The Bride Read Online Free PDF

to see him again.
    “I wanted to talk to you. And it seemed we were forever being interrupted.”
    “What is Montana like?”
    She surprised him with the question. He expected more discussion about the note. “It’s big and open.”
    “Do you live in a large house there?”
    “No,” he answered honestly. “Most of the time I live in a boardinghouse near the main mine. Sometimes I camp when I visit other mines.”
    “In a tent?” She cocked her head and looked up at him.
    “Just under the stars usually,” John said with a shrug. “I also have a cabin I built in the mountains above Butte.” He didn’t know why he told her that except that he was proud of the place even though it was small and rustic. Certainly nothing that would interest her. Except she did seem interested.
    “You built it yourself?”
    “I had some help, but yes, most of it I did myself.”
    She brushed a wisp of hair from her face and smiled. “I should like to see that, Mr. Bonner. A house you built yourself.”
    She seemed sincere, but one glance behind them was all the reminder he needed about what she was used to. “I’ve bought property in New York, on Fifth Avenue and plan to begin constructing a large house soon.”
    “Whatever for?” She walked from beneath the overhang of leaves and turned to face him.
    “Well, so I’d have a place to stay when I came East.” And a place for you and our children to live, he thought.
    “It’s your concern, of course, but...” She paused, looking out to sea and lifted her hand in a dismissing fashion. “Please forgive me. It was presumptuous of me to question what you do.”
    “No.” John strode toward her. “Tell me what you think. I want you to.” When he was by her side he reached out, lifting her chin and tilting her face toward his.
    “It’s only I don’t think I should ever come East were I to live in Montana. And certainly not to live in a huge house on Fifth Avenue.”
    “ You live on Fifth Avenue,” he reminded gently, letting his finger trail off her chin.
    “Yes, I do.” She lowered her lashes and John found himself missing the clear sparkle of her turquoise eyes.
    “I also thought to build a cottage here in Newport.” This idea came to him this morning while he waited for her. It was only fitting that she have the best of everything, he decided, but she didn’t seem to think this any better plan than his New York mansion.
    “Do you like it so much here?” Her gaze was as direct as the question.
    “There are some things here I like very much.” John took a step toward her. A fine mist of spray from the sea that churned against the rocks glistened in her hair. When the rising sun shimmered off her curls it looked to him as if she were covered in diamond dust. A sudden urge to sweep her into his arms engulfed him, but before he could act on it—or not, as reason dictated—she gave him a wry smile and turned away.
    “Are you a fortune hunter, Mr. Bonner?”
    He was so shocked by this turn in the conversation John was momentarily stunned to silence.
    “Well, are you?” Her eyes met his but she’d effectively put several feet of distance between them.
    “No, Miss Fiske, I assure you I have no need for a larger fortune.” John folded his arms. “Why do you ask?”
    Her breath was deep. “I’ve been warned about them.”
    “By your mother?”
    “And my father.” Curls curtained the sides of her face as she lowered her head. “They both seem to think my wealth would be the main reason I would attract a gentleman’s attention.”
    “They’re wrong.”
    Her heart beat faster at his words and she hoped he couldn’t hear it pounding against her ribs. She wasn’t even sure what they were saying to each other. In the book she was reading Charles came right out and told Linette how much he adored her. That he couldn’t live without her. Certainly John Bonner had not said... or even implied anything of the sort.
    But the way he looked at her. Like he could