The Lawman's Convenient Bride Read online

  Why not? That sounded like an excellent idea to him. He could give her the money. She could win him, and he wouldn’t have to go out with Adriana or some other nice woman he had zero interest in romantically. It wouldn’t exactly be fair play. But the library would still get the money, and that was the goal.

  However, the way she was looking at him, he knew she wouldn’t go for that. So he fibbed, “No way would I ask that of you.”

  She didn’t believe him. He could see it in those fine blue eyes. But she played along. “Good.”

  “I just need a little moral support from my two favorite girls, that’s all. Caroline Carruthers wouldn’t take no for an answer, and now I’ll be going out with some woman from town, and the truth is, I have a firm rule about that.”

  “What rule?”

  “I don’t date local women.”

  “Why not?”

  He didn’t want to get into it. But somehow, he found himself telling her anyway. “Because I know it’s never going to go anywhere with anyone, so to date someone in my county is just going to lead to trouble in the end. I don’t want things to get messy. I’m the sheriff, after all.”

  She sat back and folded her arms. Not a good sign. “How ’bout this? Maybe if you took a chance, went out on a limb and spent an evening with a nice woman, you might change your mind and realize you would like to get something going with her, after all.”

  “I won’t. That isn’t going to happen.”

  She put both hands to her head, as though this conversation might possibly cause her brain to explode. “Seth. How can you be so sure?”

  “I have no interest in a relationship. I’m the sheriff, and it’s on me to set a good example—which means not leading innocent women on.”

  Jody outright scoffed at him then. “Oh, come on. It’s the twenty-first century. Not a trembling virgin in sight.”

  Now he felt kind of insulted. “I wouldn’t encourage a virgin—especially not a trembling one.”

  “Great, then. Because Adriana seems confident and savvy to me. She’s not going to expect anything beyond a nice evening out with you if she wins a date with you—and I’m betting the rest of the women who might bid on you are the same, right?”

  He didn’t want to answer her. He knew it would only get him deeper into this uncomfortable conversation that he didn’t want to be having in the first place.

  “Right?” she demanded again.

  He gave in and said it. “Right.”

  “So then, I can promise you that none of them will expect a lifetime commitment because you took them out.”

  “I just don’t believe in any of that.”

  She looked at him sideways. “Um, any of what?”

  “Dating someone when I know it’s not going to go anywhere.”

  Jody sat forward again, picked up her dinner roll, tore it in half and then dropped it back to her plate. “It doesn’t have to go anywhere. I mean, come on. You don’t have to be married to have a good time with someone.”

  He opened his mouth to backpedal a little, but ended up blurting out the bald truth about himself instead. “I’m not after a good time with someone. I don’t believe in sex outside of marriage—or without love, at least. Preferably both.”

  Jody gaped. “I don’t know where to start. By a good time, I don’t necessarily mean sex. But as long as we’re going there, you’ve never been married. Have you?”

  “No, I have not.”

  Her head went back and forth, and her eyes were wide as dinner plates. “I know I shouldn’t ask...”

  “No, you probably shouldn’t.” He drank some beer.

  And she asked anyway. “So you’ve never had sex with anyone?”

  He could simply refuse to answer her. But over the past weeks something of a bond had grown between them. He felt a need to make her understand. “I’ve had sex, yes—with women I wasn’t married to. When I was younger I didn’t always live up to my beliefs.”

  She clapped both hands to her mouth, as if trying to keep the next question from getting out.

  A hard sigh escaped him. “Go ahead. Ask.”

  She dropped her hands. “What about Irene, in Chicago?”

  He almost just told her to mind her own business. But the bond he felt with her tugged at him. He lived in her house, and he understood that if he wanted to keep living there, he needed to make an effort to get along with her, to communicate. “Yes,” he said. “Irene and I were lovers. I was in love with her. I’d asked her to marry me and she’d said yes. I already felt married to her.”

  “And after you lost Irene?”

