âSo you really need a wife, a hostess?â
She turned an inquiring face to him, unnerved by something in his expression. âWould you care to discuss it with me?â
âWhat would be the point?â she answered flippantly, but she shook inside. âI told you. Iâm off marriage as a topic of discussion. For a long time.â
âWhat a challenge!â The self-assurance in his black eyes brushed that claim aside. âDo you know how good you look?â He reached out and touched the back of her neck.
For Christy the cobalt blue sky tilted. She experienced a blind rush of sexualityâ¦.
âMargaret Way uses colorful characterization and
descriptive prowess to make love and the Australian Outback blossom brilliantly.â
âRomantic Times on The Carradine Brand
ââ¦climactic scenes, dramatic imagery
and bold characters, Margaret Way makes the Outback come aliveâ¦â
âRomantic Times on A Wife at Kimbara
A wedding dilemma:
What should a sexy, successful bachelor do if heâs too busy making millions to find a wife? Or if he finds the perfect woman, and just has to strike a bridal bargainâ¦
The perfect proposal:
The solution? For better, for worse, these grooms
have decided to sign, seal and deliver the ultimate marriage contractâ¦to secure a bride!
Will these paper marriages blossom into wedded bliss?
Look out for our next CONTRACT BRIDES novel
in Harlequin Romance>®:
Bride by Design (#3720)
by Leigh Michaels
Deakin-McKinnon Wedding
ReceptionâMcKinnon Riverside Mansion Brisbane, Queensland
âASHE, darling, who is that girl?â The blonde in the exquisite green dress?â Mercedes, his aunt by marriage and mother of the bride, dug him in the ribs, a worried frown on her brow.
âYou mean Ms. Botticelli?â His answer, even to his ears, was sardonic. âIâve been wondering the same thing.â In fact heâd begun to marvel at just the amount of attention he was giving that particular young woman and was amazed at the unprecedented thrust of sexual desire she aroused in him. Heâd grown cynical, really cynical, about a womanâs beauty and her ability to hold a man spellbound. Beautiful women in the style of this blonde reminded him of his runaway mother. The mother heâd hated and ached for since sheâd abandoned him and his father when he was ten years old.
âNo one on our side seems to know her,â Mercedes whispered with genuine concern, her fingers fidgeting with her extremely valuable string of 19 mm Australian South Sea pearls, the finest in the world. âThat is to say everyone Iâve asked. Oh for heavenâs sake why am I worried?â She gave a false little laugh. âItâs not as though she isnât beautiful and well behaved but I mean itâs fairly obvious our dear Josh seems to know her even if heâs not going anywhere near her. Would you mind awfully, darling, getting some idea of who exactly she is?â
The fact was heâd been about to make his move. For one thing âour dear Joshâ was the bridegroom. A possible ex-girlfriend didnât help. âNo problem, Mercedes.â He smiled down at her. âLeave it to me.â He was extremely fond of Mercedes, and his quiet little cousin, Callista, who looked as radiant as she could ever look on this day of days. Sad to say he hadnât taken to her new husband, Josh Deakin. In his most suspicious moments, which were frequent, he was a suspicious person, he thought Deakin the male equivalent of the proverbial gold-digger. At one time heâd very nearly said so, worried Deakin was only after Callistaâs money. The problem was Mercedes was very taken with him and Callista was clearly head over heels in love. She wouldnât have listened. Sheâd have dug in her heels. Although Callista dearly loved her mother, at twenty-nine she was anxious to escape the nest, get married and set up her own home. This was a fairytale wedding heâd been told. Who believed in fairytales? Certainly not him, though he had to admit Ms. Botticelli looked magical.
Mercedesâ rich contralto brought him out of his reverie. âEverything is going marvellously,â she said as though at any moment all could change. âThe last thing we need is for somethingâum-umââ She stared across the crowded room at the beautiful blonde, seeking the right word.
âDonât fret. I told you Iâd handle it,â he soothed, hoping to God it wasnât already all too late. But if Deakin imagined Mercedes and Callista didnât have someone looking out for them, heâd better think again.
âYouâre my great support, Ashe,â Mercedes told him fondly. âIâm afraid I lean on you for so much.â
âWeâre family, Mercedes,â he offered lightly when he didnât feel lightly about family at all. He was head of a clan even if his immediate family had gone. His mother with her lover. They lived mostly in New York. His father and his uncle Sholto, Mercedesâ late husband, had been killed in a light plane crash five years ago. An event that made some people say the family was cursed. Maybe it was. It had had its fair share of tragedies. So in his late twenties he had become head of the family, head of the McKinnon pastoral empire, executor of the Family Trust. He took his responsibilities very seriously.