by Lacey Davis
Their Tempting Bride
A Bridgewater Brides Novel
Lacey Davis
Copyright © 2021 by Lacey Davis
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author's imagination and used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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All rights reserved.
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No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Cover design: Bridger Media
Cover graphic: Hot Damn Stock; DepositPhotos: digital storm
Welcome to Bridgewater, where one cowboy is never enough! Their Tempting Bride is published as part of the Bridgewater Brides World, which includes books by numerous authors inspired by Vanessa Vale’s USA Today bestselling series. This is a steamy standalone read. Enjoy!
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Bridgewater Brides World
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About the Author
1
Daniel Hamilton walked out of the big city's telegraph office, staring at the words on the page with a frown on his face.
Time was running out.
“What’s wrong?” Martin Perkins, his best friend from when they served in the army in the country of Mohamir, called out to him on Main Street in the bustling area of Butte, Montana.
“My father,” he said, “he’s coming to visit next week.”
“Damn,” Martin said. “Do you think it’s about the woman he wants you to marry?”
Of course, it was. His father wanted him to marry a rich debutante and had one picked out for him. A woman he’d detested since grade school.
“I’m certain he’s coming to convince me to return with him to Philadelphia and marry Elizabeth Wister.”
His family back in Philadelphia were well known socialites. His father owned one of the largest banks in the city and wanted his eldest son to follow in his footsteps, though he had six brothers and two sisters who were more than capable of carrying on the family name.
“You know what would settle this?”
“No, what?” Daniel said, stamping down the wooden sidewalk. He slowed his steps to match Martin’s limping ones.
“If you were to marry, he couldn't force you into marrying Miss Wister.”
The thought of marriage wasn’t a bad idea. But he didn’t want a normal wedded life like everyone else. No, he wanted the Bridgewater way.
Going to Mohamir for military service and then seeing the happiness of the couples at Bridgewater, he knew exactly what he wanted. And it wasn’t a marriage like his parents.
One woman between him and Martin. The two of them making certain she received everything they had to offer, sharing her between them, creating a happy family just like their friends had.
No, it wasn’t the normal way, but it was the Mohamir way being lived right there in Bridgewater, Montana. Martin and he had been talking about it for years but had yet to find the right woman. Martin wasn’t certain a woman would want him with his injury.
“Are you ready to commit to a woman?”
It wasn’t that his friend was ugly. In fact, of the two of them, he’d say that Martin was the more handsome with his dark hair, bushy dark brows, and big brown eyes. Before his injury, the whores at a bar would flock to him, and his goofy sense of humor would have them soon laughing.
Many women did not like Daniel’s auburn hair and the freckles across his nose until they learned who his family was and then they became his best friend. It was one reason he didn’t want to return to Philadelphia.
In Butte, and even in Bridgewater, his business was growing, and not because of his father’s wealth, but rather his own attention to detail and his fairness with the local miners—the small guys, not the big outfits like the Bartlett mine.
And no one took advantage of him because of his name. No one here knew his father owned one of the largest banks in Philadelphia.
A wagon full of lumber rolled down the street and Martin waited until it passed.
“Yes, I’m ready as long as we can find someone who is not disgusted by the sight of my leg. Or me wearing a stump.”
“I understand,” Daniel said, knowing his friend worried too much. A bullet lodged in his best friend's calf muscle, and gangrene set in. In order to save his life, they amputated his leg from the knee down. Three years had passed, and still, Martin was not the same. Maybe he never would be. But the man refused to let it get him down, and though he wasn’t the jokester he once was, he was alive.
Maybe a woman who could accept his damage and be their wife would bring back his old friend.
“Finding a wife would put an end to my father’s insistence that I return to Philadelphia. And just think, sweet pussy every night.”
A woman walking the other way turned and glared at him. He couldn’t help but grin at her. As they crossed a side road and continued down the sidewalk, Martin smiled at him.
“A woman to sleep between us. Have a family with. I’d like to have a couple of little ones. This wound made me realize I’m not going to live forever. It would be nice to leave the ranch to our sons.”
It would be. But where would they find such a woman?
“There’s no way we could find a mail-order bride before my father arrives. I wonder if there is anyone here in town?”
Daniel’s boots made a rhythmic clunk on the wooden sidewalk while Martin’s leg made an odd thump. A crowd was gathered at the corner and slowly Daniel made his way through.
“What’s going on?”
“A dust cloud headed our way,” a man said.
Suddenly the man at the front of the crowd turned and yelled. “Stampede. Get off the streets. Stampede.”
