Read Online Daniel's Bride by Joanne Hill - Free Book Online

She appears to have a
great deal of respect for marriage.” Especially, he thought drily, if she was
saving herself for it.
    Hugh cursed blatantly down the line. Then he paused. “Did
you happen to mention the, aaah –”
    He appeared to be having trouble saying the word. “The
annulment?” Daniel said for him. “Yes. I did.”
    “Good.” Hugh hesitated, coughed. “And?”
    “It held even less appeal. The idea that not only was she
jilted by her fiancé, but that she would effectively be “annulled” because of
non-consummation was a no go.” Dryly, he added, “Which doesn’t surprise me.
Considering she as good as admitted she’s a virgin.”
    More expletives flew from Hugh’s mouth. When he had himself
under control, he said, “You may be right about her inclination to conservatism,
but I had lunch with her yesterday and I’m telling you, she won’t admit it, but
that girl craves security.”
    “You got all that from what she didn’t say?”
    “I read between the lines. I could read Joss like a book.”
    “That comes from being married to the same woman for over
forty years.” Daniel kept an eye on the entrance to the rest rooms. “It doesn’t
come from an hour over lunch.”
    He ran his hands over his face in an effort to ease the
tension sitting permanently under his skin. “Hugh, whatever happens, we can’t
mention a thing of this to Grandfather.”
    “Noted,” agreed Hugh. “His health is declining far too
rapidly. I saw him this morning. He’s finding it a strain to even brush
Barnaby.”
    Daniel narrowed his gaze at nothing. “That damned dog has to
be doing more harm than good.”
    “Try getting Barnaby away from your grandfather. It’ll never
happen.”
    A waitress came, took his plate, her gaze lingering a moment
on him. He gave a non-committal smile and focused on the rest room area where he
expected Mel to return from any second. “I’ll be in touch when I know more.”
    He disconnected the call, and slotted the phone into his
pocket.
    Frustration welled inside him. Mel Green would be Mrs Daniel
Christie. If he had to offer more money, he would do it, because he of all
people understood the value of it. He’d spent his life knowing people who
craved money, who loved it with an obsession, and if enough was offered, would
do anything for it. With some people, though, it might take some persuasion, but
everyone had a price. You just had to name it.
    If Mel didn’t agree, yes, he could still find himself a
bride in twenty-four hours from the mix of ex-girlfriends who would have given
up their virginity like a shot for the role. But he wasn’t about to subject
himself to six months of hell with women who possessed sexual allure but whose
self-obsession or need for affirmation would drive him crazy. Sadly, those were
the women he had tended to date.
    He frowned and reached for his glass of wine.
    His mother had been of that ilk. For a moment a picture of
her flashed in his mind. Black hair, darker eyes, a beautiful, fashionable
woman who had begun life as a catwalk model and believed she had found the
answer marrying Duncan Christie, the handsome heir to the Christie fortune.
Now, she was a shadowy figure, a memory of childhood, the mother who had left
suddenly and never came back. At the time, he hadn’t understood that. It had
been years before his father had told him the truth, that she had accepted
money to leave her boys and had chosen not to see them again. His gut clenched
as he thought of Everett and Sean. They’d been babies when their mother had
deserted them. As much as he held them responsible for their own actions now,
for the decisions they’d made and continued to make, they had suffered extreme
loss because of their mother. They had needed someone to love them, not the
housekeeper and the nannies but a real mother and their scarred father had
never had the heart to try and find one for them.
    What a mess they all were, Daniel thought wryly. A mother
who wanted