One Night with the Groom

by Sara Daniel

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  One Night with the Groom

  Copyright © 2014 by Sara Daniel

  ISBN: 978-1-61333-693-9

  Cover art by Tibbs Designs

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work, in whole or in part, in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by Decadent Publishing Company, LLC

  Look for us online at:

  www.decadentpublishing.com

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  Also by Sara Daniel

  More Than a Fantasy

  One Night with the Bride

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  One Night with the Bridesmaid

  One Night with the Groom

  A 1Night Stand Story

  By

  Sara Daniel

  ~Dedication~

  For everyone who holds special memories of The Farm, especially David, Mary, Michael, and Amy.

  Chapter One

  Luciana Cortez stared into the empty envelope, willing the cash to materialize. Of course, it didn’t. Rifling through her labeled manila envelopes in the scarred oak desk, she prayed the mortgage money had simply been misplaced.

  Her pleas went unanswered.

  Heart pounding, she gazed out the front window at the windblown pastures and cornfields. Only the meager funds she’d scraped together for her meeting with the hospital billing department in two days remained. She needed a miracle before then, or she’d be forced to choose between saving the farm and her mother’s health.

  A maroon pickup raised a cloud of dust as it turned from the gravel road into the rutted drive.

  Mama would tell her to say a rosary to find the missing funds. If Papa were alive, he would have told her to work harder to make up for it. And her brother, Alejandro, borrowing her ancient Chevy Silverado while on leave from the Marines, would concoct a ridiculous moneymaking scheme.

  She shoved her chair back and slammed out of the house to confront him. Bracing her hands on her hips in the middle of the driveway, she waited for the vehicle to stop.

  The rusted bumper coasted inches from her legs, but she refused to flinch.

  “You’d make a hell of a Marine,” he called through the open window. “Most soldiers would have dived for cover.” He shifted into park and ran his fingers through his military-short haircut. Guilty.

  Luciana stormed to the door and yanked it open. “God damn it, Alejandro. What’d you do with the money?”

  “Don’t get mad. I can explain.”

  “Did you use it to pay the mortgage?” She clung to her last hope everything would turn out all right.

  “No.”

  A lump swelled in her throat, but she ignored it along with the tears filling her eyes. “How could you? I trusted you.”

  “Since we weren’t going to have enough this month, just like we didn’t last month or the one before, I came up with another plan.”

  “The bank knows I’m making a good faith effort. Paying something is better than nothing.”

  “The threatening letters they’re sending make it clear they’re not going to settle for ‘something’ and ‘good faith.’ Not to mention, the bank president enjoys being an ass rather than cutting anyone any slack. Every penny I have is tied up in a new investment that hasn’t paid out yet. Since I don’t have anything to loan you, I used the mortgage money to buy you a one-night stand.”

  Her jaw dropped, and her stomach plummeted. “You did what?”

  “I found this company called 1Night Stand. The proprietor, Madame Eve, will match you up. I explained our goal is for you to meet someone with too much cash who’s looking for a place to unload it so our troubles will be over.”

  Mama didn’t have to worry about her baby boy dying in a war zone because Luciana would kill him with her bare hands. He didn’t even have the decency to squander her hard-earned money on a get-rich scheme with a conceivable chance of paying off. “You want me to sell my body to save the farm?”

  “Of course not. Madame Eve isn’t sleazy. I have some buddies who met their wives through her. Hang on. I brought a brochure that explains the service.” He reached across the seat to the glove box.

  She grabbed his ear and twisted, yanking him out of the vehicle.

  “Ow.” He pulled his head free of her grip and blinked, rubbing his ear. “Stop using torture techniques that violate the Geneva Convention.”

  “Then don’t start a family war. I don’t want a brochure. I don’t want a sleazy one-night stand, or an upscale one for that matter, regardless of what’s been promised in return. I want my mortgage money back. All of it.”

  He jutted his chin. “Madame Eve takes into account more than just sexual needs when she matches people. The guy she finds will be our best chance.”

  “How can you think a matchmaker, or whatever you call someone who hooks people up for one night, is the answer to our money problems? She took all our money.”

  “Listen, if it doesn’t work out, then I’ll call and ask for a refund. No problemo.” He shrugged.

  Oh yeah, no problemo getting cash back from a scammer. “Damn it, Alejandro. What were you thinking?”

  “I thought you were so worried about the farm you didn’t have time for a date, so this could kill two birds with one stone.”

  She gritted her teeth. She wouldn’t really commit violence against her brother, just hit him hard enough to knock some sense into him. “Not interested. I don’t need a man to fix my life.”

  “I also figured if it works out, you can gift me with a 1Night Stand when I’m best man at your wedding.”

