The Inheritance

She stood her ground. “No, not until you actually hear me out.” And not until you say yes, she added silently. She began to talk quickly, knowing he was getting ready to cut her off. “The reason Mrs. Maitland never got in contact with you before is that, until just recently, she was as ignorant of you as you were of her. The point is—” Greer drew herself up “—you know about each other now and now is all that counts.”

He’d always admired guts, and he had to admit, she seemed to have guts in spades. Instead of throwing the woman out, he rethought the situation. If he gave her a condition she couldn’t meet, she’d be forced to withdraw and stop badgering him. And his conscience would be clean.

“You’re right,” he agreed. “Now is all that counts. If you’re so hot to get me there, fine. But I need a favor.” He leveled his gaze at her. “Now.”

The nervousness she’d been experiencing ever since she’d seen him walking toward her like a stalking panther intensified.

“What kind of favor?” She failed to keep the tension out of her voice.

A fragment of what the lawyer he’d gone to had said to him came back to Rafe. The attorney had told him that he would have an easier time of gaining custody of Bethany if he was married or at least engaged.

Okay, that was it. He looked at her. “I need a fiancée.”

It was to Greer’s credit that her mouth didn’t drop open. “I beg your pardon?”

He had her, Rafe thought triumphantly. He could almost hear the door closing behind her already.

“No need to beg anything. I made a promise to two friends, the best friends a man could ever want, and in order to keep that promise, it looks like I’m going to need a fiancée. A wife, really, but I don’t think I have to carry this act too far.” She was going to turn tail and run any second, he promised himself. “Tell me, Greer, do you want me to go to this Christmas thing enough to pretend to be my fiancée?”

This was insane. What he was asking was plain crazy. It went way above and beyond the call of duty to the point of being absurd. A fiancée.

She had no idea why she was even considering it.

Because, a tiny voice within her whispered, in all likelihood, this was going to be the closest she would ever get to being anyone’s fiancée or to wearing an engagement ring, other than staring at one through Tiffany’s window.

Besides, more than likely, the man was bluffing. If she met his bluff, he’d be forced to give in and give up. She smiled at him with a shade of triumph. She had him.

“Yes.”

She saw surprise register on his lean, tanned face, followed by shock. Greer congratulated herself on guessing correctly.

Self-congratulations were short-lived as she saw a smile beginning at the corners of his mouth. Though it was a small smile, it seemed to make all the difference in the world. His austere face turned heart-stoppingly handsome.

Greer felt her heart go into double-time before she could think to rein it in. The air turned several degrees warmer than it already was.

An uneasiness began to spread through her. What in heaven’s name had she just gotten herself into?

Chapter 2

Okay, Rafe thought, his mind racing as he pieced things together, realigning them in light of what had just transpired, maybe this whole reunion idea might actually work out to his benefit. His, and more important, Bethany’s.

Until the lady with the ridiculous name had pushed him a little too hard, he hadn’t been thinking along the lines of deception, but hell, he’d learned a long time ago that when an avalanche of lemons starts tumbling your way, you had damn well better learn how to make lemonade out of them fast.

This, he decided, was going to be lemonade.

All right, this was going to be a lie, he allowed, but it wasn’t the kind of lie his father habitually told. This was going to be a lie for a good purpose, and sometimes the end did justify the means. Especially if that end meant that he got to keep Bethany.

What he needed right now was a little something extra in his corner to tip the scales. After all, this was Lil’s uncle and aunt he was taking on in the courtroom, not her parents or grandparents, both of whom, had they been alive, would have had a lot more leverage than he did in the eyes of the court. The odds became a tiny bit better when the family connection was a little more distant, as it was in this case. If he had a few chips stacked on his side, he might just win this fight. And he needed to win, because he’d given his word.

And because Bethany had already won his heart. He couldn’t rightly see life without her anymore.

