Colton's Convenient Bride
Jennifer Morey
Their wedding is a match made in peril Captain Decker Colton is finally ready to settle down. Just one problem–he hasn’t met the right woman. So when his father finds him a bride in Kendall Hadley, Decker's surprised by the instant attraction between them. But someone else has Kendall in his sights, for all the wrong reasons. Now Kendall’s husband-to-be must protect her…before he loses her forever.
Their wedding is a match made in peril
A Coltons of Roaring Springs romance
Captain Decker Colton is finally ready to settle down. Just one problem—he hasn’t met the right woman. So when his father finds him a bride in Kendall Hadley, Decker’s surprised by the instant attraction between them. But someone else has Kendall in his sights, for all the wrong reasons. Now Kendall’s husband-to-be must protect her...before he loses her forever.
Two-time RITA® Award nominee and Golden Quill award winner JENNIFER MOREY writes single-title contemporary romance and page-turning romantic suspense. She has a geology degree and has managed export programs in compliance with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) for the aerospace industry. She lives at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Denver, Colorado, and loves to hear from readers through her website, jennifermorey.com (http://www.jennifermorey.com), or Facebook.
Also by Jennifer Morey (#u2c38a04b-d5ac-5b0c-ae1e-d89bdc2fb1ba)
Colton’s Convenient Bride
Colton’s Fugitive Family
A Wanted Man
Justice Hunter
Cold Case Recruit
Taming Deputy Harlow
Runaway Heiress
Hometown Detective
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Colton’s Convenient Bride
Jennifer Morey
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-09373-6
COLTON’S CONVENIENT BRIDE
© 2019 Harlequin Books S.A.
Published in Great Britain 2019
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
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www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
To Maddie, who always had her inner wolf.
Contents
Cover (#u863e47c7-8b04-5431-8805-f2eef2c1f191)
Back Cover Text (#u071030ec-9b60-5b9e-b4f6-386ad587478d)
About the Author (#u5fe53aee-1eeb-5a04-a4ce-52292ca33d94)
Booklist (#u321d4b37-3671-548e-b522-ce58ac38ea54)
Title Page (#u39e3f839-284f-55a1-baa5-bc708111978f)
Copyright (#u00ecea9e-80ab-5c4d-b05c-7b03aadf8b8f)
Dedication (#u08bd2198-9c84-52ef-aa77-b90870791761)
Chapter 1 (#ued0c0514-f442-56e2-88d5-7a812202ff69)
Chapter 2 (#u16485477-bf22-51bd-9bfa-acdde969c493)
Chapter 3 (#udfcae153-28b7-54c8-a0d4-c6061626c7c8)
Chapter 4 (#ua924d8eb-6b73-57e4-9ca1-f4977bb20763)
Chapter 5 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 6 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 19 (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 1 (#u2c38a04b-d5ac-5b0c-ae1e-d89bdc2fb1ba)
In his jeans and nothing else, Decker Colton sprinkled sugar over his grapefruit, trying to think of a way to gently tell Cynthia they weren’t working out as a couple.
He’d dated her for three months now and had begun to get the sense that she felt more for him than he for her. Decker found her online—that’s how he met all the women he dated. He had no time to search the traditional way and never mixed romance with work. She’d also begun to stay the night too often over the last month and demand more of his time. All this closeness was beginning to feel suffocating. He needed to be free again.
She looked up from her butterless toast and smiled seductively.
With his stomach recoiling, he walked over to the brown, black and cream-colored granite-topped kitchen island where she sat and took the seat next to her. Putting down his bowl of a half grapefruit, he started to scoop the fruit out for a bite.
“I’ve been thinking,” Cynthia said.
Oh no, here it came.
She put her hand over his forearm. “We’ve been hitting it off really well these last few weeks.”
“Cynthia...”
“We should move in together. Whether here or the suite you have at The Lodge.”
He swallowed and almost choked on grapefruit juice. After clearing his throat, he saw her wary gaze. Now or never.
He put down his spoon. “Actually, I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”
“You feel the same, don’t you?” Her insecurity showed.
“No. I’m sorry... I don’t. I don’t want to hurt you, Cynthia, but I haven’t been comfortable with you staying here as much as you have. We’ve only known each other a few months.”
“But...we’ve been sleeping together.”
“Yes, and that part is great,” he said quietly. “However, I’m just not ready for a committed relationship right now.” Not with her, anyway.
“You do work a lot. I understand that. I wouldn’t stop you from doing what you love. In fact, that’s something I love about you, Decker.”
She probably loved his wealth.
“It’s over, Cynthia.” He’d already warned her he wasn’t interested in anything lasting. She must not have believed him.
“Over?” She drew back with an indrawn breath. “But...”
“I’m sorry. Really.” He honestly did not intend on hurting her but he could see she was quite hurt. He couldn’t figure out if losing a man with money hurt more than losing him as a man.
“If you didn’t feel the same, then why did you sleep with me?”
“You came to my suite when I didn’t invite you. You also showed up here at my house and stayed the night when I didn’t ask you to.”
She flattened her hand on the counter. “Well, that’s insensitive of you.”
How was that insensitive? She’d made presumptions and come over uninvited.
“You led me on.”
He shook his head. “No, I was honest with you from the start.”
“You made me believe you wanted to be with me. All those nights...”
“I did want to be with you. I just don’t feel enough for you to keep seeing you.”
Standing, she took her purse which she’d hung on the back of the stool and slung it over her shoulder. Then she stood there looking at him, lips pursed and eyes fiery. Then the anger began to ease and she simply regarded him as though seeing him for the first time.
“You really don’t believe in love, do you?”
Decker sighed. He’d told her as much when they’d first met, so he said nothing. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in love. Some people did find it in their lifetime. But true love was a precious rarity, and with his busy work schedule and fierce ambition, he had little time to date. That only reduced his already slim odds of finding that kind of love.
Cynthia scoffed. “That makes you a waste of time.”
With that she turned and walked out of the kitchen.
Decker stood and followed her to the front door, which she flung open and then stepped out into heavily falling snow like a regal, rejected princess.
He might deserve her parting comment, but he also couldn’t help the way he felt. He definitely did not enjoy hurting women. Maybe it was time to take a break from them. The Lodge kept him busy and he had plans to make improvements. At this stage of his life, that took priority.
Reaching the doorway, Decker saw his dad get out of his Range Rover, then look over at Cynthia as she marched through the snow and climbed into her own car. She didn’t wait for the engine to warm, just turned on the windshield wipers and drove the circle driveway to the long road that led to the highway.
He lived close to The Lodge, on the same property but secluded enough for privacy. He’d built his house, a big log home that was far too spacious for just him, on a mountainside with a view of the Colorado Rockies. He could see the peak of Mount Evans from his upper deck.
Russ Colton walked inside. “She wasn’t worthy of you anyway, son.”
“I broke up with her this morning.”
“From the looks of it I thought maybe she left you.” His dad took off his jacket and hung it above the bench in the entry. Sixty-five and CEO of The Colton Empire, as he liked to call it, Russ was tall like his sons but getting thick in the middle. He had graying dark hair, and dark eyes. He prided himself on building the family company—The Colton Empire—which was comprised of the elite and sprawling ski lodge and resort and The Chateau down in the valley.
“I wish she would have,” Decker said.
“She was too soft. Too weak. You need a partner who can stand by you as your equal.”
Cynthia had clung a little too tightly. He supposed that’s what had turned him off and made their relationship feel wrong.
“You need someone like that Hadley woman.”
He’d heard Kendall had returned to Roaring Springs a couple of years ago. He hadn’t seen her yet, hadn’t seen her since high school. Kendall had been one of those kids who’d had her circle of friends and steered clear of the popular crowd. She hadn’t participated in sports. He remembered her as the bookish type, which he’d admired since he had liked and excelled in academia. What had always fascinated him was how a girl as pretty as Kendall could have escaped being popular. Now that he was older he knew it had been a choice.
“What’s she doing back in Roaring Springs?” he asked curiously.
“Working for her father at Hadley Forestry. From what I hear she’s a great asset. She’s their conservation consultant.”
What did a conservation consultant do? Decker didn’t know much about logging and milling or forest management.
“She’s working on preserving species of animals in the forested areas they own,” Russ supplied. “Got her masters in wildlife biology from Colorado State University. Four-point-o.”
“How do you know all that?”
“I ran into her father a few weeks ago. He did some bragging.”
Ahh. And, apparently, that’s what got his father thinking.
“Now that you’re single again,” his father went on, “I’d like to talk to you about something I’ve had rolling around in my head the last few weeks.”
Decker followed Russ from the entry to the great room, where the ceiling rose to exposed beams and a gabled window offered a stunning view of the forest and mountain peaks. The kitchen was open to this room, with a long, six-seater island and plenty of white cabinets. The dining area was in a turreted space off the kitchen, something he never used.
