Cinderella's Convenient Husband

“Can I stay here tonight? I’ll head back to Chicago in the morning.” He’d been turned out of better places and for less reason than Lynn had.

She touched his arm, and though he knew it was impossible, he seemed to feel her heat through the layers of his jacket and shirt. “Of course you can. I didn’t mean you should leave.”

“Thank you. I’ll grab my overnight bag and bunk down here,” he said. She’d tilted her head back to look him in the eye now that they were standing so close, and he realized she had a long, graceful neck. Her skin looked as pale as the moonbeams, and he wondered if it would taste as sweet as it looked.

“Do you really want to sleep on the sofa?”

“No. But I don’t want to disturb you.”

“You won’t. I didn’t even hear you enter the house.”

“I can be very quiet.”

“And then really noisy. What happened?”

“The ottoman.”

She chuckled. “Are you okay? I’ve hit that thing a time or two myself.”

The piece was old and heavy, made of solid oak with a pretty, embroidered covering that he knew Mrs. McCoy had made during her first year of marriage. It was a tradition in the McCoy family that the newlyweds made a piece of furniture for their new life together.

“Go get your bag. You can sleep in Matt’s room. I’ll change the sheets for you.”

“Thanks, Lynn.”

“No problem, Seth.”

The way she said his name made him wonder if she wasn’t remembering what it had been like to kiss him. And though he knew that would be a big mistake, it was all he could think of as he retrieved his overnight bag from the car. Think of her as your own sister, he cautioned himself. He tried to imagine one of his half sisters in those long johns waiting upstairs for him. But as he entered the house and climbed the stairs, he knew it wasn’t Alexandra, Tara or Maggie up there.

Even an image of Matt’s glowering face couldn’t keep his blood from flowing heavier or his loins from tightening. The only one who could do that was he. And the one thing Seth had always been able to do was keep his cool and his control. Why, then, did it feel as if he was barely hanging on?

Lynn turned off the shower at nine the next morning. She’d been up since dawn feeding Thor and the other horses that she boarded for the townsfolk. She’d slept better last night than she’d expected to. The security of knowing she wasn’t alone on the ranch should have been enough to ensure she didn’t spend the night twisting and turning in her bed. But Seth’s icy gaze and warm touch had haunted her dreams.

She’d hurried out of bed and refused to dwell on those thoughts. Seth was nothing more to her than an old family friend, and she didn’t have too many of them left. Most had died or moved on, leaving her alone for almost five years. Longer than she’d ever expected. Perhaps that loneliness was why she was so willing to latch on to Seth.

She had an appointment at the bank this morning and needed to get dressed. Her closet was a fashion nightmare, dominated by faded jeans and western shirts. In the back, in a plastic dry-cleaning bag, was her one suit, some designer label that she’d bought to wear to her mother’s funeral.

She dressed in it quickly but with care. If she had a chance of persuading Mr. Cochran at the bank to extend the loan, she needed to exude success. But how did success look? Seth would know, she thought.

It was too bad she couldn’t tell him the truth, because she could use his advice. He knew about making money. Heck, he came from one of the wealthiest families in Chicago. But he’d tell Matt and she wasn’t going to ask her big brother to bail her out of another mess.

She twisted her long hair into a chignon and applied the light makeup that she wore to church. The suit was cut with classic lines that flattered her lean frame. For a minute she glimpsed who she might have been if her family had lived in a city instead of this small rural town.

She didn’t hear any signs of life from Matt’s room as she walked down the stairs. Maybe she could sneak out before Seth woke. He’d be gone when she returned and she wouldn’t have to see him again.

The smell of coffee warned her that her luck was running par. She entered the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee. At the breakfast table Seth had set up a laptop computer attached to her phone jack.

He made a few keystrokes on the computer and then turned to smile at her. For a minute she forgot why she thought she couldn’t trust him.

“Good morning.” His voice was low and husky, masculine in the early morning. She wasn’t used to a man’s voice and it startled her. Seth had obviously taken a shower before coming downstairs and was dressed again in casual elegance.

