Hot Holiday Rancher

Everyone in Royal had been blown away at the news when Angela and Ryder had gotten engaged. A Perry and a Currin? Unimaginable. Then they had broken things off, and now were apparently a couple again.

Jesse shook his head. He wanted something more stable in his life. “You and she are close?”

She hesitated for a telling moment. “Angela and Melinda are twins. Then I have a brother, Roarke. We all love one another.”

He’d heard the gossip that Roarke was rumored to be Ryder Currin’s biological son, rumors so strong they’d taken a DNA test. A test that proved Roarke truly was a Perry. Still, the whole ordeal must have put a strain on their family. “That’s not the same as being close.”

“The twins are close, and our brother has always gone his own way. He’s happy, though, working at Perry Holdings in Houston in a newly formed ethics department. He still does part-time work offering legal, too.”

“He sounds like quite the crusading attorney for the underdog. I imagine you’re proud of him.”

“I am. It wasn’t easy for him to find his own path. He and Dad butt heads because our father expected Roarke to go into the family business. But that’s enough of our family drama.” She shrugged, her hair rippling over her shoulder in a blond waterfall. “So you have siblings?”

Her eyes flickered to the photograph tucked on the marble countertop.

Esme was observant. He’d give her that.

“I have a sister. She’s all the family I have left, actually. I thought I was going to lose her not too long ago. Her appendix ruptured and she had to have emergency surgery.”

Hospital runs and the smell of antiseptic filled his memory. The bargaining and praying for his sister’s life he’d done were still a visceral memory in his stomach.

“I’m so sorry. Is she all right now?”

“She is.” He looked at the mug in Esme’s hand, thankful for his sister’s recovery.

“Thank goodness. Still, that had to have been a scary time for you.”

“It was.”

Rain continued to fall outside, filling the pause with controlled chaos.

She looked into her mug, swirling the hot chocolate around without meeting his gaze. “Actually, you weren’t wrong. My sisters have a special bond. My brother, well, his earlier move to Dallas wasn’t all that surprising. Now that he’s back, that seems to be changing some. Regardless, I’m still stuck somewhere in the middle. But that’s all right. Not everyone has the same relationship.”

“You don’t sound like it’s okay.”

She raised an eyebrow in surprise, then took another sip of the hot chocolate as she leaned on the granite countertop. She spread her fingers out wide as if soaking in the cool texture. “About those three someones… I’m dying to know more.”

“Dates.”

Her eyes went wide, and she inched back. “All three? At the same time?”

“Whoa. It’s not what you’re thinking.” He held up his hands defensively, chuckling. “I signed up for a dating service, a matchmaker. She’s lined up a trio of candidates. They were each supposed to come out here individually to meet with me, to see my ranching lifestyle and decide if it’s off-putting. It’s not for everyone.”

Her gaze flickering away at the mention of ranching not being for all, she wriggled her toes in his overlarge socks. “A matchmaker. Seriously?”

“Plenty of people sign up for online services. I opted for the matchmaker because of lack of time.” Absolutely the truth. And he found a certain sort of…practicality about having an expert match him with someone with similar interests. It saved time rather than meeting scores of women socially and trusting fate to somehow work out his future.

Her forehead furrowing in confusion, Esme leaned slightly forward. “Why do you want to have a girlfriend if you don’t even have time to look for one?”

Well, that was easy enough to answer. “I don’t want a girlfriend. I want a wife.”

Three (#u359c0538-a906-5383-9cbb-97439e1d4a79)

“A wife?” Esme repeated, certain she couldn’t have heard him correctly. Hot cocoa cradled in her hand, she studied him through narrowed eyes, but couldn’t read if he was serious or not. Which could have something to do with how she kept looking at his impossibly broad shoulders. “You’re punking me, aren’t you?”

“Not at all.” He set his coffee cup aside. “I’m looking for a wife.”

A flash of disappointment rippled through her. Silly really, since the last thing she wanted was a rancher. “A wife. Not simply a date. That’s just… Well, I’m surprised you’re already thinking that far down the road about someone you haven’t even met.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “Your shock is a little insulting.”

“But you’re a man.” Her eyes were drawn to his arms before she could stop herself. His muscular arms. Arms that had carried her so effortlessly.

“And that comment is decidedly sexist.” His green eyes flashed with heat.

She grabbed her mug quickly. She should probably hush before she alienated him altogether. “I apologize. I only meant it’s a leap from first date to the altar.”

“Apology accepted.” He reached for the refrigerator door, his flannel shirt pulling taut along his muscular chest. “Whipped cream?”

“What?” she asked, startled, her gaze shooting back up to his face.

“For your hot chocolate.” He held out a can, pointing in her direction.

Her mind traveled sexy pathways, imagining things they could do with that sweet treat.

“Uh, sure.” She reached for the can, spraying a swirl inside her mug, when she really wanted to fill her mouth with the stuff and quench at least one hunger. “Of course, there’s no reason in the world why you shouldn’t find love.”

“I didn’t say anything about love,” he said in the most logical of voices. “Just marriage.”

Again, he’d surprised her. This man wasn’t at all what she’d expected from reading about him online before her trip to Royal. “Marriage but no love?”

The thought of that chilled her with memories of her parents’ loveless marriage. Too many nights, her mother had cried herself to sleep over her husband’s staying late at the office yet again. Esme wanted more for herself than that and felt sorry for anyone willing to settle for less.

“Why not? I have my life in order—this house, the ranch.” He ticked off points one finger at a time. “The timing is right for the next step. A wife. Then kids.”

He’d laid out the events as matter-of-factly as he’d laid out the ingredients to make her hot chocolate. He’d described the process of creating a family as if he was listing the week’s upcoming groceries.

She raised an eyebrow. “Do these three mystery women know they’re expected to pop out children right away?”

Esme imagined what his dream woman was like. What she wanted. What would make her forsake the idea of love.

Not that Esme had had a lot of luck in that department. Still, she wasn’t giving up on finding love—when the time was right, with the man who was right.

She gulped down more hot cocoa and struggled not to wince as it burned her tongue.

“We all filled out extensive questionnaires. Our wishes for the future are in line.”

Well, now, that wasn’t subtle at all. “And I’m in the way.”