Connal

Connal
Diana Palmer

Penelope Mathews had spent her entire adolescence worshipping the elusive C. C.Tremayne–from afar. Until one night, trying to protect the mysterious loner from landing in a Mexican jail after he had drunk a little too much, Pepi was forced to seek refuge in a wedding chapel–and wound up going one step further by emerging as Mrs. Connal Cade Tremayne!When C.C. realized what had happened, he was outraged–the last thing he needed was a shy virgin on his hands. The marriage was off; he'd see to an annulment immediately. Yet the more time he spent with Pepi, the more he realized he didn't want a divorce… he wanted forever.

Dear Reader, (#ulink_b4fb71b6-c76d-5a36-ae7b-15f52adb2408)

I really can’t express how flattered I am and also how grateful I am to Mills & Boon Books for releasing this collection of my published works. It came as a great surprise. I never think of myself as writing books that are collectible. In fact, there are days when I forget that writing is work at all. What I do for a living is so much fun that it never seems like a job. And since I reside in a small community, and my daily life is confined to such mundane things as feeding the wild birds and looking after my herb patch in the backyard, I feel rather unconnected from what many would think of as a glamorous profession.

But when I read my email, or when I get letters from readers, or when I go on signing trips to bookstores to meet all of you, I feel truly blessed. Over the past thirty years I have made lasting friendships with many of you. And quite frankly, most of you are like part of my family. You can’t imagine how much you enrich my life. Thank you so much.

I also need to extend thanks to my family (my husband, James, son, Blayne, daughter-in-law, Christina, and granddaughter, Selena Marie), to my best friend, Ann, to my readers, booksellers and the wonderful people at Mills & Boon Books—from my editor of many years, Tara, to all the other fine and talented people who make up our publishing house. Thanks to all of you for making this job and my private life so worth living.

Thank you for this tribute, Mills & Boon, and for putting up with me for thirty long years! Love to all of you.

Diana Palmer

DIANA PALMER

The prolific author of more than a hundred The prolific author of more than a hundred books, Diana Palmer got her start as a books, Diana Palmer got her start as a newspaper reporter. A multi–newspaper reporter. A multi–New York Times New York Times bestselling author and one of the top ten bestselling author and one of the top ten romance writers in America, she has a gift for romance writers in America, she has a gift for telling the most sensual tales with charm and telling the most sensual tales with charm and humor. Diana lives with her family in Cornelia, humor. Diana lives with her family in Cornelia, Georgia.

Visit her website at www.DianaPalmer.com (http://www.DianaPalmer.com).

Connal

New York Times and USA TODAY Bestselling Author

Diana Palmer

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

Contents

Cover (#u06a308c4-2d68-5a9d-b49a-f69608de8a24)

Letter to Reader (#ulink_dac8ec6a-62ba-5acd-a4b1-d661f9afc9d3)

About the Author (#ud8577fab-2138-50ed-97c2-8c5cec9f74fe)

Title Page (#u1db249fa-4fcf-5325-b2ba-8a00f44547df)

Chapter 1 (#u10949474-f55b-5d14-a56b-649050f0aa65)

Chapter 2 (#u2c08296b-1ef1-5b05-8e35-0e8930fea46d)

Chapter 3 (#ue884d6ab-9231-5bf4-b4de-4349ea304e91)

Chapter 4 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 5 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 6 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 1 (#ulink_371b42ab-19c2-5d4d-8118-39a8de21d05e)

Because of the date, Penelope knew she wouldn’t find him at the barn. That was where he usually was at this hour of the day. Any other time, C. C. Tremayne was always two steps ahead of his men in feeding the animals, especially with the drought that had turned the grass brown and brittle these past few weeks. The drought had been a bad break for her father. Even with the Rio Grande only a few miles away, water was a precious commodity and wells kept going dry, leaving the tanks they filled empty.

