Mr Right?

Mr Right?
Stella Bagwell

A good-looking playboy or a serious MD? When beautiful heiress Mia Smith arrives at Thunder Canyon Resort, everyone notices – including Marshall Cates. Handsome and successful, Marshall is one of the area’s most notorious ladies’ men. But when he sees Mia, he has a new mission: finding the way to melt her heart. There’s more to mysterious Mia than meets the eye, including a secret she can’t forget.But even that can’t keep her and Marshall apart – you don’t need a degree to see the desire that’s afflicting both of them! The cure is in their hands…MONTANA Big dreams and big hearts in the Big Sky Country.

“The Golden Nugget is a permanent fixture here. I’m not.”

At Mia’s words, Marshall’s spoon paused in mid-air as he frowned. “You’re not leaving soon, are you?”

His finger slid beneath her chin and lifted her face up to his. The serious look she saw on his handsomely carved features sent her heart into a heavy rapid thud.

“We’re just getting to know each other, Mia. I’d really like you to stay longer.”

His voice tugged at her every feminine particle. “I – uh – I’ll think about it.”

Suddenly his head was bending towards hers, and the whisper that passed his lips skittered down her spine.

“Maybe you should think about this.”

Longing held her motionless as his lips descended onto hers…

To my family –

the real golden nuggets in my life

STELLA BAGWELL

sold her first novel in November 1985. She still loves her job and says she isn’t completely content unless she’s writing. She and her husband live in Seadrift, Texas, a sleepy little fishing town located on the coastal bend, where the water, the tropical climate and the seabirds make it a lovely place to let her imagination soar and to put the stories in her head down on paper.

She and her husband have one son, Jason, who lives and teaches maths in nearby Port Lavaca.

Dear Reader,

I was thrilled when asked to do a MONTANA book, and when I learned the theme – striking it rich – I knew it was a subject that would touch everyone. After all, haven’t we all wondered what it would be like to win the lottery or fall into sudden fortune? Ahh, the things we could do with all that money. Shopping till we dropped. Travelling around the world. Indulging ourselves with anything and everything we’ve ever wanted. Sounds good, huh? Sounds like all our problems would be solved. Or so my heroine thinks.

After scratching her way through years of poverty, Mia believes money is all she needs to fix the troubles in her life. But when a fortune suddenly befalls her, she slowly and painfully begins to see that being rich in money is not nearly as great as being rich in love.

I hope you enjoy reading how Mia finds the real treasures in her life!

God bless you with life’s true riches,

Stella Bagwell

Mr Right?

STELLA BAGWELL

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

Chapter One

Was this his lucky day or what?

Using the back of his arm, Marshall Cates wiped the sweat streaming into his eyes and peered a second time at the woman sitting on a boulder some twenty feet below. From his precarious position on the rock ledge, the only view he had was of a portion of her back, the long fall of her raven-black hair and her nipped-in waist; but those tempting glimpses were enough to tell him it was the heiress.

For the past three weeks every male employee at Thunder Canyon Resort had been talking and fantasizing about the mystery guest. So far Marshall had only gazed at her from afar and wondered what a beautiful young woman with money to burn was doing here alone in Thunder Canyon. True, the small western Montana town was growing in leaps and bounds and Thunder Canyon Resort, where he worked as staff doctor, was garnering a reputation for fine hospitality surrounded by scenic splendor. The clientele was becoming ritzy, flying in from all corners of the nation. Still, Marshall couldn’t help but figure a woman with her apparent class would rather be vacationing on the French Riviera than in the middle of a cowman’s paradise. The fact that she appeared to be here without an escort intrigued him even more.

This morning, Marshall had risen early, wondering what to do with his off-duty time. With his brothers and his buddies all tied up with other interests, he’d eventually decided to do something he loved, climbing, and had headed up one of the mountains near the resort. When he’d set out on this trek, he’d never dreamed that the chance to meet Ms. Heiress would present itself on the edge of a rocky bluff. Since he’d only ever spotted her lounging around the lodge, he hadn’t figured her for a nature girl.

Quickly, he rappelled the last few feet of the layered rock until his boots hit solid ground. Once there, he gathered up his climbing equipment and left his ropes, rings and anchors in a neat pile with his backpack.

