Fortune's Secret Husband

Fortune's Secret Husband
Karen Rose Smith

GUESS WHAT…WE'RE (STILL) MARRIED!She was only seventeen when Chase Parker swept Lady Lucie Fortune Chesterfield off her royal feet. His oil magnate father cut their love affair short and forced them to annul their union …or so he thought. Ten years later, the wealthy Texas rancher uncovers a secret – he's still wed to the one woman he's never been able to forget!Lucie was always "the quiet one." While her mom and sister have been tailed mercilessly by the tabloids, she's maintained a low profile and a gracious image. No one has ever uncovered her deep, dark secret—an impulsive teenage marriage. When Chase tracks her down, she still finds him hard to resist. And as they prepare to untie the wedding knot, Lucie wonders: What if their biggest mistake was saying goodbye?

MEET THE FORTUNES

Fortune of the Month: Lucie Fortune Chesterfield

Age: 27

Vital statistics: Pretty as a princess, Lucie is tall, graceful and hopelessly single—or so she thinks.

Claim to fame: The accomplished daughter of Lady Josephine Fortune Chesterfield, Lucie is known for her charity work and her consistently calm demeanor.

Romantic prospects: While many men have attempted to woo her, Lucie has never lost her heart … at least not since high school, when she fell for a brash American cowboy at summer camp. Readers, she married him. But no one ever knew.

“They say you never forget your first love, but I’ve tried. Hard. And until a few days ago, I would have assured you that Chase Parker was firmly in my past. But that was before he showed up at my apartment in Austin.

“I can’t believe our teenage marriage was never annulled! I can’t believe Chase is here after so many years. And most of all, I can’t believe, after all this time, I dissolve at the mere sight of him. He’s only here to get our annulment taken care of—we both agree it’s for the best. And yet, I can’t help but imagine what could have been …”

The Fortunes Of Texas: All Fortune’s Children—Money. Family. Cowboys. Meet the Austin Fortunes!

Fortune’s Secret Husband

Karen Rose Smith

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

USA TODAY bestselling author KAREN ROSE SMITH’S eighty-seventh novel was released in 2015. Her passion is caring for her four rescued cats, and her hobbies—gardening, cooking and photography. An only child, Karen delved into books at an early age. Even though she escaped into story worlds, she had many cousins around her on weekends. Families are a strong theme in her novels. Find out more about Karen at www.karenrosesmith.com (http://www.karenrosesmith.com).

To my grade school friend Liz,

who married young, too. We made it!

Thanks for being my friend.

Contents

Cover (#u7fc7b00b-1ec2-5ffd-8455-462803d2a867)

Introduction (#u4b08ffd2-e3fb-5e1b-9d7c-e3c472419c8a)

Title Page (#u00fcf0be-6555-5523-984c-f4d3f156b4f2)

About the Author (#uee19de8d-a002-5e6b-8d0a-cb018f839be2)

Dedication (#u6a814d1a-fd45-5efc-a482-dc5aec377bfe)

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Epilogue

Extract (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter One (#u687f5750-2664-5b2a-9049-1fb12c9a9fa7)

Lucie Fortune Chesterfield was late!

It was her own fault. She’d forgotten her phone and had to run back to the Austin, Texas, apartment she was subletting to retrieve it. In a rush now on her way out again, after disembarking from the elevator in the lobby, she stopped cold.

Was she seeing things? Was that Chase Parker leaving the building? Not possible. Just because he still invaded her dreams—

The doorman stood at his counter and she ran to him and pointed to the departing tall, broad-shouldered man whose Stetson was tilted at an angle she thought she recognized.

The doorman did a double take. “Lady Lucie, I thought you’d left.”

Irving hadn’t been at his station when she’d rushed back in for her phone. “I forgot something and had to return to my apartment. Do you know who that man is?”

Lucie was very used to doormen and chauffeurs and pomp and circumstance. Born in England and living on the Chesterfield Estate, she was considered “almost” royalty. Her mother’s adopted father had been an earl. Her own father had been knighted. In England and the United States, her family was sometimes hounded and followed by paparazzi searching for that money shot. After the scandal her sister had become involved in, Lucie was more than aware of her actions and couldn’t just run into the street chasing a tall Texan who resembled a ghost from her foolish past, a ghost so secret not even her family had known all the details about her association with him.

Irving, in his fifties and balding, turned red to his scalp as he reached out to the shelf under the counter and retrieved a business card.

“I’m so sorry, Lady Lucie. I saw you the first time and assumed you’d left for the morning.”