His father crossed behind a sofa with a console table running along the back. The sofa faced a stone block fireplace, flanked by two chairs. A big square coffee table had books about exotic places to travel and a decorative ceramic bowl with stone balls inside that matched the earthy color theme of the room.
Russ stopped before the windows and after a few seconds, turned. “Bernard and Marion Hadley have lived on a neighboring ranch for nearly as long as we’ve been here running this resort.”
“Yeah, they have.” Decker couldn’t begin to guess where his father was headed with this. Surely he wouldn’t suggest he and Decker take on forest management.
“Bernard’s been successful. He’s made millions running that company.”
Russ did respect people who made successes of their lives. He’d raised Decker to do the same. But why single out the Hadleys?
“How did you meet the woman who just left, Decker?” his dad asked.
“Online.”
“That doesn’t seem to be working for you.”
“Not with her,” Decker said.
“What would you think about reconnecting with Kendall?”
He hadn’t even thought about reconnecting with her, least of all as a love interest. “I think I need a break from women. Cynthia took up too much of my time, and I need to concentrate on The Lodge.”
“You do well multitasking, son. What I have in mind is actually related to business. If two families as affluent as the Hadleys and the Coltons joined forces, The Colton Empire would become even greater than it is.” Clearing his throat, he pinned Decker with a hard stare. “We have to think of our future and the future of family yet to come. We’re doing well now, but I want to plan for the next century or two, maybe more. As long as I’m breathing I won’t stop working to increase Colton wealth. It’s security.”
Decker couldn’t disagree there. His father had noble intentions. He wasn’t fooled, however. His father’s main interest was money.
“You want to arrange for Kendall and me to become romantically involved?”
Russ stepped closer, his serious face warning Decker to brace for impact. “I’d like to suggest more than that. I’d like you to consider marrying her.”
“Marrying...” Flummoxed, Decker had to assemble his thoughts. “You want me to marry her?”
“You said it yourself, Cynthia took too much time away from you. And you’ve had to resort to online dating because you don’t have time to find a woman who will be able to put up with your work schedule. You’re getting older. Don’t you want children?”
“Yes.” He did want that. He also wanted a family. Wife. Kids. A full house to come home to after a long day at work. His dad was right but what he suggested seemed radical.
An arranged marriage?
“Kendall has her own career. She’s an only child. When her parents go, she’ll be the sole beneficiary.”
There his dad went again on his drive for wealth and prosperity. “She’ll never agree to it.” What smart woman would? Kendall could have anyone. Why would she agree to an arranged marriage...with him?
“Have you spoken with her?”
“No. But when I ran into her father, we talked a while. He mentioned you and Kendall knew each other from high school and made a comment that the two of you would make a fine couple. He said he always wondered why you never hooked up in high school.”
Kendall had been a year behind him in school. Her standoffish nature had deterred him from considering asking her to prom or even out on a date. She hadn’t been standoffish in a snobby way. She had been more untouchable, as though she had not wanted anything to do with certain crowds of people. She had seemed more interested in learning and her own circle of friends. He didn’t even know if she ever dated anyone in high school.
“You’re thirty-four, son. You should start a family soon. Don’t wait too long.”
Was he crazy for actually considering what his father proposed? He turned and walked toward the kitchen, rubbing his chin in agitation. Was he about to do as his father asked as he always had? Or had Russ Colton just come up with the perfect solution?
* * *
Kendall arrived back home well after dark. She’d spent the day observing a small pack of gray wolves. The sighting had been a rare treat. These wolves were endangered and most sightings had been unconfirmed. She had learned of one kill north of Kremmling where a man thought he killed a coyote but it was a gray. She’d be busy working on protecting them. If they wandered too far, there would be no telling what ranchers fearing for their livestock would do.
Wearily she removed her coat and boots and then went to get ready for a shower. Removing the tie from her long blond hair, she heard the doorbell rang.
Who would stop by at this hour? Her parents were usually in for the night by seven, and it was nearly eight. She was hungry and longing for a bath.
Peeking out the window, she saw her dad. She opened the door with a questioning look.
“Sorry. Where were you all day?” He entered and shook off snow that had spotted his outerwear. He must have walked from the house.
“It’s my day off. I went for a hike.” She shut the door as he removed his jacket and hat. “I spotted a small pack of gray wolves. They were so beautiful and they look pretty healthy.”
“Huh.”
Her father’s aloofness when it came to the environment sometimes annoyed her. “I reported their location to the Parks and Wildlife service. They’re going to try to tag one.”
“I need to talk to you about something important.”
“Dad,” she complained.
“Gray wolves. Yes. That’s wonderful, honey.”
“They’re an endangered species. Do you know how significant it is that there’s a pack in Colorado?” She’d seen only four but that was probably more than anyone had ever seen in several decades.
“That’s wonderful, honey.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I know how much you love nature.”
She forgave him his indifference—as always. “What’s up?”
Kendall went into her kitchen. She lived in a house she had built on her parents’ property. It was large for one person. A four-bedroom stone Tudor, it had steep rooflines and lots of white-framed windows.
“You’ll never guess who stopped by earlier today.”
She took out the ham salad she’d made last night and began preparing a sandwich. “Who?”
“Russ Colton.” Her dad took a stool at her two-seat island.
Russ Colton? As in, Decker Colton’s dad?
“Do you want anything?” she asked, reaching for a bottle of water in the fridge.
“No thanks. Your mom and I had dinner and tea afterward.”
She cracked open a bottle and took a drink.
“Russ and I got to talking about you and Decker.”
Gosh. She hadn’t seen Decker in years. She’d thought about him when she’d first arrived home, wondering if he’d changed. She’d had a crush on him in high school, not that he ever noticed. He’d been insanely popular and very active in school programs. Smart and ambitious too. Tall and well built, he had thick, black hair that would probably never recede and dark eyes that held an intensity that had magnetized her. All the girls wanted him, though, and that had shied her away.
“He’s running The Lodge now, isn’t he?” She already knew he was. Decker had always sparked her interest and curiosity. She felt that same unruly excitement she had when she was in high school, as though knowing he was out of her league made him all the more desirable.
“Yes, and Russ talked about him someday taking over the entire operation.”
Decker stood to inherit a fortune, then.
“Russ said he asked Decker if he’d be interested in partnering up with you and he is.”
Partnering up? She set the bottle down and searched her dad’s face. He seemed hesitant to say what he obviously worked his way toward.
“You mean a business relationship?”
“In a way. Decker is a busy man. He doesn’t have a lot of time to spend building a relationship with a woman.”
“Whoa.” She held up her hands. “Relationship? What are you getting at, Dad?”
“The Hadleys and the Coltons would make a powerful partnership. Decker wants a family. You’re devoted to your work. You’d make him a fine wife, honey. He’d be lucky to end up with someone like you.”
She dropped her mouth open. Was he suggesting what she thought?
“You want me to marry him?”
“Russ and I thought the two of you could get together and see if it’s a viable possibility.”
“But...you want this to advance your business.” Anger began to simmer up. Her own father had used her as a pawn, an asset to tempt the mighty Russ Colton.
“This wasn’t my idea, Kendall. Russ is the one who brought it up.”
“But you eagerly agreed to put up your own daughter as collateral.”
“No. It isn’t like that. I wouldn’t have agreed to anything if I didn’t think you and Decker would make a good pair. You liked him in high school.”
“I did not,” she replied abruptly.
“Your mother told me. You mentioned him a couple of times and she caught you looking at his picture in your yearbook.”
Kendall didn’t recall talking about Decker, but maybe she had asked a few questions, as intrigued as she had been by him. “What does Mom think about this...arrangement?”
“She doesn’t like it.”
“But you came here anyway?”
“I talked her into it,” he replied in a low, even tone. “I promised I wouldn’t make you do anything you didn’t want to do.”
She wouldn’t let him anyway. Her mother probably knew that and it was the only reason she let him come and talk to her.
Kendall considered her father a while. He loved her; she had no doubt about that. But he too often used her as leverage to advance the company. This had to be the worst he’d ever done—agreeing to try to marry her off to a stranger.
Well, Decker wasn’t a complete stranger, but she didn’t really know him.
“I’ll think about it,” she said. She just wanted to be alone.
“Russ invited us over for dinner tomorrow night.”
Shock jolted through her. He had made dinner plans without talking to her first? Why? Did her father plan on reintroducing them? Did he hope they’d be attracted? More likely he hoped her teenage crush would reignite.
“You’re making me feel used,” she said tightly.
He put his hand over hers and gave her a squeeze. “I would never do that, honey. You’re my daughter. You’re the most important thing in my life.”
Yeah, and sometimes the most valuable asset.