“Morning,” she said, gulping her coffee and scalding her tongue. She hated it when she did that. Damn, if she was this rattled on her home turf, how was she going to handle the bank?

“Sleep well?” he asked, eyeing her. She wondered if she’d smudged her lipstick on her teeth. Surreptitiously she rubbed her tongue over her front teeth.

“Yes.” She sat down across from him.

“Good, because I have some questions.”

“About?” Not now, she thought.

“The ranch, Lynn. What the hell happened?”

She knew he’d ask. Anyone with eyes would wonder the same thing. But her answers were hard to come by. She was a proud woman—always had been—and telling this smart, handsome man that she’d fallen for a con was not in the game plan.

“Times are tough. NAFTA didn’t do ranchers a favor.”

“Most of the ranches aren’t this bad.”

She glanced over his shoulder at the wallpaper that had once been a bright spring floral print but had faded with time. She had a moment’s fear that she was glimpsing the future. That someday she’d be as old and faded as the wallpaper and have seen just as little of life.

Carefully she considered her words. “True, but most of them aren’t run by one person.”

“The McCoy ranch never has been in the past.”

“Well, it is now.”

“Lynn, unless you want me to place an emergency call to your brother, you better start talking.”

“Why?” she demanded. Seth had been away for a long time, and though she knew he had fond memories of the summers he’d spent here, they couldn’t be reason enough for him to probe into ranch matters.

“What?” he asked.

“You heard me. Why do you care what’s happened?”

He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. He looked stressed. She wondered if this questioning wasn’t his way of hiding from whatever had driven him from Chicago. No matter what he’d said the night before she didn’t believe he just felt like visiting her brother on an impulse.

“This ranch is important to me.” Seth’s sincerity had never been more apparent.

“Then why haven’t you been back for fourteen years?”

“It’s not my ancestral home.”

“I’m doing my best to save it.”

“What do you think Matt will say when he sees this place?”

“It won’t look like this when he comes home.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I have big plans.”

“Tell me what’s going on.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because you won’t understand.”

“Trust me, Lynn. I’m on your side.”

“The last time I trusted you, you kissed me and walked away.”

“Is that what this is all about?”

“Of course not. I’m just saying your track record isn’t the best.”

“And yours is?”

“I didn’t walk away.”

“You didn’t come after me either.”

“I don’t want to have this conversation. I’m due at the bank at ten and I don’t want to be late.”

“Just tell me what’s going on. Is it money? Maybe I can help.”

“Why are you here, Seth?”

He was silent.

“That’s right,” she said with a nod. “You have your own secrets and I have mine. Let’s keep them that way.”

“Your family meant a lot to me.”

“I know. But it’s better this way. Besides, you’re leaving today.”

“I could still help you.”

“No, you can’t. But I’ll make a note that you tried.”

Lynn walked away from him wishing she felt a little more confident. Wishing for a miracle she knew she had faint hope of getting. Wishing that Seth wasn’t leaving today.

“Lynn, wait. I’ll drive you into town.”

She’d gathered her purse and a sheaf of documents. This was a Lynn he’d never seen before. He’d be lying if he said she didn’t attract him. She wasn’t the rough-and-ready ranch girl that he didn’t know how to handle. For the moment she was a city woman, like every other woman in his life.

She glanced over her shoulder at him, her eyes hidden by a pair of dark glasses. Mystery surrounded her, and Seth wanted to investigate the changes. Would the real Lynn McCoy please stand up?

“I’d rather take myself.”

Of course you would, Ms. Independent. She reminded him of his stepmother and sisters. They’d take any challenge but they’d do it in their own unique ways. And he knew he had to respect Lynn’s way of doing things even if it wasn’t his own.

Reality intruded. She’d said she was going to the bank. More than likely that meant she needed money and the only way she was going to get it was to look as if she didn’t need it. The Jag was a showy car, pricey and elegant; it spoke volumes for whoever drove it without him having to say a word. It had netted him invitations to the nicest residences in Chicago, even though he knew many of those old-money folks looked down on him because of his dubious parentage.

