Fiancé in Name Only Read online

  Make-believe romance has never felt so real! From USA TODAY bestselling author Maureen Child.

  Bestselling writer Micah Hunter lives a nomadic life. Temporarily settling in a small town for research is outside his comfort zone. Only his tantalizing landlady can lure him from the isolation of his rented mansion. Because Kelly Flynn stirs him as no woman ever has.

  And she needs his help. To placate her grandmother, Kelly asks Micah to pretend they’re engaged. He relishes the chance to be with Kelly...until acting like they’re in love begins to feel like more than an act!

  This month, Harlequin Desire celebrates its 35th anniversary! Thank you, reader, for being a part of our story!

  * * *

  His voice came from right behind her.

  At the open doorway, she turned and almost bumped into his chest.

  “Oh, sorry.” Wow, was his chest really that broad, or was she just so close it looked like he was taking up the whole world? Heat poured from his body, reaching for her, tingling her nerve endings. And he smelled so good, too.

  Kelly shook her head and ignored the flutter of expectation awakening in the pit of her stomach. Deliberately, she fought for lighthearted, then tipped her head back and smiled up at him. “You know, I think I should get another point.”

  “For what?”

  “For surprising you by not asking questions.”

  He studied her as if he were trying to figure out a puzzle. But after a second or two, he nodded. “You want to keep score? Then add this into the mix.”

  He pulled her in close and kissed her.

  Dear Reader,

  I’m honored to help celebrate the 35th anniversary of Harlequin Desire. For many of those years, I was a secret Desire wannabe. I was writing for Harlequin Special Edition—a line I loved then and still love—but I also wanted desperately to write for Harlequin Desire. I loved the intense story lines, the tight focus on the romance, and the sparks between a man and a woman who were meant to be together. It wasn’t all about passion in the sexual sense, but in the emotional sense, too. Strong feelings simmered so close to the surface that they threatened to singe a reader’s fingers.

  I was first published with Special Edition in 1992. It wasn’t until 2006 that I published my first Harlequin Desire, with the Million Dollar Catch trilogy (The Substitute Millionaire, The Unexpected Millionaire, The Ultimate Millionaire). The pleasure I felt the first time I saw my name splashed across one of those gorgeous red covers stays with me today. The achievement of a fourteen-year dream.

  Happy anniversary, Harlequin Desire, and thank you for thirty-five years of entertaining reads!

  With love,

  Author of the Happily Inc. romances

  Maureen Child

  Fiancé in Name Only

  Maureen Child writes for the Harlequin Desire line and can’t imagine a better job. A seven-time finalist for a prestigious Romance Writers of America RITA® Award, Maureen is an author of more than one hundred romance novels. Her books regularly appear on bestseller lists and have won several awards, including a Prism Award, a National Readers’ Choice Award, a Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence and a Golden Quill Award. She is a native Californian but has recently moved to the mountains of Utah.

  Books by Maureen Child

  Harlequin Desire

  The Fiancée Caper

  After Hours with Her Ex

  Triple the Fun

  Double the Trouble

  The Baby Inheritance

  Maid Under the Mistletoe

  The Tycoon’s Secret Child

  A Texas-Sized Secret

  Little Secrets: His Unexpected Heir

  Fiancé in Name Only

  Pregnant by the Boss

  Having Her Boss’s Baby

  A Baby for the Boss

  Snowbound with the Boss

  Visit her Author Profile page at Harlequin.com, or maureenchild.com, for more titles.

  Join Harlequin My Rewards today and earn a FREE ebook!

  Click here to Join Harlequin My Rewards

  http://www.harlequin.com/myrewards.html?mt=loyalty&cmpid=EBOOBPBPA201602010002

  To my mom, Sallye Carberry, and my aunt, Margie Fontenot, for too many reasons to list. They are the original Matriarchs. Love you.

  Dear Reader,

  Happy 35th anniversary to Harlequin Desire! You know, there’s a reason Desire is so popular. With so many wonderful writers and stories that can make you laugh or cry or both, it’s no wonder that Harlequin Desire continues to shine in the publishing world! I’m so honored to work with them and here’s to another thirty-five!

  In Fiancé in Name Only, you’ll meet Micah and Kelly, and hopefully, you’ll love them as much as I do. Fish-out-of-water stories always appeal to me and this one is no different. Micah knows nothing about families or friends or small towns and suddenly he’s learning way too much about all of them.

  Kelly thinks she’s happy. Content. Until Micah pulls the rug out from under her. Then she finally realizes there’s more to life than being safe. These two were very hardheaded but so much fun.

  I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did writing it. Visit me on Facebook and let me know what you think! And until next time, happy reading!

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Excerpt from The Cowboy’s Christmas Proposition by Silver James

  One

  “Sorry about this,” Micah Hunter said. “I really liked you a lot, but you had to die.”

  Leaning back in his desk chair, Micah’s gaze scanned the last few lines of the scene he’d just finished writing. He gave a small sigh of satisfaction at the death of one of his more memorable characters, then closed the lid of the laptop.

