Read Online Hired Bride by Jackie Merritt - Free Book Online Page A

guilty.”
    â€œVery,” Gwen said sadly. Sighing, she got up without even having sipped her water. “I’m going to gather my brood and go home, Ramona.”
    Ramona looked disappointed. “I was hoping to hear some details of the wedding, and how you got along with Zane.”
    Gwen sighed again. “I know you were, and I promise to tell you everything. But not right now, Ramona. Please understand, all I want to do now is take my kids, go home and try to settle my nerves. I need to get back into my own routine, in my own little house. I saw such opulence this weekend that nothing I have seems to have any value. I’ve got to get back on my own track.”
    Nodding empathetically, Ramona got up. “If you feel up to it later on, call me.”
    â€œYes, I’ll do that.”
    Within an hour of being in her own home with her kids, Gwen started feeling better. She made macaroni-and-cheese and hot dogs for supper, and she and her little family enjoyed the simple meal. The kids’ childish chatter while they ate sounded like music to Gwen’s ears. This was her reality, and it was beyond value.
    Â 
    Zane wondered why he was so on edge as he wandered the rooms of his house that evening. The weekend had gone remarkably well. His scheme had worked perfectly, so why didn’t he feel good about it? Certainly he felt no remorse over protecting himself from the determined matchmaking of his sisters andsisters-in-law. No, the gnawing sensation in the pit of his stomach had something to do with Gwen. The truth, he finally had to admit, was that he wished he had not involved Gwen Hutton in his little game.
    Gwen was like no woman he’d met before. He’d dated widows but never any with children. Then again, had he really gotten to know even one of the women he’d wined, dined and romanced since Melanie Wilson’s cataclysmic rejection? It was entirely possible that he hadn’t given any woman the chance to talk about her family.
    Zane tried defending to himself his sometimes hot, but never sincere, relationships with women by dredging up the pain he’d suffered over Melanie’s desertion, and he vowed once more never to put himself through that again. But that all seemed so unconnected to Gwen. It was as though Gwen Hutton stood alone and separate from other women, an independent spirit, a tormenting delight when wearing a wet T-shirt, a tantalizing glamour girl in sophisticated clothing.
    After several restless hours of soul-searching, Zane could no longer avoid the truth: he wanted to see Gwen again.
    But just how did a man “see” a woman who didn’t date? He’d never heard of such a thing, he thought in frustration. How could Gwen have dozens of reasons for not dating? It had to be an exaggeration, and there was only one reason why she would overstate her feelings about not dating: She did not want to see him again.
    That conclusion was shocking for Zane. Women always wanted to see him again. How many times had he changed his phone number to avoid some determined woman’s incessant calls? But he knew in hissoul that Gwen would not call. And what would she do if he phoned her? Hang up in his ear, or make polite excuses?
    Should he call her and find out? Zane approached the telephone warily, then remembered that he didn’t know her home phone number. For that matter, he didn’t know her business phone number.
    Locating a telephone book, he easily found a G. Hutton with a street address. Sitting back in his chair, he stared at the phone with a knot in his gut. Was he going to call her, or wasn’t he?
    Fifteen minutes later he reached for the phone and punched out her number.
    After dialing Gwen’s number a good dozen times and getting a busy signal, Zane slammed the phone down in frustration. Now, just who would she be talking to for so long? It had to be a man, he decided with a dark scowl. She’d out and out lied about not doing