Cinderella's Convenient Husband

AROUND CHI-TOWN

Looks like the Connellys have been plunged into scandal yet again—Grant Connelly’s former lover, Ms. Angie Donahue, has been arrested! Sources report that Ms. Donahue, the mother of Grant’s illegitimate son, Seth Connelly, is the niece of Chicago’s most influential mob boss, Jimmy Kelly. Police investigations leading up to her arrest indicate that the Kellys may be behind the recent spate of troubles that have plagued the prestigious Connelly family these last few months.

And how is Seth Connelly, a well-respected attorney in the Windy City, taking this news? It seems that Seth has taken an undetermined leave of absence from his law practice…and from Chicago. Sources close to the thirty-two-year-old bachelor say he has been devastated by his mother’s revelation, but won’t reveal his location.

The Connelly troubles don’t end there. Following police questioning, Grant’s longtime assistant, Charlotte Masters, has also gone missing—and rumor has it that her life may be in danger. And she’s not the only one. Police report that hotshot P.I. Tom Reynolds, hired to protect the family, has turned up dead, the apparent victim of foul play.

In the wake of these latest disclosures, we expect local sympathies to be with Seth, a reserved lone wolf who never became a true bachelor-about-town like so many of the Connelly sons. Chicago awaits his return!

Dear Reader,

This season of harvest brings a cornucopia of six new passionate, powerful and provocative love stories from Silhouette Desire for your enjoyment.

Don’t miss our current MAN OF THE MONTH title, Cindy Gerard’s Taming the Outlaw, a reunion romance featuring a cowboy dealing with the unexpected consequences of a hometown summer of passion. And of course you’ll want to read Katherine Garbera’s Cinderella’s Convenient Husband, the tenth absorbing title in Silhouette Desire’s DYNASTIES: THE CONNELLYS continuity series.

A Navy SEAL is on a mission to win the love of the woman he left behind, in The SEAL’s Surprise Baby by Amy J. Fetzer, while a TV anchorwoman gets up close and personal with a high-ranking soldier in The Royal Treatment by Maureen Child. This is the latest title in the exciting Silhouette crossline series CROWN AND GLORY.

Opposites attract when a sexy hunk and a matchmaker share digs in Hearts Are Wild by Laura Wright. And in Secrets, Lies and…Passion by Linda Conrad, a single mom is drawn into a web of desire and danger by the lover who jilted her at the altar years before…or did he?

Experience all six of these sensuous romances from Silhouette Desire this month, and guarantee that your Halloween will be all treat, no trick.

Enjoy!

Joan Marlow Golan

Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

Cinderella’s Convenient Husband

Katherine Garbera

www.millsandboon.co.uk

For Maureen Walters, who is encouraging while at the same time realistic. Thanks for your support.

KATHERINE GARBERA

loves a happy ending, so writing romance came naturally to her. She is a native Floridian who was recently transplanted to the Chicago area. “Living in a place where there are seasons is strange,” says Garbera. Her stories are known for their lush character detail and sensuality. She is happily married to the man she met in Fantasyland and has two children. She is an active member of Romance Writers of America, Novelists Inc. and The Authors’ Guild. Visit her home page on the Web at www.katherinegarbera.com.

MEET THE CONNELLYS

Meet the Connellys of Chicago—wealthy, powerful and rocked by scandal, betrayal…and passion!

Who’s Who in

CINDERELLA’S CONVENIENT HUSBAND

Seth Connelly—Deceived and betrayed by his heritage once again, he runs away, back to his cowboy roots, hoping to find himself, to heal….

Lynn McCoy—She knows what it’s like to be betrayed by someone you love—and now she, too, is paying the price.

Angie Donahue—Seth’s mother; she allowed his father, Grant Connelly, to raise him, but the havoc she wreaks finds her son wherever he hides….

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Epilogue

One

“What can I get for you?” asked the blond waitress.