A spear of terror gripped Daniel’s chest. “Get in the nearest building.”
Fear for his friend had him shoving him toward a mercantile. The sound of hooves pounding on the ground growing closer and closer.
In front of them, a young woman with long Brunnette hair with natural streaks of red, fell to the ground, her heel hung up on a board. Daniel hollered, “Martin, go on.”
There was no way he was going to let her be trampled to death. Leaning down, he scooped her into his arms, snapping the shoe, and began to run. She didn’t weigh much, but it was awkward with a stranger as he hurried down the sidewalk.
“Mama,” she cried.
“She’s ahead of us. She keeps turning back and looking." They were the last ones in the store as the out-of-control cattle ran through the streets. The building shook from the pounding of the heavy hooves on the ground.
It was a terrifying scene, and as he set the woman down, he could feel her shaking. People stood near the windows, s
taring out at the wild animals running panicked.
“Thank you,” she said, glancing up with the most gorgeous emerald eyes he’d ever seen. “I’ve never seen a stampede.”
“It’s not something you ever want to witness again.”
Just then, Martin came up to him. “You all right?” he asked the young woman.
“Yes, thanks to this man,” she said.
“Daniel Hamilton, and this is my good friend Martin Perkins,” he said, gazing at the beauty, mesmerized by her full lips. The urge to kiss her was strong, to thread his fingers through her long gorgeous curls, but he knew that would be inappropriate.
She smiled and dimples appeared on her cheeks. “Georgia Carroll.”
His arms were still partially around her and she felt like she fit right where she belonged and he didn’t want to let her go.
Just then her mother found her and ran to her.
“Oh, Georgia, I was so afraid. The crowd carried me away and I couldn’t get back to you.”
“It’s all right, Mama. This nice young man scooped me up and carried me into the building. I think I lost a shoe, but that’s all right.”
Daniel felt the woman slip from his arms and he wanted her back. The woman’s curves were well rounded, her long dark hair was past her shoulders, and she had a pert little nose he wanted to kiss the tip of.
But more than anything, he longed to raise her skirts and slid his hard cock between her legs, sinking into her depths. There was something about her that reached into his soul and connected with him. Was it just relief from surviving the stampede or something else?
“Thank you, young man,” her mother said. “I was so afraid.”
If her mother knew his thoughts, she would slap him.
“Glad I could help, ma’am,” he said, and hoped that in the crowded space, she could not see his rock-hard cock pressing against his pants.
The door opened and the sheriff stepped in. “Everyone all right?”
There were shouts of yes, but Daniel couldn’t keep his eyes off Miss Georgia Carroll. He gave a quick glance at Martin and the two men’s eyes connected and Martin nodded. They were thinking the same thing.
“Good to know," the sheriff finished. "Stampede is over.”
“What caused the cattle to run like that?” Georgia asked.
“We’ll never know. It could have happened miles back,” he told her.
Her mother moved between him and her daughter, and tipping his hat, he smiled at her. “You ladies have a wonderful day.”
“Thank you again, sir,” she said to him. For a moment, he thought she was going to say something else, but she didn’t.
Georgia gave him a little wave as they walked out the door.
He turned to Martin. “Georgia Carroll. I think we need to learn all we can about that beautiful young woman.”
“Agreed,” Martin said.
2
As they continued on down the street, Martin felt his heart begin to slow back to normal. He’d feared being trampled when the crowd turned and ran to safety. Sure, he managed all right with his leg, but it was so easy to lose your balance and then he would have been in the same situation as the young, beautiful woman.
Trampled by either the crowd or the cattle.
Another example of how he couldn't care for a family. What if he had young children with him and something like this happened? How would he get them to safety? How could he protect them?
That was his biggest challenge in finding a wife. Sure, he would be nervous in showing her his scarred stump of a leg, but what if she needed protecting and he couldn’t do it?
And how would his children react to the fact that their father was less than perfect?
“You’ve got that look on your face,” Daniel said as they walked into his three-room assay office, the gold he bought and sold from the miners sitting in locked cases. He strived to give them a fair price and never took the minerals or precious metals for less than what they were worth.
Because of his honest dealings with the miners, his business had grown tremendously over the two years they had been here.
“What look is that?” Martin said, trying to buy some time to come up with a good excuse. His friend always assumed the best about him, and yet, Martin had so many concerns about adding a woman to their life.
Yes, he wanted a wife, a partner. And one like Georgia Carroll would be perfect. But again, what if he couldn’t protect her?