  “There’s been no one. Except myself, I guess you could say.”

  “Wait a minute. Not a single date? You didn’t meet someone for coffee? Nothing?”

  “There were dates, yeah, after I’d been back here in Colorado for a couple of years. I’m human, after all.” He watched her sip that weird herbal tea she liked and waited for a teasing remark concerning his humanity or lack thereof. But no. She was quiet, her gaze locked with his over the rim of her mug. So he continued, “I went out with a few women I met online.”

  “I’m guessing these were women who didn’t live in Broomtail County?”

  “You’re guessing right. I took them to dinner and maybe a movie and then I took them home. But I knew it wasn’t going anywhere, that I was kidding myself and wasting their time and mine. I didn’t want sex with a stranger. And I didn’t want a relationship. So after a while, I stopped looking, online or otherwise.”

  “How long since you returned to Colorado from Illinois?”

  “Seven years.”

  “Oh, Seth.” She said it way too softly. Too...tenderly.

  “What?” he demanded in a growl.

  “I can’t decide if I’m sad for all you’ve missed out on—or in awe of you for having principles and managing to stick by them for seven long years.”

  “Awe. I’ll take awe.”

  She laughed. And then he laughed, too, of all things. The sound was pretty rusty. But still, it felt good.

  They picked up their forks and started eating again. Neither of them spoke for several minutes.

  He scooped up the last bite of his stew. As soon as he’d chewed and swallowed, he took another stab at getting her to be there Saturday. “Please, come to the park for the auction.”

  She looked up from mangling her dinner roll. “It’s not going to be that bad. And it’s only one date.”

  “You sound like Caroline Carruthers,” he grumbled. And then he leveled his gaze on her and willed her to give in. “Please, come. I want a friend there.”

  * * *

  At 1:45 on Saturday afternoon, Library Park was packed.

  People wandered from booth to booth, buying T-shirts, books and library paraphernalia, handmade crafts and art by local painters and photographers. Kids played tag between the trees. There was a food pavilion—a giant white canopy over rows of picnic tables, food carts surrounding the covered tables. Under another wide white canopy beside a portable stage, a six-piece band played country rock.

  Jody, in jeans and a Bloom T-shirt, black Chucks and a Broncos hat, pushed Marybeth in her stroller and made a mental note to find out if this would become an annual event. If so, next year, she’d see about getting Bloom involved somehow.

  “Darling!”

  Jody glanced back and saw her mother, gorgeous as always in black capri pants, an off-the-shoulder lacework shirt and sexy wedge sandals, coming toward her. “Ma!” She wheeled the stroller under a tree, out of the way of the crowd.

  “It’s so good to see you.” Willow took her by the shoulders and air-kissed her cheek, bringing the scent of sandalwood and tropical flowers, a fragrance that some shop in Paris made just for her. “I flew in this morning, and Estrella sai
d the magic words party in the park and bachelor auction.” Estrella Watson was the Bravo Mansion’s longtime housekeeper. “Well, I had to see for myself—and what have we here?” Willow dipped to a graceful crouch beside the stroller. “Hello, beautiful. It’s me, your grandmother, who completely adores you.” Marybeth was having another good day. She waved her hands at her grandma and cheerfully cooed. “She’s perfect. I have a few little treasures for her. I must drop by with them. Soon.”

  “Anytime. I’m at the shop a few hours a day, but the times vary. Just call my cell first.”

  “I will.” Willow swept upward again. “You look well. A little haggard.”

  Gee, thanks, Ma. “I keep busy.”

  “Don’t wear yourself to a nub, now.”

  Jody tried not to grit her teeth. “Ma, I will do my best.”

  “Excellent. So. Are you here to nab yourself a bachelor?”

  “No.”

  “I hear Caroline Carruthers managed to round up the hottest, most successful single men in town—including your brother Garrett,” Willow added with pride.

  Jody was stuck back there with her mother talking about hot men. Did Willow plan on bidding? Eww. “Uh, yeah. Garrett’s on the block, all right.”

