Their Reluctant Bride (Bridgewater Menage Series Book 6) Read Online Free Page B

are well matched, then I believe it to be true.”
    She tilted her head and studied me. “What do you think?” Her deep voice prodded.
    She was very perceptive. She was not being matched to any of the Bridgewater men, but to me and Tyler.
    “I had not considered marriage—until about twenty minutes ago. I believe the men are all correct, that Olivia is correct.”
    “Oh?” she asked. I started to see her cool demeanor slip as I spoke.
    “Lightning.”
    Her eyebrows went up and her mouth fell open. She knew to what I spoke, for Olivia must have explained it to her. It was how she’d felt when she met her men. It was how Tyler’s mother described it, how he imagined it to be. Did Tyler feel it when he saw Emily? What I felt, it perhaps wasn’t love at first sight, but the connection, the spark was palpable. It scared the hell out of me, for I was not a good match. I had dark places inside me, rough edges, a cool demeanor. I liked to fuck dark and rough. Surely Emily was too soft, too gentle to be handled in such a way.
    “The topic is moot, for you have just lost your husband. I would not dare intrude on your grieving for him. To take what you shared with him lightly.”
    I would never seek interest in another man’s woman, even a man who was alive only in spirit.
    She started laughing then. Turning, she began to walk back toward the house as she continued. I frowned, but fell in step beside her long enough to grab her arm and stop her.
    As she wiped the tears from her cheeks, she said, “I do not mourn Frank. To the contrary. I am glad that he is dead. Unfortunately, his reach is strong from the grave.”
    The tone of her voice confirmed the truth of her words. It seemed they had not had a love match; that her tired and weary features weren’t caused by mourning, but something else.
    “He left you with nothing,” I added, confirming her problems. Olivia was right, she had to wed. There was nothing else for her to do here in the Montana Territory. There were no appropriate jobs to be had. Even if she found a position as a laundress or even a house maid, she would have no protection, no man to keep her safe. The idea of her all alone left me cold inside.
    She would be forced to leave town, to go to a larger city like Helena or Billings. But how would she make the journey? If the bank was to take the ranch, she would be left with the clothes on her back, no coins for food, let alone the stage. The burden she carried was heavy.
    “That is true.” She looked down, perhaps hoping to hide her feelings from me, and smoothed out her pale blue dress. “I do not know you, Mr. Xander, or Mr. Tyler either. I will not go from one bad marriage to another under the guise of protection . The protection I needed in my marriage to Frank was from Frank himself.”
    I couldn’t argue with her, for she was correct. She didn’t know me from Adam. Why would she want to shackle herself to two husbands when she hadn’t even liked the one she’d had? Neither Tyler nor I were Frank Woodhouse, though. We wouldn’t hurt her. While I would offer her the baser aspects of fucking—and being claimed by two men at once—she would always be given her pleasure. She would be cherished and sheltered, protected and possessed. We were the men for her and she would just have to come to discover that.
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER THREE
     
    EMILY
     
    As I helped the women collect dishes and plates, bowls and platters from the picnic tables and place them in baskets to be taken home, I tried to be involved in the conversations that swirled around me. While the women from town had always been wary of Frank, they’d never been fearful of me. They often veered away from us when we were together, but I had never been bothered by it, for I understood. With him gone, they had been nothing but kind throughout the picnic and I was glad I’d come. It was hard to keep up with the chatter as I kept an eye on the two men who had come to the house. I’d been