A Betting Bride Read online

  Now, Serena was going to go find herself a bride groom and start a family, or so she'd recently informed him after their latest spat. Good for her. But first, she was going to explain some things to him. Explain some of the mindboggling things that he had been wondering about for the last year or so.

  "Psst!" Placing one beloved bottle onto the ground before him, Alec picked up a few small pebbles and tossed them at the window above. It took a few tries as alcohol impaired his hand eye coordination and a few of the stones fell back onto his head instead of nearing the window pane, but finally a few hit their mark.

  "Psst!" Alec had tried to whistle, but his tongue and lips felt heavy in his mouth, so he settled for hissing instead.

  He knew that she was awake, the lantern light from her window blazed. If he knew her as well as he thought he did, she was probably swathed in some oversized nightdress, reading. Her spectacles perched on the end of her nose, face scrunched up in concentration, she would devour every word. Oh, Alec knew she hid the fact that she wore spectacles to read with. Having spent years in and out of this house, he'd caught sight of her in them a time or two.

  "Serena! Come to the window." He had whispered that hadn't he? He wasn't so sure anymore. Standing under the damn window he swayed a bit unsteadily as he waited.

  "What the hell?" Sliding the window up all the way, Serena stuck her red braided head out.

  "You just can't control the sassy tongue of yours can you?" Slurring the word sassy a bit, Alec pointed one finger up in her direction and warned, "That is going to get you in trouble one day missy."

  "What are you doing here Alec? Don't you have a bridal bid coming up? Shouldn't you be preparing to pick out some sweet young thing for your wife? Making some sort of lists or something?" Serena shot those sarcastic questions at him so fast they made Alec's head spin.

  "Piss on that. I'm not planning to make my leg shackling easy for this town. You hear that people? Alec Wentworth isn't going easy!" He called out to the darkness. His declaration would have carried more weight, had he not hiccupped four times in the middle of it.

  "Quiet you fool! If you wake up my mama or papa, I'm going to skin you alive."

  Her arms tightly crossed over her ample bosom, she glared down at him. Apparently he wasn't as quiet as he had thought, and Serena had obviously not forgiven him for their latest spat. "I do not care how much my mama loves to cook for you or fawn all over you. You go right back on home."

  Turning on heel, she prepared to shut the window and ignore his drunken self, but Alec did not want her to go. He did not think he could make it through this night without her.

  "Please Serena... I really need to talk to someone," with those words, Alec knew he had her. She had always been a sucker for a person in need, and he felt pretty darn needy at the moment.

  Sighing heavily, Serena leaned out the windowsill once again. Her white nightgown almost glowed in the darkness, as she peered down at him considering his request. Her thick red braid swayed on the slight breeze that blew.

  "Fine, I will be right down. But I swear to you Alec, this had better be good," Serena warned him dourly.

  Five minutes passed with no signs of the ornery female. Just as Alec had decided to climb the rickety looking trellis underneath her window to gain access to her room, Serena, bundled in a thick, white dressing gown and robe came around the corner saving him the trouble.

  "What do you want Alec? I'm tired and not in the mood for an argument." Serena warned him, one booted foot tapping in irritation. Her big, gray eyes crackled with ire.

  "Serena," Alec inclined his head in a gentlemanly fashion and almost regretted the action.

  Nausea roiled in his stomach. Damn, but while liquor tasted better going down, it tasted like the devil's spit coming back up. He dropped his second bottle of liquor to the ground. Luckily, it fell in the grass and did not shatter into pieces.

  Serena regarded the man who stood unsteadily before her. His chestnut hair in wild disarray, his clothing was torn and filthy. The top half of his suit did not match the trousers. This was not the Alec that she knew. The man Serena knew would never have left his house dressed in this manner. That man, was way too focused on dressing fashionably, a fact that Serena had always openly mocked him for.

  "What happened to your suit?" Casting a wary eye at the filthy fabric, Serena picked off what she hoped was a crushed leaf from Alec's shoulder.

