The Maverick's Marriage Pact
Auteur
Stella Bagwell
Lezers
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Hoofdstukken
12
Chapter One
Maddox John needed to find himself a wife! And fast!
Although he didn’t necessarily think he’d find the solution to his problem by staring at the squatty tumbler sitting on the bar in front of him, a few sips of the whiskey and soda might help him get more comfortable with the idea that was beginning to hatch in his brain.
Up until a few hours ago, the idea of him getting married for any reason was laughable. In fact, Maddox had laughed until his sides ached when his brother Jameson had told him about their father’s edict: whichever one of his four children was the first to marry, in a style befitting the Johns’ social standing, would inherit the greatest share of the Double J Ranch.
The whole notion was ludicrous, Maddox thought as a sip of the smooth whiskey slid down his throat. Having a lavish wedding to impress his friends and acquaintances around Bronco, Montana, was hardly a good reason for his father to change his will and decree that upon his death, the largest hunk of the family ranch would go to the first child to fulfill his wish. But Randall and Mimi John had always believed it was important to show everyone they were just as wealthy as any of the well-to-do families in and around Bronco. Particularly the Abernathys and the Taylors, two of the richest ranching families in the area.
Looking at the situation from a logical standpoint, most would say Randall could make the generous promise to his children simply to get what he wanted, then later renege on changing his will. But Maddox knew his father well. Randall never backed out of a deal. Once he made a promise, it was etched in stone.
Still, none of this would be happening if his brother Jameson and his fiancée would only agree to have the elaborate wedding ceremony his parents wanted. But they stubbornly refused, and the more Maddox thought about the whole issue, the more confident he felt about turning the regrettable situation into something profitable for himself.
Logically, though, Jameson had the best chance of fulfilling their parents’ wishes. After all, he and Vanessa Cruise had been engaged for nearly ten months now. But Maddox couldn’t completely rule out his other two siblings. Dawson, their younger brother at twenty-eight, was popular with the ladies, but he displayed no interest in settling down. Charity, the baby of the John family, was twenty and beautiful. She’d already drawn a long line of suitors and presently had a steady boyfriend rich enough to gain their parents’ approval. But Maddox wasn’t sure his sister or her boyfriend, Nick, were ready to tie the knot just to inherit a big hunk of the Double J.
So that left Maddox to give Jameson a run for his money—or, in this case, a run for the bulk of the ranch. But was he prepared to give up his freedom? And even if he was willing, where would he find a woman who’d agree to become Mrs. Maddox John?
At thirty, he’d already gone through a whole datebook of women. And though he’d enjoyed some sessions of red-hot passion with a few of those ladies, each relationship had quickly fizzled to nothing more than a pile of cool ashes. In fact, he couldn’t begin to fathom falling wildly in love. No, Maddox was a rambling man, and knowing this about him, most of his old flames would never actually consider him husband material. But that hardly meant he couldn’t find someone new in the Bronco social circle, he thought. A woman who’d be willing to marry him for all the wrong reasons.
Hell, she wouldn’t have to be in love with him, he thought. She’d only have to pretend to be.
“Ready for another round? Looks like you could use it this evening.”
Maddox looked up to see Rusty, the bartender at DJ’s Deluxe. The middle-aged man with a shock of wavy red hair was usually a man of few words who kept his opinions safely to himself. Apparently, in Rusty’s eyes, Maddox looked like a man with a troubled mind.
A wry twist on his lips, Maddox asked, “What makes you think I could use another drink?”
“The crease between your brows. I’ve never seen you with one of those, Mr. John.”
Scowling, Maddox said, “Mr. John! Hell, Rusty, I’m Maddox to you. What’s with the mister?”
The bartender grinned. “Nothing. It was just a test to see if you were actually listening. You are.”
Maddox grunted. “You know, my parents would say that if a bartender knows you by your first name, you’re drinking too much.”
“Bah! I haven’t seen you in this place for more than a week. So what brought you here tonight? Meeting a pretty lady?”
DJ’s Deluxe was an upscale barbecue restaurant in Bronco Heights, the ritzy side of Bronco. It took a reservation to get a table for dinner, and Maddox had none. But he hadn’t come in for barbecue—he’d come in for a drink and to contemplate his next step.
He’d never thought it fair that Jameson would eventually inherit the largest share of the ranch just because he was the eldest of the John siblings. Heck, Maddox worked just as hard as his brother to make the Double J go. In his mind, he deserved equal rewards. But could he tolerate a wife to get his fair share? That was the most important question.
