James Bravo's Shotgun Bride

by Christine Rimmer

  James Bravo Is Marrying His Dream Woman. There’s Just One Catch...

  Tied to a chair and staring down the barrel of a shotgun isn’t how James Bravo planned on proposing to the woman he’s secretly longed for for months. He also isn’t the father of Addie Kenwright’s unborn baby—even if her grandfather thinks he is. James has never stolen so much as a kiss from the beautiful rancher...but all that changes when he and Addie say “I do.”

  Three times burned is enough to put a single woman off wedlock forever. Addie only agreed to this crazy scheme to appease her ailing grandpa. Now the mother-to-be can’t get enough of the hunky, blue-eyed attorney. Are Addie and James ready to take the plunge for real and turn a temporary arrangement into the marriage of both their dreams?

  “James Bravo, you may kiss your bride.”

  Addie was looking up into his dark-fringed blue eyes, already feeling that she’d pretty much hit the jackpot as far as temporary husbands went.

  And then James slowly smiled at her and she realized that it was actually happening: they were about to share their first kiss.

  James said her name softly, in that wonderful smooth, deep voice of his that sent little thrills of excitement pulsing all through her.

  She said, “James,” low and sweet, just for him. And she thought of the last three nights, of the two of them together in the hotel room bed. Of waking up each morning cuddled up close to him, of one or the other of them gently, reluctantly pulling away...

  Okay, maybe it wasn’t a real marriage. And it would be over as soon as her grandfather was back on his feet.

  So what? It was probably as close to a real marriage as she was ever going to get.

  * * *

  THE BRAVOS OF JUSTICE CREEK: Where bold hearts collide under Western skies

  Dear Reader

  Every once in a while I just have to kick over the traces and write a rollicking, wild and woolly modern-day Western romance. James Bravo’s Shotgun Bride is one of those.

  Addie Kenwright is pregnant. Her dear old grandpa Levi is absolutely certain that James Bravo must be the dad. Levi’s seen Addie and James together, and Addie may be pretending that nothing’s going on with James, but Levi knows undeniable mutual attraction when he sees it.

  So Levi decides to take matters into his own hands. He knows where to find James and he knows how to convince that hardheaded Bravo man to do the right thing, because Levi’s coming grandbaby deserves both a mommy and a daddy.

  Everything is going to work out as it should. With the help of his pump-action Mossburg Maverick 88, Levi intends to make everything right.

  Happy reading everyone,

  James Bravo’s Shotgun Bride

  Christine Rimmer

  Christine Rimmer came to her profession the long way around. She tried everything from acting to teaching to telephone sales. Now she’s finally found work that suits her perfectly. She insists she never had a problem keeping a job—she was merely gaining “life experience” for her future as a novelist. Christine lives with her family in Oregon. Visit her at christinerimmer.com.

  Books by Christine Rimmer

  Harlequin Special Edition

  The Bravos of Justice Creek

  Carter Bravo’s Christmas Bride

  The Good Girl’s Second Chance

  Not Quite Married

  The Bravo Royales

  A Bravo Christmas Wedding

  The Earl’s Pregnant Bride

  The Prince’s Cinderella Bride

  Holiday Royale

  How to Marry a Princess

  Her Highness and the Bodyguard

  The Rancher’s Christmas Princess

  Bravo Family Ties

  A Bravo Homecoming

  Marriage, Bravo Style!

  Donovan’s Child

  Expecting the Boss’s Baby

  Montana Mavericks: What Happened at the Wedding?

  The Maverick’s Accidental Bride

  Montana Mavericks: 20 Years in the Saddle!

  Million-Dollar Maverick

  Montana Mavericks: Rust Creek Cowboys

  Marooned with the Maverick

  Montana Mavericks: The Texans are Coming!

  The Last Single Maverick

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

  Get rewarded every time you buy a Harlequin ebook!

  Click here to Join Harlequin My Rewards

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  For Anita Hayes,

  crafter, great cook and world’s most attentive raiser of chickens. You make me laugh and touch my heart. This one’s for you, Anitabug.

  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

  Excerpt from The Detective’s 8 lb, 10 oz Surprise by Meg Maxwell

  Chapter One

  Waking up tied to a chair is bad.

  But waking up tied to a chair staring down the deadly single barrel of old Levi Kenwright’s pump-action shotgun?

  So. Much. Worse.

  James Bravo stifled a groan. Not only did it appear he was about to eat serious lead, but he had the mother of all headaches. Surely Levi didn’t really intend to shoot him. James shook his head, hoping to clear it.

  Still a little fuzzy. And still hurt, too. And Levi still had that shotgun trained right on him.

  The old man wasn’t at his best. His wiry white hair looked as if he’d combed it with a cattle prod and his craggy face seemed kind of pale—except for two spots of color, burning red, cresting his cheekbones. Sweat shone on his wrinkled throat and darkened the underarms of his worn checked shirt.

  His aim, however?

