“Thank you,” she said and sat in the chair. He sat across from her on the edge of the bed and looked at her expectantly, unsure what might happen next.
“Jerod, I’ve been thinking about what you said to me the other night,” she began.
“I’m sorry, Lily. I was way out of line,” he replied. “I should have never come to you like I did.”
“So, you didn’t mean it?”
It was impossible for him to know what she was thinking. He didn’t really know her, and right now her features gave nothing away. “Oh, I did mean it.” Why was she here?
“Then I’d like to talk to you about it. Uh...if I would agree to it, I wouldn’t want anyone else to know about the arrangement,” she said.
Jerod’s heart quickened. Was she actually considering accepting his proposition?
“I would want everyone to believe that we’ve been secretly dating for months and that we’re marrying because we’re in love with each other.” Her cheeks grew pink and she cast her gaze to the nearby wall. “That’s the only way I would even consider doing this.”
“I don’t have a problem with that,” he replied, and his heartbeat accelerated even more. He felt as if he was in an alternate universe and suddenly anything was possible.
She looked down at her hands, which were twisted together in her lap. “I feel like if we do this, then I’m somehow prostituting myself to save my ranch.”
“Oh God, Lily, I never meant for you to feel that way,” he replied, appalled by what she’d just voiced.
“I know you didn’t, and the only reason I might consider this is, aside from you saving the ranch, I’ve always wanted another baby.” Once again color leaped into her cheeks. “And if we did this and I had a baby, then I would want your promise that you would never, ever take that baby away from me.”
“I would never do that to you, and more importantly, I wouldn’t do that to the child. But I’m not going into this with a divorce as an option.”
She released a small, nervous laugh. “I can’t believe I’m considering this. But the truth is I’m in trouble with the ranch and I would do anything to save it for my son.”
“I don’t want to pressure you in any way, Lily. I do want you to understand that what I’m offering is a marriage that will last through time. We’re both two mature adults who should be able to form a working partnership for the sake of Caleb and any other children we might have.”
“I’m certainly not interested in getting married and then divorcing,” she replied. “I came from a broken marriage, and I wouldn’t wish that on any child. If we have issues, I would expect us to do whatever possible to get through them together.”
“I’m in complete agreement,” he replied.
“I assume it would be just a small ceremony at the justice of the peace’s office.”
Jerod thought he heard a touch of regret in her voice. “Will this be your first marriage?”
She nodded. “Caleb’s father and I never married.”
He’d talked enough to his fellow cowboys to know that most women wanted some sort of a ceremony for their wedding that included a white dress and beautiful flowers and a reception for friends and family.
“You know, we could probably pull together a fine wedding in a week or two in Cassie’s barn.”
Her blue eyes lit up a bit. “Really?”
“You just get your dress and give me the time and date and I’ll take care of the rest,” he said with more confidence than he felt.
“Shall we say a week from this Saturday?” Her hands immediately began to twist together again.
“And the following Monday, we’ll go in to the bank together, and I’ll make things right on your mortgage.”
She immediately popped up out of the chair. “You should have my phone number since you’ve called me about Caleb before. Would you mind giving me yours?” She dug into her purse, grabbed her phone and held it out to him.
He stood from the bed, and as he took the phone from her he couldn’t help but notice that her fingers trembled. “Lily, don’t do this if you have any doubts at all.”
She laughed wryly, her laughter surprisingly pleasant to hear. “Jerod, I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t have any doubts about this. But I’m throwing caution to the wind. I loved Caleb’s father and that didn’t work out so well. Perhaps a partnership without love is exactly what I need for the rest of my life.”
She held Jerod’s gaze for a long moment and then looked away. He programed his number into her contacts and then handed her phone back to her. “How much of this are you going to tell Caleb?” he asked.
“None of it. I want him to believe we fell in love and are getting married. Just because I don’t believe in love anymore doesn’t mean I want him not to believe in it.” She walked over to the door.
“Then how about I give you a call tomorrow and we can talk more about specifics?”
“I’m usually home from work by four, so any time after that would be fine.”
Minutes later Jerod stood in the middle of his room, his heart still beating an unsteady rhythm. He couldn’t believe Lily had just agreed to his plan. Apparently his insanity was contagious.
There was no question that excited adrenaline flowed through his veins. Was he finally going to get what he wanted? A family of his own? It would have been nice if there had been true, undying love involved, but he wasn’t upset that there wasn’t.
He could respect and care about Lily. He could be her very best friend, the person she leaned on, and he would work to gain Caleb’s trust and respect in his role as stepfather.
He definitely needed to have a heart-to-heart with Dusty and Mac. They were the only people who could blow up the whole thing by telling even a single person that Jerod and Lily hadn’t been dating. He trusted his friends to keep the secret, but Jerod definitely needed to talk to them both so they were all on the same page.
What he needed to do right now was calm down enough to get a good night’s sleep. He only hoped Cassie would not only lend him her barn, but also help him pull together a wedding in record time.