“No date for me tonight,” Maddox answered Rusty’s question. “I only drove into town for a drink and to get away from the ranch for a while.”
Rusty nodded, then, spotting a customer taking a seat on a stool at the far end of the bar, he said, “Excuse me, Maddox. Duty calls.”
The bartender moved away, and Maddox picked up his drink and thoughtfully rolled the cold glass between his palms.
Meeting a pretty lady. His wife wouldn’t necessarily have to be a raving beauty, but Randall and Mimi would expect their daughter-in-law to be presentable and have a respectable reputation. And Maddox? Well, when it came to women, he wasn’t fussy. To him, they were all pretty and presentable. As for their reputations, who was he to judge?
The cowboy sitting at the end of the bar was one hot dude. As soon as Adeline Longsworth sat down on the bar stool and ordered a martini, she’d noticed him.
How could a woman not notice a man like him? Even with his knees bent and the heels of his expensive cowboy boots hung over the foot rail of the bar stool, she could tell he was a tall, long-legged guy. A denim Western shirt stretched snugly across his broad chest and shoulders, while a black Stetson rested low on his forehead.
Beneath his hat, she could see his hair was a color caught somewhere between yellow corn silk and caramel brown. She could also see that his face boasted a strong, square jaw, a proud chin and a set of chiseled lips, while the hollows beneath his sharp cheekbones matched the lean lines of his body.
Occasionally she met her friend Trudy here at DJ’s Deluxe for drinks and dinner. But she was certain she’d never seen this man during one of those visits. He was the sort a woman didn’t forget.
The bartender served her drink, and as she took a tiny sip of the cold cocktail, she told herself it was a waste to take a second look at the man. For one thing, he probably had a wife and children at home. And secondly, even if he was single, her parents, Louis and Naomi, would never approve of her dating a cowboy. Which was the epitome of snobbery. The Lazy L, her parents’ massive ranch, wouldn’t be much without a crew of cowboys to handle the livestock and care for the land.
But Adeline didn’t want to think about her parents tonight. Especially the hand they’d had in pushing Spence out of her life. She didn’t have concrete evidence to prove it, but she’d be willing to throw down a huge bet that Louis had put some sort of pressure on her boyfriend to make sure he disappeared from his daughter’s life.
“Mind if I join you?”
The deep male voice jerked Adeline out of her miserable thoughts, and she turned her head to see the sexy cowboy throwing a leg over the stool next to hers.
Surprised but doing her best to hide it, she gave him a cool little smile. “Not at all. I thought you looked a little lonely down there.”
One corner of his hard lips curved upward. “You noticed?”
Darn it, now why had she let that slip out? No doubt he was thinking she’d been sitting here eyeing him.
“Well, it was obvious that no one else was sitting near you,” she answered.
A full-blown smile spread across his face, and her gaze was drawn to the faint dimples creasing his cheeks and the laugh lines fanning out from the corners of his eyes.
“I couldn’t help but notice that no one else was sitting next to you, either,” he said.
Oh my. From a distance she’d thought he looked sexy, but now that the space between them had been narrowed down to a few inches, she was finding it hard to breathe, much less stop herself from staring.
His eyes were blue. Not the icy color, but like a blue flame burning everything within its reach. And at this very moment, Adeline was definitely feeling the heat.
Her fingers unconsciously tightened around the stem of her glass. “I’m—uh—waiting for a friend. We have dinner reservations.”
“I see. So you’re relaxing with a drink before he arrives.”
“She. My friend is an old schoolmate.”
Was that a glint she saw in his eyes? Or was she seeing a reflection of the candle flickering on a shelf behind the bar? Either way, the warm light was totally disarming.
“That’s nice,” he said.
Ice cubes clinked as he gently swished the amber-colored liquid in his glass. At the same time, his gaze was making a lazy survey of her face, and Adeline was suddenly imagining the feel of his fingertips following the same track his eyes had taken over her cheeks and lips.
The illicit thoughts prompted her to take a long swig of her drink and hope the mixture of gin and vermouth would dull her out-of-control senses.
“By the way, I’m Maddox John,” he introduced himself. “My family owns the Double J north of town.”
John! She turned wide eyes on him. “Oh. I recognize the name.”
A frown tugged his brows together. “We’ve met before?”
“I don’t believe so. But I recall my father having a feud with the John patriarch over a government contract. It happened a few years ago.”
He hardly appeared put off by the fact that their fathers had once been on the outs with each other. He actually looked more amused than anything.
