One Hot Texan. Jane Sullivan

that was all he’d delivered. She sighed with relief, feeling as if her one-way trip to hell had just been canceled. When she finally got around to doing that, she swore it would be with a man she loved and a man who loved her, too, even if it took forever to find him. A man she was married to, for heaven’s sake. She’d never make the same mistake her mother had. Never.

      She inched her gaze around. “But if we didn’t… I mean, if all we did is sleep, then what are you doing here?”

      Cole sat on the chair and pulled his boots on, then stood. He sauntered to the bed where Virginia sat. He towered over her, and she had to tilt her head to meet his gaze.

      “I have a proposition for you.”

      Virginia closed her eyes. “Oh, God.”

      “Take it easy, sweetheart. Not that kind of proposition.” He sat on the bed next to her. She instinctively shrank away from him, and he slumped with frustration. “Are you always this uptight?”

      “Yes! When I find a naked man in my bedroom who won’t go away, yes! I get a little uptight!”

      “Is that what you really want? For me to go away?”

      “Yes!”

      “Sorry. That’s not an option.” He checked his watch. “Look, Virginia, I’m a little short on time here, so I’m going to get right to the point. Listen up and try to follow, because I don’t want to have to explain it twice. My grandmother died six months ago. She had a ranch about fifteen miles south of Coldwater that she willed to me, but she attached a few conditions. Part of the deal is that I have to be married and live on the ranch for six months before I get the deed, because she had this crazy idea that I needed to get married and settle down. Are you following me?”

      Virginia’s brain still felt fuzzy. “Yeah. I think so.”

      “Living on the ranch for six months is no problem. It’s the other thing. The marriage thing.”

      She stared at him blankly.

      “If I’m going to inherit that property, I need a wife, and I need one now.”

      He took a deep breath, then rubbed his hand across his mouth as if he’d give anything to hold back the words that were getting ready to come out.

      “What I’m trying to say is…will you marry me?”