Seth Connelly looked straight into eyes he’d never forgotten. They were the deep purple of crushed African violets. Lynn McCoy had been a troublemaking brat for the first five years of their acquaintance then she’d blossomed into a beautiful young woman. One who tempted him to forget that her older brother was closer to him than his own.

“Hello, Lynn,” he said. Somehow when he’d thought of those he might see in Sagebrush, Montana, he’d forgotten about Lynn and that one awkward kiss they’d shared the night of her sixteenth birthday.

He’d never returned to the ranch again, aware that he’d crossed a line that shouldn’t have been crossed. Aware that he’d taken a step that would alienate him from Matt. Aware that it was time to stop running and return home to Chicago.

But his birth mother’s betrayal had made Chicago into a tense place, and he’d hit the road hoping to find some semblance of the man he’d become. Because as he’d fallen once again for Angie Donahue’s lies and manipulation, he’d realized that he didn’t know himself anymore.

He hoped Lynn didn’t remember the embrace—it was so long ago. But life had taught him that if she did, more than likely it haunted her. That one brief brush of lips still plagued his dreams on restless nights, because she had tasted innocent and he never had been.

Her eyes widened in recognition and she smiled at him. There was weariness on her face, and an instinctual part of him recognized that expression for what it was. She was running from something as well.

Not your business, old man.

“Hi, Seth. What brings you to our little corner of the world?”

He was a successful lawyer from a wealthy family so he knew all about people who complained when they had plenty, and he wouldn’t be one of those. He couldn’t tell her that he’d come here searching for something that he’d found in his youth. Something he couldn’t really explain to anyone. It had been a feeling, really, maybe something more but not definable.

“I’m hoping for a cup of coffee and a steak.”

“You’ve come to the right place. But I should tell you it’s probably not as fancy as you’d get in Chicago.”

“That’s okay. The atmosphere’s better here.”

“Really? I’d have thought all those sophisticated people would win hands down.”

“Nothing beats the mountains in Montana.” Even though night had fallen, the view from the diner was one he’d never forgotten.

“You can say that again.”

Their eyes met and held in a moment of pure appreciation for what nature had so splendidly given this area of the country.

“What kind of dressing do you want on your salad?”

He told her and she walked away. The quiet conversation that buzzed around him reminded him why he liked Sagebrush. Here in this small town he wasn’t the illegitimate son of a Mafia princess and Chicago’s most revered citizen. Here he was that wild boy who’d had his ear pierced and wore a leather jacket even in the heat of summer. Here he was a man without a family—and Seth needed that.

Here he was a friend of the McCoys and treated as such. That warm feeling was why he’d returned in late fall when winter beckoned around the corner.

Lynn brought his coffee and salad and then hurried away to take care of the rest of her tables. Another waiter brought his steak, which was perfectly cooked.

The meal was one of the best he’d had in a long time, simple food prepared for taste instead of presentation. Seth knew he’d made the right decision. The tension that had been dogging him receded. It didn’t disappear completely but ebbed enough for him to relax his shoulders.

Lynn looked tired, he thought.

And not unlike his half-sister Tara had looked when she’d been trying to have her missing husband Michael declared legally dead. What kind of problems hung on her shoulders? Why wasn’t Matt here to relieve that burden for her? He knew that Matt McCoy and he shared more than friendship but also an overwhelming urge to protect those dear to them.

What was Matt thinking to let his sister work in a diner when there wasn’t any reason for it? The McCoy spread was the biggest and most profitable in the area. Seth knew this not only from his youth but also from his yearly treks to meet Matt for vacations. They always discussed the ranch. But never Lynn.

She stopped by to refill his coffee cup. “Can you join me for a minute?”

“Just real quick.”

“You’re a hard worker, Lynn.”

“Thank you,” she said tentatively.

“Why the hesitation?”

“The last time you complimented me I found myself soaking wet on a cold evening.”

“Hey, you’re safe for now. I’ve grown into a boring old lawyer,” he said.

“Not boring or old. Lawyer?”