“And who is your father?” he asked.
“Louis Longsworth. He owns the Lazy L Ranch. I’m Adeline, his eldest daughter.”
He extended his hand to her. “Nice to meet you, Adeline.”
“My pleasure, Maddox.” She placed her hand in his and was instantly rattled by the warmth of his strong fingers.
“To tell you the truth,” he said, “my father has been in more feuds than I’d like to admit or can possibly remember. Whatever the fuss between our parents, I’m glad you’re not holding it against me.”
His fingers tightened slightly around hers as he spoke the last few words, and Adeline wondered if he was flirting with her or if the subtle response had merely been a reflex.
She said, “I think it involved government grazing land and actually, my father won the grant, so I’m pleased that you’re not harboring ill feelings toward us Longsworths.”
“Not at all,” he said. “Besides, I have the feeling that you’re in the same boat as me and my siblings. We can’t control or even condone some of the things our fathers do.”
She gently extricated her hand from his and purposely picked up her drink. Maybe the coolness of the glass would erase the warmth lingering in her fingers.
“Unfortunately, you are so right,” she said tightly.
He looked at her. “You sound angry.”
“That’s because I am. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been very upset with my parents for—” She broke off suddenly as it dawned on her that she was about to spill a private part of her life to this man. But what the heck if she did tell him about Spence? She doubted she’d ever see Maddox John again. “I’m twenty-five years old, but they still want to control me and butt into my personal life.”
His lips took on a wry slant. “Causing trouble, huh? Parents have a way of doing that.”
She lifted the green olive from her drink and popped it into her mouth. “Spence and I were getting on great. We liked a lot of the same things and never ran out of things to talk about. We enjoyed each other’s company and were very compatible. But he just wasn’t good enough for the daughter of a Longsworth. I don’t know exactly what my parents did or said to chase him away, but I’m positive they’re the reason he suddenly called it quits with me.”
“That’s not good.”
“You darn well know it’s not good!” she muttered.
For a moment she thought he was going to smile, but he must have decided she might be offended, because the tiny tug at the corners of his mouth quickly disappeared.
“Have you tried talking with your boyfriend about the problem?”
Shaking her head, she finished the last of her drink and placed the glass on the bar. “When I said my parents must have chased him away, I meant it literally. Spence didn’t just end our relationship, he moved to California.”
“Oh. Sounds like it’s really over.”
Adeline’s gaze dropped to her lap. She hoped Maddox John couldn’t see the humiliation and pain she’d been dealing with these past couple of weeks. Throughout the whole experience, she’d been telling herself it was probably for the best that Spence was out of her life. A man who couldn’t stand up to her father would hardly make a strong, dependable husband. Not that she’d been that serious about the guy. But she had enjoyed dating him. Now she felt awful because her parents had bullied him completely out of the state.
“Yes,” she grimly replied. “It’s over. Kaput.”
The bartender appeared from nowhere to collect her empty glass.
“Would you like another, miss?” he asked.
“Bring her another of the same,” Maddox told him. “My treat.”
Adeline started to protest. “Thanks, but I’d better not. I—”
“Nonsense,” he interrupted. “Your friend hasn’t arrived yet. You need something to do while you wait.”
There was something she needed to do, all right, Adeline told herself. She needed to get up and walk away from this cowboy who reminded her of a cool alley cat. Rough, tough and full of cocky confidence, he was definitely dangerous. But really, how much trouble could she get into by merely sitting on the bar stool next to him?
“Okay,” she said with a nod to the bartender. “You talked me into it.”
Maddox smiled, and as he twisted his stool slightly toward hers, Adeline caught the faint scent of prairie grass and something else that was utterly male. Just like the rest of him.
“So do you come here to DJ’s Deluxe often?” he asked.
She crossed her legs and adjusted the cuff of her white blouse and wondered why he was putting her nerves on edge. She wasn’t a schoolgirl. She’d dated a number of men. Some of whom had been very attractive. So why was this one playing havoc with her senses?
“Not often. And especially not on a weeknight. I have to be at work by nine, and my commute takes at least twenty minutes. More in the winter when the roads are snowy.”
“What do you do?”
She took plenty of unwarranted criticism and daydreamed about having a business of her own, she wanted to say. Instead, she said, “I work as a travel agent for a sporting goods company—Peak Experience Sports, to be exact. I book all the travel for the executives and higher-ups.”
He looked at her with interest. “Peak Experience Sports is a huge company. Obviously the execs travel enough to keep you busy.”