  "I tore the trousers earlier tonight," Alec shrugged off her concern for his apparel. It was nice that at least someone had been concerned for his dwindling clothing.

  "How in heaven's sake did you do that?"

  "I don't want to talk about that right now," Alec sighed.

  There would be time enough to tell Serena about the tragedy that occurred earlier in the evening. It was better that she hear from someone else how they had failed to save the child from the monster who had abducted her. Jesus, he hurt inside from thinking about that sweet little girl and what she must have endured. The posse that had gathered was still out scouting the area trying to locate her body so that her family could give her a decent burial.

  "What is it? What do you want to say to me then?" Serena was worried. She had never heard him sound so somber and desolate before. Usually, Alec was a smooth talking rogue who never took anything too seriously. The emptiness in his emerald eyes concerned her.

  "I'm sorry that you've been so mad at me. Hell, sometimes I forget that you're not that thirteen year old girl anymore." A hand outstretched in a conciliating manner, Alec began his apology. "Other times, it is hard to deny that you are a full grown woman. Times like this." He gestured to her sleep wear.

  "Well, I am a grown woman. You cannot keep butting your nose into my business."

  It was hard to disregard their last argument, and the embarrassment that she had suffered because he felt the need to berate her in front of half of the town. She understood that he was concerned for her safety, but Alec had taken things too far. When he had tried to drag her from the seat of the wagon to stop her from driving out to her friend's ranch, he had made an enemy. Yes, there had been a murder recently in the area, but Serena had felt perfectly safe in traveling those roads. After all, she knew them so well. Her brother, Mathias's ranch the Bar S was not too far from where she had been heading.

  "I promise not to interfere with your life again. But, I've got to know one little thing."

  "What?" Serena was confused by the asinine man that she had been secretly in love with for the last ten years. "What do you need to know Alec?"

  "This," grabbing Serena into his arms, Alec pressed his hot mouth urgently to hers.

  Too perplexed at first by the kiss to respond, Serena stood immobile. The many times she had dreamt of this moment had not prepared her for the actuality of it. Alec tasted of whiskey and dark desire, a delicious combination that was too heady by far. A heartbeat later, her lips softened against his, and allowed him to further the kiss.

  His tongue swept inside to mate with hers. Softly, he nipped at her lips devouring her in a most wicked of ways. On and on he kissed her, his hands roaming her body. The robe she wore slipped from her shoulders to fall in a heap upon the damp ground, forgotten. She gasped in the delight of his large hands cupping her bottom through the thin material of her nightdress.

  Walking Serena backward until he had her backed against the brick siding of her home, Alec lifted her high against him. Her legs wrapped instinctively around his waist on their own accord, squeezing him tightly. The ugly mannish boots she wore crossed at her ankles. The hem of her nightgown bunched on her upper thighs exposing her delicate flesh in the moonlight. Her breasts sharply pointed against his chest, he groaned aloud. Her feminine core rubbed against his aching shaft. The material of his pants the only thing standing between him and what he imagined heaven would feel like. Alec moved against her once... twice. The action nearly caused him to explode.

  Nibbling the side of her neck he worked his way to her mouth once again and
greedily captured her soft lips. He could lose himself in this kiss. At this very moment, she felt like a balm to his battered soul. In the pale moonlight, she had never looked lovelier. Temptation come to life is what she truly was.

  "Sweet Jesus! What the hell am I doing?"

  Tearing his mouth from hers, Alec stood panting. He was a damn fool if he thought that using this woman would make him forget that he was empty inside.

  "What is the matter?" Serena searched his eyes. "Why did you stop?"

  "You're my best friend's sister. We can't do this," with great reluctance, he gently pulled her body from his and released her.

  "Why not? We could marry," Serena pleaded.

  "You are looking for something that I can't give you. Something that I can't give anyone and you deserve better," kissing her gently on the forehead, Alec gave her a gentle push toward the house. "Go on inside Serena. It's going to start storming again."

