Contract Bride

Contract Bride
Susan Fox

She was a convenient bride…When Reece Waverly became a widower with an infant son to care for, he turned to Leah Gray. They had a strong friendship and he knew she'd make the perfect wife and mother. It was a convenient marriage–only Reece had no idea Leah had been secretly in love with him for years.…Could she become a wife for realLeah convinced herself she could live with this arrangement, for the baby's sake. But after a year she's forced to admit that she'd hoped to become Reece's wife in more than name only. On the verge of leaving, Leah is stunned when Reece declares it's time he claimed her as his bride for real!

The moment Reece’s big hand eased down to warmly cover hers, Leah jumped.

“I reckon I’ve left off touching you for so long that you’re bound to jump when I do it now,” Reece said.

“I’m probably just…tired,” she choked out.

She was about to turn away when he caught her elbow. He turned her fully toward him and lifted his free hand. “You have beautiful hair,” he said gruffly. “I never knew it would be this soft.” He gently gripped her head to tilt it back.

Leah was dimly aware that she tried to speak. “Don’t…please.”

“How are you gonna stop me?”

She couldn’t think of an effective way to answer him. She wasn’t sure she wanted to. The cool touch of his firm mouth on hers made her draw in a quick breath. As his mouth became a little more aggressive, her insides melted.

“We’re done living like roommates,” he growled. “Husbands and wives share a bed.”

To have and to hold…

Their marriage was meant to last— and they have the gold rings to prove it!

To love and to cherish…

But what happens when their promise to love, honor and cherish is put to the test?

From this day forward…

Emotions run high as husbands and wives discover how precious—and fragile—their wedding vows are…. Will true love keep them together—forever?

Marriages meant to last!

Contract Bride

Susan Fox

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

CONTENTS

PROLOGUE (#u9563046a-ab34-5511-b14a-3c9d91b0874e)

CHAPTER ONE (#ubee7ef64-a1ea-5c3f-b014-11bd6467261d)

CHAPTER TWO (#u7bd0e212-dbb0-53b0-90ac-2498de4af6d0)

CHAPTER THREE (#u49700602-625b-56db-b27a-759c1fb9cf1d)

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)

PROLOGUE

THEY married that morning in front of a judge at the county courthouse. Because the brief ceremony wasn’t so much a celebration as it was a legal technicality, their witnesses were a couple of law clerks the judge had called into his chambers at the last moment.

His Honor didn’t comment on the somber stillness of the bride and groom, though he took several moments to study and remark upon the handsome infant boy wrapped snugly in a light blanket, who slumbered peacefully in his father’s arms.

The judge had heard gossip about the couple before him. The groom had been widowed nearly four months ago when his wife had suddenly died a handful of days after the baby’s birth. The bride had been his dead wife’s best friend.

No doubt some, when they heard about this, would consider the hasty marriage a small scandal. Maybe it was, but His Honor was inclined to go easy on them. He knew Reece Waverly socially and by reputation. Leah Gray had graduated high school in the area and sometimes taught Sunday School.

The judge could tell at a glance that this was no love match, and that made him hesitate to perform the legalities. Reece’s stern face held the haunted traces of a man who’d been poleaxed by tragedy; his bride’s face was pale and she had a faintly heartsick look about her. If either of them had consulted him about this ahead of time, he would have strongly advised them against taking such a drastic step so soon.

But since both were legal adults competent to make agreements and bear responsibility for them, he summoned the impartiality of his status as a judicial official and led the couple through the formalities.

CHAPTER ONE

LEAH WAVERLY entered the den, relieved to see that her husband of eleven months was standing at the patio door instead of working at his desk. With one hand braced on the door frame and the fingers of the other wedged in his front jeans’ pocket, Reece stared out broodingly at the lengthening shadows on the patio out back.

She knew he’d heard her nearly silent tread on the carpet because she’d seen the subtle ripple of tension in his wide shoulders. Yes, he’d been tense around her lately, but she’d also caught a hint of restlessness and what could only be dissatisfaction. Had he recovered enough from Rachel’s death to take a good long look at what they’d done?

The question had eaten at her for weeks and she could no longer bear her dread of the answer. Better to get it into the open, better to know for sure…

However carefully she worded this, Leah already knew that her husband’s response would never be the one she’d hoped for. Reece had buried his heart when he’d buried Rachel, and whatever heart he’d had left, he’d dedicated solely to his young son. There was nothing left for the plain woman he’d so suddenly married, and as the months had stretched on, Leah had become more certain of that by the day.

She knew Reece well enough to be sure he’d never ask for a divorce. Because he wouldn’t, it was up to her to offer it. She was certain he’d be relieved, and once she assured him she was willing to work out a peaceful arrangement to share custody of little Bobby, he’d be grateful to be able to get on with his life.

Though she’d known from the beginning this time would come, she’d had the foolish hope that Reece might develop some kind of affection for her. Male/ female friendships often deepened into love. Maybe not the intensely passionate kind that he’d shared with Rachel, but certainly the low-key, mutually caring kind.

And yet as time had gone on, Leah had been forced to realize there was simply nothing between them. There’d not been a single word of personal caring, never so much as a passing glance to misinterpret. She was certain now there never would be. She’d finally reached the conclusion that she loved Reece enough to want to see him happy again, even if his happiness would never be with her.

What she regretted with all her heart was that Bobby would grow up being shuttled back and forth between a father and adoptive mother who’d made such a foolish bargain. Though Reece had married her to protect the boy if something should unexpectedly happen to him as it had to Rachel, in hindsight it was obvious to Leah—and probably to Reece by now—that it would have been more prudent to wait.

But a man who’d been devastated by the sudden death of the woman he’d been wildly in love with, trusted more in cruel tragedies that struck out of the blue than he did in the more mundane and temporary events in life, at least for a time.

The fact that Leah had essentially taken advantage of Reece’s worries for her own selfish reasons was something she’d probably never forgive herself for. That’s why she had to do this for him. She wasn’t certain how much longer she could live with him anyway, because the heart-numbing distance between them was already too painful.