“I rarely have a spare moment,” she confessed. “There’s always some sort of convention or trade show or out-of-state business meeting going on. And, of course, all that work deserves plenty of vacations. I book hotel stays on tropical beaches or snowy ski resorts and wonder if I’ll ever get a chance to have my own relaxation.”
The bartender arrived with the fresh martini, and she promised herself she wouldn’t drink more than half of it. Otherwise, she’d be saying anything and everything to this man.
“I can’t remember the last time I’ve really gotten away from the ranch,” he said. “There’s always so much to do. And Dad—well, let’s just say I know how you feel about your parents interfering in your private life.”
Surprised, she looked at him. “Don’t tell me you have the same problem. My father only has daughters, so it’s second nature for him to try to boss us around. But it’s hard for me to imagine your father trying to control his grown sons.”
“Yeah, thirty is definitely grown-up. But Dad wouldn’t let a little thing like age stop him from handing out rules and orders. In fact, he came up with a humdinger today.”
More interested than she had a right to be, Adeline reached for her drink. “Surely he didn’t order you to stop seeing a woman or chase her away with a threat,” she said, her voice loaded with sarcasm.
“No. If you ask me, it’s something worse. He’s using his children as pawns to get what he and Mom want.”
She grimaced. “Sounds like our fathers drank from the same watering hole.”
He chuckled, and she smiled.
“You might be right,” he joked. “Or could be when they had the feud over the land grant, their domineering ways rubbed off on each other.”
She sipped the cocktail and wondered if it was him or the alcohol causing the strange vibration somewhere in her head.
“You mentioned that your father is using his children,” she said. “Exactly what is he trying to do?”
He snorted. “Impress all his friends and acquaintances. Prove to them and the whole Bronco community that he has as much money and high social standing as anyone in the area.”
“And how does he plan to accomplish this through his kids?”
He rolled his eyes. “Give one of them the most dazzling wedding that money can buy.”
She laughed. “And that’s a problem? Sounds wonderfully generous to me.”
“Well, yes, to some couples it would be. But my brother Jameson and his fiancée, Vanessa, want a small, intimate ceremony. Lavish is not my brother’s style, and Vanessa is far from the showy sort. They refuse to go along with Mom and Dad’s wishes for an over-the-top wedding.”
“Well, if small and intimate is what your brother and his fiancée want, then that’s what they should have. After all, it’s their wedding. But as for me, I’m just the opposite. When I get married, I want the most ostentatious wedding I can possibly have. You know, a fabulous bridal gown, huge wedding party, top-shelf liquor, ice sculptures, a sea of flowers and a live band to play at the reception—where the dancing would go on for hours. A woman gets married only once in her life—hopefully. She deserves to feel like a princess on that day.”
A sinful little grin suddenly twisted his lips. “I don’t know if I could manage to make you feel like a princess for a day, but I could treat you like royalty for one night,” he said in a lowered voice.
Before Adeline could stop herself, she was laughing in his face. “Sorry if I choke on the cheese. Does that line usually work for you?”
He chuckled, and she had to smile. It was nice to run into a man with a sense of humor, she thought. One who didn’t take himself so seriously.
“I don’t know,” he confessed. “I’ve never used it before.”
“Good thing. Just between the two of us, you need to come up with something else.”
She turned her attention back to her drink, and as she took a tiny sip, she could feel him studying her face.
Now what could he possibly be thinking—and what in the world was keeping Trudy? She desperately needed her friend to show up and give Adeline the excuse to leave the bar. She was getting too friendly with Maddox John. Especially when she could tell just by looking at the guy that he was the love ’em and leave ’em sort.
“Adeline, what would you say if I told you I could get you the wedding of your dreams?”
The question was so far-fetched she started laughing again. But as she noticed the look on his face was serious, her laughter faded to a smile.
“Okay,” she had to ask. “What’s the catch?”
“Well, the first stipulation is that you’d have to get married soon. Very soon. And the second—you’d have to marry me.”
This time her laughter was practically hysterical, and as she tried to smother it behind her hand, she glanced around to see if anyone was noticing the exchange between her and Maddox. Currently, there was only one other person sitting at the bar, an older gentleman who was absorbed in the basketball game playing on the flat-screen TV on the wall behind the bar. Several diners were enjoying their meals, but they were too far away to pick up on their conversation. And though the bartender could probably hear them, he appeared to be ignoring them.
Lowering her voice, she said, “I’ve never heard of anything so crazy! Why would I agree to something as fantastic as marrying you? We only met a few minutes ago.”
