by Elle James
Now that she was in Montana and facing the man she was to marry, what did she do next?
She shot a glance at Collin, thankful he’d worked with the owner-manager of the Brighter Days Rehabilitation Ranch to secure a job there as a recovering veteran. It wasn’t a far stretch from the truth. Collin still had nightmares and flashbacks from his deployments.
Having Collin there, allayed her initial fear that she would land in Montana and not know a soul and be completely exposed to any danger that might arise.
Collin had fixed that with an email and a phone call to Hannah Kendricks. And he’d done a background check on the physical therapist, learning that her father was a senator for the state of Montana. He’d also run a background check on Gavin Blackstock, her groom. Working with some contacts he had in the military, he found that Gavin was a decorated veteran Navy SEAL who’d lost his leg on a dangerous mission in Afghanistan. A mission in which he’d sacrificed his own safety to insure his teammates got out alive. The details weren’t readily available because the mission had been classified Top Secret. But his contacts got the scuttlebutt on the basics.
What it came down to was Gavin Blackstock was the real deal. He was what he’d put in his advertisement…and so much more.
Olivia had assumed her second name and dropped St. off St. George. Collin had also arranged to have a passport made with her assumed name Aurelia George from Bar Harbor, Maine. They’d dreamed up a background to explain why her accent clearly wasn’t northeastern, but more British English. Her mother was from London and met her father when he was in the Air Force on active duty, stationed at Mildenhall in the United Kingdom.
Oliva…no, she had to start thinking of herself as Aurelia…which wasn’t too hard, considering her father had always preferred calling her Aurelia. After Lilianna had gotten over the shock of Aurelia’s commitment to her plan, she and Collin had come up with her cover story, her background and her plan for sneaking out of the country, undetected.
The undetected part had been a challenge. Thankfully, she and Lilianna were the same height. They’d gone into a ladies’ restroom in a shopping mall, switched clothing and headscarves and left at different times. Lilianna had gone out first, left the mall and climbed into the waiting limousine Aurelia usually traveled in. Collin had gone with her, despite his better judgment. Aurelia had slipped out of the back of the mall, got into a taxi and headed for the train station with her fake passport.
Collin had someone preposition her suitcase at the train station. Once he had Lilianna back at the royal palace and tucked away in Aurelia’s suite of rooms, Collin had left the palace, gone to a local pub and slipped out the back. He’d changed into different clothes, wore a baseball cap low over his face and joined Aurelia at the train station. Together, but separately, they boarded a highspeed train to Frankfurt, Germany, sitting in different seats in the same car.
Aurelia wore a scarf over her hair and half her face and pretended to sleep, though she was wide awake and aware of every person getting on and off the train.
By the time they reached Frankfurt, she was already exhausted from nerves. They’d planned to be on the plane to the US within two hours of arriving at the airport.
Careful to keep her face covered, she wore fake glasses and the scarf everywhere she went, not wanting cameras to pick up on her whereabouts. Maybe she was being overly careful, but two of her suitors had died trying to marry her. She didn’t want a third fiancé to be the next target, nor did she want whoever was sabotaging her plans to come after her. She had an obligation to her country, and by God, she’d fulfill that obligation, even if it meant marrying a man she didn’t know and hiding for the next nine or ten months in the wilds of Montana to have a baby.
Hell, she hadn’t thought about it, but where did women have their babies out here? Did they hire midwives to deliver? She knew there was a well-equipped hospital in Bozeman, but would she be able to get from the ranch to Bozeman once her contractions were underway? If she got pregnant in the next month, that would put her having her baby near the end of spring. Would her baby be born in a late-spring blizzard? She’d researched Montana. The state was known for unpredictable weather. They had snow as late as July.
But as she stepped out of the bus, all her worries were pushed to the back of her mind. Her future husband stood beside Collin and a pretty woman with light red hair and blue eyes. Granted, the woman wore jeans and a plaid shirt, and her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail. But her smile lit her face, making her quite attractive.
Who was she to Gavin Blackstock? Considering he’d advertised for a wife, she wasn’t in the running for the job, nor was she wearing a ring. And she appeared pleased to see Aurelia. All of this rushed through her head, almost wiping away her and Gavin’s plan to pretend they’ve known each other for a long time. Now was the time for her to put on a show. She and Gavin had discussed the strategy online before she’d agreed to come. As a royal, she was used to playing a part in public. But this part was far more personal than any she’d been tasked to perform in the past. Squaring her shoulders, she pasted a huge smile on her face and flung her arms around Gavin’s neck. “Gavin, darling, I’m so glad to see you. I could barely wait to get here.”
Gavin settled his hands on her waist and replied, “It’s good to see you too, A-aurelia.”
A bubble of laughter rose up Aurelia’s chest, and she let it go. The man was obviously embarrassed and maybe a little shy, which she found endearing.
A spark of something rippled from where their bodies touched and spread heat to the very tips of her extremities. Aurelia sucked in a breath and held it, afraid to let it go lest she gasp.
