Anne Ha - Long, Tall Temporary Husband

“Let me get this straight,” Taylor said. “You want me—your wife—to pretend to be your wife?” “Let me get this straight,” Taylor said. “You want me—your wife—to pretend to be your wife?” “Yes. Pretend to be my loving, affectionate, definitely-not-estranged wife.” “I’m a waitress, Jake. Not an actress.” “I know it will be a challenge, but I’ll make it worth your while. All I need you to do is come back to Montana with me. You’ll have a free place to stay and all the food you can eat for a week.” “Free room and board, Jake? For your wife? How generous.” “Taylor...” “Getting back together is not a smart idea.” “It’s only for a week. We can tolerate each other that long, can’t we?” Unfortunately, Taylor realized, it wasn’t just an issue of tolerating each other. They also had to keep their hands to themselves. And with the chemistry between them still as strong as ever, it was going to be a challenge. A big challenge. Letter to Reader Dear Reader, Unforgettable Bride, by bestselling author Annette Broadrick, is May’s VIRGIN BRIDES selection, and the much-requested spin-off to her DAUGHTERS OF TEXAS series. Rough, gruff rodeo star Bobby Metcalf agreed to a quickie marriage—sans honeymoon!—with virginal Casey Carmichael. But four years later, he’s still a married man—one intent on being a husband to Casey in every sense.... Fabulous author Arlene James offers the month’s FABULOUS FATHERS title, Falling for a Father of Four. Orren Ellis was a single dad to a brood of four, so hiring sweet Mattie Kincaid seemed the perfect solution. Until he found himself falling for this woman he could never have.... Stella Bagwell introduces the next generation of her bestselling TWINS ON THE DOORSTEP series. In The Rancher’s Blessed Event, an ornery bronc rider must open his heart both to the woman who’d betrayed him...and her child yet to be born. Who can resist a sexy, stubborn cowboy—particularly when he’s your husband? Well, Taylor Cassidy tries in Anne Ha’s Long, Tall Temporary Husband. But will she succeed? And Sharon De Vita’s irresistible trio, LULLABIES AND LOVE, continues with Baby with a Badge, where a bachelor cop finds a baby in his patrol car...and himself in desperate need of a woman’s touch! Finally, new author C.J. Hill makes her commanding debut with a title that sums it up best: Baby Dreams and Wedding Schemes. Romance has everything you need from new beginnings to tried-and-true favorites. Enjoy each and every novel this month, and every month! Warm Regards! Joan Marlow Golan Senior Editor, Silhouette Romance Please address questions and book requests to: Silhouette Reader Service U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269 Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3 Title Page Long, Tall Temporary Husband Anne Ha www.millsandboon.co.uk Dedication To both of our families with much love About the Author ANNE HA is really the award-winning husband/wife writing team of Anne Ha and Joe Thoron. The couple met at Amherst College, where they both majored in English and Women’s Studies—a great preparation for writing romance novels. Anne and Joe have always loved books and particularly enjoy reading aloud to each other. They also love to garden on warm summer days, to travel and to meet all different kinds of people. They can’t imagine a world without “The X-Files,” ice cream and naughty cats. You can write to them at P.O. Box 225, Amherst, MA 01004-0225. Prologue Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Epilogue Copyright

“Let me get this straight,” Taylor said. “You want me—your wife—to pretend to be your wife?”

“Yes. Pretend to be my loving, affectionate, definitely-not-estranged wife.”

“I’m a waitress, Jake. Not an actress.”

“I know it will be a challenge, but I’ll make it worth your while. All I need you to do is come back to Montana with me. You’ll have a free place to stay and all the food you can eat for a week.”

“Free room and board, Jake? For your wife? How generous.”

“Taylor...”

“Getting back together is not a smart idea.”

“It’s only for a week. We can tolerate each other that long, can’t we?”

Unfortunately, Taylor realized, it wasn’t just an issue of tolerating each other. They also had to keep their hands to themselves.

And with the chemistry between them still as strong as ever, it was going to be a challenge.

A big challenge.

Dear Reader,

Unforgettable Bride, by bestselling author Annette Broadrick, is May’s VIRGIN BRIDES selection, and the much-requested spin-off to her DAUGHTERS OF TEXAS series. Rough, gruff rodeo star Bobby Metcalf agreed to a quickie marriage—sans honeymoon!—with virginal Casey Carmichael. But four years later, he’s still a married man—one intent on being a husband to Casey in every sense....

Fabulous author Arlene James offers the month’s FABULOUS FATHERS title, Falling for a Father of Four. Orren Ellis was a single dad to a brood of four, so hiring sweet Mattie Kincaid seemed the perfect solution. Until he found himself falling for this woman he could never have.... Stella Bagwell introduces the next generation of her bestselling TWINS ON THE DOORSTEP series. In The Rancher’s Blessed Event, an ornery bronc rider must open his heart both to the woman who’d betrayed him...and her child yet to be born.

