Page 2 of The Bargain Bride

“You won't know until you ask.” Beth forced a smile. “Maybe he'll surprise you. He might love the idea of having a child. Maybe you'll be the next one down the aisle.”

Trish wailed, and her entire body shook. “He's... involved with someone else.”

Beth's jaw dropped. “Married?”

“No! I would never have sex with a married man. His relationship with her is complicated. He feels trapped. He made promises to her and doesn't want to break them, even though we’re madly in love.”

Beth gently shook the girl. “Listen to me. You are having a baby, and a baby trumps everything else. This little life growing inside you is more important than promises or hurt feelings or desire or—”

“Simon is the father!”

The blood drained from Beth's face and pooled in her stomach. Her friends, confidants, and lifelines in times of trouble had betrayed her. With each other. She and Simon weren't in love, no, but she'd always been able to count on him... until now. They’d kissed once; it had been… pleasant. She had every reason to believe the sex would have been equally nice, and she was prepared to consummate the marriage tonight.

Now what?

He had begged her to marry him to save the ranch, and the whole time he was sleeping with Trish. Unbelievable! Her manicured nails bit into her fleshy palms as she tried to regain her sense of balance. After taking a deep breath, she said, “Tell him about the baby.”

Trish's damp eyes widened. “Are you sure?”

“He might still be getting ready. Tell him before you lose your chance. Hurry! Go.”

A smile transformed the other girl's face, and she threw her arms around Beth's neck. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Trish kissed her on the cheek. “I will never forget this.”

Neither would Beth, especially if she lost her beloved home because her two friends couldn't keep their hands off each other. Now that she suspected the wedding wouldn't happen, she realized how much she wanted it. She wanted the ranch to be in her name, so Jared couldn’t force her to leave on a whim.

She also wanted the marriage so she wouldn't be alone. The chances of her finding a real husband were slim considering she lived two hours from the nearest town, and the only men she saw on a regular basis worked for her. Dating one of them was out of the question.

Trish dropped the pregnancy test in the trash on her way out the door, and Beth sank down on the bed. Minutes passed. She stared at the wicker wastebasket with trepidation growing in her heart. An unexpected pregnancy sure wasn't what she'd pictured on her wedding day. Trish was probably telling Simon the news at that very moment. Beth tried to imagine his reaction and failed. She really didn't know him at all, so it was impossible to predict what he would do.

Even though their relationship wasn't a love-match, she still felt the loss. Simon had several options now. He might decide to swap brides and marry Trish. The two of them could run away together, leaving Beth to explain their absence to the numerous guests waiting downstairs. Or he might run from both of them. He wasn't exactly Mr. Responsible. She didn't know which outcome to hope for.

Her stomach flipped over, and she launched herself at the wide-open balcony doors. In desperate need of air, she stepped outside and sucked oxygen into her lungs. A sudden breeze sent a chill through her bones. If Simon didn't marry her, they would lose the Montana ranch, the place she'd called home since her tenth birthday. His brother would continue to hold on to everything, even though he had vowed to never set foot on the property again. He would probably sell it before the year ran out. What would she do then?

She and Simon had made the pact to marry over their mutual love of the horses, the breathtaking landscape, and the lovely house, the only real home either of them had known. But that was before she learned he was having a baby with another woman. Now Beth had to rely on Jared's compassion.

The mere thought of facing Jared Wilder filled her belly with hot coals.

If that man had a heart, it was stone cold when it came to her.

Chapter Two

Jared returned home for the first time in eight years with dread as his wingman. He would rather be anywhere else in the world, but his little brother had decided to get married. If that didn't warrant a trip home, he didn't know what did. Simon offered him an out on the phone, saying it was short notice and he'd understand if Jared couldn't make the wedding. As an ER doctor at one of the busiest hospitals in the country, Jared rarely had more than an hour to spare. Work and sleep, that was his life. Under ordinary circumstances, he might have skipped the event, but it was the bride's identity that sent him rushing back to Montana.

A few months ago, Jared refused to give Simon a large cash advance on his trust fund. In retaliation, his little brother threatened to marry Beth Rawlings; Jared hadn't taken the threat seriously. For one thing, he didn't think Beth would agree to a loveless marriage. Boy, was he wrong. He didn't know her at all.

Jared had returned to tell them the fake marriage wasn't necessary. He was giving Beth the ranch. Not Simon. Beth. If he gave it to his brother, Simon would lose the property within a year. But Beth would cherish the 2000-acre horse-breeding operation. She loved the ranch as much as he hated it. As far as he was concerned, she could have everything.

He crossed the gravel driveway with purpose in every step, determined to save her from a loveless marriage. The sight of a woman in white standing on the balcony overlooking the rose garden stopped him in his tracks. Was the bright sunlight playing tricks on his eyes, or was that Beth?

He blinked to clear his hazy vision. During his absence, she had transformed from a gangly tom-boy to a stunning woman with sexy curves and flowing hair. The gentle wind played with her dark tresses, pulling on the ends even as it molded white satin to her legs.

Stunned, he stared at her in silence.

She reminded him of a wild mustang he had worked hard to capture in his youth. In the end, he'd given up the chase after realizing the horse was meant to be free. Beth was a good kid, preferring to spend time with animals over people. The first time he had seen her, a ten-year-old girl crushing a stuffed bear to her small body, her eyes red from crying over her mother's sudden death, his heart had ached along with hers. He knew what it was like to lose a mother. Maybe that's why he'd gone out of his way to teach her about horses and make her feel at home.

Seeing her, the beauty she'd become during his time away, made him yearn for something unknown, something he couldn't have and—until now—didn't think he wanted.

He forced himself to step inside his childhood home, a sprawling two-story traditional Tudor with diamond cut windows, six chimneys, and dark wood beams crossing the high ceilings. The house looked out of place among the rugged Montana scenery, but his father had paid an architect to give his mother her dream home.

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