Bride of Fortune
Page 1
Kate Fortune’s Journal Entry
There’s nothing like love in the air to keep an old body feeling spry! From the moment we met in Minnesota, I knew Adele O’Neil was just the woman that the Arizona Fortunes needed. You see, my first husband, Ben, left me some years ago when our marriage was in trouble, and had an affair with a Native American woman, which produced two sons. It took me some time to welcome these fine men into the family fold, but now I couldn’t be prouder of them and their children. Adele has come to help the family realize our dream of building a children’s hospital, but it’s clearly more than business that’s keeping my Jason by her side day and night!
Of course, Jason is a Fortune male through and through, and it’s going to take him some time to realize that he’s found the love to last a lifetime. But that boy better hurry, as I’ve got to help four other Fortunes find their perfect mates….
Bride of Fortune
LEANNE BANKS
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Leanne Banks for her contribution to the Fortune’s Children miniseries.
This book is dedicated to a couple whose love has stood the test of time. You keep teaching me. Happy 50th anniversary, Tom and Betty Minyard, aka Mama and Daddy.
Books by Leanne Banks
Silhouette Desire
‡Ridge: The Avenger #987
*The Five-Minute Bride #1058
*The Troublemaker Bride #1070
*The You-Can’t-Make-Me Bride #1082
†Millionaire Dad #1166
†The Lone Rider Takes a Bride #1172
†Thirty-Day Fiancé #1179
**The Secretary and the Millionaire #1208
‡‡Her Forever Man #1267
‡‡The Doctor Wore Spurs #1280
‡‡Expecting His Child #1292
◊Bride of Fortune #1311
Silhouette Special Edition
A Date with Dr. Frankenstein #983
Expectant Father #1028
LEANNE BANKS
is a national number-one-bestselling author of romance. She lives in her native Virginia with her husband and son and daughter. Recognized for both her sensual and her humorous writing with two Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times Magazine, Leanne likes creating a story with a few grins, a generous kick of sensuality and characters that hang around after the book is finished. Leanne believes romance readers are the best readers in the world because they understand that love is the greatest miracle of all. You can write to her at P.O. Box 1442, Midlothian, VA 23113. A SASE for a reply would be greatly appreciated.
Meet the Arizona Fortunes—a family with a legacy of wealth, influence and power. As they gather for a host of weddings, a shocking plot against the family is revealed…and passionate new romances are ignited.
JASON FORTUNE: The strong single dad had given up on love—until he came cheek-to-cheek with a persistent redheaded beauty who aroused an all-consuming desire….
ADELE O’NEIL: This beautiful hospital consultant came to Arizona to get away from the Minnesota cold, but she was going to have to melt the ice that had formed around Jason Fortune’s heart to find the warmth she’d always sought!
LISA FORTUNE: Even a child could see that Adele considered her daddy a hunk—and Lisa knew Adele would make a great mommy.
KATE FORTUNE: This ageless family matriarch welcomed her husband’s illegitimate sons into the Fortune family and her heart, but now she was hearing wedding bells for their children!
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Prologue
The dream disturbed him so much that it woke him from a deep sleep.
He sat up in his large bed, his heart pounding, but Jason Fortune kept calm as he struggled to hang on to the vestiges of his visual. Fortune blood ran sure and true through his veins. He bore the weight and enjoyed the privilege. Although he hoped the strange visions were a product of indigestion, Jason would never deny that he was also a Lightfoot, Papago Indian, and wise enough not to ignore a dream.
Naked, he slid from beneath the Egyptian-cotton sheet and walked across the cool, polished hard-wood floor to the wide window where the winter Arizona sky sparkled like diamonds.
Jason pondered the scattered images. Each evoked a powerful emotion. There was no surprise he’d dreamed about the Children’s Hospital. The construction of Fortune Memorial Children’s Hospital was a matter of honor and pride and uppermost in everyone’s mind at Fortune Construction. His stomach twisted at the image that had followed—a bright splash of blood on concrete. A threat. Protective instincts shot to the surface. He narrowed his gaze. His younger brother, Tyler, didn’t call him the lion of the family just because he had amber eyes.
No time to comprehend the meaning of the blood before the picture of Lightfoot’s Plateau, long thought to lend guidance in the ways of the heart, had shimmered in his mind. Then a flame, warm and exciting, sprang to life just before he had awakened.
A strange longing seeped through him. He had no time for matters of the heart, he told himself. Being vice president of marketing for Fortune Construction and a single father to his precious daughter, Lisa, filled all his hours.
If he sometimes felt a man’s physical need, there were women friends who accepted his lack of commitment. Every once in a while, in dark moments like these, the teasing possibility that he could have something more sneaked in. He always dismissed it. After all, he hadn’t found the bond he’d sought with a woman even in marriage.
Matters of the heart? Jason rolled his eyes. He rubbed his hand over his face and shook his head. He headed back to bed, but the images of blood, Lightfoot’s Plateau and the flame taunted him. He couldn’t shake the sense that change was coming.