“The banker will be more likely to listen to whatever you have to say if you arrive in the Jag.”

“Okay, but I drive.” The haughty look she’d conjured up made him want to kiss her. She seemed untouchable in her upswept hairdo and her fancy suit. He wanted to rumple her up and find the girl who’d let him sleep in her home last night. To find the girl with hair hanging down her back wearing silky long johns.

Though Lynn’s suit made her look more like the other women he knew, he realized that he wanted her to be different. The thought floored him. Maybe he had an ulterior motive for wanting to help?

But he knew more than lust motivated him. There was a soft spot in his soul for the McCoys.

“No one drives my Jag.” He spoke from the gut. The car was as important to him as his laptop or his Swiss timepiece. He wasn’t going to chance it.

“Now where’s the trust?” she asked softly. Her words cut right through the superficiality of what he’d been thinking.

He did feel a bit like a child on Christmas morning who’d been asked to share his new toy. “Who’s talking about trust? This car is a finely tuned machine and you’re used to driving that tank over there.”

“Is it the car you’re worried about or your tough-guy image?”

He remained unfazed. “Whatever the reason, the result is the same. I’m driving.”

Deliberately he walked to the passenger side of the car to open the door for her. “What a gentleman you are, Seth Connelly. Too bad I know the real you.”

Though he knew Lynn had meant her remarks as something else entirely, she’d struck a nerve. “I think the door’s unlocked.”

She didn’t know the real Seth—no one did. And he’d made it his life’s mission to make sure that the situation stayed that way. He didn’t like Lynn’s innuendo that he was less than civilized. But maybe there was a kernel of truth in her words. Underneath his civilized veneer beat the heart of a warrior, not a Prince Charming.

He’d never been anyone’s white knight but he was the guy they’d turned to in a fight, knowing he’d never lose. That had been true at twelve when he’d come to the Connellys and it was true now in the courtroom where he won every battle he took up.

Whether Lynn liked it or not, he was in her corner. The debt he owed the McCoy family was too big for him to not step up to the plate now.

Five years of military school and six years of college had ensured that he could converse within any circle and not embarrass his family. Lessons from his stepmom, Emma Connelly, on deportment and manners had made sure he was every inch the gentleman.

“Are you going to check the door?” she asked.

Seth realized he’d been standing next to the car. He should just turn around, lock the door and drive her to town. He should pretend that her words hadn’t ripped away a scab he’d never known was there. He should not lean down so that her face was only inches from his and her sweet breath brushed across his cheek.

“I don’t think anyone knows the real Seth.”

She cupped his jaw in her hand and Seth was humbled by the touch even as it started a series of fires throughout his body and brought the hardness to his loins that had made sleep uncomfortable all night.

“I do.”

“Then who is he, Lynn?”

“He’s a man who’s strong and loyal. A man willing to go to any lengths for those he cares for, even putting up with the tantrums of his best friend’s younger sister.”

“You weren’t throwing a tantrum. You were right. I don’t like to share my things.”

“That’s because you’ve never been sure they were really yours.” Her insight was a smooth balm over his aching wounds, and he stood before he did something stupid like kiss her.

He closed the door firmly and went to the house to make sure it was secured. As he walked back to the car, he tried to tell himself he’d resisted Lynn because she was Matt’s sister. Tried to tell himself it was because she was in trouble and needed his help. But deep inside he knew the real reason—she saw too much of who he really was.

Three

Lynn held her breath until Seth drove off of her property, leaving behind the visual reminder of her mistake. She’d trusted her heart to a smooth-talking man from New York City who’d promised to give her the world and share her life. And then convinced her to mortgage the ranch and put the money into a short-term, high-yield fund.

The only thing Ronnie had forgotten to mention was that he’d be the only one getting rich from her money. He disappeared with her cash exactly eighteen months ago.

Seth pulled the Jag to a stop on the shoulder of the road. Her first thought was they’d run out of gas. But she soon realized that Seth had given in only to get his own way.

“We’re not going any farther until you tell me what’s going on.”