Gavin was as solid as a rock and made her feel surprisingly protected. His grip was firm but gentle for such a big guy, and he didn’t release her immediately. He leaned back a little and stared for a long moment into her eyes, as if searching for something. Just like when she’d looked into those eyes in the picture on the internet, she could feel the same connection, as if he was looking into her soul.
She released the breath she’d held.
“Aurelia, we’ve waited far too long,” Gavin said, his tone low, resonant and as rich and thick as melted chocolate, seeping into every pore of her skin.
Awareness made her shiver. Aurelia hadn’t expected such a swift and visceral reaction to this stranger. And frankly, it frightened her at the same time as it excited her.
In their correspondence over the internet, they’d agreed to keep their arrangement between themselves until they’d had a chance to meet and determine whether a match could be made. They would both have the opportunity to back out, should they decide their proposal wouldn’t work.
So far, Aurelia was still agreeable to the marriage, and even more convinced he was exactly what she needed. She wondered if Gavin would take a little more convincing.
Finally, he released her and stepped back, keeping a hand at the small of her back.
The woman beside him, held out her hand. “Hello, I’m Lori Mize, one of the guests at the Brighter Days Rehab Ranch. Don’t mind me,” she said with a smile. “I came along to meet you. Gavin kept talking about this wonderful girlfriend of his. We all thought she didn’t exist.” Lori winked. “I’m happy to see you really do.” Lori shook her hand with a strong grip and a lot of enthusiasm. “And you’re very pretty. Who would have thought Gavin would have a pretty girlfriend stashed away somewhere?”
“Nice to meet you, Ms. Mize,” Aurelia said.
“You can call me Lori. We’re not too formal around here.” Lori turned to Collin. “And this is our brand new ranch hand, Collin Banner. You two might have met on the bus?” Lori cocked an eyebrow.
“No, I’m sorry, we haven’t met.” Heat threatened to rise up Aurelia’s neck. She focused on not feeling guilty for lying about knowing Collin. She held out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Collin shook her hand, giving it an extra, reassuring squeeze. “Pleasure, ma’am.”
Gavin waved a hand toward a large, black king cab pickup. “If you two are ready, we can head on out to the ranch.”
“I just have to get my luggage,” Aurelia said and turned to the three new, matching cases the bus driver had set out on the curb. She’d had to leave most of her clothes and toiletries at home in Lastovia. In order to sneak out of the country, she’d had to leave with what she wore, the suitcase Collin had pre-positioned at the train station and the fake passport, praying she wasn’t caught and thrown in jail along the way for falsifying legal documents.
Their first stop in the US had been in New York City where she’d had to buy enough clothing and toiletries to last her for the year she’d be in Montana. Unsure of what the wild western state had to offer, she’d stocked up on everything she thought she might need, including several pairs of blue jeans, boots and a heavy winter coat. Though it was late summer, she’d heard the winters could be long and brutal. Her own country was quite cool in the winter, so she wasn’t worried about how to deal with the cold.
She was worried about taking too long to get to the part where they promised to marry and start making babies. Though she’d arrive in the country under a forged passport, she would make certain she signed her marriage certificate with her full, legal name. Otherwise, all her efforts to marry and produce an heir by her birthday deadline would be null and void.
Lori took one look at the three suitcases and laughed. “I guess you’ve come to stay.”
Aurelia’s gaze captured Gavin’s. “That was the plan,” she said softly, daring him to say otherwise. He could back out, though she prayed he wouldn’t.
If she had a lot of time to court the man, she would. And she’d tell him why she needed to marry and get started on having babies, but that might make him even more inclined to back out of the deal. The man would probably be uncomfortable being a part of a royal family. And who said they couldn’t be married and live separately? The law of her country didn’t say the spouse had to live in Lastovia. Just that the royal had to be married and produce an heir by his or her thirtieth birthday. For that matter, would Gavin want to live that far away from his children?
Gavin gathered two of the suitcases in his hands. When he tried to juggle the third, Collin snatched it out of his reach and carried it to the pickup.
Aurelia and Lori followed the men.
“Just so you know,” Lori whispered, “I’m the only other person on the ranch who knows your secret.”
Aurelia shot a wide-eyed glance at the woman who limped along beside her. Her secret? Did she know she was a royal and that she was there to fulfill her family obligation in order to inherit her throne? “And how do you feel about it?” she asked vaguely, not offering any more details about anything.
“I think the idea of a mail-order bride is exactly what Gavin needed. Otherwise, he would have given up completely on the idea of marriage and a family. He has some dumb idea that a woman wouldn’t find him husband material because he’s missing one measly leg.”
Aurelia studied Gavin’s back and legs as he carried the two heavy suitcases. “He seems to get along just fine without it. Why should that bother me?”
Lori shrugged, limping along beside Aurelia. “You never know how people will react to people who are different from them.”
Aurelia’s focus shifted from Gavin to Lori, and she frowned. “You speak as if from experience.”
Lori bent and tapped her knuckles against the lower half of her left leg, making a sound like knocking against metal.
Aurelia’s eyes widened. “You, too?”
Lori nodded. “My supply truck rolled over an IED. I was the lucky one.”
“Losing a leg isn’t what I consider lucky,” Aurelia said.
“I lost my leg…” Lori looked away. “My battle buddy lost his life.”