  As if on cue, the rain began to fall upon her heated skin in fat droplets, but she felt nothing. Serena wanted to cry. Just when she began to think that her dreams might finally be realized, he had gone and rejected her. Too numb to attempt to reason with him, Serena stood frozen and watched as Alec turned away from her. Stumbling slightly, he grasped the wall for support.

  "I wish you would just forget this ever happened. Forget that I ever showed up here tonight," Alec whispered under his breath, but Serena heard him anyway.

  As she watched him turn the corner, Serena felt her heart shatter into a hundred tiny, sharp pieces. Anger and hurt warred within her until she finally allowed the fat tears she had been holding back, flow and her fists to clench. How dared he take a beautiful moment such as her first real kiss and turn it into heartbreak? Chin held high, Serena headed back inside to get out of the storm.

  One thing she promised herself, she would put her foolish dreams of Alec away once and for all... It would be a cold day in hell before she would ever again beg for any man's love.

  "Nothing is as foolish as those who close their ears to the truth."

  CHAPTER TWO

  "I must be crazy to be contemplating doing this," Serena Sinclair muttered under her breath and rocked back on her heels.

  Her nerves were raw, and her belly felt as if a thousand butterflies had decided to host a barn dance in her stomach cavity. In the air, there was an excitement. It crackled and hummed as if it took on a life form of its own. The evening was warm and fragrance filled the July air. It was a good night for life changing events.

  The night of the bridal bid had finally come, and all around her stood eagerly awaiting women. Some ladies stood together chatting pleasantly. Some like her stood in quiet contemplation. But all the women present, had come with a determination to find themselves married before the year was out.

  The shortage of eligible bachelors in Liberty, Texas made their drive to succeed at their goal all the stronger. The large population of spinster women abounded the town at an alarming rate, due to the acquisition of northern land from Russia back in '67. Some of the young men that had come home from the war, devastated by the confederate loss had flocked north to the wilds of what had become to be known as Seward's Folly. In their hopes to get away from the ravages of battle, they searched in vain for the promise of prosperity. Some believed the path to gold lay that way.

  "The mayor is mine ladies. Don't even think about signing on his ledger," a smug voice informed the ladies that had gathered.

  Catty bitch that she was, Trudy Bixby was probably right. The handsome mayor was almost certainly going to be hers, when this madness was all said and done. Trudy happened to possess two things that most of the ladies lined up here tonight did not. She had beauty and money... pots and pots of the good stuff.

  The beauty Alec would certainly lust after, the money not so much. Alec really didn't need it. Well, maybe he did, Serena Sinclair wasn't so sure about that. The pay for the position as mayor was probably insignificant. But Alec never seemed to lack for fancy duds, and she would never take him for a fortune hunter. Everything about Alec was disgustingly honorable. Considering that Serena had basically thrown herself at the man and Alec had taken a pass at what she had offered him.

  "My family is the only influential family in this town, Alec knows that I am the most suitable bride for him," Trudy informed them all. Twirling about in her pale pink gown that Serena herself had sewn for her just last week, Trudy preened.

  Oh what fun it was to kneel at the woman's hemline whilst little Miss Trudy and her cronies spouted out degrading remarks at her. Serena had wanted to poke her with a pin, but with her parent's dress shop so desperately in need of the money, Serena had refrained from sticking her.

  Trudy's big brother was the town doctor, her father, the banker. Her mother Edna was the snootiest woman ever to walk God's green earth. Serena detested the family with the exception of Sebastian, Trudy's brother. She often wondered if the good lord hadn't dropped Sebastian off in that family, purely on accident.

  Trudy's blonde, angelic looks just happened to be another point in her favor. Serena cursed her own wild, reddish- gold locks. No matter how she fussed and battled with the curls, they always had a mind of their own. It just ate at Serena, that Trudy would be living the life that she had always dreamed about. It was not fair.

  "You know Trudy Bixby; the sun really doesn't rise and set on you, right?" Serena hadn't meant to let that little remark slip, but it was too late to take it back.

