London spun around to look at him.
She crossed her arms in front of her body protectively. âWhy do you think you want to marry me, Tyler? You donât even know me.â
Tyler stood up and walked over to where she was standing.
âI know you.â He took off his hat and placed it on the rectangular preacherâs podium. âIâve known you since the moment I saw you.â
He put his hands on her upper arms. âNo matter how hard you tried to hide from me, I always saw you.â
Staring into his eyes, it seemed to London that she could see directly into his soul. He was standing before her, unguarded, baring himself to her, and she could see the goodness in him. She could see beyond the dashing bachelor cowboy exterior to the true man he was inside. And he wanted her, pregnant or not.
* * *
The Brands of Montana: Wrangling their own happily-ever-afters
Chapter One
At the front door of Tyler Brandâs cabin, London Davenport paused to slip off her cowboy boots and tuck them under her arm. There werenât any lights on at the main house, just as there werenât any lights on in the cabin. It was summertime, and life on the Brand familyâs Montana cattle ranch typically started before sunrise; it appeared that she was the only one foolish enough to be sneaking around after midnight.
This is crazy.
That was the loudest thought in her mind when she reached for the doorknob and slowly opened the door. The large open living space of Tylerâs rustic log cabin was dimly lit by a night-light in the hallway that led to the small cluster of secondary bedrooms. Tylerâs room, the master bedroom, was on the other side of the cabin. And thatâs where she was heading.
As quietly as she could, she made her way to Tylerâs bedroom. Tylerâs sister was getting married, and the best man, Logan Wolf, a police officer from San Diego, was bunking in the cabin. The last thing she wanted was to get caught sneaking into Tylerâs bedroom like a horny teenage girl. When she reached her destination, she stood in the dark, debating whether or not to even try the door. If it was locked, she would be able to chicken out gracefully and no one would be the wiser. But she did try the door, and the door was unlocked.
Instead of turning around as she knew she should, London slipped into Tylerâs bedroom and shut the door behind her. She leaned back against the door, her hands behind her body and her fingers still on the cool doorknob. Tyler was sound asleep on his back, covers kicked off his body, pillows on the floor. His Stetson hung on one of the short bedposts at the foot of the queen-size bed.
âTyler...â She whispered his name from her spot at the door.
He didnât budge.
âTyler...â
When he still didnât budge, London moved away from the door, toward the bed, and promptly tripped over his boots.
âOw!â She had to drop her boots on the floor in order to catch herself on the edge of the bed. âDarn it!â
She had managed to stub her toe in the process. It wasnât how she had played this out in her mind, but her exclamation of pain had done the jobâhe was awake now. Tyler rolled out of bed as if he was under attack, grabbed something off the nightstand and switched on the light.
âJesus, London...â Tyler lowered the revolver he had aimed at her. âI couldâve shot you!â
London stopped rubbing her toe and stood upright. âWell, whyâd you leave your stupid boots in front of the door for me to trip over?â
âI didnât know you were coming, now did I?â
âYou invited me!â
âIâve invited you a hundred different times, in a hundred different ways, and youâve never taken me up on it before.â
He had a point. She was embarrassed about her klutzy tumble over his boots and she was taking it out on him. This wasnât the sexy scene she had imagined when she first decided to surprise him with a midnight rendezvous.
âWhy donât you put your gun away, cowboy?â She nodded toward the revolver aimed down at the ground. âItâs starting to feel more like a hostage crisis and less like a seduction.â
When he heard the word seduction, Tyler couldnât get the gun out of his hand fast enough. He set the gun back in the nightstand drawer and pulled on a pair of jeans. He felt at a disadvantage standing in front of London in his boxers. He zipped up the fly but didnât bother with the top button or a shirt. He didnât want to risk the chance of London changing her mind while he was stumbling around trying to pull himself together.