“Okay, get it out of your system,” he said, knowing few people could resist the urge to lob a few lawyer jokes when they actually met one.

“What?” she asked, all innocence. She looked breathtakingly lovely in the dim light of the diner.

“You’ve got to have a joke about lawyers.”

“Not me. Besides, I have nothing but respect for you,” she said.

“Yeah, right. If memory serves, the last prank you played on me involved stealing my clothes and leaving me naked at the swimming hole.”

“I left your hat, didn’t I?”

It had been uncomfortable to be outsmarted by a girl a few years younger than he was. Because at home no one got the jump on Seth Connelly. He still felt a little embarrassed when he recalled the number of times she’d gotten the better of him. “I think we’re square.”

“Yeah, I think so. Are you here to see Matt?”

“Yes.”

“He’s not home.”

“I thought his tour ended last month.”

“It did but he was on an assignment that he felt needed him and reupped.”

Damn. He wasn’t going to be able to stay at the McCoy Ranch if Matt wasn’t there. He’d counted on the wide-open spaces, the cattle lowing in the distance and the fragrance of jasmine to lull him to sleep.

“I’m surprised you didn’t call first.”

“I didn’t know I was coming until I got here.”

She nodded. “I’ve got to get back to work. You take care, Seth Connelly.”

She walked away and this time he watched and wanted. She was exactly as he remembered from that late-summer night. Sweet and funny but tempered with the experiences life had used to test her. And he knew that it was probably for the best that Matt wasn’t here and Seth would be moving on…again.

Lynn McCoy let the smile drop from her face the minute she entered the kitchen. She’d been worried that maybe Matt had sent him. But it seemed he was only looking for Matt, not trying to find out what kind of trouble she was in. Trouble was about the only thing she had right now.

And it looked as if another helping was on the way. Childhood crushes were supposed to end well before thirty. Lynn knew this in her rational mind but her heart beat a little bit faster as she thought about Seth Connelly. He hardly resembled the rough loner who’d first visited her family’s ranch the summer she was eleven.

Now he had the kind of quiet self-assurance he’d lacked as a youth. Though his gray eyes were stormy like the north Atlantic, his body language said there was nothing he couldn’t handle.

He’d looked surprised to see her at the diner. She knew he had to be. After all, the prosperous McCoy ranch had never failed to support the generations.

What had brought him to Montana in October? There wasn’t much in the way of tourism in Sagebrush. Besides, she knew he was involved in his family’s business and wondered if he was having family problems again.

Part of what had initially drawn her to Seth had been that he was so alone. Though she knew she could never really trust him, her brother considered Seth closer than a blood relation.

Her first impulse had been to settle into the booth with him and spend the evening catching up on the past, but she knew that she fell in love too easily and she’d learned that lesson the hard way. She felt almost proud of the way she resisted that urge.

She waved good-night to the cook and left before she gave in and returned to the corner booth where Seth sat. Keep walking, Lynn. The night air bit into her clothes and she shivered in her leather coat. It had been her grandfather’s and would keep her warm once she buttoned it.

The employee parking area was well lit, and Lynn approached her truck with no trepidation. But the stenciling on the side gave her pause. The McCoy Ranch—Home Of The Best Beef In Montana.

For how much longer? She had barely one hundred head left because that was all she could work on her own and still make ends meet. Tears burned the back of her eyes at her own stupidity. Trusting too easily had been her biggest weakness. Though she’d never be able to look at the world with a truly cynical eye, a part of her had been forever changed when Ronnie had taken her money and left her.

The highway ran behind the fence and she listened to the cars flying past. She’d never understood the obsession everyone had with getting out of Sagebrush. She’d loved her hometown and had never ventured farther than the airport in Billings to pick up friends.

Suddenly her entire world was in danger of falling apart and she was at the end of the line. She’d tried everything she could. She’d sold all the horses except for Thor, her gelding, leased part of the grazing pasture, boarded horses for the folks in town and taken this job. But there still was more debt than she could cover.