Though she’d never admit it to her dad, the notion of seeing Decker again did rather intrigue her. She wasn’t the shy girl in high school anymore. And from all she’d heard about Decker, The Lodge was his one and only true love. She wondered how a company could steal a man’s heart that way. Didn’t he want to find happiness with a woman? Have a family? And if not, why? Curiosity got the better of her then.
“All right.” She’d like to see for herself how Decker Colton had turned out. Just because she had dinner with him didn’t mean she’d marry him to save her family’s business, however.
Her dad smiled, more from relief than excitement over having dinner with the pompous Russ and Mara Colton. At least, Kendall had always considered them that way. Maybe she had listened to talk around town, that Russ and Marion held themselves far above the less fortunate.
After her father left, Kendall skipped her bath and spent the next thirty minutes searching for her high school yearbooks. She found them in the basement in a box with other items she had held dear in those days. Taking the whole thing upstairs to her bedroom, she turned on a family movie channel and began spreading out a journal and other items she had saved for future reminiscence. Ticket stubs to amusement parks, museums, concerts and movies brought back a lot of fond memories. She had planned to put them into a scrapbook but hadn’t gotten around to it. She had also kept little trinkets her friends had given her over the years. She still stayed in touch with the four women who had been her closest friends since the seventh grade. Picking up some colorful wristbands, she smiled with the memory. They had all decided to exchange wristbands for Easter and these four were the ones she’d received.
She’d kept a close-knit group of friends all through school. She hadn’t been into cliques and hadn’t understood the importance placed on popularity. Life was so much bigger than that. She’d gone into forestry because she loved nature. She also loved the alone time.
Maybe being an only child had made her somewhat of a loner. Never much for social gatherings, she’d preferred to spend her time reading novels and bird-watching.
Setting the wristbands aside, her curiosity nudged her to move on to the yearbooks. “Well, Mr. Colton,” she said, “let’s have a recap and then see how you turned out.”
She opened her sophomore yearbook and passed over some of the notes signed on the pages until she reached a page with Decker standing up as class president. He was a junior that year. She flipped to the page containing his photograph and stared. She wondered if he still had those boyish dark good looks. He’d been tall and lean. Maybe he’d filled out some more since then. She remembered passing him in the halls every once in a while. Sometimes he noticed her. She could still feel the jolt of excitement over the way his eyes connected with hers. Had she imagined his interest? Back then she’d fantasized about going to the prom with him, making all the girls envious. It seemed so silly now.
She moved on to her junior yearbook. Brushing photos and other memorabilia aside, she rolled onto her stomach, lifted her calves and wiggled her toes as she drew the book front and center.
There were several pictures of him that year. How many times had she turned to them just to look at his cute face?
As the warm, familiar tingles of attraction enveloped, her phone rang.
Abandoning her comfy pose, she scooted to her side and stretched for the phone. “Hi, Mom.”
“How did it go?”
“As usual.”
“Moving the company forward?”
Kendall loved her mother’s understated wit. “Yes.” She lay on her back and stared at the ceiling. Not much to look at but she didn’t need a painting. She still saw Decker’s face.
“He didn’t offer you up like some fourteenth-century daughter of a king, did he?”
“No. He gave me the option of meeting him first.”
Her mother laughed, a deep, genuine sound that filled Kendall with a surge of love. Then she quieted and sobered. “Sweetheart—”
“Don’t, Mom.” Kendall knew what her mother would say.
“What if you enter into this and he...”
“Only wants me for the business deal?”
Her mom let out a short, tense breath. “Yes.” Then she perked right back up to the pistol Kendall had grown up with. “I’ve been going over and over how Decker would respond to his greedy father telling him he had to marry you and I’m just...worried.”
“Don’t be.”
“Well, what if he would do it just to please his father?”
Kendall had been away at college and worked another job before coming home at her father’s request. She didn’t know much about Decker, the man he’d become.
“Maybe he’s not like his father. He’s successful. That might be their only similarity.”
“You always were an optimist. But why would you go through with it? Even the dinner?” her mother asked, sounding concerned.
“I’m...” She wasn’t sure how honest she wanted to be right now. “Curious.” That was honest.
“Satisfying a high school crush?” her mother asked.
“Yes.” And maybe secretly linking in with her young heart, wondering if they’d work out and if it would be as great as she imagined.
“Please be careful, sweetie. If he’s half as much of a shark as his father, he’s incapable of loving anyone.”
She felt a moment of doubt. Maybe dinner was a foolish idea. She could argue she was doing this for her father, but that wasn’t entirely true. Then again, how would she ever know if Decker was worthy of her—even in an arranged marriage—if she didn’t at least see him face to face?
“I’ll know after the dinner.”
“I wonder if he’s still as good-looking,” her mother mused.
“That would be a bonus,” Kendall quipped.
“Or a problem.”
Chapter 2 (#u2c38a04b-d5ac-5b0c-ae1e-d89bdc2fb1ba)
Decker stood in the living room of the Colton Manor where his parents resided. A thirty-five-million-dollar, eighteen-thousand-square-foot mansion above the valley, it had seven bedrooms, eleven bathrooms, a wine cellar, an indoor pool and much, much more. Saying the place was nice didn’t do it justice, but this kind of excess wasn’t to Decker’s taste. Decorated quite modern, nothing personal filled the luxurious space.
He waited before the wall of windows with a view of a portion of the gondola that started at The Chateau in the valley and ended at The Lodge. Russ and Mara talked behind him on the sofa. They had an amenable but businesslike relationship in his opinion. Sometimes he wondered if they ever truly loved each other. They both worked all the time. This rare display of them conversing like a couple felt odd.
The front doorbell rang. Kendall and her parents had arrived.
He rarely got nervous but a flash of anxiousness arrested him for a moment. After all these years, he’d finally see Kendall again.
Russ and Mara’s butler led the Hadleys into the living room. Bernard came first, in a dark suit and tie. Adorned in a tasteful beige-and-black dress, Marion strolled in next beside her daughter. His breath hitching ever so slightly, Decker’s gaze drifted over Kendall as she walked in calf-high black boots with the grace of a ballet dancer. The short-sleeved black dress she wore was fitted to her bodice, waist and hips and the sweetheart neckline exposed some cleavage. She’d left her long wavy blond hair down and other than mascara, had applied a soft rosy gloss to her full lips. Her bright blue eyes zeroed in on him.
He could never have anticipated the strength of the punch in seeing her. She’d obviously matured, but oh. What a woman.
He swallowed—an involuntary reaction. Wow.
She seemed to spend a few seconds inspecting him, as well. Those stunning eyes—he didn’t remember them being so darn blue—ran up his body, went all over his chest and arms and finally landed on his face. He hadn’t worn a suit, just a nice long-sleeved ocean-blue shirt with gray pants and leather loafers. He had chosen a tie.
“Kendall.” He stepped forward. “It’s so good to see you again.” He took her hand and dipped his head to kiss it, seeing her face up close now. She had a few freckles but they somehow enhanced her beauty.
“Y-you too.”
By her stutter and slightly bewildered look, he suspected she hadn’t expected to like what she saw as much as she did, which matched his reaction. He caught his father’s approving gaze with a subtle, almost shrewd, grin.
Bernard and Marion went to Russ and Mara and started a conversation while a servant appeared with a tray of champagne flutes. Kendall took one and then Decker did also.
“Dad tells me you’ve been working for Hadley Forestry as a conservancy consultant.” Might as well start with the small stuff.
“Yes. I worked for a company in Fort Collins after college but my dad needed me here.”
“He needed you?” Decker didn’t know much about the forestry industry or her father for that matter.
“He’s getting older. He needs help running the company. I think someday he’d like to see me take over.”
“Is that what you want?”
She looked away as she thought. “I do love my degree and my work. Running Hadley Forestry would be right in line with that. I’m just not sure I want that level of executive responsibility. I’m an outdoor girl.”
“You could always hire a CEO.”
She smiled. “I’ve thought of that. My dad isn’t crazy about someone outside the family running his baby.”
Decker nodded with a grin. “My dad wouldn’t care. He’d only care that his baby made lots of money.”
She stopped smiling as she turned to look over at Russ as though a rumor or two had just been confirmed.
“Don’t worry,” Decker said, trying to keep things light—and hopefully putting her at ease. “I’m nothing like him.”
That pretty smile returned, as did her gaze. “Good to know.”
“At the risk of seeming ignorant, what, exactly, does a forestry company do, aside from chopping down trees and selling lumber?”
“There is a supply side and a conservation side,” she explained. “We do a lot of logging, milling and forestry management. We supply Douglas fir, western larch, ponderosa pine and lodgepole pine to the building industry and since I’ve started, we’re looking into partnering with the World Wildlife Fund.” She released a breath before continuing. “Also, one of the first things I did when I came on was to arrange for the company to start harvesting trees destroyed by mountain beetle. It’s proven to provide a great supply source for the company and clears out forested land.”
“Impressive.”