  Trudy cast a venomous look in Serena's direction. "Oh, really? Strong words coming from the mouth of a little dull, wren." Shrugging off Serena's statement, Trudy faced the crowd of hopeful ladies. "Serena Sinclair, with her red witch's hair and frumpy clothing, stands less chance of catching a husband than Etta Howard over there," finger pointed in the direction of the plain mouse of a lady who was trying to stand as far back in the crowd as possible, Trudy mocked.

  "Trudy, leave Etta alone. If not, I swear I will beat you down like I did in the school yard when we were girls," Serena took a threatening step toward the tall blonde woman.

  Serena was ready to launch herself at her childhood adversary. It could not have been easy for Etta to come to the bridal bid tonight and the poor woman did not need to be mocked by a malicious crow like Trudy.

  "Attention! Can I have everyone's attention?"

  The booming cry from the stage brought an unspoken truce between the spiteful Trudy and an irritated Serena.

  Josiah Brown the designated "auctioneer" of the night stepped up to the podium and projected his self-importance. The hotel owner puffed himself up like a peacock, before the crowd. As head of the city council, Josiah relished his position and Serena knew it.

  "As the rules have been stated before; each bachelor has a ledger that will be placed upon that table over yonder." Pointing out a small, round table situated on the ground level to the right of the stage, Josiah continued on, "I will bring each man up and say a few words about him. As I do so, ladies... in an orderly fashion, please place your name if interested into the gentleman's personal ledger."

  "Bring on the mayor!" An anonymous cry came from the center of the grouping of single ladies. Laughter erupted from the crowd as the ladies shifted nervously closer towards the stage, bumping into Serena and almost knocking her down. She was pretty sure that she-cat Trudy had just trod on her foot on purpose.

  "Enough of that, young lady... whoever you are," casting the crowd a stern look, Josiah, once again went about laying out the ground rules, just in case anyone had forgotten his importance on this night.

  "Remember that each woman will bid on a number of courting nights. She may decide to cook a meal for her gentleman or make arrangements with the hotel dining room. As the hotel owner, I would be glad to help you make your reservations."

  "I bet you would!" Snickers erupted from the audience as the heckling continued.

  "As I was saying, each couple will be chaperoned by one of the council members, so no funny business ladies or gentlemen,
" Josiah dourly warned them. "After the gentleman has courted each of the ladies in his ledger for the number of meetings she has paid for, he will make his choice for a bride. A tax will then be due to the city, and the couple will say their vows. Ladies you may "court" more than one gentleman, but remember for each evening that you mark in these ledgers it will cost you a penny."

  "I've got fifteen cents saved up, the mayor is mine..."

  Serena rolled her eyes heavenward. She was pretty positive the voice belonged to her nemesis.

  "Like hell! Pardon my language Reverend," another unknown voice rang out from within the huddle of women.

  Serena shot a wry smile to the woman standing to the left of her. Dressed in a faded brown gown herself, Serena could not cast stones on the ugly, gray, sack shaped dress Etta wore. But goodness, was it dreadful. Serena could not understand how with all the years the Sinclair's had sewn dresses for the Howard girls, why Etta's were always so ugly, but her sister Daisy's had always been the highest of fashion.

  Etta's black hair was drawn back so severely Serena was sure that it gave the woman a headache. Although she was only a few years older Serena, Etta acted as if she were older than dirt. There was no spark in her, no sense of adventure, nothing. Etta usually kept to herself, except on Sundays. Church was about the only thing that seemed to delight Etta. Why, last Sunday service Etta had even cracked a smile at Reverend Peterson's homily. The story was about a man who questioned god as to why he was saddled with such a strong minded wife. God had answered back that he had at least given one person a strong brain in that family. Half the congregation had burst out in laughter, the other half --the male half- had sat stonily.

  "All right, I can see the crowd is ready to begin." The sound of Josiah's voice drew Serena's attention. "If everyone understands my rules... let the bidding begin. Mayor Wentworth, will you please step on stage?"

  A hush fell over the crowd as the crowd waited with baited breath.