She pulled back. “You did not! You’re rewriting history.”
He laughed but stuck to his guns and drew her to the couch in front of the fire. “Nope,” he said. “I’d never met anyone like you before. You were startled by the proposition I put before you, but once you were convinced I was serious, you gave it your professional consideration. You had guts and courage, and I admired you.”
She shook her head. “I’m not brave at all. I’ve let fears of emotional involvement and the past hold me back too long.”
He squeezed her shoulder. “I’d say you made major strides tonight.”
“And of course I considered the bargain.” Sierra settled in his arms. “I wasn’t exactly in a financial position to do otherwise, now, was I?”
He laughed. “Do you know how many women I know who would have tried to drive a higher bargain with me than you, given my wealth?”
She gave him a sharp jab in the ribs. “That speaks poorly of the woman you chose to know, not women in general. You should have made an effort to get to know ones who cared more about you than your social position or money.”
He shrugged, at once accepting the accuracy of her words and elaborating. “True. But as Rafe and Gabe both knew, I wasn’t in the market for a long-term relationship. Thank God I met you.”
She snuggled against him. “Can I ask you now about Carol?”
“You could always have asked me about her. Why do you think she’s an off-limits topic?”
“Jen filled me in on some of the old gossip about your mother. She said it was well-known around town that you weren’t about to get saddled with the same kind of wife as your father did.”
“No, I wasn’t. But the more I thought about it and the better I got to know you, I realized I let Connor’s first choice of wife influence me too much. Rafe and Gabe’s mother was wonderful.” His arm tightened about her. “You should have given me more credit for being able to read people’s characters. You’re the furthest thing from my mother than I can imagine.”
Sierra was silent for a moment. “But I did marry you for your money.”
He snorted. “Do you love me for my money?”
She sat bolt upright. “How can you ask that? We had a deal, a business arrangement! It wasn’t exploitation.”
Laughing, he settled her against him once. “My point exactly.” Then he sobered. “But I’d like to think you won’t end our marriage when our deal is up.” He dropped a kiss behind her ear.
“You know I won’t. I’d marry you all over again, even if you had no money.”
“Because?”
“Because you love me, just as I am, fears and all, and…
“And?” His hands moved under her sweater caressing the warm skin beneath it.
“And because I can’t imagine my life without you in it. That’s the only thing that frightens me now.”
Sierra’s last thought as Michael kissed her was she’d have to dig out some of those romances she read when she was younger. Sometimes happily-ever-afters were possible after all.
A word about the author…
Alison Ashlyn lives with her husband and four cats (okay, maybe more) in Northern California. An avid reader of romance since the early age of ten, she is committed to giving her readers contemporary romance in locales where the cities are glamorous, the couples sizzle, and the chemistry is hot.
Other Books You Might Enjoy
One Wild Ride
by April Elizabeth Brock
http://amzn.com/B01AR5A39U
It’s not that mechanic Tate McHenry can’t go out with a guy more than twice, it’s just that she’s never dated one who can keep her interest for that long. But Tate’s tired of being alone. Since she can’t find a man who’s exciting enough, she hatches a plan to make one exciting instead.
Financial adviser Jack Donovan’s high-stress career on Wall Street is slowly killing him, so he quits his job and sells his sports car. He rents a house from an old friend in the small town of Unity, Pennsylvania for one reason: to relax. But the gorgeous blonde he meets on his first day in town seems determined to destroy all his dreams of peace and quiet.
When these polar opposites meet, spark plugs fly, and being together is anything but relaxing…
Also Available
Always You
by Jennifer Wenn
http://amzn.com/B01BOB6FFC
When her domineering fiancé cheats on her, pastry chef Kate Sweet trades the city for her hometown of Barnesville and works as a waitress in her parents' diner. Lonely and insecure, she tries to start over but instead runs into Michael Hart, the boyfriend who sent her away after he was paralyzed in a tractor accident. All her old feelings for him return in full, but Michael is just about to get married to someone else — her old rival for everything back in their school days.
Michael is drawn to Kate again but resents that she left him. He doesn’t remember how pain and painkillers changed his behavior and made him so sorry for himself he literally ordered her to go.
Now she must decide whose happiness is more important, his, now that he has a fiancée, or hers…with him. How can it be both?
Thank you for purchasing
this publication of The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
If you enjoyed the story, we would appreciate your letting others know by leaving a review.
For other wonderful stories,
please visit our on-line bookstore at
www.thewildrosepress.com.
For questions or more information
contact us at
[email protected].
The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
www.thewildrosepress.com
Stay current with The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
Like us on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/TheWildRosePress
And Follow us on Twitter
https://twitter.com/WildRosePress
Buying His Bride (The Donovan Brothers Trilogy Book 1) Page 16
