by Elle James
"Be honest with the data. The system will do the rest and I'm willing to take the risk."
For a long moment, Emma stared into her friend's hopeful face. "Anyone ever tell you saying no to you is hard?" She laughed. "If you keep that up, you should get lots of business."
Leslie nodded, a smug smile on her lips. "I plan on it. I only want others to have a chance at the love you and I have both known. I wouldn't have missed the experience for the world."
Emma sighed. "Me either." She let Leslie lead her into a spare office where she could use the computer to enter her data. Emma made a point of putting it all out there—the good, the bad and the not so attractive. If the system found someone to date her, the result would be a miracle. And once out at the ranch with her brothers running him through his paces, any prospect would soon learn no one would equal their expectations.
She'd be off the hook and free to pursue her own goals and dreams. Which included purchasing Old Man Rausch's one-hundred-and-fifty-acre spread on Willow Creek. The place would be all hers, paid for with the money she'd been saving from her work as a horse trainer for the T-Bar-M Ranch. Once she lived on her own, her brothers couldn't interfere with her life.
A good plan, and one she intended to see through.
As she stepped into her truck to make the long drive back to the Rockin' J Ranch, a cool breeze swept across the parking lot, lifting the hair off the back of her neck, surrounding her like a caress. She glanced at the sky. No clouds. Weird. The temperature read-out on the bank sign on the corner listed ninety-nine degrees. Heat waves rippled upward from the black pavement, and Emma had yet to switch on the truck AC. So where had the cool breeze come from? She could swear she smelled a faint hint of musky aftershave, the kind Marcus liked to wear when they'd gone out on dates.
Emma's chest tightened and she sat still, trying to recapture the scent. Finally, she gave up. She had to be imagining the smell. All this talk with Leslie about having loved the man of their dreams had played havoc with her memories. Nothing a good round of stall mucking wouldn't cure.
She'd never told anyone she thought Marcus's spirit lingered around her, keeping her company when she was lonely or afraid. Her brothers would have her in a shrink's office quicker than she could say lickety-split. At night, when she lay in bed, missing him so badly it hurt, a light breeze would stir the curtains and waft around her. She'd stare at the picture of them laughing on the beach at South Padre Island and sigh. Marcus was everything she'd ever wanted in life. With him gone, she didn't have anything to aim for, except the ranch and her independence.
If her plan to bring a "date" home to her brothers worked, she'd be one step closer to that independence she so craved and to quelling her brothers' determination to marry her off. The ball was in Leslie's court to find the right man to pull off the plan.
"Please be everything I asked for," Emma whispered as she cranked the truck engine. Another gentle breeze blew in through the open window and trailed across her skin, lifting more goose bumps. She shrugged and shifted into drive. Emma chastised herself for her morbid thoughts. If she didn't stop thinking every peculiar thing that happened in her life was a sign, she'd be forced to commit herself to the nearest psychiatric ward for evaluation.
The Billionaire Husband Test (#1)
About the Author
ELLE JAMES also writing as MYLA JACKSON is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of books including cowboys, intrigues and paranormal adventures that keep her readers on the edges of their seats. With over eighty works in a variety of sub-genres and lengths she has published with Harlequin, Samhain, Ellora’s Cave, Kensington, Cleis Press, and Avon. When she’s not at her computer, she’s traveling, snow skiing, boating, or riding her ATV, dreaming up new stories. Learn more about Elle James at www.ellejames.com
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Or visit her alter ego Myla Jackson at mylajackson.com
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Also by Elle James
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