  “I hope some lovely girl wins him. It’s about time he settled down.”

  “Ma. It’s for a good cause, but come on. Nobody’s ending up married to Garrett because they ‘won’ him at the library auction.”

  “Honestly, Johanna.” Willow hit her with her given name though she preferred Jody, and Willow knew it, too. “You have zero romance in your far-too-practical soul.”

  “You may be right.” Romance hadn’t exactly been good to her so far.

  Willow said, “The bachelors have been all over the park today, chatting up women, introducing themselves.” Jody tried not to wince for poor Seth. He would just love wandering the park, instigating teasing conversations with random women. Not. Her mother asked coyly, “So, how many bachelors have you met so far?”

  “Marybeth and I just arrived.” In order to support Seth, who wouldn’t shut up about it until Jody agreed to be there when the bidding started.

  “Did you at least check out the list of prospects and their bios on the library website? Your sheriff is included.”

  “He’s hardly my sheriff.”

  “Well, he was there for you, right, the night Marybeth was born?” Before Jody could answer her, Willow whipped out her tablet phone and stuck it in front of Jody’s face. “Look.” Handsome male faces scrolled up the screen. A picture of Seth went by. He looked manly and determined, a ray of light glinting off the badge on his uniform shirt. “See anything you particularly like?”

  Laughing in spite of herself, Jody slipped her hand under the visor of her cap and covered her eyes. “Ma. Stop. Now.”

  Willow lowered the phone and heaved a sigh so loud it could be heard over the band wrapping up a cover of Sam Hunt’s “Make You Miss Me.”

  “I worry you’ll never find what you’re looking for, darling, that’s all.”

  Jody stared into her mother’s beautiful sea green eyes and reminded herself that Willow just wanted the best for her. “Thank you. But I have everything I need, and I’m happy. I truly am.”

  Willow made a show of pressing her lips together. “This is me keeping my mouth shut—and look.” She pointed at the stage where Caroline Carruthers had stepped up to the mic. “The auction begins.”

  Caroline spread her arms wide and announced with enthusiasm, “Welcome, everyone, to our first annual Library Celebration Day!” Jody clapped good and loud with everyone else. And then Caroline launched into a spirited speech, starting with how happy she was to see such a crowd on this beautiful May afternoon. She ran down a list of the latest improvements at the library, encouraging everyone to come often and use all the library’s services. She reminded them all about the silent auction just waiting for more bids under a nearby canopy, then announced the total donations so far, mostly from people giving money online. She thanked a few donors and volunteers specifically for their generous and ongoing support.

  Then she leaned close to the mic and mock-whispered gleefully, “And, yes, ladies and gentlemen, it’s that time at last. Fifteen of Justice Creek’s best-looking and most eligible single guys are stepping into the spotlight today, offering fifteen fortunate and generous women the chance for the date of their dreams. I present to you...the bachelors of Justice Creek!”

  The band played “Fever,” and out they came, most of them good-naturedly strutting, some even busting Magic Mike–like moves. They wore tight jeans, cowboy boots and snug, muscle-showcasing T-shirts printed with library-themed humor: “Reading is sexy” and “Meet me in the stacks” and “I read past my bedtime.”

  Two of the bachelors were firefighters. They wore yellow helmets and red suspenders. Garrett, who ran Bravo Construction, wore a tool belt. Seth had a badge pinned over his heart as did a guy she recognized from Justice Creek PD. The guy from the police department even had handcuffs clipped to his belt. He was one of the better dancers, and he really got the crowd whooping and cheering.

  Seth didn’t dance. He walked in and stood at the end of the line of men. And she had to hand it to him. He looked dangerously hot not doing anything, just standing there in jeans that hugged his hard thighs and that tight black T-shirt that clung to his chest like it was in love with him. No wonder the women couldn’t quit baking him pies.