  Way too steady. Levi grunted as he sighted down the barrel. “Good. You’re awake. I was beginnin’ to worry I’d hit you a mite hard.”

  James winced, blinked in another failed attempt to ease his pounding head and cast a careful glance around him. Judging by the lack of windows, the knotty pine paneling, the faint smell of cool earth and the stairs leading upward along the far wall, Levi had brought him to a basement. Was it the basement of the house at Red Hill Ranch, where Levi lived with his way too damn attractive granddaughter Addie?

  Probably.

  On the battered pasteboard side table a few feet away, James spotted his phone, his wallet and his keys. So even if he managed to get his hand into his pocket, there was no phone in there to use to call for help.

  And just how in hell had all of this happened?

  James remembered standing on the porch of his nearly finished new house ten miles outside his hometown of Justice Creek, Colorado. It was a cool and sunny March afternoon. He’d been gazing off toward the big weathered barn at Red Hill, hoping that Addie would soon ride by on one of those horses she boarded and trained.

  The crazy old coot must have come up on him from behind.

  Cautiously, James inquired, “Er, Mr. Kenwright?”

  “No need for formalities, son,
” Levi replied downright pleasantly as he continued to point the shotgun at James. “We’re gonna be family. I want you to call me Levi.”

  Had the old man just said they were going to be...family? James’s head hurt too much for him to even try to get a handle on that one. “Levi it is, then.”

  A wry little chortle escaped the wild-haired old man. “That’s better.”

  Better? Better would be if Levi put down the gun and untied him immediately. But James didn’t say that. For the time being, he would say nothing that might rile his captor. A riled Levi could suddenly decide to fire that shotgun. That would be good and bad. Good, because James would no longer have a headache. Bad, because he wouldn’t have a head, either.

  “Levi, do you mind if I ask you something?”

  “You go right ahead, son.”

  “Why am I tied to a chair in the basement of your house?”

  Another chortle. And then, very slowly, Levi lowered the shotgun. James drew a cautious breath of relief as Levi replied, “Good question. And one I am sure you will know the answer to if you just give it a little more thought.”

  James closed his eyes. He thought. But thinking gave him nothing, except to make his head pound harder. “Sorry, but I honestly have no idea why you’re doing this to me.”

  “Well, then.” Levi backed three steps, sank into the battered leather easy chair behind him and laid the shotgun across his knees. “Allow me to explain.”

  “Wonderful. Thank you.”

  “Think nothin’ of it—I know you know my granddaughter Addison.”

  “Of course I know Addie.” Was she somehow involved in this? Why? He’d done nothing to cause her to make her grandfather hit him on the head, drag him to Red Hill and tie him to a chair.

  Had he?

  “Means everything to me, that girl,” Levi said. “She and her big sister, Carmen, are what I got that matters in this world—well, them and my great-grandkids, Tammy and Ian, and their dad, Devin. A fine lad, Devin. Like you, he needed a little convincing. But once he understood the situation, he stepped right up. Same as you’re gonna do—and where was I?”

  “Uh, Addie and the rest of your family mean everything to you?”

  “Right. Family, son. Family is everything. So you can imagine my concern when I recently discovered that Addie’s in the family way.” Addie pregnant? Could that be true? Levi went right on. “Naturally, I want my new great-grandbaby to have two parents. That’s the old-fashioned way, which is to say, it is God’s way. And that means it’s the best way. And of course, I know very well that you are my new great-grandbaby’s daddy. So I’m just helping things along a little here, just nudging you down the path known as doing the right thing.”

  James cleared his throat. Carefully. “Hold on a minute...”

  “Yeah?”

  James had a strong suspicion that there was a lump on the back of his head where Levi had hit him. The lump throbbed. It felt like a big lump, a lump that was growing bigger as he tried to make sense of what Addie’s crazy grandpa said to him. “Did you just say that Addie’s having my baby?”

  Holding the shotgun between his two gnarled fists, looking weary as a traveler at the end of a very long road, Levi rose to his feet again. “Your baby needs a daddy, son. And my Addie needs a husband.” He raised the gun and aimed the damn thing at James’s aching head once more. “So tell me, is the path becoming clearer now?”

  James had never had sex with Addie. Never kissed her, never done more than brush a touch against her hand. True, he would very much have liked to do any number of things to Addie. But he hadn’t. So if Addie had a little one on the way, he wasn’t the man responsible.

  And that he wasn’t really pissed him off.

  But James’s jealousy of some mystery man who got a whole lot luckier than he ever had was not the issue here.

  The issue was that Levi had kidnapped the wrong guy.

  Not that James had any intention of setting the old codger straight. Not at the moment, anyway. James had more sense than to argue with a man who’d already coldcocked him, abducted him and tied him to a chair.

  Yeah. Levi meant business, all right. And it was looking more and more likely that the old guy had a screw loose. James was a lawyer by profession. He’d dealt with more than one screwball client in his career. Arguing with a nutcase had never gotten him anywhere.

