Husbands for Hire Trilogy by Kelly Eileen Hake

Author:Kelly Eileen Hake [Hake, Kelly Eileen]
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-62836-271-8
Publisher: Barbour Books
Published: 2012-10-08T04:00:00+00:00

Chase tensed. Williams shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near her. It didn’t have anything to do with their differences in background either. Miss Lyman had bested the bully, but Williams wouldn’t leave with his tail tucked between his legs.

No. The man wanted to win, he wanted a wife, and he wanted to make her pay for it. His predatory hunger as he eyed Miss Lyman was tinged with malice. Like a cat tracking a mouse.

Some of the other men seemed to pick up on the same thing. A low rumble of dissent grew to more audible grumbles. But, as Granger had filled him in, Williams was a bull-of-the-woods. Leader of at least one work crew with an established temper, he carried enough weight to quell any outright challenge.

Sheep. Dunstan shook his head, disgusted with the lot of them. A man determined to win her wouldn’t leave it to Miss Lyman to refuse Williams. He’d stake his claim now by objecting.

Yet here stood more than a dozen burly men, doing nothing.

The problem didn’t lie with Miss Lyman. These fools couldn’t know whether she schemed her way into Hope Falls. All they saw was a wealthy, beautiful woman willing to work alongside them to make a go of this sawmill. They wanted her—Chase could all but sniff it in the air. But they were cowards.

Riordan stepped directly in front of Williams and shook his head. At about the same time, a fellow with round glasses pushed forward from way in the back. No lumberjack here. Everything from his slight build to his neatly pressed suit to the words he spoke set him apart from the men surrounding him.

“Now listen here, Williams. Miss Lyman ought to be a man’s first choice.” He cast a nervous glance toward Granger and swallowed. Hard. “If he’s to enjoy courting her, I mean to say. Thinking she would accept the attentions of a man who pursues her only after he fails with another is preposterous.”

This one wouldn’t last a minute if Williams started swinging, but Williams didn’t look inclined to hit him. And Chase knew it wasn’t just because the smitten engineer ranked higher. It was because Williams plain out didn’t need to bother.

The engineer’s words didn’t put the upstart in place; they sent a ripple of unease through the room. With Miss Thompson no longer available, every man who’d declared an interest in her found himself looking at the remaining women instead. They knew good and well that if Williams went, they could be next.

“Are you planning to kick Clump out along with me then?” Williams played on their discomfort. “For that matter, how many more of you will be gone when the next bride’s off the table?”

“Don’t be silly.” Miss Lyman’s laugh tinkled through the throng. If Chase hadn’t been standing close enough to see how tense she’d become, he’d have believed her little act. The other men perked up for her decision. “We foresaw this little issue. That’s why we asked you all to name two of us early on.

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