What was she going to do? Her plan, which had seemed so brilliant in the middle of the night, seemed a little weak today. She’d worked double shifts at the diner, and as she waited on tables, her mind had puzzled over the options.

There seemed damn few. Then the past had to walk in the front door like the precursor to a bad storm and look at her as if she was…what? A woman. It had been a long time since any man had looked at her like that. Ronnie had taken more with him than she’d realized. He’d taken part of her femininity with him, leaving her vulnerable and unsure in the one area she’d always been confident.

“Lynn?” Seth’s voice brushed over her like a warm wind, but she knew better than to believe what it promised. A man’s silky voice at night had never brought her anything but pain.

Damn. Instead of a clean getaway, now she was going to have to face him again. She pivoted toward him. He was cast half in shadows by the lamplight. His features were sharp and bold and for a minute he looked more comfortable than she’d ever seen him.

That disturbed her, but she shook it off. She needed to get home and get a good night’s sleep so she’d be prepared for her meeting tomorrow.

“Yes, Seth?”

“Why are you working here?”

“I like the change of pace.”

She’d never been able to look anyone in the eye while she lied to him. And it had gotten her into hot water more than once.

“You look tired,” he said.

She felt the fatigue as if for the first time. She glanced up and met his gaze. He compelled her to tell him the truth and she did. Just a little bit, a sop for her conscience. “I am.”

“Why are you really working here?”

“I don’t know. The people, I guess.”

“Really?”

“Yes, it’s too quiet at the ranch.” That was the truth. With the hands gone and the big old house to herself, she needed some conversation to distract her.

“If you ever need anything, Lynn, let me know. I owe your family.” She’d never seen him so earnest before. She’d seen him tough and ready to take on three older boys in a fight. She’d seen him eager to learn how to rope and brand cattle. She’d seen him with his dreams in his eyes as he’d looked at the night sky and told Matt about the solar system.

“You don’t owe us anything. You worked those summers you spent here.” And he’d given her brother someone to imitate. Someone to bond with and look up to. Especially after Daddy had died. She thought maybe the McCoys owed Seth more than he’d ever know.

A red tinge colored his neck. “Well, I tried to do my part.”

She realized then that Seth wasn’t all that comfortable with praise, and it made him seem a little more human. “I’ve got to go.”

“Will you give Matt this note when he comes home?” he asked, holding out a sheet of legal paper that had been folded neatly into thirds. Matt’s name was printed in large block letters. There was nothing timid about Seth, she thought.

“Sure,” she said, trying to convince herself that whatever she’d felt for Seth Connelly had died a long time ago. But somehow her hormones didn’t get that message. Her skin tingled when their fingers brushed. Her breath seemed harder to come by and her heart beat a bit faster. Chills spread up her arm. Her nipples tightened and her breasts felt heavy. For some reason her feet seemed planted to the ground.

She recognized the symptoms. Lust. Not now, she thought. Not again. The last time she’d followed her impulses around Seth she’d ended up brokenhearted. She’d learned too much and come too far from that sixteen-year-old girl to behave that way again. Or at least as a thirty year old she’d like to hope she did.

“I’ll stick it in the next letter I mail him,” she said.

“Thank you.”

She tugged her hand out from under his. “You’re welcome.”

She didn’t like the way he made her feel. Didn’t like that for the first time since Ronnie had taken her money and her heart, she was interested in a man. Especially didn’t like that the man was Seth.

Resolutely, she marched toward her truck and unlocked the door.

“Uh, Lynn?” When she turned to look at him, his eyes held the maturity of age and she knew that whatever she remembered of him she’d always liked him. Which was dangerous to her. Because he looked as if he needed a shoulder to cry on.

“Yes?”

He rubbed the bridge of his nose and then stepped closer to her. “It occurs to me that I owe you an apology.”

Oh, God. “I can’t imagine why.”