“Conservation is my specialty.” She smiled, revealing straight white teeth. “What about you? You run The Lodge? It’s a lot bigger than when I left for college.”
“Yes. The original ski lodge is now staff housing. The new lodge is much larger and glamorous. There are restaurants and, of course, hotel rooms.”
“Luxury hotel rooms?”
“Yes. We also built some cabins on the property.”
“Luxury.”
Did she not approve? “We do cater to the wealthy. You grew up that way, didn’t you?”
“Yes. My family is very wealthy. I just think average people should be able to enjoy places like The Lodge.”
“They can,” he countered. “The ski resort is open to everyone.”
“They just can’t stay the night there.”
She clearly didn’t like the segregation of classes. He both admired her for that and disagreed. “Some people need places to go to escape the public.”
“Then maybe you are more like your father than you think.”
“Do you not like my father?”
Again, she glanced over at Russ. “I guess he’s not much different than mine.”
“Using his kid to advance business?” He grinned.
She smiled back and then laughed softly. “Yes.”
After a long look that began to sizzle, she said neutrally, “I haven’t been to The Lodge since it was expanded.”
“I’ll have to take you on a tour sometime.” Maybe then she’d change her mind.
“I’d like that.”
He barely heard the announcement that dinner was ready, just followed Kendall into the formal dining area, a rectangular room with a polished wood table that could seat fourteen, white fireplace on one side and china cabinet on the other. Swooping curtains adorned tall windows and a crystal chandelier hung from a tray ceiling.
Russ finished bragging about his empire’s first quarter projections as he took a seat next to Mara, who appeared bored and didn’t say much. Decker sat beside Kendall when she took a seat next to her mother.
“As two of the most affluent families in Roaring Springs, I can’t think of a better alliance,” Russ said.
Bernard smiled. “I couldn’t agree more.”
Marion eyed her husband and then glanced across at Mara, who quietly observed her, evidently having noticed that Marion didn’t seem happy to be here. Decker’s mother valued the time she spent with her children and grandchildren but her devotion to The Chateau made that a challenge.
“I am curious, however,” Bernard said. “What made you think Decker and Kendall would make such a good match?”
“You’ve been getting a lot of good press with your move toward preserving the forest. World Wildlife Fund. Environmental financing. Very innovative revenue generation.”
Bernard puffed up in what Decker could only call pride. “That was my daughter’s idea.”
Decker watched his difficult-to-impress father bestow rarely offered respect upon Kendall and he could almost hear him thinking what a great addition she’d make to his Colton Empire.
“We’re ready, sir.”
Decker turned to see a servant standing at the entrance to the dining room.
“Ah,” Russ said. “Decker, I’ve taken the initiative to arrange for you and Kendall to have a more private dinner.” He chuckled briefly. “You’re too old to be having dinner with your parents on a first date. Charles here will take you to your table.”
Decker saw Kendal’s startled face and didn’t make a big deal over his own surprise. They followed the servant to the front side of the mansion, where a sunroom overlooked the picturesque valley. Decker suspected his mother had something to do with the round linen-covered table with a candle burning and soft piano music playing. Two chairs flanked the double French entry and plants lined the stone wall.
Decker pulled out a chair for Kendall and then sat across from her, looking out the arch-topped window beside them.
“This is awkward.”
He turned back to Kendall. “Our parents are determined to put us together.”
“Hm.” She lifted a glass of red wine and sipped. “Not my mother.”
“She’s against it?”
“She wants to see me marry for love. She only agreed because I wanted to have this dinner with you and decide for myself.”
“I’m not sure what my mother thinks,” Decker admitted. “She probably agrees with my father. She’s just as ambitious as he is when it comes to the success of the business.”
“No wonder he came up with this plan. He sounds like my father.” Kendall smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“Business first.”
“Always. But he does have his redeeming qualities and I do know he loves me.”
“I feel the same about my father,” Decker said. “He’s forgotten how to show love, but it’s there. Maybe he never learned how to show it.” He sometimes resented that and wondered if the constant fight to win Russ Colton’s love had compelled him to do anything his father asked or expected. Sometimes he wished he would have followed his brother’s path. Wyatt dropped out of college to join the rodeo. Only when he inherited the Crooked C Ranch from their grandmother did he return to Roaring Springs.
“Well, now that they have us where they want us, what shall we talk about?” she murmured.
He leaned back as a servant delivered the first course. More interested in her, he ignored the artful display of sliced seared scallop topped with alaea red salt and lemon olive oil.
“What have you been up to since high school?” he asked.
“I went to college and got my masters. After that I went to work for the Forest Service. Then I returned to Roaring Springs when my father said he needed me home, to help with the company. He’s getting older and, as I mentioned earlier, thinking about retiring.”
“Is that all? What about relationships?”
She lifted her brow marginally, as though she hadn’t expected the question. “I’ve had boyfriends. Nothing worth talking about.”
“Those are usually the most important to talk about.”
“If that’s what you think, then tell me about your past girlfriends.” She sipped her wine and sent him a coy look with those incredible blue eyes.
Well, he’d stepped right into that one. “Nothing too serious. I thought I loved the girl I was with after high school but then I grew up.”
“The prom queen?”
He grunted because it all seemed so meaningless now. “Yeah.” Then he contemplated her a moment, such a beautiful woman and she’d never stepped out into the spotlight. “You kept a low profile in high school.”
“I was more into real friends.”
He had run across a lot of students who had befriended him because of his popularity. It hadn’t bothered him, though. He’d had his close group of companions.
“What about after the prom queen?” she asked.
She wouldn’t give up. “I dated someone in college.”
“All through college?”
“Yes, and then she didn’t want to move to Roaring Springs so she broke up with me.”
“Did that hurt?”
He’d be lying if he said the breakup didn’t. His first love had gone to college for business like he had. He thought they made a great team. She was someone his father approved of and she was pretty. Back then pleasing his dad had been priority number one.
“Yeah, but I graduated and went to work for my dad.” It struck him then that maybe part of the reason he had done that was to forget about that woman.
“No more time for love.”
He paused at her sarcasm because it felt truer than something to joke about. “What about you? Why haven’t you been snatched up by someone?”
“Oh, I was. A few times. I had a couple of year-long relationships that ended mutually, and then closer to graduation I met someone special and we moved in together. I imagined that was going to be it for me until I came home one day to him in our bed with another woman.” She sighed. “I never thought I’d be one of those women who so sorely misread a man. Walking in on your lover with someone else happened to other women and only in the movies.”
“Not to you?” He chuckled. “I didn’t walk in on one of my girlfriends, but she told me she had been with someone else. That was after college. I was working a lot and I guess she got sick of it.” He drank some wine as he remembered how much that had stung. The realization that he’d become his father had been difficult to swallow. That’s when he’d begun to think how different his life would be had he not listened to the great Russ Colton. He’d envied his brother Wyatt for defying their father and going off to the rodeo before inheriting the Crooked C.
“I’ve found that waiting for them to come to me works best, rather than actively looking for it,” Kendall confided.
He set down his glass as the servants brought in the next course, which was creamed pea-and-leek soup with croutons.
Decker didn’t miss how Kendall appreciated the presentation of the dishes. Although she was no stranger to fine dining, she didn’t bask in the elegance for the wrong reason, though. The way she took it all in, smelled the aromas, told Decker she loved the art and the tastes more than the privilege. She hadn’t lost her humble nature and took nothing for granted.
Like now, she lifted her spoon and smelled with her eyes closed before sampling the soup. When she finished she looked at him and said, “You know what I love most about dinners like this?”
He felt a shot of warmth as he observed her. “No, what?”
“I don’t have many meals like this, but when I do, they’re always special because they take time. It’s more than good food. It’s the entire experience, and the social aspect.”
He concurred, especially about the time. His curiosity of her grew and he needed to know more. “Is that why you agreed to this dinner?”
She stopped eating the soup. “No, of course not.”
It had to be more than him, or more aptly, their fathers coming to her. “Then why even consider marrying me?”
“Why did you even consider marrying me?” she volleyed back.
“I asked you first.”
Smiling, giving him another shot of warmth, she murmured, “I guess I haven’t really considered it yet. I wanted to meet you. See how it went.”
“And how is it going?”
“I’d say quite well.” Still looking at him with a soft smile, she asked, “Are you going to answer the question now?”
Decker wasn’t ready to let her off the hook yet. She hadn’t exactly answered his question. Why did she skirt it? “So you have no intention of marrying me? Why agree to dinner with me, knowing this is all for the purpose of the two of us getting married?”
She took a moment before responding. “Like I said, I wanted to meet you, meet the man and see how the high school boy turned out. Do I have to definitively say I’ll marry you yet?”
“I can give you until after dinner,” he half joked.
She smiled again, bigger this time. “What about you? Why did you consider marrying me?”
“I’m not sure I did. I worried that I’d do yet another thing my father expects of me,” he said.