Tears burned the back of her eyes. He’d driven far enough that she couldn’t walk back to the ranch and still make her appointment at the bank. Time was running out. She heard the beating of the countdown clock in her mind and she could scarcely breathe as she stared at the long, empty road ahead of her.

She felt cornered and betrayed by someone who’d lulled her into feeling safe. The sensation was much the same as the one she’d experienced when she’d realized Ronnie was never coming back. She knew of only one way out of this situation. Actually, two—fighting or telling the truth.

Seth Connelly might wear the trappings of civilization, might have spent the last twenty years with a silver spoon in his mouth, but underneath the exterior beat the heart of a street warrior who’d seen the seamier side of life. She knew he’d come from the mean streets of one of Chicago’s most dangerous neighborhoods before his mom left him with the Connellys.

Military school had honed that rebellious boy into a controlled man who knew how to manipulate circumstances for his own good. And though she knew in her heart that he wasn’t acting out of malice, her pride chafed at having been fooled once again by a man.

Truth was really the only option she had left. But she had to ensure some provisos before telling him anything. Matt mustn’t be put into jeopardy because she’d listened to her heart instead of her head.

“I want you to promise me you won’t call Matt or interfere.”

Rubbing his jaw, Seth shook his head. “I can’t make any promises until I hear the circumstances.” For the first time, she understood how different their personalities were.

She would have agreed to the stipulation without thinking the entire situation through. But Seth was cautious. Maybe he could offer her some other ideas than the one she’d come up with—selling off part of her ranch.

She took a deep breath and looked out the window at the barren landscape. Montana was preparing for winter. The deep freeze within which she’d surrounded herself began to thaw just a little as she talked about the situation for the first time with someone other than a loan officer.

“The ranch is being foreclosed on in nine days.”

Resting one arm behind her on the seat and the other on the dash, he leaned toward Lynn. She felt his presence everywhere; it was totally nonthreatening, yet at the same time arousing. He smelled crisp and clean with a faint spicy aroma. He moved the hand to her shoulder, urging her to look at him.

He’s your brother’s best friend, she reminded herself.

She met his gaze. It was hot and heavy, filled with questions and something more. Her skin tingled, and she forgot that he’d maneuvered her to this place where she was acting on his will. Forgot that he was her brother’s friend and he’d owe his loyalty to Matt. Forgot that the last time she’d thrown caution to the wind for a man she’d ended up in this situation.

Snap out of it, girl. She leaned away from him, pressing her back against the cold glass of the window. Everything would be easier if he wasn’t attracted to her. When she mixed with men, things ended in disaster.

“How did that happen?” he asked, his tone so matter-of-fact that she thought he might be a researcher following clues to a new discovery.

I don’t know, she thought. You come close to me, and my mind shuts down. Then she realized he’d meant the foreclosure.

“There was this guy, Ronnie. He gave a seminar on investing and I took his advice. The deal went south, and I was left with a mortgaged ranch.”

“Things are never that simple. I need more details.”

No way, she thought. She wasn’t going to tell Seth Connelly that she’d fallen for blue eyes, blond hair and an all-American smile. That she’d mortgaged her property so that Ronnie would stay with her instead of moving on to Los Angeles and the promise of bigger investors. That she’d given her soul to a man without one.

“You mortgaged the land to get the capital to invest?”

She nodded.

“Where did he invest your money?”

“Supposedly on Wall Street.”

“Supposedly?”

“It seems I fell victim to a con man.”

He cursed.

“I know it sounds unbelievable but it didn’t at the time.”

“It never does. What have you told Matt?”

“Nothing. His job is very risky. I don’t want him thinking about me and the ranch instead of his assignment. I can’t bury another member of my family, Seth.”

“I know,” he said, caressing her jaw.

Silence fell and they both stared at each other.

“What’s the plan?” Seth asked.

“I’ve been working double shifts at the diner and have been boarding horses for the folks who live in town. I’ve got about five thousand I can give the bank today. I’m hoping that will be enough to buy me some time.”

“What are you going to do with the time?”

