Chelsea’s Choice, The Reclusive Man Book 13
by Kathleen Lawless
Book Blurb:
Everyone back home thought he was dead!
So he stayed that way, leaving his younger brother to enjoy the life that should have been his. With the wife that should have been his.
Chelsea followed her cousin, who’d made a life in the new world. Men in the West were different. And out of those men, Reece Rawlings caught her eye.
No one knew much about him, except he kept to himself. But Chelsea was used to getting what she wanted. And she had her sights firmly set on Reece.
Excerpt:
Reece stopped his wagon outside the hotel, his eyes narrowed as he stared at the bicycle propped there, looking totally out of place. Before he landed here, he’d seen a few of the two-wheeled contraptions in other parts of the country but this was the first one he’d seen in these parts.
As he sat there, his friend Henrietta came through the front door, followed by a dark-haired woman who could have been her sister. The second woman, who hung back, stared his way in curiosity.
Reece hated folks staring at him, and pulled the brim of his hat down lower. “G’day, Henrietta,” he said as she reached his side. He inclined his head toward the other woman. “Kin of yours?”
“Yes, Chelsea just arrived. I came out to see the latest invention, her bicycle.”
Reece made a face. “Don’t see it taking the place of horseback, myself.”
Henrietta raised her brow in a way he took to mean Chelsea was somewhat of a handful. “Reece, would you mind doing me a favor? When you get back from Yuma, could you swing by the stagecoach depot? Chelsea left her things there and I don’t have anyone here right now that I can send for them.”
Reece grunted his assent. He’d do anything for Henrietta and the other Masons, who had pretty much saved his life when he first got here. Shame it also meant helping out that woman who even now was watching him with a calculating look in her eye. Worse yet, she appeared to be planning to join them. He picked up the reins, anxious to be on his way without appearing rude, but before he could signal the horses, Henrietta had started introductions.
“Reece, this is my cousin Chelsea. Chelsea, Reece has graciously agreed to fetch your things from the depot on his way back.”
“That’s so kind of you, Mr.—”
“Rawlings,” he said gruffly.
“Look at the flowers,” she squealed, raising up on tip toes and peering past him into the back of the wagon. “I’ve not seen anything like it since I arrived in the Americas.” Her English diction was perfect, underscored with a husky South American accent that stirred the hair on the back of his neck.
“Reece is a talented horticulturist,” Henrietta said.
“I can see that.” Chelsea subjected him to another penetrating look before he drove away, conscious of those dancing dark eyes boring into his back. What was the world coming to? A woman speaking so freely to a stranger. Showing up here with a bicycle. A woman like that meant sure-fire trouble. Good thing he kept to himself.
Author Bio:
USA Today Bestselling Author, Kathleen Lawless, blames a misspent youth watching Rawhide, Maverick and Bonanza for her fascination with cowboys, which doesn’t stop her from creating a wide variety of interests and occupations for her many alpha male heroes.
With well over 40 published novels to her credit, she enjoys pushing the boundaries of traditional romance into historical romance, contemporary romance, romantic suspense and women’s fiction. and stories for young adults.
She makes her home in the Pacific Northwest and loves to hear from her readers. www.kathleenlawless.com
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