He moved another step closer. So close she could smell the coffee he’d drunk with dinner. “For that kiss I stole when you were sixteen.”

She didn’t want to have this conversation with Seth now. Never sounded like a good time to chat about it.

“You didn’t steal it.”

“I felt like I did after I walked away without a word.”

“Hey, I’m a mature woman now. I barely remember an embrace that long ago.”

“Really?”

No, but she’d rather give away the ranch than admit it. She shrugged.

“It haunts me,” he said simply. He started to walk away, his shoulders set and his stride bold.

His words cut through the protective layers she’d wrapped around herself. “Seth?”

He stopped, glancing over his shoulder at her. A light snow began to fall and it dusted his head and black trench coat.

“I…”

He nodded. She wasn’t sure he understood what she’d been trying to say.

“Me too,” she said finally and opened the door to her truck. She climbed in quickly and drove away, watching Seth standing there in the lightly falling snow.

For the first time in months she didn’t dream about the ranch or the diner. Instead, a pair of silver eyes plagued her dreams.

Two

It was well after midnight when Seth gave up trying to find a motel and turned down the familiar road that led to the McCoy ranch. He consoled himself with the thought that he could sleep in the bunkhouse with the ranch hands but he knew Lynn’s bed was where he really wanted to spend the night. A light flickered over the porch as the house came into view. A sole pickup was parked next to the kitchen entrance.

He pulled his Jag to a stop and went to the bunkhouse. It was deserted and locked up tight. Questions formed quicker than he could answer them. But he was tired and would seek those answers in the morning.

It was cold outside and he doubted he’d survive the night if he slept in the car. His options were limited. He’d have to disturb Lynn.

Only fair, his raging hormones agreed, since she’d been disturbing him all evening.

In the old days a spare key had been kept under the potted planter on the front porch. He was glad to see at least that hadn’t changed. He unlocked the door, replacing the key before he entered quietly. That was the one good thing to be said for a misspent youth; he knew how to move so silently that no one could hear him.

He turned left off the entryway toward the living room. As he made his way to the couch, he slammed into an ottoman that hadn’t been there in his memory and cursed under his breath. His shins ached and he heard footsteps upstairs.

“Matt, is that you?” Lynn’s voice was sleepy and husky.

Awareness tingled down his spine and stirred the flesh between his legs. He walked to the foyer and flipped on the hallway light. “No, it’s Seth.”

She descended the stairs before taking time to get a robe. The silk long johns she wore did little to mask her body, instead it seemed to frame it in a way meant to tease a man. But her clothes, imprinted with cartoon characters, clearly weren’t articles of seduction. She should have looked sweet and innocent instead of seductive. “Seth, what are you doing in my house?”

“There’s no place to stay in town.”

She stopped a few feet from him. He hadn’t realized earlier how much taller than she he was. She barely cleared his breastbone. His libido supplied him with the image of the two of them naked in a bed where she’d fit very comfortably into his arms.

She’s my best friend’s little sister, he reminded himself.

“Where are you headed?” she asked.

Straight to hell, he thought. He cleared his throat. “This is my destination.”

“Oh.”

“I thought I’d bunk with the men,” he said so that she wouldn’t suspect that he wanted her.

“No, you can’t. You’d better stay up here.” She wouldn’t look him in the eye, and he knew it was because she was planning on making up some story about where the cowpokes were who used to live there.

“I’ve been to the bunkhouse, Lynn. What happened?”

“Oh, we don’t have such a great need for overnight staff anymore.” Her hair fell to the middle of her back in tousled waves and the light reflected in it. He’d always loved her hair. Even as a tomboy teenager she’d had miles of hair. After she turned sixteen it had played into more than one of his fantasies while he’d slept under this roof.

“Why not?” he asked, trying to focus on anything but her body.

She sighed. “It’s the middle of the night and you must be tired.”

Seth knew the gentlemanly thing to do would be to get in his car and drive back down the highway until he found a place to stay, but he was tired.