“Find a buyer for the outer land. I hate to give up even an acre of the property, but I can’t lose the house.”

The thought of anyone other than the McCoys owning the land seemed like sacrilege to him. But at the same time her dilemma was his way out of what he owed her family. It was ironic that he’d visited the ranch as a boy with no money and he’d returned a wealthy man. The solution seemed obvious to Seth.

“I’ll pay off your loan and you can pay me back.”

She smiled at him, and it was the saddest expression he’d ever seen. If he’d had a heart, he thought it would have broken. Her deep violet eyes were wide and watery as she tried to keep from crying.

“Seth, that’s so sweet. But I…no.”

Lynn shouldn’t look like this, he thought. She should be riding her horse across the same land she’d ridden as a child. Never should anyone else own an acre of land that had been the McCoys since pioneers had first settled in the West.

“Lynn, be reasonable.” If she took the money, he could leave and not be tormented by images of the two of them making love in her bed. Or, he thought, leaning closer to her in the front of his car, if he put the seat back, she’d fit nicely in his lap.

She’s your best friend’s little sister, he reminded himself. But his body didn’t care about that.

“Reason has nothing to do with this. I can’t take your money. If Matt were here, he’d do the same thing.”

Seth struggled to remember that he wanted her to take the money so he could go. Returning to Chicago wasn’t what he wanted right now, but it seemed safer than staying in Montana and tempting himself with a woman he knew was off limits.

“Matt would pay the loan off himself or take my money.”

She considered the idea for all of a second. “It’s not Matt’s debt to pay nor yours. Don’t suggest it again.”

“The next time a woman tells me how hardheaded men are, I’m going to direct her to you.” Her jaw clenched and she didn’t look as if she was going to cry anymore. Slug him maybe, but not break down.

“I’m not stubborn just—”

“Proud,” he said. He couldn’t blame her. If he were in her shoes, he’d do whatever he had to—on his own. He wasn’t a team player and he knew it. He was more the alpha wolf leading his pack, and now he wanted to protect one of his own. Because whether Lynn knew it or not, she was definitely his.

Where had that come from? He didn’t know, but it made an odd sort of sense. Taking care of Lynn the way her family had taken care of him in those summers long ago would fill something in him that had been empty too long.

“I believe in paying my own way,” she said. “I made this mess and I’ll be the one to clean it up.”

She was so close he could smell the sweetness of her perfume and the underlying scent of woman. He closed his eyes. It’s about money, man. Keep your mind there.

“How about if I make you a loan and you can make payments to me?”

“Seth, be serious. You’re never going to take my family’s land.”

She was right. He’d deed the land back to her as soon as the paperwork was finalized. But he was in a position to give a gift that huge if he wanted to. And he wanted to. He thought it might be more of a need because he was so hard right now, if they didn’t compromise on the bank soon he was going to try putting his seat back and pulling her across his thighs. And that was something he shouldn’t do.

He’d tried one time to bridge the gap between them and he’d ended up leaving Montana and hurting Lynn in the process. He wouldn’t hurt her again.

“What do you suggest?”

She closed her eyes and bowed her head, looking defeated. That was the one way he’d never wanted to see this proud woman. She should be standing tall.

“Going to the bank and talking to Cochran. Which, by the way, we should be doing now.”

“I’m not driving anywhere until we find a solution that has at least a fifty-fifty shot of working.”

He’d never met a woman who didn’t look out for herself first, to the exclusion of anyone else. Lynn was totally different from his mother. A woman who’d used his birth to milk his father’s family for more than money. But there was a part of him that believed she’d do the thing that would keep her in comfort.

“I guess this is stalemate.”

“I’m not going to stop at anything short of complete surrender.”

“Why?” she asked, glancing up at him.

“This place was my saving grace, Lynn, and I won’t let anyone, even you, throw it away.”

“I can’t take money from my brother’s best friend.”

“Who can you take money from?”

“Matt.”

“It seems we’re back to the beginning.”

“Let’s go into town and let me meet with Cochran. He might agree to my plan. Or perhaps he’ll agree to take the land and leave me the house.”