Bride For Sale

  *****

  Race glared at the stack of bills threatening to topple over and bury his desk. The phone gave a muffled ring. He ignored it - just another creditor - and turned his gaze to the smaller stack of mail in front of him. He scanned the flowery script on the shocking pink, heavily scented paper, then crumbled the sheet and tossed it at the overflowing wastebasket behind him.

  Another loser. So far his carefully worded ad in the Chicago newspaper Personals had garnered him nothing but the weirdos, the wackos and the desperate. Weren't there any normal women left in the world?

  "No luck?" An overly cheerful voice intruded, followed by the blond head of his cousin, Colin.

  "No." Race bit back a more hostile reply. Colin might believe they were in competition in Grandmere's bizarre race, but he didn't deserve to bear the brunt of Race's increasingly black mood.

  Colin moved into the cramped, cluttered little office and peered over Race's shoulder at the next letter. "Hmmm, very interesting," he drawled and picked up a photo of a well-endowed woman dressed in a tight black leather outfit complete with chains and a whip.

  "If you're into S&M. Take her, she's yours."

  Colin chuckled and dropped the photo. "Sorry, Cuz. I've already got a woman picked out and I don't think she'll want to share. And remember you're looking for mama material, not a Hot Mama."

  His cousin's good humor further depressed Race.

  "Why are you even considering Grandmere's bizarre contest?" Colin asked.

  "I need the money when the balloon payment comes due next spring if I'm going to save my ranch."

  Colin perched on the edge of the desk and his grin widened. "Give it up, cuz. I'm going to win anyway."

  "Oh, has Miss Elizabeth Ashley Colston finally agreed to your proposal?"

  Colin's grin faltered. "No, not exactly, but she will soon."

  "Yeah, and my horses will grow wings and fly. That woman hates the very ground any Reed walks on."

  A frown crossed Colin's face. "So she says. But she will marry me. Grandmere's little contest gives me just what I need to push Lizzie over the edge into marriage."

  "I hope you know what you're doing."

  "Me too."

  "I don't get your attraction to married life. Why settle for hamburger every night when there's so many dishes on the menu?"

  "Yeah? Like this little serving of blood pudding?" Colin pointed at the leather-clad dominatrix staring up at them from the photo. His tone turned serious. "Marriage can work, but this isn't the way to go about it. Forget Grandmere's crazy plan. Sell me the ranch, pay off your loan and start over."

  For one weak moment Race considered his cousin's offer, then his determination hardened. He'd worked too long and too hard to get his horse rescue ranch up and running to quit now. "So you can build a mall and tract homes? I don't think so."

  "Don't forget the industrial complex." There wasn't a bit of apology in Colin's tone, he believed in his goal as much as Race disliked it. "Council Falls needs new businesses if it wants to keep its young people and grow. Your ranch is a prime location. My offer is more than fair. You can accept it now," Colin paused, "or after I win Grandmere's little baby race."

  "I think we're both forgetting the other contestant in this crazy contest. What about Travis, your brother?"

  "Haven't forgotten him. With the way he feels about women, I don't think he'd be interested, not for any amount of money. Besides, he's off somewhere on the Amazon hunting bugs, so I doubt Grandmere has even been able to notify him about the race."

  "Maybe, but Travis has always had a way of popping in and messing up plans when least expected," Race muttered, remembering more than one time that his oldest cousin had caused him grief.

  "Think about it, Race," Colin picked up his previous train of thought. "For the last fifteen years you've fought against being manipulated by the Reed family. If you go through with this, you'll not only play right into Grandmere's hands..." he paused at the door. "...You'll bring another Reed into the world."

  Race shrugged. His name might be Reed, but he wasn't and would never be part of the charmed circle. He wasn't about to share with Colin his plan to manipulate his grandmother's contest to his advantage. Nor did he intend to create any more Reeds.