The Bride Wore Spurs (The Inconvenient Bride Series, Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

perfect circles, Lacey whirled around in a cloud of cotton, and hurried off to the office where her luggage was stored with Kate's. "I will not be long, Mr. Winterhawke," she called over her shoulder. "Do be sure to wait for me."
    Muttering to himself now, Hawke reached inside his coat to where he'd sewn a wide, deep pocket in the thick lamb's wool lining, and pulled out his ledger. This was one list he did not intend to keep in the back of his mind. When the time came to turn down Caleb's generous offer of a bride, Hawke wanted concrete proof that she was completely unacceptable. After flipping the ledger open to the page already marked, "Miss Lacey O'Carroll," he slipped the pencil out of its sheath, moistened the tip with his tongue, then made his first entry under the heading, Disadvantages:
    1. Slothful
    Then, just because he was still irritated over the way his heart had lurched when he first saw her, and again when she'd looked at him with eyes like a gold-miner's dream, he glanced at the couch where she'd been sleeping. The cushions were askew and in need of straightening, and both the blanket and pillow she'd used had been tossed onto the floor in an untidy heap. Moistening the pencil again, he made another entry in the same column:
    2. Messy
    Hawke was toying with the idea of adding a third complaint to the column—something to do with tardiness—when Lacey came bounding into the room again.
    "There, and I'm ready to go to work now," she said breathlessly.
    Slowly turning toward her, Hawke saw that she'd changed into a navy blue skirt and plain white blouse, and that she'd twisted her mounds of springy red curls into a rather sloppy knot at the crown of her head. Wondering how long it would take for those unruly ringlets to explode from their precarious bun, he crossed the room and took her velvet cape from the antler.
    "Is this cape all you've got by way of a coat?"
    "'Tis a cloak, and yes, sir, 'tis my only wrap. Why?"
    He shook his head. "I don't know what the weather's like where you come from, but even in summer, it can be colder than a witches'... carcass in these mountains." He sighed heavily, making a point. "I've got some extra blankets in the wagon you can use for now, but we'll have to fix you up with some kind of coat if I'm going to be hauling you back and forth between ranches the next few, days." Then he turned on his heel and went out the door without so much as a "follow me."
    It took nearly an hour to cover the steep twisting three miles of rocky road that led to Winterhawke Ranch. During that entire time, not one word passed between Lacey and her somewhat reluctant fiancé. He hadn't even offered to help her climb up on the wagon. She snuck a quick peek at Hawke, noticed his rigid, brooding profile, and supposed she was lucky that he'd even bothered to give her a couple of blankets to ward off the chill. It was cold outside, near to freezing she figured, and in mid-spring no less! What must the winters be like in a place such as this? And how would she ever live through them should he decide to keep her?
    Throughout the trip, Lacey contented herself by getting a lay of the land, the vague light of dawn giving her teasing glimpses of the forests and mountains ahead, their shadowy tree tops set off by shiny patches of snow still left upon the ground. After negotiating a sharp bend in the road, the final turn as it happened, the wagon strained up a tree-lined path, then finally came to a halt in front of a large log house. As before, Hawke simply climbed down from the wagon, leaving Lacey to fend for herself.
    Wondering how the devil she would ever get this non-communicative man to accept her as his bride—and be kind to her in the bargain—Lacey stumbled along after Hawke across some kind of stone path, up five wooden stairs, and finally over a high threshold.
    Once inside the house, Hawke struck a thatch and lit a wrought iron lamp mounted on the wall near the door. Staring into Lacey's