One
She would give anything for a bed.
Closing her eyes, Adele O’Neil leaned against the corner of Pueblo’s crowded Saguaro Springs Country Club elevator and visualized the bed of her dreams—cool, crisp, cotton sheets, a soft, fluffy pillow and a snuggly comforter.
A man’s baritone voice infiltrated her thoughts. His deep chuckle felt like velvet on her irritated nerve endings. She peeked through her eyelashes at the back of the tall, dark-haired man with the bedroom voice. Wearing a black suit, he transmitted a deadly combination of raw male confidence wrapped in a cloak of civilization. The flash of his white teeth contrasted with his tanned complexion. An unbidden image of the stranger reclining on her fantasy bed sneaked across her mind.
“You know what I think of committees,” the man said. “If you want to get something done, do it yourself. If you don’t, then form a committee. Especially one with an ethics consultant.”
“Ethics consultant?” the man beside him echoed. “What’s that?”
Adele strained to hear the answer.
“Somebody who presents all sides of an issue, which in some cases could take forever and make the committee lose sight of the original goal.”
Poof. Adele frowned, and the image of the man in her dream bed disappeared. The man was partly right on the first count and totally wrong on the second. After her travel day from hell, the knowledge that she would be working with this man on the hospital committee didn’t add any fuel to her engine. She wondered who he was.
He sighed. “But Kate has done a lot for us, and she is family, so I’ll indulge her. I can handle Adele O’Neil.”
Adele’s blood heated. What an arrogant man. And what a shame tha
t his arrogance was wrapped in such a nice package. She tamped down the urge to throw her shoe at him, but wouldn’t want to hurt any innocent people standing next to him.
The elevator doors whooshed open, and the crowd rushed off. Blowing a wisp of hair from her eyes, Adele shifted the strap of the carry-on bag on her shoulder and trudged out. She noticed the way people stared at the two men who had been talking in the elevator, and it dawned on her who they were. Fortunes.
She could have smacked her forehead. She should have known. She’d seen enough Fortunes in action to recognize one when she saw one. Jason Fortune, she concluded, remembering the man who would serve on the ethics committee. Fortune power oozed from the gait of his walk to the formidable confidence in his speech.
I can handle Adele O’Neil.
His words echoed in her head, and Adele lifted her chin and located the powder room, ready to put on her battle armor. After five minutes of armor application, Adele was dismayed at the sight of herself in the mirror. “Miss Redi-kilowatt,” she muttered. “One of these days, I’m going to shave it.”
Her unruly red hair looked as though she’d stuck her finger in a light socket; she’d put a run in the fresh pair of stockings she’d packed in her carry-on; and her favorite lipstick broke. Adele snarled, then turned her back on her reflection and thanked her stars for a crush-proof little black dress and the good posture one of her caregivers had inspired by poking Adele between the shoulder blades every time she slumped.
Adele might not have everything the Fortunes had, but something told her Jason had never tangled with a scrappy Irish orphan like her before. Sometimes even big boys needed to learn some lessons.
Surveying the ballroom, Jason Fortune felt a measure of satisfaction at the occasion for the gathering—a motivational party given by Kate Fortune. Everyone involved with the plans for the hospital was present. For years his family had dreamed of building a children’s hospital, and at last they were making the dream come true. He nodded at the faces of family, colleagues and employees and stifled an urge to yawn. As much as he respected and valued the familiar people present tonight, he struggled with a tinge of boredom. He appreciated the respect and deference afforded him, but every once in a while he felt a vague yearning for something more.
An odd current of electricity snaked up his back, and he turned at the sensation. His gaze immediately landed on a woman with wild red hair, sparkling green eyes, the pale skin of a Madonna and the mouth of a siren. She walked as if she owned the place, but Jason knew his family owned a piece of almost everything in town including the country club. Still, she reminded him of an Irish queen.
Feeling his brother’s approach to his side, he nodded in her direction. “Who is she?”
Tyler shrugged. “I don’t know. Kate seems to know her,” he said as the grande dame embraced the redhead. “Looks like a lot of firepower in that one. Not your usual type.”
Jason agreed. He generally preferred a quiet, agreeable woman, but he was curious.
Kate glanced up at that moment and waved him over. “My presence is required,” Jason said, and walked toward the two women.
Tyler joined him. “Mine, too.”
Jason slid him a look of disbelief.
Tyler lifted his lips in the trademark smile that had stolen a hundred women’s hearts. “I like redheads.”
“And blondes,” Jason said dryly. “And brunettes and…”
“I have a deep appreciation for women.”
“Just not for matrimony,” Jason said.
“I watched and learned from you.”
Jason frowned, thinking of his own experience with marriage. “Pick a different role model on this,” he muttered, then stepped beside Kate Fortune and kissed her cheek.
“How are you darling?” She smiled at Tyler. “I hear the construction on the hospital is going well.”