  She swung her arm to smack him. He chuckled and ducked back into the truck, avoiding her, then shifted into reverse and gunned down the driveway. If she’d had Papa’s shotgun handy, she would have shot out the tires.

  Most of the time, she treasured Alejandro’s presence, his antics brightening her routine of drudgery and responsibility. Papa’s life goal had been to be an organic dairy farmer. Her own dreams of love and family had died years ago, leaving her no other purpose but to take over his plans and attempt to honor him and provide for her mother.

  She pulled her hair back as the wind whipped it around her face then watched the Silverado turn the corner, van
ishing behind a hill. At least her brother had been smart enough to cut his losses and drive away, instead of attempting to drag her to the ridiculous one-night stand.

  Chores and the evening milking awaited her, so she marched to the barn to tackle the never-ending workload. At the end of the day, she didn’t have the energy to pick up her vibrator, let alone find a man. Despite her frustration, a tiny part of her filled with disappointment that the night ahead held the same tedium and exhaustion as every other one.

  ***

  Denver held a lot of promise as an expansion site for Sunburst Hotels. Omaha, not so much. Anticipating the situation, Blake Wellington had sent the rest of his team straight from Denver to the next potential location in Des Moines while he’d made a quick side trip through Omaha, confirmed his analysis, and hopped on another flight. Exiting the plane and striding through the Des Moines airport, he texted his estimated time to rejoin the group.

  Sidestepping a father trying to corral a toddler in full meltdown mode, he dialed his boss who’d elected to sit out the trip. “Mr. Sunburst, the team will arrive home late this evening. If you want to schedule a meeting for first thing in the morning, I’ll update you on everything before we make our recommendation to the board.”

  “Tomorrow? Are you trying to keep me out of the loop, boy? My schedule is wide open tonight.”

  Blake might be CEO of Sunburst Hotels, but Mr. Sunburst didn’t let him forget who owned the company. “Ten o’clock tonight is the earliest I can expect to be back.”

  “Ten, it is. Don’t keep me waiting. And stay away from Caroline’s place. We’re not competing with my daughter.”

  No way would he go near his ex-fiancée’s ranch resort in Montana. Mr. Sunburst had been easy to please when he’d been Blake’s future father-in-law. However, Caroline’s defection a week before their wedding had turned Blake’s dream job into a minefield. He constantly walked a tightrope of trying to satisfy his boss without stifling the innovations and changes he wanted to bring to the company.

  He sank into the seat of the waiting limousine and began setting up the spreadsheets with the preliminary findings on the first two sites, so he could begin working on the presentation he’d thought he would have all night to perfect.

  Keying information into his laptop, he phoned his assistant to glean what she’d already learned about the Des Moines location. He needed the distraction. Although he might be a tolerable distance from his ex-fiancée, anywhere in the state of Iowa put him way too close to the town where he’d grown up, where he’d left behind the girl who’d owned his heart.

  “What did you say? You’re cutting in and out,” Marcia complained.

  He frowned. “You’d think the biggest city in the state would have better cell service. Research their capabilities for me, please. I can’t invest in a hotel where my guests aren’t going to be able to use their phones and electronics to their satisfaction.”

  “Speaking of which, where are you? We’ve been expecting you for the past half hour.”

  “I’m on my way from the airport.”

  “I know. That’s why I expected you to be here already.”

  He lifted his head, surprised to see fields of corn and pastures instead of city streets. “Driver, where are we going?”

  “Where my instructions said to take you, sir.” The man slowed and turned the vehicle down a gravel road.

  In other words, he’d gotten lost and needed to turn around. Blake refocused on his notes and ran some projections through the spreadsheet. “Marcia, e-mail me all the Des Moines information.”

  No response. Dammit.

  He typed his analysis of the first two locations, not looking up until the driver opened the door. “We’re here, sir.”

  Perfect. He’d get the figures he needed, and if a better communications infrastructure wasn’t coming down the pike, the location would be axed from consideration. Gathering his laptop and notes, he stepped out of the car. The wind rustled the loose papers, threatening to yank them from his grasp.

  “Enjoy your evening, sir.” The driver closed the door, bowed, returned to his seat, and pulled away.

  Before the wind left him scrambling like an idiot to retrieve his notes, Blake zipped everything in his laptop case. Straightening, he studied the landscape, familiar for all the wrong reasons.

  Farmhouse, barn, silo, cows mooing in the distance.

  His team wasn’t waiting for him. He’d never consider replacing the farm in front of him with a hotel. In fact, the last time he’d been on the property, Luciana’s father had shot out the taillights of his truck. Nobody would roll out a welcome mat if he knocked on the door.