“I noticed.” He shrugged, then lifted his hat from his head and ran a hand through thick waves of dark blond hair. “And now that we’ve talked a bit, I have a feeling you’d be the perfect wife for me.”
This was turning out to be the strangest encounter she’d ever had with a man, Adeline thought, and it was getting weirder by the moment. “I suppose I should be flattered,” she told him. “But honestly, I’m thinking I should have the bartender call for medical help. You’re clearly in need of it.”
This woman was hardly a pushover, Maddox thought as he levered his hat back onto his head. And to make her even more perfect, she was incredibly beautiful.
Slender to the point of appearing fragile, she made the crisp white blouse and black pinstriped slacks she was wearing look as though she’d just stepped off a Paris runway. Her dark brown hair was long and hung straight against her back, while her eyes were a warm brown that glowed against her pale complexion. He wanted to say her eyes were the most dazzling feature of her face, but he had to admit her full, bow-shaped lips were close to tying for that honor.
“Don’t worry,” he joked. “I get over these spells.”
“You mean you don’t normally go around proposing marriage to women you hardly know?”
He chuckled. “You happen to be the first. And if you’ll listen to my cause, I think you might be interested in tying the knot with me.”
“Oh, sure. I’ve always had the wish to marry a man on a whim. The traditional way of acquiring a husband is far too boring for me,” she said with a heavy dose of sarcasm. “You know, things like dating, getting to know your future spouse, falling in love. Totally unnecessary in my book.”
There wasn’t a single one of his old girlfriends who would’ve given him such a flippant reply, Maddox thought. And if she had, it would have rubbed him the wrong way. But with Adeline, he found the sassy attitude refreshing.
“Look, I understand this sounds outrageous. But when you hear the details, you might decide it’s a profitable opportunity.”
“You’re right about one thing—your proposition does sound crazy. This might sound corny to you, but my plan is to marry for love, not profit.”
He shook his head. “Love is fickle. In my opinion, you ought to be marrying for fun. Or to spite your father. Or to make a pile of money. You mentioned exotic vacations. Well, marrying me would enable you to enjoy plenty of those. Or set up your own financial security—away from your parents.”
“And what would I have to do to earn this money? Jump through burning hoops? Or stick my head in a lion’s mouth?”
“Nothing nearly so dangerous. In fact, you wouldn’t have to do anything that you felt was wrong or made you uncomfortable. Ours would be a marriage of convenience. Nothing more.”
Something indefinable flickered in her brown eyes before her long black lashes lowered and momentarily hid whatever she was thinking.
“Sorry. No way. Not interested.”
Her response disappointed him, but only for a moment. When Maddox decided he wanted something, he didn’t give up until he had it. And he wasn’t about to give up on Adeline Longsworth becoming the wife he desperately needed.
He jotted his cell number on the corner of a napkin, and after tearing it off, he handed her the piece of vital information.
“Well, keep this, will you? Just in case you change your mind,” he added with a provocative grin.
Just as she dropped it into her handbag and closed the latch, a woman’s voice said, “Adeline, are you—Oh, you didn’t tell me you were bringing a date tonight.”
Maddox looked beyond Adeline’s shoulder to see a petite young woman with wavy red hair standing a few steps away. From the look of surprise on her face, she must have already jumped to the conclusion that he was Adeline’s date.
“Hello, Trudy,” Adeline greeted, then darted a glance at him. “This is Maddox John. And we’re—Uh, it’s a bit complicated. Right?”
He flashed her a wide smile. “Yes, but not too complicated,” he answered.
She cast him an enigmatic smile, then slid off the bar stool and quickly grabbed hold of the redhead’s arm. “Come on, Trudy. Let’s see if our table is ready.”
Maddox watched Adeline walk away before he twisted the stool back to the bar and motioned for Rusty to refill his glass.
“Don’t tell me you struck out with Ms. Longsworth,” Rusty said with wry humor.
Surprised that the bartender knew Adeline’s name, Maddox looked at him. “You know her?”
Rusty splashed whiskey and soda into Maddox’s glass. “The only thing I know is that she’s from the ultrawealthy Longsworth family. She and a good-looking young guy used to come in here together. But I haven’t seen him around for a while.”
“No. And you won’t, either,” Maddox said matter-of-factly. “From now on, I’m the guy you’re going to see with Ms. Longsworth.”
The bartender arched an inquisitive brow at him. “Really? How are you going to manage that?”
Maddox grinned. “Simple. I’m going to marry her.”