“Right on schedule,” Tyler said, and glanced at the red-haired woman. “And who is—”
“Jason and Tyler, I’d like you to meet Adele O’Neil. Adele did such a good job at the hospital where my daughter, Lindsay, works in Minnesota. I’m delighted I was able to persuade her to be the ethical consultant for the new children’s hospital here. You’ll be working with Jason.”
“Well, damn,” Tyler said under his breath.
Jason nudged him with his elbow.
Adele smiled at Kate. “Kate, I’ve never heard of you not getting your way.” She turned to Jason and Tyler. “The Children’s Hospital is a wonderful project. I’m delighted to be on board.”
Jason captured her hand in his. “We’re delighted you’ve joined us.”
She raised her eyebrows, and he saw a flash of disbelief mixed with challenge in her green eyes. “Oh, really?” she said. “You like committees? Have you worked with an ethical consultant before? Some people have the misguided notion that an ethical consultant will present all sides of an issue, which in some cases could take forever and make the committee lose sight of the original goal.” She shrugged her slim shoulders, drawing his attention down her pale throat to her full breasts. He wanted to step closer, to catch her scent. Instead, he held her hand.
“But I’m sure an enlightened man such as you would never hold such an ignorant view.”
She’d overheard him in the elevator, he realized. If she were Zorro, he’d have a big Z slashed across his shirt. When she started to remove her hand, he continued to hold it and rubbed his thumb over the inside of her wrist. “If I did, I’m sure you could give me a different perspective.”
She gave him a second once-over as if reconsidering him, then nodded slowly. “We’ll see, won’t we?”
More challenge, Jason thought, feeling the sensation rise within him like a threatening volcano. He allowed her to withdraw her hand and watched, with a flicker of irritation, as his brother edged in front of him. “Nice to meet you,” Tyler said. “I’ll be busy with the construction end of the hospital, so I won’t be on the committee. But if you need anything at all while you’re here,” he told her, “I’m your man.”
Adele’s lips twitched. “Thank you. I’ll remember that.”
“Oh, Adele, here comes Sterling,” Kate said. “You remember meeting him, don’t you?”
“Your husband,” Adele said.
Color rose in Kate’s cheeks. “Yes.”
Jason watched as the two women walked toward Sterling.
“Need me to pull the knife out of your gut?” Tyler asked.
“She’s got a sharp tongue,” Jason said, his gaze fastened on Adele. He struggled with the force of his strangely primitive and provocative feeling about her.
“Also got a great body,” Tyler mused.
Jason frowned. “Aren’t there about a dozen other women you’ve got on your fishing line?”
Tyler glanced at him in surprise. “You want this one,” he concluded. “I haven’t seen that look in your eye in a long time.”
“What look in my eye?”
“Like you give a damn for a change,” Tyler said. “You’re always letting the ladies come to you. You look like you’re ready to go after this one.” Tyler studied him. “You look like you’re on the hunt.”
Jason opened his mouth to deny it, then paused. He’d made a policy to not get overly involved with a woman since his wife died years ago. Although sometimes his relationships with women met mutual physical needs, he always made it clear his commitment was to his daughter. His relationships with women had been carefully controlled and comfortable. Something told him any relationship he had with Adele would not be controlled or comfortable. In fact, the woman looked like a lot of trouble.
Jason conceded nothing. This was no one’s business but his own.
Tyler shook his head. “It should be fun to watch. Have you declawed any cats lately?”
Adele felt Jason Fortune’s gaze on her throughout the following hour. Although she tried, she couldn’t dismiss the intensity in his amber eyes. She couldn’t dismiss the man, period. Even though she tried
to minimize his power and appeal, he clearly wasn’t a man to be minimized.
He made her feel edgy, and there was no good reason for it. Sure, he was watching her, but she’d been watched before. Knowing that she would be in constant close contact with him to set up the parameters for the Children’s Hospital made her stomach tighten with nerves.
Adele pushed back the sensation and drank the last swallow of champagne from her crystal flute. She felt light-headed and realized the combined effects of her tough travel day and just one glass of champagne were a clear signal it was time to get to the company condo she would be using. “I can handle this,” she murmured to herself, “tomorrow.”
“More champagne?” a deep voice inquired from behind her.
A quick jolt raced through Adele. Jason Fortune. “Oh, no. I just want a bed.”
She glanced up at him and watched him pause. A whisper of a grin flashed across his face.
“I could probably help with that,” he said, his tone rife with possibilities.
“I, uh, didn’t mean it—” Feeling her cheeks heat, she took a quick breath. “I mean, I’m just tired. Long travel day. Thank you anyway, though.” For Pete’s sake! Adele wanted to kick herself. She had calmly faced more influential men than Jason Fortune without her mind flying away like a flock of geese. It occurred to her that he easily blotted out the rest of the room just by his proximity.
“I can give you a ride,” he offered.
“Oh, no,” she said. “That’s not necessary. I’m sure there are other people you need to meet and greet.”
He shrugged. “Not really. I tend to get bored at these events after the first fifteen minutes unless someone interesting walks into the room.”