A Convenient Texas Wedding. Sheri WhiteFeather

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СКАЧАТЬ “I’ll do it.”

      “You will?” He doubled-checked. “For sure?”

      “Yes.” She was going to take the plunge and become his newly minted bride, fulfilling her dream of living in the States, of working toward her independent future, of being her own woman. Starting now, she thought. Determined to show him that she wasn’t a pushover, she reiterated, “I meant what I said before. The no-sex clause still applies.”

      “I understand. But we’re still going to have to be affectionate with each other. We can’t behave like strangers out there.”

      “Don’t worry...” She paused, giving herself a moment to breathe a little deeper. “I’ll play my part to the best of my ability.” She would do what she had to do, short of tumbling into bed with him.

      He smiled a bit too sexily. “At least there’s no denying that we have chemistry.”

      In lieu of a response, she fought the warm, slippery feeling that came over her. But who wouldn’t be magnetically drawn to Rand? Forbidden as he was, she could only imagine what climbing under the covers with him would be like. Hot and thrilling nights, she surmised, where she could let her inner sex kitten out.

      Oh, sure. As if she actually had one of those. Even with as deeply as she’d fallen for Rich and his fake persona, she’d been a bit too restrained in his bed. She’d never thoroughly let loose with anyone, and this wasn’t the time to start. She was absolutely, positively not sleeping with Rand.

      “Allison?”

      She started at the sound of his voice. “Yes?”

      “We need to come up with a cover story about how we fell in love so quickly. But I have an idea about that.”

      “You do?” She cleared the erotic thoughts from her mind. “What is it?”

      He waited until a passerby was out of earshot before he replied, “I thought we could say that we’ve been seeing each other behind closed doors. That I approached you privately after Will’s funeral and we started to get to know each other then. With everything that’s been going on this past month, I’ve been trying to keep a low profile and stay out of the limelight, so it’s actually the perfect time for me to say that I’ve been in a secret relationship.”

      “That should work.” Clearly Rand had a gift for storytelling. So did Allison, of course. Fiction was her forte. “But for the people who know that Will is still alive and that Rich swindled me, we’ll have to tell a more detailed tale. We can still use the secret-dating ruse, but we’ll also have to say that you helped me overcome the pain of what he did to me. Only that I didn’t want to tell anyone that we were together for fear that they would judge me.”

      “That sounds believable to me. I can more or less say the same thing, but in reverse. I was worried that if people knew we got together so quickly, they might accuse me of taking advantage of you. But now that we’re bursting at the seams and eager to marry before you’re forced to leave the country, we can’t keep it a secret any longer.”

      She marveled at their savvy. “I’m impressed with how easily we came up with an explanation.” Within no time, they’d concocted a believable romantic backstory. “You want to hear something funny? When I was a teenager going to school dances and meeting local boys, I had daydreams about stealing away from Ireland and marrying an American man. I’ve been consumed with your country since I was a girl. I used to write poems to my fantasy husband, spilling my heart out to him.”

      He touched her hand, ever so lightly. “Maybe you can incorporate that into the green card interview. The more we reveal about ourselves, the more authenticity it will lend to our case.”

      Suddenly she was getting nervous again, overwhelmed that she’d actually agreed to marry him. “You don’t think it will make me sound foolish?”

      “No. Not at all. And I’m glad that you’re already sharing personal information about yourself with me. We’re both going to have to do a lot of that. We’ll need to know each other from the inside out before we meet with Immigration and tackle that interview.”

      She anxiously admitted, “The most challenging part for me will be lying to my family, calling and telling them that I met the man of my dreams. But the truth would be worse. They would never approve of a ploy like this.”

      “My brother is going to be my biggest obstacle. It’s going to take a miracle for him to believe I’ve given up my bachelor ways and am capable of being a loyal husband.”

      “I remember seeing him at Will’s funeral.” Although Rand and his brother didn’t look that much alike, they had the same mesmerizing mouth and sculpted jaw, coming from the same handsome genes. “His name is Trey, isn’t it?”

      “Yeah, that’s him. Aside from our maternal grandmother, he’s the only family I have left. Our mother died a long time ago.”

      “I’m sorry.” He seemed genuinely hurt that his ma was gone. She noticed the pain in his eyes. Had she misjudged him earlier when she suspected he’d been embellishing his confessions?

      “How many immediate family members do you have?” he asked.

      She concentrated on his question. “I’ve got my parents, one set of grandparents and a brother who owns a media company that’s headquartered in London. He divides his time between England and Ireland. Farming will always be in his blood. The Cartwrights have been in Kenmare for six generations.”

      “Is your father a traditional man?”

      “Yes, he is. Angus is his name, and he adores me like no other. He fusses over Ma, too. As much as I hate to say this, he’s going to be disappointed if you don’t call him and ask for my hand in marriage. But I would never expect you to actually do it.”

      “Maybe I should, if it’ll make things easier.”

      She nearly gaped at him. “Really, you’d appease my da?”

      He glanced at a giant oak towering nearby. “I’d rather appease him than have him think that you’re marrying a guy who doesn’t respect his values.”

      “That’s a good point.” She followed his line of sight to the tree, becoming aware of the tangled shoots creeping up its massive trunk. “He and Ma have specific ideas about marriage. They have opinions about everything. I love them dearly, of course, but sometimes they still treat me like a child. Ma is especially good at meddling.”

      “My family rarely sticks their nose in my business. My dad did, but I wouldn’t call what he did meddling. With him, it was more like bullying.”

      She felt badly for what he’d endured. Her parents wouldn’t dream of bullying her. Everything they did was out of tenderness and care.

      “Does your father Skype?” he asked. “Maybe I can video chat with him to ask for his blessing to marry you.”

      “Yes, he uses Skype. Ma does, too. So she will probably nose in on your talk with him and want to meet you, too. But before you contact them, I’ll have to call them and pave the way. They’re going to be stunned by my hasty marriage plans.”

      “We’re going to shock everyone.” He paused, seeming reflective for a moment. “Do you still have the poems you wrote to СКАЧАТЬ