  Jody knew he was looking for her. She watched those eagle eyes scanning the crowd. She gave him a hint of a nod when he spotted her and felt a certain lovely warmth low in her belly at the way his hard face softened when their gazes met.

  Her mother leaned close. “Okay, Johanna. There’s more than love for Marybeth going on with you and Seth Yancy.”

  “Mind your own business, Ma,” she replied out of the side of her mouth.

  “You know I’m bound to find out anyway.”

  She would, of course. That Seth spent all his free time at Jody’s place was no secret. Jody went ahead and admitted, “He’s been helping me out.”

  “Helping you out, how?”

  “You name it, he helps with it. We’ve become friends, I guess you could say. And since we brought Marybeth home from the hospital, he’s been staying at my house nights, in the spare room.”

  “No.” There was far too much breathless glee in that single word.

  Jody looked her mother square in the eye. “Yeah.”

  That silenced Willow—at least for now.

  Caroline went down the line, spending a minute or two with each bachelor, getting their names, their ages, their occupations and their interests. Then the men filed offstage, and a couple of guys brought on a podium. A rangy older man in a cowboy hat came on. Caroline introduced him as the auctioneer. He moved behind the podium. The band played “Let’s Get It On” and out came the first bachelor.

  The bidding began.

  It was actually kind of exciting. And a lot of fun. The guy from Justice Creek PD was third to last and brought nine hundred bucks, which had everyone hooting and hollering in glee. Garrett was next. He had that killer smile, and he joked about his tool belt and what good care he took of his tools. A nice bidding war ensued over him. He brought twelve hundred, the best price so far.

  And then there was Seth. He strode onstage to “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” not even cracking a smile. How did he do it? He walked straight and stood proud and somehow the temperature in the park rose by ten degrees—or was Jody the only one who felt the heat?

  Caroline had questions on cue cards from the ladies in the crowd. Seth answered them straight-faced, big arms folded across his powerful chest.

  The bidding commenced. A lot of women joined in, Adriana Welch leading the pack. She topped each competing bid.

  Seth stood mostly u
nmoving through the process, wearing his sternest, most sheriff-like expression, not friendly at all, yet somehow so...magnetic. He was like some giant tree that begged to be climbed. Every woman in that park seemed to feel the power of his uncompromising stare. Didn’t they?

  Jody certainly did.

  And he kept looking at her, glances that burned right through her. She knew what he was doing. That man was willing her to save him from Adriana and the rest of them. But Jody stood firm. It wasn’t her job to rescue him, and it wasn’t going to kill him to spend an evening out with someone like Adriana, someone pretty and fun.

  Or so she kept telling herself every time she almost let her hand shoot up to join in the bidding war.

  And not because he willed her to, either. Not to save his fine butt from the women who adored him.

  Uh-uh. Not to help him out.

  But because she wanted to—wanted to place the winning bid and get all those other girls to back the hell off. Wanted to stake her claim and make sure everyone knew that he belonged to her.

  Which he did not. Not in any way.

  What was the matter with her? This could be a problem and she knew it. She never should have let him talk her into coming to the park today. She should have stayed home, not let herself get involved in any way.

  Jody held her arms down tight to her sides and set her mind firmly on not raising a hand, no matter what. All she had to do was last until the auctioneer banged his gavel on the podium and shouted, Sold!

  And then her mother leaned close. “Win that man,” Willow commanded. “Or I’ll do it for you.”

  Jody sent her mother her best arctic glare. “Ma. Don’t you dare.”

  Willow did dare.

  She lifted her shapely arm, snapped her perfectly manicured fingers to get the auctioneer’s attention and took the next bid.

  Chapter Seven

  Adriana countered Willow’s bid. Another woman countered that.

  And Willow bid again.

  A lot of people knew Willow Mooney Bravo. They knew the story of Willow and Frank and Frank’s first wife, Sondra. To most longtime residents of Justice Creek, Willow was considered nothing short of a home-wrecking femme fatale.