Page 2 of The Rancher's Cinderella Bride

“You’re freezing,” he said, covering her hands with his. “Calm down. I’ll help you. Any way I can.”

“I hope you mean that,” she said in a low, intense voice. “Because I really need you to ask me to marry you.”

He pulled his hands back, but she grasped them tighter. “It’s temporary, very temporary,” she said quickly. “I think one month should do it. And it wouldn’t be a real engagement, of course.” She leaned closer and her voice took on a more earnest tone. “I need your help, Gabe. Please,” she begged, as if he had threatened to toss her out of his house.

He did what he did best. He tried to lighten the mood. “Hey, remember, you’re talking to me—best friends since forever.”

“I’m serious, Gabe, and I’m desperate.”

“I believe you,” he said, getting more worried.

She took a deep breath and looked as if she faced a firing squad.

“All of them—my parents and both sets of grandparents—want an heir. And they all want a grandchild.”

He shrugged. “Tell them that will happen in due time.”

“Time is part of the problem. They’re all getting older. You know Todd, my oldest brother, is career military and he’s in Afghanistan now and isn’t getting married anytime soon. Caleb, my married brother, has a good part in a Broadway play alongside his wife, Nora. They don’t want children to interfere with their careers,” she said, rattling off her reasons and sounding more panicky with each one. “And Hank is gone,” she said, a wistful note of sadness in her voice that made him want to offer sympathy again over her brother who was killed in a crash when he was flying his small plane. “My family is desperate for a baby and I’m the prime candidate.”

He managed to extricate his hands and sat back. “I get that, but—”

“There’s more. Someone wants to marry me and my family knows it,” she said, looking distraught and sounding as if she were caught in a huge calamity.

“Who wants to marry you?”

“Justin Whelton—fourth generation of successful Dallas lawyers.”

“I know Justin,” Gabe said, frowning and thinking he could see why she had no interest in marrying him. Gabe had known Justin as long as Meg had known him. Their parents moved in the same social circles and now that he and Justin and Meg were grown, they crossed paths at social events. Gabe didn’t like Justin and suspected he had done some underhanded things to win cases.

“Justin and I dated in high school. It meant nothing to each of us except convenience. It’s the same now, but the minute we went out a few times this past year both sets of parents came up with the idea that we should marry. Justin’s folks want him to marry because he has big political ambitions and they think being married would give him stability and better voter approval. And I’m the perfect candidate to be his wife as far as his parents and mine are concerned. I’ve told mine I don’t love him but they think we would fall in love because we’re apparently so compatible and we’ve known each other all our lives. My mistake was ever going out with him, just because he was a friend. There never has been any romance between the two of us, no more than there was any between you and me. We’re friends. Period. I don’t like to kiss him and we rarely have. How do you marry someone you don’t like to kiss?”

He couldn’t help it. Despite her seriousness, he chuckled.

“Gabe, don’t you dare laugh at me. It isn’t funny.”

“I’m not laughing,” he said, trying not to, “but I’m surprised Justin wants this if you won’t kiss him. If you and I get pretend engaged, will you kiss me?”

“I’m serious here,” she said, anger flaring in her big eyes.

He had to bite back another laugh and realized he shouldn’t tease her now. She was too upset to see humor in it.

“Yes, I’ll kiss you,” she said through gritted teeth and her cheeks turned red.

He couldn’t hold the grin that came that time.

“Gabe, so help me—”

Impulsively, he hugged her. “I’m teasing, Meg, and you know it. You just get so riled up that I can’t resist.” He released her, but not before he noticed she was soft to hug and far different from when she was a skinny middle school kid.

“His dad and grandfathers have offered him so many financial incentives—you can’t imagine.”

“That’s no incentive if the lady doesn’t like you. I’d think your family would listen if you firmly tell them you don’t want to marry him.”

“They’re not listening, Gabe. That’s the problem. They’re all pushing, including Justin, who thinks this would help his career. He’s laying the groundwork to run for the Texas legislature, but he wants to be in Washington and he thinks I would make—to quote him—‘the right kind of wife.’ What a reason to marry!” She grabbed Gabe’s hands again. “You can’t imagine the pressure my family is putting on me. Please, just think about a pretend engagement,” she begged.

He kept telling himself this was ridiculous, she was exaggerating and he wanted no part of it. But as she held his hands in hers, he looked down into imploring brown eyes and felt himself sinking into quicksand.

“I’m friends with Justin’s secretary, Gretchen,” she went on. “She told me Justin is planning to propose at the big anniversary dance this month at the country club. If I turn him down in front of all those people and our families, it’ll be dreadful.”

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