Aurelia touched her arm. “I’m sorry. I can’t even begin to imagine how you feel.”
Lori shrugged. “Like it should have been me. I should have been the one to die. Landers had a wife and kid back home. I had no one depending on me. If I hadn’t insisted on driving the last leg of the journey, he’d be alive today.”
“And you wouldn’t be.” Aurelia sighed.
“I tell myself there has to be a reason I was spared, and he wasn’t. I just haven’t found that reason yet.” She nodded toward Gavin. “We just have to learn to live a different life than what we had planned.” Lori gave Aurelia a tight smile. “Gavin and I have it easy. We have a guy at Brighter Days who’s lost a lot more.”
Aurelia had thought a lot about Gavin’s profile, One leg short of a pair. She knew it wouldn’t bother her that he was missing a limb. But she hadn’t thought about what the loss of a limb had cost the man. Based on what Lori was saying, it was a lot more than the physical aspect.
When they arrived at the truck, the men tossed the suitcases in the bed. Gavin opened the passenger door and held out a hand to help Aurelia up into the seat. Collin held the back door open for Lori and waited until she climbed in before walking around to the opposite side and climbing into the backseat beside her.
Aurelia settled into her seat and waited for Gavin to slip into the driver’s seat. She had a lot to learn about her future husband, assuming he intended to follow through with their wedding plans. If all went smoothly, they would spend a couple days getting acquainted before they made the decision. Then they’d go from there to plan a wedding.
Aurelia couldn’t believe how smoothly escaping Lastovia and traveling all the way to Montana had gone. Almost too smoothly. She kept looking for the hitch in her plan. But so far, none had surfaced. Still, she would not let down her guard for a moment. Collin had promised to keep an eye on her, but just as importantly, he’d help protect Gavin from any threat that might arise once they announced their engagement.
Chapter 4
Gavin couldn’t believe the woman sitting in the truck beside him was serious. She was absolutely gorgeous. Why did she need to resort to a mail-order method of finding a man to marry? What was the catch? There had to be one. She could have any man her heart desired. Why him…a one-legged former Navy SEAL?
As soon as he had a chance, he’d pull her aside and ask all the questions. Unfortunately, once they were at the ranch, they’d be hard pressed to find a quiet moment alone. Perhaps his first test of his prospective bride would be to find out if she could ride a horse. He’d take her riding and get that alone-time they so desperately needed to get to know one another. Lori had helped him come up with a timeline. A week had seemed reasonable to determine whether they were compatible. After that week, they could decide if they would continue to take their relationship to the next level.
Hell, Gavin didn’t think the woman would make it the week. She’d figure out pretty quickly that he didn’t belong in her life and she didn’t belong in his. He sighed, shifted into drive and headed out to the Brighter Days Rehab Ranch.
All the way to the ranch, he couldn’t think of a darned thing to say. Not one thing. And he was supposed to know Aurelia. If he couldn’t think of something now, what would happen when the rest of the crew at Brighter Days converged on them? They’d know immediately he had just met Aurelia. Then how would it look if they did end up tying the knot? Not that he cared. He wanted what so many other guys had…a wife and family.
Oh, who was he kidding? This wasn’t the way to do it. Lori was wrong.
Lori leaned over the back seat and smiled at Aurelia. “I’m curious, how did you two meet?”
Gavin wanted to reach back and strangle Lori. In the rearview mirror, he could see Lori’s lopsided grin. She was testing them with questions the others would shoot at him as soon as they arrived at the ranch. If they didn’t have their story straight, now, they never would. What was it they’d agreed on as a cover story?
“We met when our families vacationed on the California coast one year,” Aurelia said. She gave Gavin a tight smile.
He nodded, picking up where she left off. “We kept in touch all these years
.”
“So, are you from California?” Lori asked.
Aurelia glanced out the window. “No, we were only visiting that year.”
“Where are you from?” Lori asked, pointblank.
“My parents were diplomats,” Aurelia said. “We spent much of my life in Europe.”
“That’s interesting,” Lori said with a smile. “Where are your parents now?”
For a moment Aurelia didn’t respond. Instead, she looked ahead at the road in front of them. Then she drew in a deep breath and let it go. “They died two years ago when their car ran off a cliff.”
The deadpan way Aurelia spoke of the death of her parents made Gavin shoot a glance her way. She still stared at the road ahead, but her eyes were shadowed, and her lovely smile had disappeared.
Gavin found himself wishing Lori hadn’t asked the question that made the sunshine leave Aurelia’s face. He frowned at Lori in the rearview mirror.
Lori shrugged.
Beside him Aurelia smiled again, albeit it looked a little forced. “What about you, Gavin? How are your parents. It’s been so long since.”
“They passed several years ago. Mom had cancer.”
Aurelia reached out a hand and touched his arm. “I’m so sorry. She was such a wonderful woman.”
Gavin nodded. Hating that they were acting a lie. But his mother had been a good person. “My father died shortly after of a broken heart.” They hadn’t lived to see their son blown apart. Gavin was just as glad they hadn’t had to live through that, though he could have used a friend when he’d been told the doctors had to amputate.