  So instead of insisting he’d never laid a hand on Addie, James announced with all the sincerity he could muster, “Levi, the right thing is exactly what I want to do.”

  “Glad to hear it, son.”

  “Great, then. If you’ll just untie—”

  “Not. Quite. Yet.” Levi shook his head, but at least he lowered the gun again.

  Keeping it cool, James breathed slowly and carefully. “All righty, Levi. When, exactly, do you plan to untie me?”

  “Soon as I’m absolutely certain you’re not gonna pull any tricks on me. Soon as I know I can count on you to...” Levi’s sentence died unfinished as a door slammed shut upstairs. The old man gasped. His rheumy eyes widened as footsteps echoed from above.

  Addie. James’s heart leaped as his head pounded harder. Had to be Addie.

  And it was. “PawPaw!” she hollered, the sound far away, muffled, not coming from whatever room was directly overhead. “Where are you?”

  James and Levi both stared at the ceiling, tracking the path of her quick, firm footsteps on the floor above as those footsteps came closer.

  And closer...

  They passed right overhead.

  The basement door squeaked as it opened. James couldn’t see that door, not from where he was tied in the middle of the basement floor. But he heard Addie crystal clear now as she called down the stairs, “PawPaw?”

  “Don’t you come down here!” Levi glared at James and waved the shotgun threateningly for silence. “I’ll be up in a minute!”

  The door only creaked wider, followed by more creaking: footsteps on the stairs. A pair of tan boots appeared, descending, bringing with them shapely legs in a snug pair of faded jeans. “What are you up to down here?” The curvy top half of Addie came into view, including those beautiful breasts of hers in a tight T-shirt and all that softly curling ginger hair. About then, she turned and caught sight of James. Big golden-brown eyes went wide in surprise. “What the...?” She stumbled. A frantic screech escaped her as her booted feet flew out. She windmilled her arms.

  “Addie!” James and Levi shouted their useless warnings simultaneously.

  But then, with another cry, she grabbed the iron stair rail and righted herself just in time to keep from tumbling the rest of the way to the concrete floor.

  “Get hold of yourself, girl,” old Levi grumbled as she made it down the last step and sagged against the railing. “A woman in your condition has got to be careful.”

  Those baby-doll lips of hers flattened in a scowl and two bright spots of color flared high on her round cheeks as she put a hand to her stomach and tried to catch her breath. “PawPaw, you’re scaring me to death. Put down that gun and untie James immediately.”

  Levi lowered the gun, but he didn’t put it down. “Now, Addie honey.” His tone had turned coaxing. “I can’t untie him right yet. First, James and I need to come to a clear understanding.”

  “An understanding of what?” Addie drew herself up, stuck out her pretty, round chin and glared daggers at Levi, who stared back at her sheepishly but didn’t answer. He must have known she would figure it out—and she did. Her eyes went wide again as she put it together. “Have you lost your mind? I told you. James is not the guy.”

  Levi granted her a patient, disbelieving look—and explained to James, “Morning sickness. That’s how I knew. Just like her grandma, her mom and her big sister, too. Morning sickness early and often. Then I found that little stick she
used to take the test. I put it all together, yes, I did. Levi Kenwright is no fool.”

  Addie made a growling sound. She actually seemed to vibrate with frustration. “You had no right, PawPaw, none, to go snooping through my bathroom wastebasket. I told you what I think of that. That is just wrong. And now to kidnap poor James, too? What is the matter with you?”

  “Nothing is the matter with me,” Levi huffed. “I’m fixing things for you and James here, just like I fixed them for Carmen and Devin.”

  James decided he couldn’t be hearing this right. Surely Levi wasn’t implying that he’d kidnapped Carmen’s husband, too?

  Addie shrieked again, this time in fury. Waving her arms as she went, she started pacing back and forth across the big rag rug that anchored the makeshift basement living area. “How can I talk to you? You are impossible. You know very well that it was wrong of you to kidnap Devin.”

  Levi just stood there, cradling his shotgun, looking smug. “Worked, didn’t it? Eight years later, he and Carmen and the kids are just as happy as bugs in a basket.”

  Addie stopped stock-still beside the ancient portable TV on its rickety stand. She sucked air like a bull about to charge. “I can’t talk to you. I want to kill you.” She planted her fists on her hips and commanded, “Untie James right this minute.”

  Levi didn’t budge. “Now, Addie honey, don’t get yourself all worked up. James has told me the truth, accepted his responsibility to you and the baby and promised to do the right thing.”

  Addie gasped in outrage and whipped her head around to glare at James. “You told him what?”

  Oh, great. As if all this was his fault? He suggested mildly, “Given the situation, arguing with your grandfather didn’t seem like a good idea.”

  “I don’t... I can’t...” Addie sputtered, furious, glancing back and forth between him and the old man. And then she pinned her grandfather with another baleful glare. “Of course James confessed. What choice did he have? You held a shotgun to his head.”

  Levi blustered, “He confessed because it’s true and we both know that it is.”