The Bounty Hunter's Bride

The Bounty Hunter's Bride
Sandra Steffen

VIRGIN BRIDESCelebrate the joys of first love with unforgettable stories by your most beloved authors.THE VIRGIN AND HER SHOTGUN GROOMWounded bounty hunter Kane Slater had sought refuge at Josie McCoy's secluded mountain cabin. Still, the handsome loner was not about to succumb to his nurse's gentle touch. Not even when Josie told him how he could repay her for saving his life…. Because honorable men bent on remaining bachelors didn't trifle with virgins.But how could Kane convince four very angry McCoy men that he hadn't seduced their precious Josie? For they would let him off their mountain only if he took Josie as his wife! And that's how Kane Slater became a shotgun groom…to one very hopeful bride.

“I’ve decided not to stand in your way if you want to end things.” (#ud14dab6c-ec46-5c1b-9bbb-8b7bdc6bf9c3)Letter to Reader (#u95964f5a-c10f-5613-ab09-fa00733205d9)Title Page (#u1624e452-59cb-54d4-89cf-57a17abf985d)Dedication (#u98ea1de9-9a15-5526-8f37-37e100bb1011)About the Author (#u063ddea9-ad9b-5545-834b-55b7ea5c42bf)Letter to Reader (#u292751c7-1ac3-528d-ab5a-d1ef1e233af8)Chapter One (#u25fd5f43-6068-5208-83c0-4c088d849522)Chapter Two (#udf7efaa6-34e0-5843-962b-c0a9f7e8c671)Chapter Three (#ud57d1e74-fabc-587e-a739-d0d9cd1a7f07)Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

“I’ve decided not to stand in your way if you want to end things.”

Kane almost fell off the fence. “You’re not?”

Josie shook her head, albeit sadly. “This was all my fault in the first place—Daddy and the boys forcing you to marry me when you didn’t...we didn’t...I still haven’t...”

Kane tried to relax, but his heart chugged to life. After that, the changes taking place elsewhere in his body made relaxing out of the question.

“I want you to know I’m sorry. I only did it because I wanted you to be my first lover. I still want you to be my first lover, but I’m not going to force anything on you that you don’t want.”

Kane didn’t know how long he’d been staring at Josie’s mouth, but as he watched her lips move, he knew she’d never have to force him to do anything. Because he suddenly found himself wanting to kiss her, long and slow and deep, over and over and over.

Dear Reader,

July brings you the fifth title of Silhouette Romance’s VIRGIN BRIDES promotion. This series is devoted to the beautiful metaphor of the traditional white wedding and the fairy-tale magic of innocence awakened to passionate love on the wedding night. In perennial favorite Sandra Steffen’s offering, The Bounty Hunter’s Bride, a rugged loner finds himself propositioned by the innocent beauty who’d nursed him to health in a remote mountain cabin. He resists her precious gift...but winds up her shotgun groom when her father and four brothers discover their hideaway!

Diana Whitney returns to the Romance lineup with One Man’s Promise, a wonderfully warmhearted story about a struggling FABULOUS FATHER and an adventurous single gal who are brought together by their love for his little girl and a shaggy mutt named Rags. And THE BRUBAKER BRIDES are back! In Cinderella’s Secret Baby, the third book of Carolyn Zane’s charming series, tycoon Mac Brubaker tracks down the poor but proud bride who’d left him the day after their whirlwind wedding, only to discover she’s about to give birth to the newest Brubaker heir....

Wanted: A Family Forever is confirmed bachelor Zach Robinson’s secret wish in this intensely emotional story by Anne Peters. But will marriage-jaded Monica Griffith and her little girl trust him with their hearts? Linda Varner’s twentieth book for Silhouette is book two of THREE WEDDINGS AND A FAMILY. When two go-getters learn they must marry to achieve their dreams, a wedding of convenience results in a Make-Believe Husband...and many sleepless nights! Finally, a loyal assistant agrees to be her boss’s Nine-to-Five Bride in Robin Wells’s sparkling new story, but of course this wife wants her new husband to be a permanent acquisition!

