Allâs Fair In Love And...Court?
RUST CREEK RAMBLINGS
Lindsay Dalton, daughter of our esteemed town attorney, is about to try her first case in the courtroom, and itâs a doozy. Itâs David versus Goliath as Lindsay tests her mettle against millionaire cowboy Walker Jones.
With his looks, charm and commanding presence, Walker Jones the Third seems like a man who just canât lose. However, his blue-eyed powers of persuasion apparently do not extend to our earnest Ms. Dalton. In fact, our sources suggest the novice Rust Creek Falls lawyer might just be throwing Walker Jones off his game. Could this be mere legal maneuvering? The jury is still out. But with two stubborn hearts in denial, we at the Gazette are predicting an epic romantic showdown!
âAre you just trying to butter me up before the trial starts?â
He grinned. âIs it working?â
âNope. Iâm not so easily swayed.â She feigned affront, but in the face of his smile, it was hard to hold the pose, and she ended up laughing instead.
He reached up, brushed a tendril of hair off her forehead and tucked the lock behind her ear. His touch lingered on her cheek, and she leaned into it. âToo bad.â
âWhy?â She could barely whisper the word. The desire simmering inside her was a living, breathing thing, overpowering every sane thought sheâd ever had, pushing her closer to him.
âBecause if you werenât Lindsay Dalton, lawyer, and I wasnât Walker Jones, owner of Just Us Kids, I thinkââ his gaze dropped to her lips, then back up to her eyes ââwe could have been something.â
âBut we are those things,â the sensible part of her said, even as the rest of her was telling that sensible side to shut up, âand we canât be something.â
âIn the morning, I would agree with you. But right nowââ his thumb traced over her bottom lip and made her breath catch ââwhy donât we just pretend none of that exists. Just for tonight. Just for now...â
* * *
Montana Mavericks:
The Baby BonanzaâMeet Rust Creek Fallsâ newest bundles of joy!
New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author SHIRLEY JUMP spends her days writing romance so she can avoid the towering stack of dirty dishes, eat copious amounts of chocolate and reward herself with trips to the mall. Visit her website at www.shirleyjump.com for author news and a booklist, and follow her at Facebook.com/shirleyjump.author for giveaways and deep discussions about important things like chocolate and shoes.
To the family I was born into and the family of friends I have found along the wayâthank you for always having my back and for the steady supply of belly-deep laughter and warm, sweet memories.
Chapter One
Walker Jonesâs mother would tell anyone who would listen that her oldest son came into this world ready to argue. He was a carbon copy of his father that way, sheâd say, another man ready to debate everything from the color of the sky to the temperature of the room.
So it was no surprise heâd grown up to fill his fatherâs shoes in the boardroom, too.
The elder, Walker Jones II, was a formidable opponent in any corporate environment, though his advanced age had warranted a decline in the number of hours he worked. Walker III had stepped in, doubling the company in size and reach. That desire to take over the world had led him to do the one thing he thought heâd never do againâjourney back to small-town America to defend the family business interests.
Walker had grown up in Oklahoma, but as far as he could tell, Rust Creek Falls and Kalispell, Montana, where the courthouse was located, were just copycats of the kind of tiny spit of a town that Walker tried to avoid. Lord knew what his brother Hudson saw in the place, because to Walker, it was just one more Norman Rockwell painting to escape as soon as humanly possible. Heâd spent as little time as possible here a few months earlier when heâd opened his first Just Us Kids Day Care center. Basically just enough time to unlock the door and hand Hudson the keys. The day care center was a tiny part of the much larger operation of Jones Holdings, Inc., a blip on the corporate radar.
Walker had no intention of staying any longer this time around, either. Just long enough to deal with a pesky lawsuit and a persistent lawyer named Lindsay Dalton. The attorney worked in her fatherâs office. Probably one of those kids handed a job regardless of their competency level, Walker scoffed. He figured heâd make quick work of the whole thing and get back to his corporate offices in Tulsa ASAP.
Walker strode into Judge Sheldon Andrewsâs courtroom on a Friday morning, figuring he could be out of town by sunset. The lawsuit was frivolous, the charges unfounded, and Walker had no doubt he could get it thrown out before the arguments got started.