Who can resist a sexy, stubborn cowboy—particularly when he’s your husband? Well, Taylor Cassidy tries in Anne Ha’s Long, Tall Temporary Husband. But will she succeed? And Sharon De Vita’s irresistible trio, LULLABIES AND LOVE, continues with Baby with a Badge, where a bachelor cop finds a baby in his patrol car...and himself in desperate need of a woman’s touch! Finally, new author C.J. Hill makes her commanding debut with a title that sums it up best: Baby Dreams and Wedding Schemes.

Romance has everything you need from new beginnings to tried-and-true favorites. Enjoy each and every novel this month, and every month!

Warm Regards!

Joan Marlow Golan Senior Editor, Silhouette Romance

Please address questions and book requests to:

Silhouette Reader Service

U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269

Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To both of our families with much love

ANNE HA is really the award-winning husband/wife writing team of Anne Ha and Joe Thoron. The couple met at Amherst College, where they both majored in English and Women’s Studies—a great preparation for writing romance novels.

Anne and Joe have always loved books and particularly enjoy reading aloud to each other. They also love to garden on warm summer days, to travel and to meet all different kinds of people. They can’t imagine a world without “The X-Files,” ice cream and naughty cats. You can write to them at P.O. Box 225, Amherst, MA 01004-0225.

Prologue

Taylor tossed her leather suitcase onto the bed, yanked open the zippers and threw back the top. “I hate you, Jake! And I hate this godforsaken ranch!”

She stalked to the dresser and pulled out a drawer. She carried it to the bed and upended it over the suitcase. Nightgowns and lingerie tumbled out.

Dropping the empty drawer onto the bedspread, she stormed back over to the dresser for another drawer. Socks, leggings, cotton tank tops. It all went into the suitcase. The drawer joined the other on the bed.

Jake stood behind her, tension filling his body, a look of disgust on his face. “You’re a spoiled brat, Taylor.”

T-shirts, jeans, blouses, slacks. “Go to hell!”

“And a wimp. Go ahead, run home to your parents. I’m sure they’ll make everything all right. No reason they should stop babying you just because you’re an adult.”

She threw open the closet door. Grabbing a few dresses, she crammed them into the suitcase, hangers and all.

The suitcase was a disaster. Sleeves and hems stuck out over the edge. Everything lay in a crumpled mess, but Taylor didn’t care.

She darted into the bathroom, grabbed her toiletry kit from a drawer in the vanity and jammed handfuls of cosmetics into it. Her eye pencil snapped going into the kit. She hurled the pieces into the trash can.

Jake loomed in the doorway. “One month, Taylor. You lasted one month.” His voice dripped scorn. “Even my mother lasted longer than that.”

She snatched up the toiletry kit and barreled past him into the bedroom. “It wasn’t one month,” she muttered. “It was five weeks. Five of the most horrible weeks of my—”

“Privileged; coddled, self-absorbed life.”

She dropped the toiletry kit onto the pile of rumpled clothes and pounded on the pile with her fists until it was compact enough to get the top closed. The zipper stuck halfway, blocked by a T-shirt. Giving a fluent curse, she ripped the offending item out of the way, tossed it to the ground and finished with the zipper.

She whirled to face him. “You know, if you’d ever stopped working long enough to have a conversation with me, we might have had a chance.”

“We talked plenty.”

“Yeah, right. You talked. Taylor, I need you. Taylor. Oh, God, Taylor. I can’t resist you, Taylor...” She glared at him. “It was always when we were—when we were—”

“Having sex? Well, what do you expect? Our whole relationship is based on physical attraction. Aside from that we have nothing in common.” He laughed bitterly. “I should have known you were off limits the moment I saw you in that three-hundred-dollar swimsuit. How could a rich city slicker like you ever be happy in Montana?”

Taylor slung her purse over her shoulder, grabbed the heavy suitcase and marched out the door. She dragged it to the top of the stairs and tossed it down. It fell end over end, landing with a thud on the floorboards below.

She descended the steps, picked it up and heaved it onto the porch.

Jake’s pickup was parked outside, the keys on the dash as usual. She lurched over to it, dumped her suitcase in the back and got in. “Go muck out some stalls, Jake.”

Anger radiated from him, but he didn’t move to stop her. “Something you’ve never done.”

“I married you, Jake, not your ranch.”

“And you thought I’d do nothing but pamper you? You’re a fool.”

Taylor fired up the truck. Through the open window she said, “Find another wife, Jake. Some empty-headed country girl who’s never been to the big bad city. She’ll be happy here. You can shovel horse manure together.”

“Don’t come back, Taylor. You don’t belong here.”

She fixed him with her most withering glare. “Believe me, Jake. Nothing could ever convince me to set foot on this ranch again.”

Taylor threw the truck into gear and peeled out in a cloud of dust.

She got fifty yards away before she jammed on the brakes, made a reckless three-point turn and sped back to the house. She pulled up in front of Jake, ripped the wedding set from her finger and threw both rings into the dirt at his feet. Then, without a word, she stomped on the gas and roared down the drive.