Enjoy each and every Silhouette Romance!

Regards,

Joan Marlow Golan

Senior Editor Silhouette Books

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

The Bounty Hunter’s Bride

Sandra Steffen

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

For my sister-in-law, Rose, whose name suits her so

perfectly, and who was married to my brother, Ron, for

nineteen years and helped make him a lucky man.

And for their children, Eric, Kurt and Kara, who are all

delightful combinations of their parents.

Because of the four of them, the rest of us are a little

luckier, too.

SANDRA STEFFEN

Creating memorable characters is one of Sandra’s favorite aspects of writing. She’s always been a romantic, and is thrilled to be able to spend her days doing what she loves—bringing her characters to life on her computer screen.

Sandra grew up in Michigan, the fourth of ten children, all of whom have taken the old adage “Go forth and multiply” quite literally. Add to this her husband, who is her real-life hero, their four school-age sons who keep their lives in constant motion, their gigantic cat, Percy, and her wonderful friends, in-laws and neighbors, and what do you get? Chaos, of course, but also a wonderful sense of belonging she wouldn’t trade for the world.

Dear Reader,

Ah, life. It’s made up of thousands of firsts. First birthdays, first words, first steps, first loves. But I don’t think there’s a more memorable first for a man or a woman than the first time he or she makes love, for it marks the end of the innocence we call virginity, and the beginning of a person’s sexual awakening. Oh, what an ending and beginning it is! Ancient civilizations held ceremonies for such occasions. Modern man’s ceremonies might be more private, but in this book Josie McCoy still hears the beat of those ancient drums, still feels the heat of those fires. This feisty, witty young woman plans to make her first time memorable. Now, if she can just get her wounded, bounty-hunter husband to cooperate.

Speaking of cooperating, when my editor called and gave me the opportunity to write a book for Silhouette’s VIRGIN BRIDES series, I jumped at the chance to cooperate. The Bounty Hunter’s Bride is my fifteenth book for Silhouette, and while I’ve enjoyed writing every one, Josie’s story is my favorite. For you see, when those drums started beating for Kane and Josie, I couldn’t help but remember...

Here’s to happy reading and happy memories!

Always,

Chapter One

There was pain. There was darkness. And there was snow. Kane Slater had lost track of how long his life had consisted of those three stark realities. One hour? Four? Ten? Had there ever been anything else? He knew the sky was up. Therefore, that’s where the darkness and the snow had to be coming from. The pain, on the other hand, was coming from all directions: from the sting of the wind on his face, the prickling numbness in his feet and the piercing ache in his shoulder.

He’d tracked men through higher mountains than these, in worse blizzards, but at the time he hadn’t been freezing, or bleeding, or lost. Taking as deep a breath as he could without moving his shoulder a fraction more than he had to, he pulled one foot out of the deep snow and took a tortuous step.

There was pain.

He took another step. There was darkness.

He drew in another slow, careful breath. There was snow.

Pain. Darkness. Snow. Pain. Darkness. Snow. And a flickering yellow light.

A yellow light? He breathed too deeply, clutched his arm and nearly blacked out. Being more careful, he strained to see through the blinding snow. High on the next ridge, a light flickered. Maybe he could make it to that light before he died. Or maybe he was already dead and was having one of those out-of-body experiences and was being drawn up toward that light. Not likely. He had a pretty good idea which direction he was going when he died. And it wasn’t up.

He’d never planned to grow old, but by God, he didn’t plan to bleed to death on some nondescript little mountain in Tennessee, either. He closed his eyes. Since the light was still there when he opened them again, he concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other.

Blasted blizzard. Blasted weakness. Blasted poor excuse for a mountain.

Josie McCoy stopped humming long enough to open the door on the woodstove and add two more logs to the glowing coals. The fire crackled and popped, the flames curling upward like a living, breathing being that gobbled up wood in exchange for blessed, glowing heat. She closed the door and latched it securely before turning in a circle inside the old hunting cabin high on a narrow bluff in the Blue Ridge Mountains.