A Man To Marry

A Man To Marry
Carole Mortimer

Cat wasn't interested in a brief fling! She'd been hurt in the past by a two-timing fiancé who'd been using her to find out a lucrative secret. She felt she would never trust a man again – until she met her new neighbor, the dark, enigmatic Caleb Reynolds….The gorgeous bachelor was intriguing, his little son was adorable. Yet Cat couldn't help being suspicious of Caleb's motives. She longed to surrender to his passion, but that would also mean trusting him with her well-guarded secret….

“I am not on the market for some brief, meaningless relationship.”

Caleb returned her gaze. “Cat,” he murmured softly. “First, no matter what opinion you may have formed of me, I am not in the market for some brief, meaningless relationship, either! Secondly, I have a three-year-old son asleep upstairs, so if you think I can be seduced into bed later, forget it!”

Her mouth opened. And then closed. And then opened again. “I wasn’t going to ask!” Cat finally found her voice.

Caleb grinned at her outraged expression. “Seduction isn’t asking, Cat, it’s exactly what it sounds like—gentle persuasion!”

“Gentle persuasion” with this man would be like using a cap gun against a tank! “I’m not into ‘persuasion,’ either,” she told him sharply. “Gentle or otherwise!”

CAROLE MORTIMER says: “I was born in England, the youngest of three children—I have two older brothers. I started writing in 1978, and have now written one hundred books for Harlequin

.

“I have four sons, Matthew, Joshua, Timothy and Peter, and a bearded collie dog called Merlyn. I’m married to Peter senior. We’re best friends as well as lovers, which is probably the best recipe for a successful relationship. We live on the Isle of Man.”

A Man to Marry

Carole Mortimer

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

For Peter

CONTENTS

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

EPILOGUE

PROLOGUE

‘FOR goodness’ sake, Gemma, get out of bed, get dressed, and leave! She’ll be here any minute!’

‘She’ had already arrived…

Cat had stopped outside the door of the apartment, and knocked, only for that door to open slightly because it hadn’t been closed properly. Very remiss of Graham, Cat had thought as she’d quietly entered. But now she knew it wasn’t absent-mindedness that had caused the omission; it had been another impulse completely!

Cat didn’t move, couldn’t move, held motionless by the sound of Graham—the man she had believed loved her and wanted to marry her—asking some female—Gemma—to get out of his bed…!

‘I hope this creeping about won’t go on much longer, Graham,’ the woman, Gemma, told him in a bored voice. ‘Why don’t you just ask her what you want to know? And while you’re at it—’ there was a rustle of movement in the bedroom as Gemma obviously got out of bed ‘—ask her for my engagement ring back; the girls in the office are starting to ask questions about why I’m not wearing it any more!’

Cat looked down at the ring on her left hand, a diamond solitaire that Graham had given her when he’d asked her to marry him a week ago! A diamond solitaire, it transpired, that really belonged to—Gemma!

‘It won’t be for much longer, Gem,’ Graham assured his companion soothingly. ‘We’re supposed to be discussing wedding plans this evening—’

‘That’s something I would like to discuss too—our wedding plans,’ Gemma told him sharply.

‘As soon as I have this story in the bag,’ Graham promised eagerly. ‘I’ll be able to get thousands of pounds for it. I may even consider taking it abroad; the appeal is going to be international, after all!’

Story? What story? But did Cat really need to ask? There was only one story in her life that was worth all the trouble Graham had taken to get close to her: first a whirlwind courtship, then an engagement—albeit forged with Gemma’s ring!

Tears blurred Cat’s vision now. She had believed Graham when he told her he was a wealthy businessman, that he travelled a lot, which was why they couldn’t meet as often as she would have liked. She had believed him too when he’d told her he had fallen in love with her, that he wanted to marry her, that he wanted to settle down with her. They had even discussed having children together!

But now it turned out he was nothing but a liar and a cheat, just another reporter trying to get a story, one that would make him rich and famous—and ultimately destroy the life of the person he wanted to write that story about!

‘I still don’t see—’

‘You keep missing the point, Gemma, that’s why.’ Graham sounded impatient. ‘Wedding plans means meeting her family and friends. And once that happens I have my story!’

That was what he thought! Cat might have been duped, but now that she knew what Graham really wanted he was the one in for a nasty surprise. She slipped the diamond ring off her finger and placed it conspicuously on the coffee-table, so that he would realise exactly what had happened. And the reason why he wasn’t going to get his story, or make his fortune.

She left the apartment as quietly as she had entered it.

She didn’t look back.

She knew she never would.

But she would never trust a man again, either…