs. Even from this distance, she could see he was physically fit, and even though he hadnt turned around so she could see his face, she instinctively knew he wasnt one of her men. None of her ranch hands had a presence like this cowboy, a natural air about him that commanded respect and authority.
He turned and strode purposefully toward the main house. Still, she didnt recognize him, but then the brim of his black Stetson cast shadows over his features. He wore a blue-striped Western shirt and a dark pair of jeans cinched at the waist with a heavy belt buckle.
Mom, who is he? Kellie whispered from beside her, as if the man had the ability to hear them.
I dont know... The rest of her sentence caught in her throat as the man pushed his hat back on his head, finally offering her a glimpse of his face. Everything inside her went cold, like the biting chill that swept through the Montana mountains in the winter.
Seth OConnor, the boy whod tormented her throughout grade school, and in high school had scorched her with kisses shed never forgotten, stolen her virginity and her heart, then had spurned her, nearly destroying her in the process. That had been eleven years ago, and even though they hadnt spoken to each other since that day that had irrevocably changed her life, shed seen him around town. He never looked her way, never gave any indication that she existed for him or that shed ever meant anything more to him than the revenge hed extracted.
She closed her eyes to block the painful memories. Theyd been neighbors all their lives, her fathers property adjoining Seths fathers land. Nearly a thousand acres separated their homesteads, and given the feud that had kept both families in contention for over seven decades, the chasm could have been the width of two continents.
Mom, are you okay?
Kellies worried voice reached her, pulling her back from the past. She blinked her eyes open and her stomach lurched when she saw that Seth was more than halfway across the yard. His face looked grim, his stride quickly eating up the distance.
He didnt look like he was here on the Golden M for a social call. Feeling threatened as never before, she darted into the living room, grabbed the key above the glass-enclosed cabinet displaying her grandfathers rifles and inserted it into the lock. One sure twist and the panel swung open. She grabbed the rifle on the rack in front of her, yanked out the drawer beneath for ammunition. In less than fifteen seconds, the rifle was loaded and she was heading back toward the front door.
Mom! Kellie cried fearfully.
Go up to your room and stay there! Josie ordered, and waited while her daughter obeyed and was safely on the second landing before she walked out onto the porch and lifted the rifle, bracing the butt firmly against her shoulder and taking aim at the mans heart. Stop right there, OConnor.
To his credit, he immediately halted, putting him ten feet away from the porch steps and too close for Josies comfort. His jaw clenched. He didnt like her having the upper handshe could see it in the narrowing of his eyes, the subtle tensing of his cowboy-honed body.
She never believed she would stand this close to him again, never believed shed threaten him with a rifle, either But she wasnt taking any chances where Seth OConnor was concerned.
Their gazes met, his diamond hard and just as blue as she remembered, like the rippling, crystalline water in the north end pastures creek. Eyes shed once thought of as kind. Eyes that had seduced her with the sweet promise or being desired and cherished.
It had all been a ruse.
Her finger tightened on the trigger. Get off my property, she said succinctly.
He lifted his hands to his hips, his stance deceptively loose. Why, Josie darlin, I think youre making a mistake there. He was all drawl and cowboy charm, but his smile held a hint of danger. Its my property.
What in the world was he talking about? She looked closer, searching for signs that hed become a drunk like his father had been. He looked totally lucid. Your property ended miles ago. I suggest you haul your butt back to your horse and leave before I shoot you for trespassing.
Tsk, tsk, he said with a cocky, challenging air tha caused a flicker of apprehension to crawl up her spine That red hair of yours sure does match your temper.
Hating his mockery and furious at his gall, she lifted the barrel of her rifle a foot and a half and pulled the trigger clearing the hat right off his head. He instinctively ducked but seconds after the fact, then slowly straightened, his mouth gaping in shock. She experienced a moment of satisfaction to see that hed paled beneath that nice tan of his
His shock gave way to pure fury. It ignited in his gaze and seemed to coil within his body. With the hot July sunglinting off his dark brown hair, he looked like a dangerous outlaw. Goddammit, woman, he exploded. You could have killed me!