Her smile faded and her brow lowered as though confused. “Then why...”
“I was curious, too. I remembered you from high school and I had to see you.”
“It was the same for me,” she confessed.
After a long stare, she lowered her eyes first and he forced himself to pay attention to the soup. His anticipation of continuing this courtship stimulated him more and more.
Minutes later, two servants returned with fresh plates.
“Sea bass served with celeriac purée, sorrel leaves and smoked sauce,” one of them said.
Kendall went about her usual delighted inspection before enjoying the first bite.
“What do you like to do in your spare time?” he asked as they shared the meal.
“I love being outside. I also read a lot. Flower garden. Go out for lunch with friends. Spend time with my parents. What about you?”
He chuckled. “I work a lot.”
“Surely you must do something other than that. Don’t you ever get outside?”
“I ski when I get the chance,” he replied.
“How thrilling.”
Her teasing didn’t offend him. “I read sometimes.”
“Hmm...something in common. What about friends?” she asked, no longer teasing.
“I didn’t keep in touch with anyone from school. My friends work for me or frequent The Lodge.”
“It sounds like you have a bland life.” She sounded as though she pitied him.
“Running The Lodge is not bland. I meet all kinds of interesting people.”
Kendall contemplated him and he could all but hear her thinking of the affluent people who came to The Lodge, famous or just wealthy and successful. He liked the challenge of running such an upscale establishment.
“What would you have done if you hadn’t followed your father’s footsteps?” she queried.
Caught off guard, he had to take a few seconds to think. “I would have still chosen business. Growing up, I was always fascinated with the resort and The Chateau. I used to love to ride the gondola and watch all the people. Then when I was older, I paid attention to how my dad made profits. Even before he started pressuring me to work and learn to take over the business, I was already headed for an MBA. But I’m not sure I’d have chosen my father’s business. I think I would have chosen to start my own.”
Kendall nodded as she absorbed his response. He really liked her genuine interest. It gave him a shot of heat and made him notice how beautiful she was. He had found her beautiful from the moment he saw her but now it had taken on a new intensity, more sexual. He wanted her every time he saw her.
“Would your dad have fired you if you didn’t run the business the way he wanted?” Kendall asked.
“Yes.” Russ could be a real hardhat when it came to that. “I want to be CEO. So far he isn’t convinced I’m the man for the job.”
“I suppose that’s a good thing. You wouldn’t want that role if it would set you up for failure.”
“It won’t set me up for failure. I’m the only one who can do it.” He wasn’t bragging like his father often did. He knew he was good enough for that job.
“Well, you certainly seem to work hard enough. And you’re in great shape so you must at least have time to take care of yourself.”
“I have a gym in my house and there is one at The Lodge. I also do get a lot of exercise just walking the property.”
The salad course arrived and Kendall rubbed her tummy. “I don’t want to get too full.”
There were more courses to come. “You don’t have to eat everything.”
She lifted her fork. “And miss all this deliciousness? I don’t think so.” She ate a bite.
“Tell me about your work,” he said. “Why forestry? Were you another victim of a father’s dreams and aspirations?”
She smiled, something she apparently did often. He noticed her again with more intensity, his reaction sort of taking him by surprise with its immediacy. She seemed like a happy, confident woman.
“Yes and no. I always knew I wanted to get into a career that involved the environment. My father encouraged me to go to school for forestry. I chose wildlife biology and took some forestry classes.”
“What do you love about what you do?”
She pushed the salad away and leaned her elbows on the table, blurring his view of her through the candle flame. “Being outside. Preserving the forest and the wildlife.”
Humble indeed. She cared about doing good in this world. She was driven like him. Smart, too. Decker experienced a jolt of excitement along with his increasing awareness of her, her sexy shape, her hair, her eyes, everything. He definitely wanted to see her again.
“I found a small pack of gray wolves,” she said. “They haven’t existed in the Colorado Rockies since the nineteen forties. Sightings are increasing, which means they are likely crossing the state line from Wyoming.”
“Fascinating.” He didn’t mean her sighting. He meant her.
* * *
Kendall hadn’t expected to enjoy this dinner as much as she did, and not just the food and the presentation of the courses. Decker surprised her. He was so honest, about his father and his work and himself. Gone were any traces of Mr. Popular in high school. He’d grown into a real man and truly fit the tall, dark and handsome cliché to the T. Decker dressed impeccably but not in an overstated way and she sensed his genuine humility and respect for others. That’s where he differed from Russ.
She stood from the table. Having finished the rest of the courses of filet mignon, cheese on a wooden board and a remarkably colorful and tasty dessert, she could literally roll out of the sunroom.
Just outside the room, Decker stopped and faced her. “I’m not ready for this to end. How about I show you my favorite part of this house?”
She could put off meeting her parents, who would surely expect a synopsis on how the dinner went. Besides, she was more than a little curious to see what Decker liked most about his parents’ gorgeous and ostentatious home.
“I would love that,” she said, arrested by his answering grin and how it made his dark eyes smolder.
He led her upstairs and down a hallway. At the end, there was a doorway. To her right she saw a narrow stairway.
“That’s for the staff. It leads to the prep kitchen and their quarters.”
Decker opened the door at the end of the hall. It was narrower than the others along the way.
He flipped on the light and Kendall found herself looking up another stairway.
The wooden stairs creaked as she stepped up. The space didn’t appear to be cared for regularly. The scratched and light-stained wood needed a polish to stand up to the rest of the grandeur of the house.
At the top, Decker entered what appeared to be an attic, or a space that hadn’t been finished. Boxes on one side and furniture on the other gave evidence to that end. There were toys on the floor there, along with an open antique trunk that must be worth a fortune. But everything was dusty.
She glanced at Decker, who seemed to be waiting for her reaction.
She had one. “This is your favorite room?” she asked incredulously.
“It’s the one with the most character.”
He definitely had a point there. The rest of the manor, except the sunroom where they had dinner, was rather cold. Now she was sure he had chosen that room for this very reason.
She felt her heart flutter with greater interest in the man she had only known from afar.
Wandering farther into the six-hundred or so square foot room, she loved the two dormer windows facing the back of the house and the open ceiling. The space had a rustic and unfinished charm.
“The room was too small according to my mother,” Decker said. “It turned into a storage area and the servants took it over. Their kids would come up here and play.”
“Every kid should have an attic to play in.” Kendall smiled. “As long as it’s not haunted.”
He chuckled. “The house isn’t old enough for that, although I’m sure there are plenty of distant Colton relatives who might have cause to haunt us.”
Kendall could not believe how much she enjoyed talking to him. He was so witty and had a lurking sense of humor. As she continued to softly smile, his demeanor changed. He watched her like a man who hadn’t just had a several-course meal. He watched her hungrily.
“Why do you like this room so much more than the rest of the house?” she asked again.
His gaze scanned the dusty, disheveled room before finding hers again. “It’s honest.”
“Honest?” She didn’t quite understand.
“I wouldn’t trade my success or my money for anything, nor would I live in any other kind of house than the one I own, but this—with all its imperfections—is a reminder that humility is important.”
She could relate. She respected the wilderness a little bit like that. She liked nice things, just as he did, but being outdoors and in nature, sharing the land with wild animals, was a much different environment. “Not everything has to be perfect and cost a lot.”
“I am going to ask the staff to clean the place up, though.” He grinned and once again she found herself rapt with fascination over the transformation and the light in his eyes.
“And I did have more of a motive to bring you here,” he continued. “Away from prying eyes, I can put to test something that’s got me curious.”
Hearing and seeing his playfulness, she went along with him. “Oh yeah? What is that?”
He put his hand on her lower back and pulled her gently toward him, until she was flush against him. “I only know of one way to see if we’re compatible.”
With her hands on his chest and staring up at his face, she did nothing as he lowered his head and kissed her.
Tingles spread from the point of contact. He kept the touch soft and light but the warmth quickly heated into something more passionate. He pressed slightly harder and moved his mouth as though he meant to take the kiss deeper. Instead, he withdrew, letting out a long breath with his eyes smoldering hotter than before.
Kendall let go her own breath, unexpectedly starved for air. He removed his hand and she stepped back.
“Well, that answers my question,” he quipped.
Flustered, she said, “W-we should get back. Our parents are probably waiting for us.” Decker walked with her through the mansion toward the formal living room, where a servant informed them coffee would be served. Kendall would venture to guess this was when Russ would want to talk about an arranged marriage.
Sure enough, the four parents chatted there, already sipping coffee.
“Ah, here they are.” Russ stood from a sofa that faced an identical one where Kendall’s parents sat.
She took a chair next to her mother and Decker sat on the one beside her. A beaming Russ sat back down.
“How did it go?” her mother asked.
Feeling like a teenager after a first kiss again, Kendall replied, “Wonderful.” She turned to Mara and Russ. “Please give your chef my compliments.”