“The look that tells me you’re having doubts. But who could ever have second thoughts about Georgia Carroll? When I scooped her up from the sidewalk, I didn’t have time to take a thorough assessment of her curves, but once we were inside…the woman fit perfectly in my arms. Her breasts were soft and her hips well rounded. Just think of that beauty spread naked on our bed."
The thought made him groan, his dick rising to attention.
“I always have doubts,” Martin said, walking into the office.
“Good morning, gentlemen,” the man sitting at the front desk just inside the door said.
“Jones, what can you tell me about Georgia Carroll?”
The man frowned and tilted his head. “Why?”
“I just want to know,” he said. “That’s all.”
“Her father runs the Cypress mine owned by Mr. Bartlett. He likes to hang out at the Lucky Miners' gambling hall.”
Jones was the man that handled the office on the days they stayed at the ranch in Bridgewater. Daniel would sell the business before he would move to Butte. The city was way too big and they loved their home they had in Bridgewater. All it needed was a wife and kids.
Already, Martin could see Daniel’s brain going into overdrive. If it was well known that her father went to the gambling hall, was he a big gambler?
“Thanks, Jones,” Daniel said. “Wait, one more thing. Does she have a fiancé or intended or anyone that you know of?”
“No, her mama keeps her real close and can you blame her? The woman is striking.”
Daniel smiled at Jones. “Yes, she is.”
As they walked into the office, Daniel went into the workroom and Martin into his office where he kept the books.
Sitting at his desk, he knew it would only be a matter of minutes before Daniel came in. When the man had something on his mind, he was like a dog with a bone.
As Daniel came into his office, Martin smiled. “So if we start to court her and her mother finds out we’re from Bridgewater, I’m sure we’ll be blacklisted immediately. How can we get to this woman?”
Martin started to laugh. “Don’t you think we should lay down the ground rules between us before we add a woman?”
“What rules?” Daniel said.
“Who is going to be her legal husband? Who gets her pussy and who gets her ass? What we expect of a wife?”
Daniel smiled. “No wonder you’re a damn bookkeeper. Everything has to be written out for you. I’m going to be her legal husband, so my father will leave me alone. You can take her pussy first then. As for what I expect in a wife… she’ll need to obey us, cook, and take care of our family.”
Martin nodded. “I’m agreeable. And I’m going to have sex with her every chance I get.”
A grin spread across his friend’s face. “Oh, yes. Now we just need to convince her papa I’m perfect for his daughter.”
“Are you certain about this?” Martin asked, knowing his friend could sometimes make rash decisions, especially where his family was concerned. As almost brothers, Martin knew Daniel wanted his business to succeed without his father's help.
And his father was hell when he didn’t get what he wanted, which was his son returning to Philadelphia to be part of the banking business.
“Today, when I picked her up in my arms, I just knew this woman was ours. It was like I was supposed to be there to rescue her and she is going to be our wife. It was instantaneous. She’s ours.”
Martin sighed and shook his head. “I’m glad you’re certain. But how are we going to
be introduced to her.”
“I’m working on that now. For a moment today, I thought her mother was going to ask us to dinner. But then she retreated.” A grin spread across Daniel’s face. “How did we meet our wife. A fucking stampede. If I could thank those cattle, I would.”
“It’s not a done deal, just yet,” Martin warned him. “We’ve got to convince her father we’re the right men for his daughter.”
Daniel leaned back in the chair. “We could have children soon. A family of our own.”
“And we’re not going to raise our children the way we were raised.”
“Oh, hell no,” Daniel said.
“Agreed,” Martin replied. “I miss my sister and hope they’re doing well. But my father can kiss my ass.”
The memory of his father’s words when he saw his injury still raised rage inside Martin. No matter what, he would be a man who lived as full a life as possible for a man with one leg.
3
The day had been harrowing. First thing, a stampede in town where the most handsome man she’d ever seen had picked her up and carried her to safety. Just the memory of his arms holding her as he ran down the wooden sidewalk into the mercantile, protecting her, left a warm feeling in her belly.
The auburn hair, sapphire eyes, straight nose and strong jaw, left her weak. He had lifted her like she weighed nothing and ran into the nearest building. In his arms, she had felt safe and secure.
When she stared up into his eyes, she’d been lost. And his friend, just the way the man’s dark eyes consumed her, left her feeling tingly all over, and her breathing seemed to hasten. Daniel saved her life and he and his friend Martin were the only men in the town of Butte, Montana, who interested her.