Fiance Wanted

Fiance Wanted
Ruth Jean Dale

Katy Andrews was going to a family reunion where she knew her life just wouldn't be worth living she didn't take a man. Trouble was, all the decent men she knoew were too old, too young or too married, which left her with only one option…Laid-back rancher Dylan Cole was the man Katy loved to hate. They rarely managed to be in the same room for long without arguing! Now they had to call a truce long enough to convince Katy's family that they were engaged.But then they began to enjoy their pretend relationship a little too much…

“But I can’t just kiss you.”

“Why not? It’s easy.” Dylan put his hands loosely on her shoulders.

Katy shivered. “B-because I’m not in the habit of kissing just anybody.”

“I’m not just anybody. I’m supposed to be your soon-to-be fiancé.”

“Nevertheless, I can’t put my heart into it without some emotional content.”

“Emotional what? Look, Katy, we’re just talking about a kiss here. A very simple kiss between…between friends….”

He drew her a tiny fraction closer.

“We’re not friends,” she managed to say. “We’re…we’re…”

He bent toward her. “What are we, Katy? Can’t wait to see what word you come up with.”

“We’re—” Doomed, she thought, lifting her hands to touch the wide shoulders while his hands drifted to her waist. “We’re going to put people’s suspicions to rest once and for all.”

Ruth Jean Dale lives in a Colorado pine forest within shouting distance of Pikes Peak. She is surrounded by two dogs, two cats, one husband and a passel of grown children and growing grandchildren. A former newspaper reporter and editor, she is living her dream: writing romance novels for Harlequin. As she says with typical understatement, “It doesn’t get any better than this! Everyone should be so lucky.”

Books by Ruth Jean Dale

HARLEQUIN ROMANCE®

3413—RUNAWAY WEDDING

3424—A SIMPLE TEXAS WEDDING

3441—RUNAWAY HONEYMOON

3465—BREAKFAST IN BED

3491—DASH TO THE ALTAR

3539—BACHELOR AVAILABLE!

3557—PARENTS WANTED!

Fiancé Wanted!

Ruth Jean Dale

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

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE (#ua657518f-619b-5f11-a31a-89f3bb3855d1)

CHAPTER TWO (#u4600fa69-fc42-5ca3-88a2-70e369909921)

CHAPTER THREE (#ud56dda71-0f36-58d1-90c4-09295360c343)

CHAPTER FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)

EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER ONE

BABY SHOWERS always depressed Katy Andrews.

So did wedding showers, April showers and, if she’d been able to think of any other kind of showers, they would no doubt depress her, too.

The fact was, at the advanced age of thirty, Katy had neither husband, child, nor prospects of obtaining either in the foreseeable future.

Which was the reason that sitting in the middle of pink and blue crepe-paper streamers in a corner of the Rawhide Café in Rawhide, Colorado, didn’t exactly leave her brimming with enthusiasm.

That is, until her best friend Laura Reynolds waddled into the café, let out a little shriek of surprise and was immediately obscured by a horde of hugging females.

Katy sighed. Laura’s baby was due in another month—late September. The glowing mother-to-be had left her job as lifestyles editor of the Rawhide Review newspaper six weeks ago to await the birth of this, her second child. Katy, city reporter for the Review, thought the place hadn’t been the same without her best friend.

But she had to admit that married life agreed with Laura, who had never looked lovelier. Even minus her customary grace, she was a joy to behold as she waddled up to Katy with a big smile on her face.

Katy’s answering smile was completely sincere. She might be envious of her friend’s happiness, but she wouldn’t be mean-spirited about it. “Long time, no see,” she said.

“Too long.” Laura eased herself into a chair across the table. “There just seems so much to do to get ready for the baby.”

“But you’ve got such good help,” Katy teased.

“Oh, yes,” Laura agreed airily. “Just what I need—a ten-year-old girl and a seven-year-old boy ‘helping.’ This poor little baby will be lucky to have a bed when it arrives, with all that help.”

Katy figured that “poor little baby” would be just about the luckiest baby around. It would arrive to find a loving blended family waiting, complete with father Matt, mother Laura, sister Jessica and brother Zach. The importance of a bed paled by comparison.