The Marine's E-Mail Order Bride (Heroes of Chance Creek Book 3) by Cora Seton Read Free Book Online

but what? Hey, I’ve known you for an afternoon and now I’d like to marry you? He was sure that would have gone over well. Besides, they were getting married soon. He couldn’t be the only one wondering if the terms of that wedding would change between now and then.
    He’d better take this one day at a time, like he’d done with everything else since he’d learned they could inherit Crescent Hall. Heloise and her demands. He shook his head. She sure had him and his brothers jumping. They’d pitched in the money it had taken to get the ranch up and running again. Mason and Austin, who’d left their branches of the service sooner than he had, managed to fix up the barns, stables, outbuildings and the Hall itself. They’d stocked the ranch with cattle, horses and equipment to run it right. They’d both found wives, per Heloise’s instructions, and Mason would be a father in March. They’d learned that Colt had a son, as well, from a teenage fling. Colt didn’t know about his son yet—he was out of communication due to his current mission with the Air Force.
    All that was left was for Zane and Colt to marry before Heloise’s deadline. Colt had stated right from the start he didn’t intend to leave the Air Force to ranch, but he’d promised to do his part anyway and get hitched.
    Despite all his worries, contentedness filled Zane when he thought it all over. Family. He knew now it was all about family. The men he’d worked with were a kind of family too, but his career had kept him rootless, and he ached to build something permanent. He ached for the land he’d grown up on, the business he’d learned from the time he could walk. He longed to bring up his own family there and teach his own sons the way his father had taught him. He wanted to be surrounded by those who loved the ranch as much as he did—whose goals matched his.
    He wanted a wife, too. A wife just like Storm. As soon as he’d gotten near her today, it had been all he could do not to wrap his fists in that hair of hers and tug her in close. He’d wanted to breathe in her California sun-kissed scent. He’d wanted to bury himself in that lithe, sweet body and forget all about the past.
    He’d done it too. He couldn’t believe it, but he had.
    Three times.
    Was Storm thinking of him now? Was she wondering all the same things about him he was wondering about her? It was more than just her body that enticed him. It was her desire for a home and family, and to create a life together with a husband. He’d begun to doubt women like her even existed. It was exhilarating to find out he was wrong.
    Is that how she thought of him? He remembered how she’d clung to him when he’d pulled back from his last kiss. He shifted uncomfortably as his brother spoke again. “What’s Kenna like?”
    “She prefers to go by Storm,” Zane began. “And she’s… beautiful.”
    Austin grinned at him. “You got it bad, buddy.”
    Zane nodded slowly. His brother was right.
    “How do you like Montana? Is it as awful as it sounds?” Cheyenne asked when Storm called her that night.
    “It’s pretty, actually.”
    “Ugh. I don’t believe it. I bet it’s freezing.”
    “Brisk, maybe, but hardly freezing.”
    “You wait, by Thanksgiving you’ll be an ice cube.”
    “Let’s hope for the best.”
    “How is Kenna? Nervous?”
    Storm braced herself. She’d considered withholding the truth from her mother, but she wasn’t sure how many lies she could keep straight. Besides, once Cheyenne heard about the bonus, Storm was sure any qualms she had would disappear. The packet of fake identification papers had arrived just after Zane had left, like Kenna said it would, and Storm wondered how much money her boss had spent to get them done—and what strings she’d had to pull to achieve it. Grateful she was alone, she’d opened the envelope and pulled out a driver’s license, birth certificate, even a passport. Her face and Kenna’s name and address. She was