The Marriage Takeover by Lee Wilkinson

Author:Lee Wilkinson [Wilkinson, Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, C429, Kat, Extratorrents
ISBN: 9781459211063
Google: 45rTn8VAp6kC
Amazon: B004XVSV80
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2011-05-22T21:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

SEEING him glance in her direction, aware she must look flushed and agitated, she turned away to stare resolutely out of the window.

They were driving through streets that in the afternoon heat were practically empty. It seemed that Las Vegas snoozed during the day and only blossomed into brilliant life after dark.

Now last night’s ribbons of laser and neon had faded into insignificance, eclipsed by the bright sun, it looked even more unreal.

Remembering the instant wedding chapel she’d seen the previous evening, Cassandra felt a sudden distaste. This would be very different from the simple church wedding she had planned.

Though as it was a forced marriage to the wrong man, what did it matter? Maybe the very fact that it was so different would help to make it bearable…

But that sounded as though she had accepted the situation, whereas it still seemed inconceivable that she was about to become the wife of a man she hardly knew, and was closer to hating than loving.

Even when she had agreed to marry Lang, and put on what was to be her wedding dress, part of her mind had found it impossible to credit that it really was going to happen. She had felt a sense of disbelief, of unreality…

When they reached the edge of town, as though it had lain in wait like some playful animal, a hot desert wind sprang up.

It pounced on the fine sandy grit at the side of the unpaved road, swirling it into dust-devils, and bowled a tangle of dry and spiky vegetation along like tumble-weed, before ruffling Lang’s thick blond hair and tossing Cassandra’s tangle of loose curls.

Since they’d left the Golden Phoenix neither of them had spoken, each busy with their thoughts. Now, slanting her a glance, Lang broke the silence to remark, ‘Soon be there.’

A moment or two later a sprawl of pastel-washed buildings came into view. Amongst them were several places to eat, some turn-of-the-century shops, and a saloon with a wooden railing and boardwalk.

The scene was charming and colourful, with bougainvillaea-draped walls and several varieties of cacti flowering in brilliant profusion. A few people were wandering about, but most of them looked like tourists, rather than locals.

In the centre of the village, in a dusty, sun-baked square, stood a little white chapel with narrow windows and adobe walls. Simple and picturesque, Spanish in style, its bell was sharply outlined against a cloudless, cornflower-blue sky.

‘This is it,’ Lang remarked, bringing the car to a halt beneath the shade of an old, gnarled tree.

Surprised, she admitted, ‘It isn’t a bit what I’d expected.’

‘Although the Chapel of San Miguel is still used for “instant weddings” it’s somewhat better than average. There are no plastic flowers or highly scented candles, no guitar-playing Elvis look-a-likes singing “Love me Tender”, and no warm “champagne”.’

Jumping out, he came round to open the door and help her out, before handing her her bouquet.

Looking around, wanting to buy a little time, she asked, ‘Is this a genuine, lived-in village, or

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