Could have, but I didnt want to kill you, just give you a final warning. She chambered in another round and slowly lowered the barrel of the rifle to the zipper of his jeans. She smiled oh so sweetly. Next time I wont be so gracious.
His blistering curses filled the air. With a low, enraged growl, he charged up the stairs, calling her bluff. Her heart leaped in her throat, and the first frisson of alarm ripped through her. She might have held the gun, but shed never truly harm him, despite her threats. She only wanted him to leave.
He gained the porch and stopped, a feral smile curving his mouth. Then he started toward her, slow and predator-like. For every step he took forward, she went back, until her spine slammed against the side of the house and there was nowhere left to go.
He jerked the rifle from her grasp and tossed it aside. It hit the wooden floor with a loud crash and skittered to the opposite side of the porch. Refusing to cower like some helpless female, she abruptly came at him, fists flailing. Surprise registered in his eyes just as she clipped his jaw with a punch. He grunted in pain and in the next instant caught the left hook sailing his way. His fingers circled her wrist, brought her hand down and turned her around, tucking her body securely in front of his. He let go of her hand and wrapped both of his strong arms around her middle, holding her immobile.
They were both breathing hard from the fight. Josie struggled, but his muscular body and firm hold were no match for her. She felt trapped, weak and defenseless. And she hated that it was Seth OConnor who provoked those vulnerable emotions.
He shifted his weight behind her, and she became all too aware of their intimate position...his broad chest pressing against her back and the way his pelvis tucked against her bottom.
She swallowed hard. Shed worn an old pair of cutoffs today, along with an equally old blouse shed haphazardly knotted just beneath her unbound breasts to keep cool. Where his corded forearms were braced around her midsection, her bare skin burned. The rough material of his jeans scratched the back of her thighs and the bend of her knee.
His face moved beside hers, and she could feel his warm breath brush across her cheek and flutter the wispy auburn strands that had escaped the hair shed pinned up earlier, could feel a light stubble graze her jaw. And for a fleeting moment, his hold seemed to loosen as if he was cradling her in his arms.
A warm, masculine scent surrounded her, like earth, leather and sun all combined into one. Her stomach fluttered and her breasts swelled and tightened. She gritted her teeth, hating herself for responding to him in any way but anger. He deserved nothing less than her contempt after the way hed used her and deliberately broken her heart.
Let me go, she muttered furiously.
His mouth moved to her ear. Not so brave without your rifle, now are you, darlin? he taunted.
She closed her eyes against the sudden rush of tears surging forward. I hate you, she whispered, voicing the words that had been locked inside her for eleven painful years.
Yeah, well, Josie darlin, he said on a long, drawn-out sigh, the feelings completely mutual.
Mom?
The softly spoken word in a childs quivering voice served to do what Josies demands could not. Seth immediately released her and straightened. Josie went to her daughter who had stopped in the doorway, her only thought to soothe her fears.
Josie smoothed Kellies curly auburn hair, so much like her own, away from her stricken face. Its okay, sweetie, she said gently, knowing the lie was necessary.
Peeking around her mother, Kellie eyed the large man standing on the porch. Who is he?
Josie pulled in a deep breath. His name is Seth OConnor.
Kellie frowned. Is he one of those no-good OConnor boys Ive heard Grandpa talking about? Did you shoot him?
Josie grimaced at her childs guileless questions. Although the McAllisters and OConnors werent on friendly terms by any stretch of the imagination, shed raised her daughter to be nonjudgmentaland that included the McAllisters nemesis.
Hes our neighbor, remember? Shed explained as much when Kellie had first asked her who the OConnors wereand thats all shed told her daughter because that had been the only pleasant way to explain who Jay and Seth were. At the tender age of ten, Kellie didnt need to be privy to just how bitter their relationship was or how far back the OConnors had hated the McAllisters. And no, I didnt shoot him.