Was this really going to happen, or would Lily realize just how crazy this scheme was and change her mind before sunrise tomorrow?
* * *
Lily drove away from the Holiday Ranch with her stomach muscles jumping all around in nervous spasms. What had she just done? Had she lost her mind? Had the stress in her life finally sent her into complete insanity?
Initially she’d rejected Jerod’s proposal outright as the most outlandish thing she’d ever heard. But the more she thought about it, the less crazy it had sounded. She’d finally convinced herself that maybe it was the best thing that would ever happen to her.
Her ranch would be saved, she and Jerod could build a future and a new family together, and Caleb would have a strong male figure in his life full-time. It sounded like a win-win for everyone.
But it was insane. It felt something like an arranged marriage from bygone days. Only in this case it wasn’t parents making their daughter marry a man she didn’t know to solidify their family fortune, it was her doing it to herself.
She’d never heard anything bad about Jerod Steen, and in a town where gossip was as common as cowboy boots, she would have heard if there was something off about him.
“You’re really doing this,” she said aloud in her car. She’d made up her mind to take a huge leap of faith with Jerod. She’d tried love before and had been devastated when it hadn’t worked out.
Now she was ready to try a marriage completely without love. She could honor Jerod as her husband without any messy emotions getting involved. The only thing that gave her pause was the fact that at some point they would have to have a physical interaction for her to get pregnant.
However, she’d always wanted more than one child. In fact, she’d always wanted a big family
, but she’d given up that dream, among others, when Cody had left her.
A shiver raced up her back. Although she had never had a one-night stand in her life, she figured having sex with Jerod would be like a series of one-night stands in order to achieve the ultimate goal of getting pregnant.
She was pleased that he was willing to give her a little wedding rather than just going to the justice of the peace. Since this would be the one and only time she would marry, she wanted it to be a nice ceremony, although she wasn’t expecting a lot. She had no family to invite, as her mother was dead and she hadn’t spoken to her father since she’d moved to Bitterroot. But she did have some friends and coworkers she’d like to invite.
My God, if they really went through with this, then in ten days she would be a married woman. If she wanted everyone to believe the marriage was real, there were people she was going to have to lie to. She deeply regretted that one of those people was her son.
She didn’t intend to say anything to anyone until she was absolutely certain the wedding was on. She’d wait for a phone call from Jerod the next day to see if he was actually following through on the wedding arrangements. She’d wait to see if he was the one who changed his mind about the whole thing. She’d wait to see if ultimately she was the one who would chicken out of the whole thing.
Krista had agreed to watch Caleb for her while she went to talk to Jerod, and she now headed to her friend’s house to pick up her son. They often babysat for each other, and it worked out great since the two boys were best friends.
As close as she and Krista were as friends, Krista was just another person she’d have to lie to. She didn’t even want her very best friend to know the truth about the marriage. She would be too embarrassed to tell anyone that this wasn’t a union born of love, but rather of need and desires that had nothing to do with love.
The sun had begun to sink in the western sky, and this evening those skies were painted in beautiful pinks and oranges. The beauty felt like a promise, not just of a new day coming after the darkness of night, but of a new life for her.
However, she had a feeling this marriage wouldn’t change things too much in her day-to-day existence. The only real difference would be that the man who was working as a ranch hand on her ranch would also be sleeping in her bed each night. It would be awkward at first, but eventually, hopefully they would grow more comfortable with each other.
She shoved all these thoughts out of her mind as she approached the turn for Krista’s house. Krista lived just off Main Street in an older two-story house with a nice wraparound porch. When Lily pulled up in the driveway, Krista was enveloped in a bright blue blanket and seated in a porch chair, and the two boys were in the front yard throwing a football back and forth.
“Ah, Mom,” Caleb said with a groan when she got out of her car. “We just came out to play ball.”
“You have fifteen minutes or so, and then we need to head home,” she said and then joined Krista on her porch. She sank down in the porch chair facing her friend. “You look all cozy,” she said to Krista.
“Nothing like a soft, snuggly blanket on a crisp fall evening,” Krista replied. She raised one of her perfectly arched blond brows. “You were pretty closemouthed when you ask me to watch Caleb for you. Are you going to tell me where you’ve been?”
“No. It’s a secret,” Lily said and forced a laugh. “Maybe I’ll tell you in another few days or so.”
Krista sat up taller in the chair. “Oh, now you have me really intrigued. Does this have anything to do with Brad Walsh?”
“Good Lord, no,” Lily replied. Brad Walsh was a fellow teacher, and he’d been after Lily for the past year to go out with him. He was like a bad penny who seemed to show up wherever she went in public.
“That man definitely has the hots for you,” Krista said with a laugh. “I was just wondering if you’d finally succumbed to his charm.”
“What charm?” Lily replied. “I find Brad to be an overbearing jerk and a little bit creepy. I’ve tried to make him understand I’m not interested in dating him.”
“He’s definitely a man who doesn’t take no for an answer when it comes to you.” Krista pulled the blanket up closer around her neck.