The first thing he had to do, he knew even without the attorney’s advice, was to make himself seem respectable and stable in the eyes of the family court judge. Never mind that he’d turned his life around these last few years, going from being a rootless hellion to a man who made a decent living as a foreman on a large ranch. He’d worked his way up to that, spending long, hard hours doing anything that needed doing and learning the ranching business while he was at it. Eventually, he intended to own his own horse ranch, but for now, he was content to work his butt off for a boss who was demanding but fair.

There was no doubt about it, he was nothing like the no-account gambler from Las Vegas he’d been on his way to becoming—just like his father.

But none of that really mattered. According to the lawyer he’d recently hired, what seemed to count heavily in the eyes of the court was his marital status. That and his standing in the community. He didn’t have much of a reputation in the community, keeping to himself whenever possible, and there was no way to turn himself into a pillar of that community in a short amount of time.

But he could pretend to be on his way to getting married. And, he’d only just realized, he did have connections that counted. Connections this slim-hipped, no-frills woman standing in his living room had just made him acutely aware of. Connections that just might help turn the tide for him.

Rafe widened his smile.

As a rule, he didn’t believe in riding on anyone else’s coattails. He’d gotten to where he was by relying only on himself ever since he’d been half his age. But rules wouldn’t be rules if they weren’t sometimes bent a little.

Even so, he wouldn’t be considering this under ordinary circumstances. But these weren’t ordinary circumstances. He had Bethany’s welfare to consider.

The pint-size little darling had been the center of Rory and Lil’s world and had quickly taken over that spot in his. If even half the things that Lil had said about her childhood were true, there was no way on God’s green earth he was going to allow Bethany to fall into the hands of Lil’s uncle and aunt. Lil had grown up in a world devoid of love and caring. He wanted Bethany to have a happy childhood, not an emotionally deprived one.

If achieving that goal meant having to be friendly with a woman who hadn’t given him, or his family for that matter, the time of day in all these years, he was up to it. He could play the game and pretend, ultimately giving Megan Maitland exactly what she deserved. Nothing. All things considered, the charade seemed like a small price to pay for Bethany’s welfare.

Rafe shoved his hands into his back pockets, straining the jeans against his hips. Very slowly, he circled Greer, studying her intently. She looked a little skittish to him. He’d seen horses with that look, all spit and polish on the outside but ready to bolt at the first loud sound they heard.

The last thing he wanted was to have her fold on him when the going got tough.

Rafe drew closer to Greer, still scrutinizing her. He watched her face. “You’re sure about this?”

She knew it. He was waiting for her to back down. Confidence began to return. This wasn’t really any different than a merger or an acquisition.

Except that mergers and acquisitions never wore worn, tight-fitting jeans that caused her mind to lose its focus and her pulse to do funny things.

Blocking out the sight, Greer raised her chin defiantly.

“I’m sure.”

“Great, you’ve got yourself a houseguest.”

Rafe put his hand out to hers. When she didn’t take it quickly enough, he took hers and wrapped his tanned fingers around it, gripping firmly. To his surprise, the limp handshake he expected didn’t materialize. Instead, after a beat, his mysterious aunt’s emissary shook his hand as firmly as any man he’d ever made a bargain with.

A handshake said a lot about a person. Maybe there was hope for the woman yet.

Those same nerves she’d felt earlier began to waltz through her again, picking up the tempo until they could have been accused of doing an old-fashioned jitterbug instead. They were especially prevalent along her arm. The arm that was connected to the hand that had been swallowed up by his.

It was all she could do to return the pressure of his grip. She knew he’d respect nothing less.

Taking care not to pull her hand away from his too quickly and give Rafe the impression that she was leery of him, Greer extricated her hand as she tried to sort out any misunderstandings before they had a chance to mushroom out of control.

“You’re not going to be my houseguest, you’ll be staying with Mrs. Maitland. The estate has a great many guest rooms.”

The smile on his lips moved slowly until it lit his face. Rafe knew exactly what she was thinking, though she was doing an admirable job of attempting to mask it. He’d come across fear more than once or twice himself and he was able to recognize the signs.