The Rancher's Surprise Marriage. Susan Crosby

Scott. I wanted a home. Some stability.”

      “You didn’t love him?”

      “It’s…complicated.”

      “I’ve got nothin’ but time, Margaret.”

      “So, you’ve decided to call me Margaret? Trying to be different?”

      “I’m thinking Margaret suits you.” Maggie was who the world saw—strong and feisty. Margaret was vulnerable…and passionate.

      She met his gaze and smiled a little. He ignored the tug inside his chest.

      “Scott and I met when we were set up to attend a premiere together by our mutual agent and our publicists. It wasn’t the first time I’d done such a thing. It’s part of the job, good publicity for both parties, yada, yada. But things clicked between Scott and me. We liked each other right away and started dating, as much as our situations allowed. We discovered one of the biggest things we had in common was that we’d both lost our parents at a young age. My grandparents had taken me in, raised me with a very strict upbringing, one I didn’t rebel from. He’d grown up in the foster system. We were both searching for a fantasy life, I think.”

      “I think we all do that,” he said, glad to see she’d calmed some.

      “You, too?”

      “Of course. I was even married once. One big fantasy, that’s for sure. Ended with a hard dose of reality.” He hardly ever thought about her anymore, it had been so long. A man who didn’t put the past behind him couldn’t move forward. He’d been bitter for a while, but time had cured that, too.

      “Well, Scott understood the pressures of the business, as well as the media, of course. One night he asked me to marry him and I said yes, figuring we had a better-than-average chance for success, since we had similar backgrounds.”

      “You didn’t love him? He didn’t love you?”

      “We each said so, but looking back, I don’t know. I think we got caught up in the romance of it all. And then before we had time to sit back and reconsider, our publicity machines went into overdrive and the whole world was involved.”

      “You could’ve backed out. Better that than make a bigger mistake.”

      She turned around, leaned against the window frame and finally looked at him. “Of course you’re right. But by then an old friend of mine, Jenny Warren, had called and asked a big favor. Her family is about to open two luxury hotels, The Taka San Francisco and The Taka Kyoto. The San Francisco opening is scheduled for around the end of September. Jenny asked if I’d hold the wedding there, have a huge, lavish event. They’d assumed all costs. I could just tell them what I want, and it would be done. Publicity for everyone. Win-win, right? Scott wanted the big splash, too, so I said yes. And regretted it right away. ‘Big’ isn’t my style.”

      “So you felt stuck?”

      “I never put that word to it. I felt…rushed. But then I had this movie to film, and Scott had his, so there wasn’t time to hash it out.”

      “In all the headlines I read today, I didn’t see anything about your engagement being over, only that you were caught kissing a cowboy. In fact, nothing from your…Scott at all.”

      “That’s because I told him I needed a couple of days to figure out how to handle it. Then instead of staying home and working it out alone, I handled it by taking myself to a cowboy bar and dancing with a tall, dark and handsome cattleman. And then kissing him so that a photographer could film it.” She put a hand on his chest, lightly, briefly, and smiled.

      “At least no one knows about us sharing a motel room,” he said. “I’m sure my foreman, who came to get me, put two and two together, but he won’t say a word.” He finally gave in to the need to touch her and brushed her hair back from her face with his fingertips. He wouldn’t mind hauling her off to her bedroom. Wouldn’t mind it at all.

      “I’m so sorry for all the trouble this has caused you, Tony.”

      Hell, his family’s admiration of him had gone up a notch or two. It was a shame that’s what it took for them to see how successful he was. He’d built his ranch from almost nothing, making it what it was today. He was damn proud of it. He still had a ways to go, but he’d done it himself—mostly, anyway. He had something to prove, especially to his father, but sleeping with a movie star wasn’t how he’d envisioned proving himself.

      “Well, now, Margaret,” Tony said, putting on the cowboy act thick for her, “seems to me I got somethin’ special to keep in my memory out of it. I can live with people teasin’ me.” He leaned in to kiss her.

      “Could you live with it for a few more months?” she asked before their lips touched.

      He pulled back, met her gaze, saw that her jitters were back. “Meaning?”

      “Last night when I said I knew who you were, that you owned the ranch, you said your ranch owns you. Am I remembering that right?”

      “You are.”

      She drew a deep breath. “Okay. So, then, I have a proposition for you.”

      The last one had resulted in their being naked together. If this one involved that again, he’d be saying yes faster than a bronc bursts out of a chute.

      “I’m listenin’, darlin’.”

      “Marry me.”