  Waving his arm, he attempted to hail the limo driver, but the car continued down the road, scattering dust across the fields.

  The meeting with Mr. Sunburst looming, he needed to spend an hour or two at the potential Des Moines site before the flight home. He held up his phone to maximize any signal, so he could contact Marcia.

  A buzz announced a text message. Enjoy your one-night stand. Madame Eve

  “What one-night stand? Who are you? What are you talking about?” Before he could type any of those questions, no service lit the display. He pocketed the useless phone while down the road the limo disappeared from view.

  Caroline had given him a breakup gift of a one-night stand. His brother then “helped” him fill out the application during a pathetic bachelor pity-party. Whether Madame Eve intended for his hookup to happen on a dilapidated farm or at his own hotel in San Diego, he had no idea. The text hadn’t given him details, but regardless of the impression from his drunken questionnaire, he would never engage in anything so crass on company time.

  The scent of fresh hay mixed with a faint whiff of manure, and the moos of cattle in the distance blasted him both back to the present and deeper into the past. Another glance at the house sent his heart thundering. Luciana. Despite blocking her image for the past fifteen years, his heart ached at the crystal-clear memories.

  He squared his shoulders and calculated the odds she still lived there. Slim, and the chances were even smaller that she’d let him borrow her landline before her father took another shot at him.

  Chapter Two

  Luciana released the final cow from its milking stall, finished cleaning off the machinery then traipsed outside. The gusty wind whipped the barn door from her grasp, slamming it against the side of the building. She reached for it then paused as a male silhouette strode into view from around the front of the house. Alejandro had had a change of heart. He’d better have gotten their money back.

  The man marched closer. Not her brother. She laid her palm over her stomach. Holy Mother, the stress had finally cracked her. After giving up hope that he would ever return for her, she’d conjured up an all-too-real hallucination of him striding across the grass lot.

  “Hello, Luciana.” His voice rang out a shade deeper than she remembered, his shoulders broader. He dressed like he’d never set foot on a farm in his life—three-piece charcoal suit, maroon tie. She lifted her head before he caught her inspecting any lower. His arresting blue eyes captivated her.

  “Blake.” Her heart bled as if she’d stabbed it with a pitchfork. She dropped her hand from her stomach to her side. “What are you doing here?”

  “I haven’t the foggiest idea.” His lips curved in a crooked smile.

  Aching to wrap her arms around him, to kiss his sexy mouth, to soak in his presence while grinning at him like a fool, she took a step back. She might not be hallucinating, but his sudden appearance had the power to drive her over the edge of insanity and longing. Her heel caught on the threshold at the opening of the barn, and she stumbled.

  He reached for her, but she steadied herself on the doorframe, holding out her other palm to ward him away. She couldn’t handle seeing him, let alone skin-on-skin contact.

  “Give me a minute,” she begged. “I’m kind of shocked to see you.” Kind of, ha. Completely would have been an understatement.
>
  His smile faded. “Good shocked or bad shocked?”

  “I don’t know yet.” The dead tree beside the barn creaked in the wind. She’d let her fear over it falling on the barn or, worse, in the other direction keep her from cutting it down, but the nasty gusts made her regret the decision.

  “Keep me posted on which way it goes. I’m already skittish about getting shot at.”

  “You won’t be unless you touch me, in which case I’ll shoot you myself.”

  “Fair enough.” He pocketed his hands and stepped back.

  The distance helped. So did the fact he didn’t call her bluff. Luciana’s limbs shook too much to pick up any weapon. At one time, she’d been furious with him for abandoning her when she’d needed him most. Although he’d bowed to her parents’ pressure and hadn’t fought to save their future together, her emotions had faded to regret and resignation.

  “So, you decided to drop in after fifteen years without a word, and you don’t have a clue why?” Okay, maybe her anger hadn’t faded.

  “I didn’t come to see you.”

  “Ouch. Thanks for being straight with me, rather than sparing my ego. I think.”

  He winced. “I didn’t mean an insult. I’m supposed to be in Des Moines to consider a potential property for my company to add to their hotel portfolio. But the limo took me here instead and then left me.”

  Limo. Hotel portfolio. If he hadn’t been out of her league before, he’d traveled far beyond her social realm. “So, are you one of those ‘if I build it, they will come’ visionaries?”

  “No, I’m a market-feasibility, make-sure-every-aspect-is-viable-before-I-sink-a-penny-into-it type of executive. I don’t have a reason that makes any sense for why I showed up here, and my cell phone isn’t getting reception. If I could borrow your landline to make some calls, I’ll get out of your hair as soon as possible.”