  He’d already been working for four hours and it was past time for a break. “Problem is,” he muttered, standing up and walking to the window overlooking the front of the house, “there’s nowhere to go.”

  Idly he pulled out his cell phone, hit speed dial, then listened to the phone ring for a second or two. Finally a man came on the other line.

  “How did I let you talk me into coming here for six months?”

  Sam Hellman laughed. “Good to talk to you, too, man.”

  “Yeah.” Of course his best friend was amused. Hell, if Micah wasn’t the one stranded here in small-town America, he might be amused, too. As it was, though, he didn’t see a damn thing funny about it. Micah pushed one hand through his hair and stared out at the so-called view. The house he was currently renting was an actual Victorian mansion set back from a wide street that was lined by gigantic, probably ancient, trees, now gold and red as their leaves changed and died. The sky was a brilliant blue, the autumn sun peeking out from behind thick white clouds. It was quiet, he thought. So quiet it was damn near creepy.

  And since the suspense/horror novels Micah was known for routinely hit number one on the New York Times bestseller list, he knew a thing or two about creepy.

  “Seriously, Sam, I’m stuck here for another four months because you talked me into signing the lease.”

  Sam laughed. “You’r
e stuck there because you never could turn down a challenge.”

  Harsh but true. Nobody knew that about Micah better than Sam. They’d met when they were both kids, serving on the same US Navy ship. Sam had run away from his wealthy family’s expectations, and Micah had been running from a past filled with foster homes, lies and broken promises. The two of them had connected and then stayed in touch when their enlistments were up.

  Sam had returned to New York and the literary agency his grandfather had founded—discovering, after being away for a while, that he actually wanted to be a part of the family business. Micah had taken any construction job he could find while he spent every other waking moment working on a novel.

  Even as a kid, Micah had known he wanted to write books. And when he finally started writing, it seemed the words couldn’t pour out of his mind fast enough. He typed long into the night, losing himself in the story developing on the screen. Finishing that first book, he’d felt like a champion runner—exhausted, satisfied and triumphant.

  He’d sent that first novel to Sam, who’d had a few million suggestions to make it even better. Nobody liked being told to change something they thought was already great, but Micah had been so determined to reach his goal, he’d made most of the changes. And the book sold almost immediately for a modest advance that Micah was more proud of than anything he’d ever earned before.

  That book was the precursor of things to come. With his second book, word-of-mouth advertising made it a viral sensation and had it rocketing up the bestseller lists. Before he knew it, Micah’s dreams were a reality. Sam and Micah had worked together ever since and they’d made a hell of a team. But because they were such good friends, Sam had known exactly how to set Micah up.

  “This is payback because I beat you at downhill snowboarding last winter, isn’t it?”

  “Would I do something that petty?” Sam asked, laughter in his voice.

  “Yeah, you would.” Micah shook his head.

  “Okay...yeah, probably,” Sam agreed. “But, you’re the one who took the bet. Live in a small town for six months.”

  “True.” How bad could it be? He remembered asking himself that before signing the lease with his landlady, Kelly Flynn. Now, two months into his stay, Micah had the answer to that question.

  “And, hey, research,” Sam pointed out. “The book you’re working on now is set in a small town. Good to know these things firsthand.”

  “Ever heard of Google?” Micah laughed. “And the book I set in Atlantis, how’d I research that one?”

  “Not the point,” Sam said. “The point is, Jenny and I loved that house you’re in when we were there a couple years ago. And, okay, Banner’s a small town, but they’ve got good pizza.”

  Micah would admit to that. He had Pizza Bowl on speed dial.

  “Like I said, in another month or so, you’ll feel differently,” Sam said. “You’ll be out enjoying all that fresh powder on the mountains and you won’t mind it so much.”

  Micah wasn’t so sure about that. But he had to admit it was a great house. He glanced around the second-floor room he’d claimed as a temporary office. The ceilings were high, the rooms were big and the view of the mountains was beautiful. The whole house had a lot of character, which he appreciated, but damned if he didn’t feel like a phantom or something, wandering through the big place. He’d never had so much space all to himself and Micah could admit, at least to himself, that sometimes it creeped him out.

  Hell, in the city—any city—there were lights. People. Noise. Here, the nights were darker than anything he’d ever known. Even in the navy, on board a ship, there were enough lights that the stars were muted in the night sky. But Banner, Utah, was listed on the International Dark-Sky roster because it lay just beyond a ridge that wiped out the haze of light reflection from Salt Lake City.

  Here, at night, you could look up and see the Milky Way and an explosion of stars that was as beautiful as it was humbling. He’d never seen skies like these before, and he was willing to acknowledge that the beauty of it took some of the sting out of being marooned at the back end of beyond.

  “How’s the book coming?” Sam asked suddenly.

  The change in subject threw him for a second, but Micah was grateful for the shift. “Good. Actually just killed the bakery guy.”

