His Dangerous Bride (The Brides of Paradise Ranch - Spicy Version Book 2) Read Online Free

said he could handle any situation and keep smiling while doing so. His shoulders were broad, his arms strong under sleeves rolled up past his elbow. A hint of dark blond hair was visible under the brim of his worn hat, and straight, white teeth flashed as he smiled. He hopped up onto the platform with ease. Eden had half a mind to ask him to turn around so she could get a look at his backside.
    “Are you Eden Gardner?” he asked, striding to a stop between Mr. Garrett and Mrs. Evans. He raked her from head to toe with a fiery gaze that said he liked what he saw.
    Hot damn.
    “That’s me.” She stepped toward him, holding out a hand.
    He took it, his grip firm and warm. “Luke Chance. Pleased to meet you.”
    His confidence, his strength, that hint of mischief in his eyes as he smiled at her—yep, she could have done much worse in a man. Now all she needed to do was make sure he sealed the deal before he saw right through her and called it all off.
    “All right.” She looked at Mr. Garrett, then Mrs. Evans. “He seems like he’s got all the right parts in all the right places. I’ll marry him.” She nodded. The faster the better.
    Mr. Garrett swallowed another snort of laughter. Mrs. Evans looked like she might crow.
    Luke Chance’s grin faltered, and he darted a look between Mrs. Evans and Mr. Garrett, then narrowed his eyes at Eden. “Didn’t you already agree to marry me when you got on that train?”
    Eden shrugged. “Figured it’d be best if I got a look at you before truly making up my mind.” She feigned confidence to hide her desperation, even from herself, and raked him with the same assessing look that he’d given her. “You look good. Pretty face, strong arms. I can live with that.” She pivoted to the train, frowning. “Where did that porter get off to with my trunk?”
    “I’ll handle it,” Luke said, jumping into action. He still looked a fair bit baffled, but he marched off across the platform to the open door of the train’s luggage car without a lick of hesitation. “Hey, Athos, I’m here to fetch Miss Eden Gardner’s luggage,” he told the stationmaster with just the right amount of authority in his voice.
    A grin played across Eden’s lips as he leaned into the luggage car, his trousers pulling tight against his rump. Nothing to be ashamed of there. He knew how to take charge of a situation too, by the look of things. It’d be easy as pie to entrust her safety to a man who knew how to get things done. And she knew a trick or two about how to make him want her. This plan was going to work after all.
    “I think Mr. Luke Chance and I are going to get along just fine,” she hummed, settling back on her heels to watch him. Her soon-to-be-husband was quite a sight.
     
    “Come on now, Hubert,” Luke called down the length of the luggage car to where Athos’s boy was yanking a long, narrow trunk free from a pile of others. “It’s not like that’s a full steamer trunk. Your last name isn’t Strong for nothing. Give it a push.”
    Hubert grunted. “I’ve just about got it.”
    Luke nodded, then glanced over his shoulder to see if Eden Gardner was watching. A sizzle shot down his spine—lighting up a few precious things below his belt that shouldn’t have been lit in public—when he saw that she was. His mail-order bride wasn’t just watching him, she was perusing him. Her pert, cupid’s-bow of a mouth ticked to the side in an appreciative grin. Her dark eyes flashed with curiosity. Hell, he’d never had a girl look at him like that before, at least not outside of the saloon. But Bonnie’s girls batted their eyelashes more at the cash he carried and the hope that he might put it to good use, for a change, than at him. Good girls definitely weren’t supposed to give fellows they’d just met the eye like that.
    Lord above, what if Eden was at Hurst Home because she’d been working at a place like Bonnie’s? Would he mind if his wife had that sort of a past? Another