Oklahoma Wedding Bells

Oklahoma Wedding Bells
Carol Finch

MARRIAGE MISCHIEF IN THE WILD WESTIndependent Josephine Malloy is determined to stake her own claim during the latest Oklahoma land run. But to fend off the countless suitors seeking a wife and a homestead she needs a fake fiancé for cover. Enter horse trader Solomon Tremain…As an undercover Deputy US Marshal investigating land fraud, Sol should probably keep his distance from this firebrand. But when Josie gets in trouble with the law it’s Sol to the rescue – though he’ll need to make their marriage for real. If only she’ll stay out of hot water long enough to say ‘I do’!

Praise for Carol Finch:

‘Carol Finch is known for lightning-fast, rollercoaster-ride adventure romances that are brimming over with a large cast of characters and dozens of perilous escapades.’

—RT Book Reviews

THE LONE RANCHER

‘A wild Western complete with snappy dialogue, laugh-out-loud humour, crazy escapades, danger, and most of all passion.’

—RT Book Reviews

BANDIT LAWMAN, TEXAS BRIDE

‘Finch has made her reputation on wonderfully realistic and humorous Westerns filled with biting repartee and non-stop action. She’s at her finest with this action-packed tale of a lawman and a spitfire.’

—RT Book Reviews

TEXAS RANGER, RUNAWAY HEIRESS

‘Finch offers another heartwarming Western romance full of suspense, humour and strong characters.’

—RT Book Reviews

LADY RENEGADE

‘Finch’s forte, verbal repartee, is at its best here. With well-developed characters and a quick pace, this tale is highly reminiscent of her classic Westerns.’

—RT Book Reviews

“Are you proposing to me? Isn’t that unconventional in white society?”

“Where is it written that a woman can’t propose?” Josie challenged quietly.

“Nowhere I know. It’s what I’d expect from a misfit like you … So I accept.”

He draped his arm familiarly over her shoulder, drawing her closer. Ordinarily she was inclined to step away when a man crowded her space. Oddly enough, however, she didn’t object to Tremain’s feigned display of affection.

“You know this is going to cost you, don’t you?” he whispered devilishly.

“How much, Tremain?” she asked, when she saw the wicked gleam in his sea-green eyes and noticed the ornery grin twitching his lips. “I’m saving my funds for improvements on my homestead—if I manage to stake one.”

“We’ll work something out, trust me.”

“Just so you know, I don’t trust any man’s intentions …”

Her voice trailed off when his raven head came slowly and deliberately toward hers. Then he kissed her, satisfying her curiosity—and stirring something wild and hungry deep inside her.

About the Author

CAROL FINCH, who also writes as Gina Robins, Debra Falcon, Connie Drake and Connie Feddersen, has penned over seventy novels in the historical romance, contemporary, mystery and romantic suspense genres. A former tennis pro and high school biology instructor, she devotes herself full-time to writing and working on the family’s cattle ranch in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma

Wedding Bells

Carol Finch

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

This book is dedicated to my husband, Ed, and our

children Jill, Jon, Christie, Durk, Shawnna, and Kurt.

And to our grandchildren, Livia, Blake,

Kennedy, and Brooklynn. And to Kurt

and Shawnna’s children whenever they may be.

With much love.

Chapter One

El Reno, Oklahoma Territory April 1892

Josephine Malloy sat on a rickety wooden bench in the tent city near the river. With practiced strokes, she replaced a button on a worn shirt that would have served better as a rag. Beside her, Muriel Wilson stitched a patch on a tattered jacket for one of their many male customers.

“Brace yourself, Josie,” Muriel murmured confidentially when Orson Barnes approached.

Josie inwardly groaned when the big, burly cowboy lumbered toward her. Orson claimed to be twenty-nine, but with a woolly brown beard and mustache covering his face, and a frizzy crop of dark hair surrounding his broad head, it was hard to tell his age. She took his word for it.

Muriel nudged her discreetly. “Why don’t you put the poor man out of his misery before he spends all his money ripping buttons off his shirts so you can sew them back on?”

“I’m hoping he’ll run out of extra spending money before he works up the nerve to pop the question,” she mumbled.

Orson was one of the self-appointed leaders in the tent community—a former soldier who was well respected by the hopeful settlers. Yet he was exceptionally bashful around women. Josie had listened to Orson stammer and hint that a man needed a wife, and that he would be a protective provider and landowner after the run. Maybe today would be the day he proposed and she rejected him….

Her thoughts trailed off when Orson halted in front of her, casting his broad shadow over her. “Mornin’, Miz Malloy. You, too, Miz Wilson.” His wide smile exposed the noticeable gap between his two front teeth.

Orson chitchatted about the weather and the upcoming race to stake free land in the area that had once belonged to the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes. Then he inhaled an enormous breath that made his barrel chest double in size. “Miz Malloy, as you’ve likely noticed, I’ve become quite fond of you while you’ve done mending for me.”

Here it comes, Josie thought with an inward wince.

“If you’ll do me the honor of being my wife after the run, we can stake our one-hundred-sixty-acre claims side by side and have twice as much land to start our new ranch.”