  “That’s a shame. Love a good bakery guy.” Sam laughed. “How’d he buy it?”

  “Pretty grisly,” Micah said, and began pacing the confines of his office. “The killer drowned him in the doughnut fryer vat of hot oil.”

  “Damn, man...that is gross.” Sam took a breath and sighed it out. “You may have put me off doughnuts.”

  Good to know the murder he’d just written was going to hit home for people.

  “Not for long, I’ll bet,” Micah mused.

  “The copy editor will probably get sick, but your fans will love it,” Sam assured him. “And speaking of fans, any of them show up in town yet?”

  “Not yet, but it’s only a matter of time.” Frowning, he looked out the window and checked up and down the street, half expecting to see someone with a camera casing the house, hoping for a shot of him.

  One of the reasons Micah never remained in one place too long was because his more devoted fans had a way of tracking him down. They would just show up at whatever hotel he was staying in, assuming he’d be happy to see them. Most were harmless, sure, but Micah knew “fan” could turn into “fanatic” in a flash.

  He’d had a few talk their way into his hotel rooms, join him uninvited at dinner, acting as though they were either old friends or long-lost lovers. Thanks to social media, there was always someone reporting on where he had been seen last or where he was currently holed up. So he changed hotels after every book, always staying in big cities where he could get lost in the crowds and living in five-star hotels that promised security.

  Until now, that is.

  “No one’s going to look for you in a tiny mountain town,” Sam said.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought when I was at the hotel in Switzerland,” Micah reminded his friend. “Until that guy showed up determined to pummel me because his girlfriend was in love with me.”

  Sam laughed again and Micah just shook his head. Okay, it was funny now, but having some guy you didn’t know ambush you in a hotel lobby wasn’t something he wanted to repeat.

  “This is probably the best thing you could have done,” Sam said. “Staying in Banner and living in a house, not a hotel, will throw off the fans hunting for you.”

  “Yeah, well, it should. It’s throwing me off, that’s for sure.” His scowl tightened. “It’s too damn quiet here.”

  “Want me to send you a recording of Manhattan traffic? You could play it while you write.”

  “Funny,” Micah said, and didn’t even admit to himself that the idea wasn’t half bad. “Why haven’t I fired you?”

  “Because I make us both a boatload of money, my friend.”

  Well, Sam had him there. “Right. Knew there was a reason.”

  “And because I’m charming, funny and about the only person in the world who’s willing to put up with the crappy attitude.”

  Micah laughed now. He had a point. Right from the beginning, when they’d met on the aircraft carrier they’d served on, Sam had offered friendship—something Micah had rarely known. Growing up in the foster care system, moving from home to home, Micah had never stayed anywhere long enough to make friends. Which was probably a good thing since he wouldn’t have been able to keep a friend, what with relocating all the damn time.

  So he appreciated having Sam in his life—even when the man bugged the hell out of him. “That’s great, thanks.”

  “No problem. So what do you think of your landlady?”

  Frowning, Micah silently acknowledged that he was trying to not think about
Kelly Flynn. It wasn’t working, but he kept trying.

  For the last two months, he’d done everything he could to keep his distance because damned if he didn’t want to get closer. But he didn’t need an affair. He had to live here for another four months. If he started something with Kelly, it would make things...complicated.

  If it was a one-night stand, she’d get pissy and he’d have to put up with it for four more months. If it was a long-running affair, then she’d be intruding on his writing time and spinning fantasies about a future that was never going to happen. He didn’t need the drama. All he wanted was the time and space to write his book so he could get out of this tiny town and back to civilization.

  “Hmm,” Sam mused. “Silence. That tells me plenty.”

  “Tells you nothing,” Micah argued, attempting to convince both himself and Sam. “Just like there’s nothing going on.”

  “Are you sick?”

  “What?”

  “I mean, come on,” Sam said, and Micah could imagine him leaning back in his desk chair, propping his feet up on the corner of his desk. He probably had his chair turned toward the windows so he could look out over Manhattan.

  “Hell,” Sam continued, “I’m married and I noticed her. She’s gorgeous, and if you tell Jenny I said that I’ll deny it.”

  Shaking his head, Micah looked down and watched Kelly work in the yard. The woman never relaxed. She was always moving, doing something. She had ten different jobs and today, apparently, still had the time to rake up fallen leaves and bag them. As he watched, she loaded up a wheelbarrow with several bags of leaves and headed for the curb.

  Her long, reddish-gold hair was pulled into a ponytail at the back of her neck. She wore a dark green sweatshirt and worn blue jeans that cupped her behind and clung to her long legs. Black gloves covered her hands, and her black boots were scarred and scuffed from years of wear.

  And though she had her back to the house, he knew her face. Soft, creamy skin, sprinkled with freckles across her nose and cheeks. Grass-green eyes that crinkled at the edges when she laughed and a wide, generous mouth that made Micah wonder what she would taste like.