His Convenient Virgin Bride

“Fine,” she huffed. Her brothers would never go for it anyway. She might only be a half sister, but they loved her. They wouldn’t strip away her power for no reason. What was wrong with Alec? What could have changed between the time he bought her Blanchard’s Run and now?

“High tech is the future,” said Alec. “I wouldn’t recommend selling, but you might want to look at some international licensing deals. You can maximize your sales without growing the division to an unwieldy size.”

Nobody answered to that.

“On sports and culture.” Alec flipped a page in front of him. “I’d suggest standing pat.”

Stephanie blew out a sigh. It wasn’t relief. It was, well, okay, it was relief.

“Except for the jumping stable.”

She stilled, feeling all gazes land on her.

“It’s a cash drain, and there’s no end in sight.” He looked up, taking Stephanie in along with everyone else, pausing no longer, no shorter on her stunned expression than on any of the others. “You need to sell off the entire operation. The sooner the better.”

Stephanie found her voice. “Wait just a-”

“May I please finish?” he cut in.

“No, you may not finish. You’ve just recommended selling something that I spent half my life-”

“Stephanie-”

“-building!” She came to her feet.

“I don’t expect you to-”

“How could you do this?”

“Will you have a little faith?”

“No. I will not.” She rapped her knuckles down on the polished tabletop. “Is there any part of my life you’re not planning to destroy?”

Alec’s lips compressed, eyes darkening to pinpoints.

Stephanie turned on Jared. “Since I have no voting privileges, I guess you two can do whatever you want. But I’m not going to sit around and listen to this guy pick over our family like a vulture.”

“Stephanie,” Royce tried.

“No!” She turned on her second brother, backing up, scraping her chair legs against the wood floor as she pushed it out of the way. Then she pivoted on her stocking feet and stalked for the door, grabbing her muddy boots on the way out.

“Excuse me,” Alec’s voice intoned to the group behind her as she slammed the door.

She quickly stuffed her foot into the first boot. Then hopped in place on the porch as she struggled with the other.

The door opened and Alec stepped out. “What the hell is the matter with you?”

“With me? With me?” She rammed her foot down to the sole, straightening and flipping her hair over her shoulder. “You’re the one out to destroy my life.”

He folded his arms over his chest. “You are rushing to preposterous conclusions.”

She leaned in. “Tell me one thing, Alec. Why did you buy me Blanchard’s Run?”

“Why do you think I bought you Blanchard’s Run?”

She gave the only plausible answer she’d come up with. “Because you felt guilty.”

“It was not guilt.”

“Why then?” she rattled on. “So I’d sleep with you?”

He sputtered out a cold laugh. “Yeah, right.”

She forced a note of contempt into her voice. “Well, congratulations, Alec. It worked. I slept with you because you bought me a horse.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Oh, yes, I did.” She glared straight at him, and his eyes flickered with uncertainty.

“What?” she asked sarcastically. “Did you think I’d fallen for your good looks, wit and charm? Think again, Alec. I wanted the horse. You got me the horse. I figured I owed you. And since we’d done it once already-”

“Stop it.”

“Truth hurts?”

“Lies hurt, Stephanie.”

“Yeah. They do. And we’ve been a lie from minute one. I’m sorry I forgot about that.”

She nodded toward the door behind Alec. “Better get back to your job. My brothers can let me know what they decide.” Then she turned, searching for every scrap of dignity she could muster as she paced down the stairs.

As Alec reentered the house, the faces staring at him from the dining room table alternated between condemnation and frank curiosity.

“We stopped them from going after her,” Amber informed him.

“I’m sure you did.” Alec could well have imagined Jared and Royce’s first reaction was to rush outside and save their sister from him. “Thank you,” he finished, including both Amber and Melissa in his gratitude.

“We’re not selling the jumping stable,” Royce informed him, clearly ticked off.

Alec shook his head in disgust. When he’d planned his little speech, he’d planned it all the way to the end, where he revealed his master plan and became Stephanie’s hero. He hadn’t counted on her being so dogged in her interruptions. And he sure hadn’t counted on hearing such a painful truth about her feelings for him.

He’d been looking forward to getting back to Montana from the minute he left Stephanie at Brighton. Now all he wanted to was get the hell out of the state.

He dropped back into his chair. “I want you to sell the jumping stable to me.”

They all blinked at him in silence.

He threw up his hands, spelling it out in detail. “I’m married to Stephanie. It’ll be half hers. This way, Ryder International won’t be stuck with the financial liability, but she’ll still-”

“Did you tell that to Stephanie?” Amber asked.

He glared at her but didn’t answer the question. “I can afford the cash drain. I’ll be a silent partner.”

Jared snorted. “That’s why you don’t want her to have voting shares in Ryder International.”

“She’s going to be a little busy with other interests,” said Alec. That, and he’d selfishly assumed she might want a little time left over for him.

“You need to tell her,” said Melissa.

“So she’ll be grateful?” His voice was sharper than he intended, and Jared frowned at him.

“Sorry,” Alec apologized. “You all know my marriage to Stephanie is a sham-”

“Say what?” McQuestin seemed to come back to life.

“She’s pregnant,” said Alec, not willing to keep any more secrets.

“And you did the right thing?” asked McQuestin, lined face screwing up as he narrowed his eyes, sizing up Alec as if he was debating getting his shotgun. A little late for that.

“I did the right thing,” Alec confirmed. “I’ll live up to my responsibility, including providing for her and my child by buying and financing the Ryder Equestrian Center. But there’s nothing more than that between us.”

“Are you sure?” asked Amber.

“Positive,” said Alec.

Royce looked to Jared. “Yeah. Except that he’ll shoot any man who touches her.”

Jared’s eyebrows shot up, and he turned his attention to Alec. “You poor bastard.”

“What?” asked Melissa.

“It’s a joke,” said Royce. “A bad joke.”

“Explain,” demanded Amber.

Alec gathered his paperwork. Jared and Royce’s pity was the final straw. If a man had to have his heart broken, he could at least do it in private. “I’ll leave a copy of my recommendations for your review. You are, of course, welcome to use or discard anything.”

“Explain,” Melissa echoed.

Jared gave in. “You know, when Dad murdered Frank Stanton-”

McQuestin rocked forward. “What?”

Royce jumped in. “It’s a barometer of how much you love your wife.”