“He is an outstanding executive chef,” Russ said. “He vets our chefs for The Lodge and The Chateau.”
“Very nice,” Kendall murmured.
“Well?” Russ turned to his son. “When shall we plan the wedding?”
Decker looked at Kendall. “That’s up to Kendall.”
She felt the blood drain from her head with shock. He already wanted to plan a wedding? She did like Decker, but she felt cornered and uncertain. Would she really jump into something like this just because her father had asked her to? Then again, she had not come to this dinner to satisfy her father; well, maybe a little, but being here had been her own choice. She had not agreed to a marriage, not yet. Although the idea definitely tantalized her, and only because she would be marrying Decker, a man who had always fascinated her.
“I’d like to sleep on it,” she said.
“No point in rushing anything,” her mother concurred.
“They hit it off,” her father said. “I can tell.”
How could he tell?
“Just set a date,” Russ insisted.
“You can call it off if you change your minds,” Bernard added.
Russ sent him a sharp glance. “They won’t call it off.”
“Dad,” Kendall protested.
“Just set a date,” Russ insisted. “That’s all we ask.”
“No harm in setting a date,” Marion said.
Kendall had to gape at her mother. She had reservations before tonight. What had happened to change her attitude? Mara smiled at that. “I see no harm in setting a date, either. There’s a lot of planning that will need to be done. If you both back out at the last minute, then we cancel everything.”
Her logic was something of a marvel. They’d plan an expensive wedding and if Kendall or Decker cancelled, oh well? They had a lot of money to burn but to Kendall that was an enormous waste.
How long would she be stuck here if she didn’t agree to something?
“It’s traditionally the bride’s family who pays for the wedding,” she said. “I’m not comfortable with making plans when I’m not certain this is going to work.”
Russ waved his hands in front of him. “Don’t worry about money. I’ll pay for everything.”
Mara eyed him in disagreement.
“The worst that will happen is we lose some deposits,” Russ said.
“I’ll select and pay for my own dress.” Kendall couldn’t believe she’d just said that. She felt sucked into a surreal situation where everything was happening way too fast.
Russ waved his hands again as if all of this amounted to nothing consequential. “We can talk details later. Just pick a date.”
Just pick a date.
“March thirty-first,” Decker said.
She gaped at him. That was the end of the month, little more than three weeks away. “Are you—”
“Fabulous,” Russ exclaimed.
“Wonderful,” her father said.
“This should be interesting,” Marion murmured.
And Mara just chuckled softly but wryly.
Chapter 3 (#u2c38a04b-d5ac-5b0c-ae1e-d89bdc2fb1ba)
The next morning Kendall drove the short distance to her parents’ house. Her mother had asked her to accompany her for breakfast. While not the mansion of Russ and Mara’s scale, it was still an impressive piece of architecture. Her parents didn’t like to feel like they could get lost in their own home, or have so much space that most of it was never used. They liked a homier environment, which this six-bedroom abode offered. White and with lots of grouped, tall and arch-topped windows and a varied roofline, it had a sprawling, modern look.
Kendall entered the foyer, a half-circle room with a grand staircase on one side and a small sitting area with a fireplace on the other. Upstairs were two master suites, Kendall’s bedroom that her mother had kept for her, a guest room and a study. The landing at the top of the stairs had another sitting area with views of the mountains through high windows above the open foyer.
She walked through the informal living room—the formal living room was off the dining room next to the kitchen. There were also two guest suites on this level along with another study.
Kendall could see her mother in the kitchen talking cheerily with the cook. They only employed a cook and a housekeeper, not a full servant staff like Russ and Mara. A round table in a turret area could seat six.
Kendall passed an arched double entry to an entertainment room with a wet bar and casual seating. Although she couldn’t see them from here, a wall of windows could be opened to allow access to the pool. Her parents had divided it to better control humidity.
“There she is.” Her mother came to her and gave her a hug. “I asked Carol to make your favorite.”
Kendal’s favorite breakfast was a veggie omelet, strawberries and rye toast with a good amount of butter.
“You’re awfully chipper this morning.” Kendall took a seat next to Marion, enjoying the view of the glassed-in pool and the mountainside beyond. The ground was still covered in snow. Still early March, there would be no real thawing for several weeks.
“I want to hear all about your dinner. You weren’t very talkative last night. I thought if I gave you some time to process you’d be more of a fountain.”
She had always been very close to her mother and wasn’t at all surprised that she’d known Kendall needed time to absorb, especially big moments like the one last night.
“It was lovely.”
“You already said that last night.”
“Decker is...not what I expected. He’s a gentleman and ambitious but not obsessed with wealth.” To Kendall, money was a necessity and a lot of it definitely made life easier, but it had a purpose and that wasn’t to exploit excesses. Decker had struck her as having the same view. “It was refreshing. He’s grown up since high school. He doesn’t keep in touch with any of the people he hung around with back then.”
Her mother smiled fondly. “You’ve both grown up. I could tell you really liked him last night, and the way he looked at you.” She lifted her eyes up in wonder. “He’s very attracted to you.”
“I’m attracted to him, too, but it’s only the first day.”
“Are you going to go through with the wedding?” her mother asked.
“I don’t know.”
“He doesn’t want to lose this opportunity. He wants you, Kendall.”
“He doesn’t even know me,” she protested. “I need more than physical attraction.”
“He knows you enough and you know him enough. He’s got a solid reputation. The physical attraction is important. The rest will come in time.”
Kendall sat back and angled her head, perplexed. “Yesterday you were worried about me marrying Decker.”
“That was before I saw the two of you together. I still want you to be sure this is what you want, but I feel better about this arrangement now.”
Because she knew Kendall had a crush on Decker in high school and she had witnessed what Kendall had felt with Decker during the dinner. Undeniable chemistry.
“I will be sure,” Kendall finally said. At least, she hoped she would be. Given the flutter of attraction she felt for Decker, even now when he wasn’t in sight, she just might be able to take the chance on him.
“I can’t wait to go dress shopping,” her mother said, full of excitement.
“Mother...!”
“We don’t have much time. I thought we could start this afternoon.”
“I have to work,” Kendall protested.
“Your father told me you could take as much time off as you need this month.”
Holy bejesus. What had happened to her mother? She had been bitten by a wedding bug for sure.
“I know you, my dear. When you like something you recognize it right away, and I can tell you really like Decker Colton.”
She did like Decker. Kendall withdrew from how much. She had felt that and more for her last long-term boyfriend when she had caught him with another woman. He’d broken her heart. She never wanted to feel that way again. Maybe that had more to do with her reason for accepting an arranged marriage—or the possibility of one—than curiosity. Because the truth was, she felt oddly safe entering into this kind of relationship. She’d be the one in control and Decker would never be able to hurt her.
But, on the other hand, what her mother suggested made her wonder if she might be too reckless marrying like this.
“He is different than I remember,” she conceded, yet still feeling as though she was trying to convince herself that meant he’d be worth the risk. But, honestly, did it really matter if he was different? So he’d grown up. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t end up hurting her.
“How so?”
“Not... showy, or...”
“Immature?” her mother provided.
Kendall wouldn’t talk about the popular crowd that had surrounded him in high school and made him seem so untouchable. Unobtainable.
“Yes, but he’s so focused on his business. It’s the only reason he agreed to this arranged marriage.” She didn’t want to be second to a man’s profession. Then again, she placed high standards on her own career. She was passionate about saving animals and preserving nature.
“Well, you’ve been consumed with your work, too, Kendall. Ever since that man you were with toward the end of college, you’ve been driven that way.”
Sometimes she wished her mother didn’t know her so well.
“Seems to me you both have your reasons why a marriage like this would work,” her mother continued.
She wasn’t helping Kendall’s internal conflict. She’d basically just given her a green light to follow her heart and her heart wanted the excitement of marrying a man like Decker, to see where it would lead.
“Come on,” her mother said, “Let’s go shopping.”
* * *
Decker wanted Kendall. He sat at his desk in his large modern office with a seating area before a gas fireplace and a conference table, staring at his computer but thinking of nothing but her.
For once he wanted something for himself and not for his father. Yes, this had been his father’s idea, but last night’s dinner had changed everything. Kendall was perfect for him. She’d fit his lifestyle better than any other woman he’d met. He’d never been more certain this early on in the relationship game. That served as a reminder that maybe he should tread more carefully. He couldn’t afford anything getting in the way of taking over the company.
Kendall didn’t appreciate her father using her as leverage. She was smart and didn’t have to settle for less than she deserved. Maybe an arranged marriage wouldn’t be enough for her. He’d have to work hard convincing her this would be a good union, even if they didn’t love each other.
As far as Decker was concerned, love was overrated and marriage was more of a financial investment than anything. He didn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day and he didn’t think wedding anniversaries were anything special. So a couple stayed together for x number of years. Who cared? In this modern, fast-paced world, lasting marriages were becoming rarer and rarer. He’d rather celebrate windfalls or career advancements.