“So, was Caleb good for you?” Lily asked in an effort to change the subject. Krista knew that Lily had been having some problems with Caleb lately.
“He was a perfect angel,” Krista replied. “But you know he’s always good for me. The two boys just get along so well together.”
“It’s so nice that they seem to like each other as much as we like each other,” Lily said.
“The best doctor appointment I ever had was when I was six months pregnant and I met you,” Krista said with a smile.
Lily laughed. “And I was almost nine months pregnant, and it was a great day for me, too.”
Krista was a Bitterroot native, but Lily had moved here almost eleven years ago when her mother had been killed in a car accident and Lily had come into a small inheritance. At that time she’d been working as a traveling medical equipment salesperson and had driven through Bitterroot several times. The small town with its rich pastureland and picturesque Main Street had charmed her. She’d made the move here, met Cody and the rest was history.
The two friends visited for a little while longer about school-related stuff, and then Lily rose. “I’ve got to get moving. Caleb needs a bath before bedtime, and I still have some papers to grade before tomorrow.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me. I’ve got a stack inside waiting for me to grade,” Krista replied. “I’d rather just get in my car and take a little ride to destress me.”
Lily laughed. “You and your little rides. I’ve never understood how being behind the wheel of the car destresses you.”
“It’s just the way I usually sort out my thoughts,” Krista replied. She got up from her seat, as well. “I’m just glad that sometimes you take those little rides with me.”
Lily laughed. “All in the name of friendship. Caleb, say good-night to Henry. It’s time for us to go,” Lily said. “Krista, I’ll see you in the morning.”
Two hours later Lily stepped out of her shower and pulled her nightshirt over her head. As she crawled in beneath the sheets, a new shiver raced up her spine.
If all went as planned, then in ten days she would get married, and that night she would be in this bed with Jerod Steen. Her shiver wasn’t because she found the idea totally repugnant—rather, as she thought of his broad shoulders and muscled chest naked and against her own, a wave of sweet heat rushed through her and caused the shiver.
It had been almost ten years since she’d been held in a man’s arms, ten years since she’d felt a man’s touch on her body. At least she found Jerod physically attractive. But what if he didn’t find her so? She knew she wasn’t a raving beauty.
Boring Lil, that’s how she always thought of herself. She had boring brown hair, and while her eyes were blue, they weren’t a pretty crystal blue like Krista’s.
Boring Lil, that’s the way Krista had always made her feel. Krista was cute and sassy and the life of any party, while Lily usually stood in a corner and watched other people having fun. More than anything, lately she’d just thought of herself as a total loser.
For the past four years since Krista’s husband had divorced her, she had been going hard-core to find another husband, while that had been the last thing Lily had been looking for. And yet it was Lily who would be getting married in ten days. Strange how life worked out. That was her last conscious thought before she fell asleep.
* * *
Jerod walked toward the big white two-story house in the distance. He’d eaten his lunch quickly and now intended to take the rest of his lunch time to talk to Cassie.
He hated that he was going to lie to his boss. He hated that he had to lie to anyone, but he intended to honor Lily’s request that nobody know
the truth about their relationship or lack thereof. He also needed to tell Cassie that starting the day after the wedding, he’d be working on Lily’s place and would no longer be living or working on the Holiday spread.
When he reached the house, he knocked on the back door. Cassie opened the door and greeted him with a smile. Cassie was a petite blonde with bright blue eyes. She was cute, but had a will of steel. “Jerod, come on in. I was just making lunch for Dillon.”
Dillon Bowie was not only Cassie’s husband, he was also the chief of police for the town of Bitterroot. “Dillon,” Jerod said to the dark-haired man who sat at the table.
“Don’t tell me you’re here to report trouble,” Dillon said. “Things have been fairly quiet around here lately, and I’m hoping they stay that way.”
Jerod laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m not here about any kind of trouble. I am here to ask Cassie a big favor.”
“Well, sit down and ask,” Cassie said. She set a plate with a sandwich and chips in front of Dillon. “Jerod, have you eaten lunch?”
“Yeah, I already ate with the men.” Jerod sat across from Dillon, and a case of nerves suddenly raced through his veins. Cassie sat next to him and looked at him expectantly.
Jerod cleared his throat. “I...uh...want to get married a week from this Saturday, and I was wondering if I...we could...uh...have the wedding in your barn?”
She stared at him for a long moment, and then a wide smile curved her lips and her bright blue eyes twinkled with excitement. “Oh, Jerod, I’m so happy for you. Who is the lucky bride?”
“Lily Kidwell,” he replied.
“Oh, I’ve worked with her on a number of charity events. She’s a lovely woman.” Cassie replied. “Of course you can have the wedding in the barn. A week from Saturday? That’s awfully quickly. Who is your wedding planner?”
Jerod stared at her blankly. “Wedding planner? Uh... I guess that’s me. I told Lily to buy her dress and I’d take care of everything else.”
The Cowboy’s Targeted Bride Page 3