As Marshall walked over to the woman he noticed she was sitting near an opening in the trees, looking out toward the endless valley that swept away from the mountain range. The view was majestic, especially to someone who’d never seen the landscape before. But this woman didn’t appear to be enjoying the scenery; she was deep in thought. So much so that she was completely unaware of his presence.

Fearing his approach might scare her so badly she’d fall from the boulder, he stopped ten feet from her and called out.

“Hello there.”

The moment she heard his voice, her head whipped around and her palms flattened against the rock in preparation to push herself to her feet. Surprise was etched upon her parted lips and wide eyes, telling him she’d definitely believed herself to be totally alone on this particular piece of mountain. She was dressed in khaki shorts that struck her mid-thigh, a pale pink T-shirt that hugged her breasts and sturdy brown hiking boots. Her hair hung like shiny satin against her shoulders.

An enchanting princess sitting on her throne, he thought, as he felt every male particle in him begin to buzz with excitement.

“Sorry if I scared you,” Marshall went on before she could gather herself enough to speak. “I saw you sitting here and thought I’d say hello.”

Slowly, warily, she eased her bottom back on the boulder and her dark eyes carefully monitored his movements as he came to stand a few feet beside her. Marshall wondered if he really looked that sinister. It was an odd thought for a doctor who’d taken an oath to save lives, not harm them. But Ms. Heiress didn’t know him and he supposed she was wise not to trust a strange man out in the wilderness.

Finally, she returned his greeting with a faint nod of her regal head. “Hello.”

Spoken quietly, that one word was clear and without a hint of accent, giving little clue as to where she might live. However, it did tell Marshall that she’d not traveled up to Thunder Canyon from a Southern state.

Giving her the sort of smile he reserved for skittish female patients, he asked, “Enjoying the warm weather?”

Actually, it had been downright hot. Not an unusual occurrence for August, but it would take a native like himself to know the nuances of Thunder Canyon climate and right at this moment he wasn’t ready to let this beautiful sophisticate know he was a born-and-bred local. She might just snub her straight little nose at him and walk off, and he was too curious about the woman to take that chance.

“Very much,” she quietly replied.

Marshall took two steps forward, all the while feeling her dark eyes gliding over him, weighing him as though she were trying to decide if he was worthy of conversation. The idea irked Marshall just a bit. Especially since he was accustomed to women smiling warmly at him, not studying him like a bug on a leaf.

“The view is beautiful from here,” she suddenly went on. “The sky seems to go on forever and I was thinking about hanging around to see the sunset this evening, but I suppose being caught out here in the dark wouldn’t be wise.”

At least the woman had a little common sense to go with all that beauty, he thought, as his gaze covertly slid down a pair of long shapely legs. Her skin was slightly kissed by the sun and the warm gleam told him it would be butter smooth beneath his hand.

Trying not to dwell on that pleasant thought, he shook his head. “No. I wouldn’t recommend being here on the mountains after dark. Black bears and mountain lions are spotted in this area from time to time. You wouldn’t want to meet up with any of those.”

Glancing at the forest surrounding them, she said, “I’ve noticed the warnings signs on the hiking trails and read the information posted in the lodge.” She lifted one hand and shook a bracelet adorned with sleigh bells. “Just to be safe I wore a bear bracelet. I was told the sound would scare the creatures away.”

“So they say.” He didn’t go on to tell her that as a teenager he’d had his own run-in with a black bear and that the sow had refused to back down until his brother had shot a round from his hunting rifle over the angry animal’s head. Scaring the woman would hardly be the way to entice her into further conversation.

To Marshall’s surprise, she suddenly climbed down from the rock and stood within an arm’s length from him. The short distance was enough to give him a clear view of her face. High rounded cheekbones, a dainty dimpled chin and full lips were perfectly sculpted out of creamy skin. Her eyes, which appeared dark from a distance, were actually a blend of earthy green and brown, outlined by a thick fringe of jet-black lashes. Above them, delicate brows of the same color arched into a smooth, wide forehead. At the moment, the corners of her pink lips were curved faintly upward and Marshall could hardly tear his gaze away.

“You’ve been mountain climbing?” she asked, her gaze sweeping past him to the mound of equipment he’d left beneath the rocky bluff.