Maybe Kendall wouldn’t agree. That’s why he’d romance her the traditional way to get her to the altar. Like any business deal, he would go after her aggressively.
“Distracted?”
Decker looked up to see his father enter his office. He never knocked. Seeing his shrewd grin, Decker realized his father meant thoughts of Kendall had distracted him. Russ was clearly pleased with the way things were going, the melding of the Coltons and the Hadleys into one powerful unity.
“A little.”
“What’s your next move?” his father asked, going to one of the seats before the desk and sitting. He propped his ankle on his knee.
“Maybe flowers or dinner out.”
“That’s mediocre. Kendall is accustomed to riches. You should fly her to Paris for dinner or something equally grandiose.”
“I don’t think Kendall is that materialistic.” She was into nature, not what money could buy.
“How often does a man take her to Paris for dinner?”
Not often he was sure, but that wasn’t the way to win her heart. “I’m old enough to manage on my own, Dad.”
Russ’s smile broadened. “We can’t lose this deal. With Hadley money added to ours, we can expand to a level we’ve never reached before.”
That did appeal to Decker, but his dad didn’t understand. “I’m the one who had dinner with her last night. Let me handle the courtship.”
His dad’s smile faded and he nodded. “You’ve got a good head for business, Decker. I’ll trust you to do a good job with this marriage.”
A good job. That sounded cold even to Decker. “Kendall won’t go through with this marriage unless she feels it’s a smart move on her part.” He had to plant that warning in his father’s head, prepare him for the possibility that Kendall wouldn’t marry him after all.
“Draft up a contract so we have her written agreement to marry by the end of the month.”
Decker barely smothered a scoff. One dinner with Kendall and he knew she’d never sign a contract to tie the knot.
“Our lawyers can write it so she’ll feel comfortable but we’ll have assurance that she’ll marry you. If she wants to end it afterward, then we’ll get something out of it.”
Decker began to feel ill over how Russ reduced something personal to a bottom line. “I’ll see what I can do.”
Russ nodded. “Very good.” He placed his hands on his knees. “Any progress on boosting reservations since that woman’s murder?”
Decker had been working tirelessly on a strategy to improve revenue, to replace the losses that homicide had caused. He worried he wouldn’t be able to turn things around before the film festival this summer. “I’ve got meetings scheduled to come up with a mitigation plan.”
“Good. Let me know how it goes.”
“As always.”
“Even though Bianca Rouge was one of the most expensive call girls you can buy in Vegas, her untimely demise still tarnishes our reputation,” his dad said. “She stayed at The Lodge. Some people aren’t comfortable staying here because of that, a murder victim.”
A European millionaire had brought the Rouge woman to The Lodge. While he had suffered his own shame in being caught with a prostitute, he had not been the killer. A man named Nolan Sharpe had written a suicide note confessing to the crime.
“I’ve got a weekly call with Deputy Sheriff Daria Bloom to get status on her investigation,” Decker replied.
“That’s all good, but I need to see results. If you’re going to be CEO, you should be able to handle a PR disaster like this in a timely manner.”
Decker felt his ire rise. His father frequently threw veiled threats like that at him.
“Have I ever failed you?” he asked.
“I can think of a few occasions.”
Decker met his father’s hard eyes dead-on. “No one else can run this lodge better than I can and you know it.”
“All I’m saying is I need more convincing before I promote you to CEO.”
No, his father just enjoyed his position of power. Decker had to bite his tongue before he told Russ his ego was the only thing that needed convincing.
“I often wonder how much more successful we’d have been had Wyatt done what he was supposed to and joined our business,” his father added, further grating Decker’s nerves.
“I doubt he’d have made any impact, given he had no desire to be part of this,” Decker said, knowing that would irritate his father. “Unlike me.”
Russ’s face grew stern with displeasure. “I know you respect him for going off to do what he wanted, but a rodeo star is hardly up to this family’s standards.”
Decker suspected that could be debatable. “He runs the Crooked C Ranch. That’s up to your standards.” Decker watched his father catch that he’d said your standards.
After a while, Russ’s annoyance eased and a new, slightly shrewd grin inched up more on the left side. “That’s what I like about you, son. You never back down. That’s what makes the difference between a good CEO and a great one. You have to have the balls to run a business like this.” Russ stood.
Decker didn’t know what to say. His father had actually complimented him.
* * *
Kendall indulged her mother and went with her to Roaring Springs’s most elite bridal shop, a boutique that offered both top designer labels and custom-made gowns. She had wavering feelings about this outing. Inner excitement clashed with anxiety over whether she should even be looking at wedding dresses when she was not at all sure she would go through with this absurdly concocted idea of an arranged marriage.
Her leather boots tapped on the wood floor as she passed white-trimmed, inlayed arches in the walls on each side, beautiful wedding dresses hanging next to each other. Manikins in the front windows and placed throughout the shop showcased more. Even if Kendall were certain she’d walk down the aisle to meet Decker at the altar, she’d have a difficult time choosing. But one dress across the shop snagged her attention before she could even scan the rest.
Her mother stopped at a dress hanging in one of the left inlayed arches. It had a lace bodice and off-the-shoulder sleeves; its skirt was sheer over silk and the train not overly long. Meanwhile, Kendall went to check out the dress on a manikin that had caught her eye the moment she’d entered. She often found things that way; something struck her fancy and nothing else matched her taste. Shopping went fast when that happened. She began to let her earlier anxiety go and the excitement take over. What girl didn’t like wedding dresses?
Sleeveless and dipping just enough to show a modest amount of cleavage, the bodice was made up of stunning silver-white reflective beads of varying sizes and shapes and round white pearls. The pearls ran down each rib of the corset and the beads thinned over the stomach, revealing see-through lace. The beadwork picked up again at the waist and dipped to a V at the lower abdomen. The Cinderella-style skirt had no train, just a puff of tulle.
“That’s lovely,” her mother said.
Kendall realized she’d fallen into a distracted study of the dress and hadn’t noticed Marion appear beside her.
“Yes. Quite.”
“Try it on.”
A clerk approached, having seen them admiring the gown. “Would you like a dressing room?”
“Yes, she would,” Kendall’s mother said.
Kendall sent her an unsure look.
“Go, go, go.” Her mother shooed her beneath the smiling clerk’s eyes.
After the clerk retrieved her size, Kendall went into the dressing room. Moments later she just stared. The beadwork and pearls were magnificent. She indeed felt like Cinderella. And she could imagine herself walking down an aisle toward Decker. The image was vivid, with Decker so handsome in a tuxedo and her own heart beating with sexual attraction. Not love.
Her excitement waned just then.
She should just take this off and give it back to the clerk and leave the shop. Tell her mother to back off too.
But instead, she left the little room with nerves churning her stomach.
As soon as Marion saw her, her mouth dropped open and her blue eyes seemed to gobble up the sight of Kendall. The dress was that magical.
“Oh, sweetie,” her mother said. “You look absolutely stunning.”
“You do look beautiful,” the clerk concurred. “I’ve never helped anyone who found the perfect dress for them in such a short amount of time.”
Despite her inner turmoil, Kendall did feel like a princess in this dress. It was okay to enjoy this. She did not have to think about the end of the month and what it would bring, not yet. “Maybe I’ll spend more time on the veil,” she said.
“We’ll take the dress,” her mother said.
Kendall felt tugged along by an invisible force, pushed ever closer to some unknown precipice. Would she be carried on clouds when she reached it or would she fall to a rocky bottom?
She changed and gave the gown to the clerk. Her mother paid, even though she really didn’t need to. The dress was very expensive but Kendall could afford it with her trust fund. Her mother was traditional that way.
She left the shop with her mother smiling all the way.
As she walked toward their sedan, where the driver waited at the rear door, Kendall noticed a man sitting in a parked car across the street, watching them. She didn’t recognize him. Wearing dark sunglasses and a black beanie, he looked like a big man, with his shoulders above the back of the seat and his head topping the headrest. His arms were large, as well.
Although she couldn’t see his eyes, she could tell he looked right at them, or maybe only her. His mouth remained in a flat line.
“Who is that?” she asked.
Her mother looked across the street, stopping at the sedan. “I don’t know.”
“He’s staring at us.”
Her mother climbed into the back of the sedan and Kendall followed.
“He’s staring at you, not me,” her mother said, adjusting herself on the other side of the car.
“In a creepy way.”
“He was probably just noticing a pretty woman.”
Kendall wasn’t so sure. She had a feeling he wasn’t looking at her for her looks. Maybe he’d watched a strange woman come out of a bridal shop and had his own thoughts on that. Maybe he’d been dumped by a woman or his bride-to-be changed her mind. Who knew?