West Texas was usually hot in mid-September, but the wind was up and it was unseasonably cold this evening. Penelope had worn a jacket outside, and now she was glad she had. She shivered a little in the late afternoon chill.

It was just beginning to get dark, and Penelope knew that if she didn’t get to C.C. before her father did, it was going to mean another nasty quarrel. Ben Mathews and his foreman had been at each other’s throats enough in recent weeks and Penelope didn’t want any more arguments. Her father always got bad-tempered when money was tight. Things couldn’t be much worse right now.

C.C. was drinking. She knew it; it was that time of year again. Only Penelope knew the importance of that day in September in C.C.’s life. She’d once nursed him through a flu and a raging delirium and he’d told her everything. She didn’t let on that she knew, of course. C.C.—he was called that, although nobody knew what the initials stood for—didn’t like anyone knowing private things about him. Not even the girl who loved him more than life.

He didn’t love Penelope. He never had, although she’d worshiped him since she was nineteen and he’d been hired as foreman when her father’s oldest hand retired. It had only taken one long look at the lithe, lean, dark-eyed man with the hawkish features and unsmiling face for her to fall madly in love with him. It was three years later, and her emotions hadn’t undergone any changes. Probably they never would. Penelope Mathews was pretty stubborn. Even her dad said so.

She grimaced when she saw the light on in the bunkhouse, and it was not even dark. The other men were out riding herd, because calving was in full swing and everybody was in a mean temper during calving. It meant long hours and little sleep, and it wasn’t normal for any of the men to be in the bunkhouse at this hour of the day. That meant it had to be C.C., and he had to be drinking. And liquor was one thing Ben Mathews wasn’t about to tolerate on his ranch, not even when it was being abused by a man he liked and respected.

She brushed back her light reddish-brown hair and nibbled on her full lower lip. She had her long, wavy hair in a ponytail and it was tied with a velvet ribbon that just matched her pale brown eyes. She wasn’t a pretty girl, but she had a nice figure even if it was a little on the plump side. Not overweight, just rounded, so that she filled out her jeans nicely. Her hair was almost red-gold when the sun hit it, and she had a line of freckles over her straight nose. With a little work, she could have been lovely. But she was a tomboy. She could ride anything and shoot as well as her father. Sometimes she wished she looked like Edie, the wealthy divorcee C.C. dated frequently. Edie was a dish, all blond and blue-eyed and bristling with sophistication. She seemed an odd choice for a ranch foreman, but Penelope tried not to think about it. In her mind, she knew the reason C.C. dated Edie and it hurt.

She paused at the door of the bunkhouse and rubbed nervously at her jeans, tugging her nylon jacket closer against the cold wind. She knocked.

There was a hard thud. “Go away.”

She knew the curt, uncompromising tone and sighed. It was going to be a long day.

Her gloved hand pushed open the door and she stepped into the warmth of the big common room where bunks lined the wall. At the far end was a kitchen arrangement where the men could have meals cooked. Nobody stayed here much. Most of the men were married and had homes on the ranch, except C.C. But during roundup and calving, the new men who were hired on temporarily stayed here. This year there were six, and they filled the building to capacity. But they’d be gone within a week, and C.C. would have the bunkhouse to himself again.

C.C. was leaning back in a chair, his mud-caked boots crossed on the table, his hat cocked over one dark eye, hiding most of his dust-streaked dark hair, his lean hands wrapped around a whiskey glass. He tilted the hat up, peered at Penelope with mocking derision and jerked it down again.

“What the hell do you want?” he asked in his curt drawl.

“To save your miserable skin, if I can,” she returned in equally cutting tones. She slammed the door, skinned off her coat to reveal the fluffy white sweater underneath, and went straight to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee.

He watched her with disinterested eyes. “Saving me again, Pepi?” he laughed mockingly, using the nickname that everyone called her. “What for?”

“I’m dying of love for you,” she muttered as she filled the coffeepot. It was the truth, but she made it sound like an outrageous lie.