The Pregnant Colton Bride
In the latest electrifying tale from USA Today bestselling author Marie Ferrarella, a pregnancy scandal rocks the Colton clan!Mirabella Freeman, secretary to security expert Zane Colton, thought being pregnant and alone were her biggest problems…That is, until police discover a bank account in her name, complete with mysterious payments supposedly by Zane's missing stepfather! Now, not only is Mirabella a suspect in Eldridge Colton's disappearance, but she's bombarded by rumors about the identity of her child's father. So when her gorgeous Colton cowboy boss proposes a marriage of convenience to save face–and her reputation–Mirabella is stunned, yet ready to say “I do!”. As the pregnant bride and her rancher husband fall in love, their hearts won’t be all that’s in danger…
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âYou could marry me.â
Mirabellaâs mouth dropped open. She stared at Zane in absolute stunned silence. And then she shook her head, certain she had misheard him.
âI am really getting delusional,â she half laughed. âFor a second, I thought I heard you say I could marry you.â
Zane moved in a little closer. Now that heâd said it out loud, it just seemed like it was the right solution. He didnât know why it had taken him this long to come up with it.
âYou did. I did. You can.â
She could only continue to stare at him in utter disbelief. âYouâre serious,â she cried.
He didnât see the problem. Why was she having so much trouble accepting this? Had he been wrong about the attraction he thought was between them? âWhy wouldnât I be?â
âWell, for one thing,â she began to enumerate, âitâs insane. For another, you donât love me.â
Too late, Mirabella realized she hadnât phrased that properly. What she should have said was that they didnât love each other. But she had isolated it to just him who didnât love in this case. Had he picked up on the fact that sheâd slipped, inadvertently letting him know how she felt about him?
* * *
We hope you enjoy this dramatic series:
The Coltons of Texas: Finding love and buried family secrets in the Lone Star Stateâ¦
USA TODAY bestselling and RITA>® Award-winning author MARIE FERRARELLA has written more than two-hundred-and-fifty books for Mills & Boon, some under the name Marie Nicole. Her romances are beloved by fans worldwide. Visit her website, www.marieferrarella.com.
To Daddy,
Who introduced me to All those Western series on TV And Sparked my love of the Old West. I miss you.
Contents
He refused to believe it was true.
Eldridge Colton, the man who had adopted him, the only man he had ever really known as a father, had been kidnapped a month ago, and everyone now believed that the wealthy head of Colton Incorporated was dead.
But Zane Colton didnât. He refused to.
This, despite the fact that thereâd been no ransom note, no mysterious caller, his or her voice effectively disguised thanks to modern technology to sound like some criminal in the witness protection program testifying in closed court. No one had even attempted to bargain, demanding a kingâs ransom in exchange for the wealthy, well-known Texas citizenâs safe return.
Zane held fast to the fact that up until now there had been no body found. And even though there were a dozen explanations for that, until a body was discovered, he was going to continue believing that his stepfather was still alive.
Not just believing it, but actively doing something to find out what had happened to the man and where Eldridge had been all this time since the morning that Moira, the family housekeeper of long standing, had been dispatched to the patriarchâs room because his wife, Whitney, had wanted him by her side as she attended another society breakfast.
Zane could still hear Moiraâs scream ringing in his ears. Moreover, he could hear his mother as sheâd first railed indignantly at the housekeeper for making a scene, then dramatically dissolved into histrionics when Whitney had seen the blood on the bedroom floor and the windowsill. It was at that moment she had realized that her husband of almost thirty years was not just missing, but could quite possibly be dead.
Well, his mother might believe that, but Zane didnât. Oh, his stepfather was definitely missingâand had been for the past month, despite the presumably best efforts of Sheriff Troy Watkins and his two deputies. And since the blood in the bedroom had been tested and had turned out to be his stepfatherâs, he knew that Eldridge Colton was definitely hurt.
But dead? No, the man wasnât dead. Seventy-five-year-old, short, skinny Eldridge Colton was one tough SOB; he always had been. He couldnât be killed. Zane was certain that his gut would have told him otherwise if his stepfather was no longer among the living. The way he saw it, Eldridge had to be alive because he, Zane, hadnât really reached his own goal yetâto live up to what he felt were his stepfatherâs expectations of him.
Eldridge had married his mother when she was a widow with two very young children. At the time, Eldridge was a widower with two children of his own, Fowler and Alanna. The man hadnât had to adopt him and his sister, Marceline. He could have just as easily ignored them.
But he hadnât.
Instead, Eldridge had incorporated them into his life and, when the time had come, into his businessâor at least heâd tried when it came to Marceline. But Marceline harbored her own ill will against Eldridge and refused to have him do anything for her that would place her into further debt to the man.