What other reason would a man have to park along the street and watch her? Kendall had no enemies.
Then why did she have this bad feeling?
She glanced back as their driver pulled out into traffic. The other car turned out onto the street and made a U-turn.
“What’s the matter, sweetheart?” her mother asked, looking back like Kendall was.
“That car.”
“It’s that same man,” Marion said. “Is he following you?”
The driver glanced in his rearview mirror. Kendall was glad he’d listened and was now alert to the potential danger. She glanced back again. The other car stayed three cars back but followed them down Main Street. As the town faded away and they headed back up the mountain toward home, the car remained behind them.
The driver didn’t try to lose the other vehicle. Kendall wondered if that was a mistake. Would they lead the man to their home?
As they approached the turn to the road that would lead to their property, Kendall and her mother watched through the rear window. Their driver made the turn.
Kendall’s heart pounded as the other car neared the turn. He didn’t appear to slow and she breathed a sigh of relief when the driver passed on by without so much as a glance their way.
Kendall faced forward and leaned back against the seat.
“You sure are jumpy,” her mother said.
“Maybe it’s just the day. Buying a wedding dress is kind of a monumental event.” Or maybe she hadn’t imagined the man watching her and maybe he had deliberately followed them. Was it a message? But why on earth would a stranger be after her?
After hugging her mother goodbye, she got out of the car when it stopped by her house.
She locked the door and set the alarm, not understanding why she still felt so unsettled. She removed her jacket and other winter clothes and started farther into her house when the doorbell rang.
She stopped and stiffened. Could that driver have turned around and driven up the road and found her? She didn’t see how. There were other driveways along the road they’d turned onto. Turning to the door, she went there and cautiously peeked out the side window. A florist stood there, holding a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers and a stuffed wolf. Instantly lighter of heart, she disarmed the alarm and opened the door.
“For you, ma’am,” the middle-aged man in a baseball cap and a maroon puff jacket said.
She took the flowers and then the wolf. “Thank you.”
The wolf felt soft and furry and the flowers wafted a sweet summery scent, a refreshing difference from the chill in the air today.
Closing and locking the door and rearming the security system, she took the stuffed animal and the flowers and left the entry, passing white-and-dark-wood-trimmed stairs and a console table. In the spacious, high-ceilinged living room, she went to the seating area, which was furnished with off-white chairs and a sectional sofa around a rectangular wooden coffee table.
Smiling to herself, she put the flowers on the coffee table and inspected the wolf, thinking this quite a creative gift. Looking for a card, she found it in the flowers.
Dinner was nice, but just a taste. I’ll have a car pick you up at seven for another. Just you and me this time. Formal attire. D.
He’d gotten her wildflowers because she’d told him she loved the outdoors and he’d gotten her the wolf because she’d told him about the pack she’d spotted. How very thoughtful of him. She hadn’t expected that.
Nevertheless, she wasn’t sure if she liked his boldness. What if she had plans tonight? Did he expect her to drop everything just to go out with him? She’d have to ask. One thing she’d establish right from the start—she would not change her life to suit his schedule or his business aspirations. She had her standards and she would not compromise herself for him. He had to respect her.
Would he?
Chapter 4 (#u2c38a04b-d5ac-5b0c-ae1e-d89bdc2fb1ba)
Decker hadn’t heard from Kendall, so he assumed she’d be ready when he had his car pick her up. He waited for her in the Columbine off the main lobby of The Lodge, where he’d reserved a section just for them. He had warned the staff to be at their top performance. Tonight he wore a suit and tie. He couldn’t wait to see what Kendall had decided to wear, although she would look great in anything, even if she showed up in jeans just to spite him.
He received a text indicating Kendall had arrived. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back; soft jazz music played. No center candle tonight, instead, a brass table lamp. The small bar had a bartender who waited in his suit and tie. Decker had put them in a room often reserved for moderately large dinner parties. The two double-door-sized archway entries had glass French doors with draperies for privacy that he’d ordered closed, but the lights from the start of the gondola could still be seen from here.
He spotted Kendall walking toward him and froze for a second as her beauty dazzled him. Adorned, in a simple long black dress that V’d modestly at the bodice, it complimented her tall, graceful physique beautifully. She wore a sapphire necklace and matching earrings and had put her long blond hair up.
“You look radiant,” he said, lifting her hand to his lips to plant a soft kiss along it as he had the other time.
Behind her, one of the waitstaff closed the French doors.
“You did say formal,” Kendall said.
Straightening, he thought he detected a slight edge to her tone. “You could have come in jeans and I wouldn’t have minded.”
“You could have asked me to dinner instead of summoning me.”
Oh, yes, definitely an edge. “I wouldn’t call it summoning. Charming you into joining me, perhaps.” She’d taken offense.
“It was presumptuous of you to assume I wouldn’t have any other plans and if I did, that I’d change them.”
He grunted, trying to smother a laugh. He would never presume anything of her. “Actually, I was sure you’d turn me down. When I didn’t get a call, I got excited.”
He saw her immediately soften. “Okay, you’ve redeemed yourself.” She smiled. “Thank you for the flowers and the wolf. They were very considerate gifts.”
“As was my intention.” He indicated for her to join him at the bar.
She preceded him there, giving him a view of the scooping back of her dress and the curves it accentuated.
Champagne in hand, she faced him as he took a glass from the bartender.
“Do you have another elegant dinner planned?” she asked, taking a sip.
“Of course.”
She moved away from the bar and went to the windows. He followed.
“Do you do this for all your girlfriends?”
He quirked a brow. “Are you my girlfriend or my fiancée?”
She glanced at him without replying.
“No,” he said.
“Why are you trying so hard?” she asked.
“Because I want you to marry me.”
With another glance, this one quicker and more uncertain, she turned and wandered into the space between the table and the bar.
“You fit me.” He went to stand behind her, giving her plenty of distance to adjust to his blunt announcement. “You have a career you love. You come from a family that’s similar to mine. And I get the feeling you want a no-fuss relationship as much as I do. I already know you’re a great kisser. The only thing I don’t know is if you want children.”
Slowly she faced him, not as rattled. “No fuss?”
“We both want to continue to pursue our careers without worry that the other will walk away due to lack of understanding.”
“Okay, but I’m not sure I want a relationship where I never spend any time with the person I’m with.”
Had he gotten that wrong about her? She hadn’t struck him as a woman who’d complain when her man didn’t pay enough attention to her.
“We’d spend plenty of time together. We’d just have to work around our schedules, that’s all.”
That seemed to placate her. She continued to look at him and he fell into the spectacular blue of her eyes.
“Aside from the suddenness, what’s holding you back from committing to marriage?” he asked. She was far too cautious to take marriage to him seriously. Yet.
“Remember that man I told you about?”
The jerk she’d caught with another woman? “Yes.”
“That’s why.”
“You want my assurance that I’ll never cheat? You have it. That’s not my style. I’d divorce you before it came to that.”
“Gee, that’s comforting.”
He chuckled. “I doubt I’d ever have a reason to divorce a woman like you. I’d have to be an idiot to do that.”
“How can you be so sure when you barely know me?”
“I have a pretty strong feeling on the matter.”
She met his eyes a moment and then went to the dining table to set down her glass. He waited for her to turn.
“It’s more than that,” she confided, bracing her hands on the back of a chair. “I loved him. His betrayal and the rude awakening that I never saw it coming made me withdraw from men. I like relationships that don’t threaten to make me feel too much.”
He failed to follow her meaning. Did she think she would feel too much with him...or did she worry she’d marry him because she knew she wouldn’t feel too much?
He suspected it was both, but more of the latter. “Then it’s good you won’t feel threatened by marrying me. Whatever comes after that will happen on its own and in time.” Whether they truly fell in love would remain an unknown until after they married. He saw that as a bonus. If they fell in love, great, but if not, they’d still have a solid companionship.
A slow smile emerged on her pretty face. “I like that. A lot.”
“Good.” He stepped closer and took her hands. “Let’s dance.” The jazz song had a perfect rhythm for romance.
She followed him into a dance and asked, “Aside from your excuse of being too busy to find love, does this arrangement appeal to you because of that woman who left you for another?”
“Women. Plural. I haven’t been able to find any woman who could tolerate my schedule.”
“How do you know I will?” she murmured.
He couldn’t read her very well, but he thought she had concerns over whether she’d need more from him than he could give. “I suppose I don’t. It’s that feeling I have. I think we can make it work.”
She gazed up at him, seeming satisfied with this heart-to-heart they’d just had. Good. She’d be all in then and he could focus on work. He still wasn’t finished wooing her, though. He had to be sure he could secure this marriage.
“I do want children,” she said out of the blue, as though capping off the discussion.
“That’s good. I do too.”
“You want a family but you work sixty hours a week? How is that going to work?”
“Work from home more.”
She laughed. “You might as well hire a nanny.”
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