Free His Dangerous Bride (The Brides of Paradise Ranch - Spicy Version Book 2) by Merry Farmer

chance.”
    “Big chance for what?” Eden leapt out of bed, ignoring her state of undress, and followed him to the main room.
    “My big chance for the promotion I’ve been trying for all year.” He gathered his boots from the middle of the floor, where they’d ended up last night, and sank into the sofa to put them on.
    “What, right now?” Eden planted her fists on her hips, sure she looked a sight.
    Luke glanced longingly at her, his flush deepening as his eyes lingered on her breasts, but he force himself to concentrate on getting his boots on, then stood and strode to the rack where a leather vest hung.
    “I’ve been working on Howard Haskell’s ranch since I got here when I was seventeen years old,” he explained. “I learned the business, learned all there is to know about cattle. I was hoping I’d move to a position where I could do more, lead men, a couple of years ago, but Howard hired the Montrose brothers instead. They had more experience running things, but I knew I could be in charge too.”
    “So, why aren’t you?” As far as Eden was concerned, her husband was a natural leader.
    Luke shrugged and winced, marching toward the door where his hat hung on a peg. “Franklin said he wasn’t convinced I was serious enough. I told him I’d prove I was.” He nodded to her.
    Eden opened her mouth to make a comment about how ridiculous it was for anyone to think he was anything but serious. She stopped. The truth dawned on her. He’d sent away for her to prove he was serious. She clamped her mouth shut, not sure if she was offended by that or if Luke was damn clever to think of it.
    She shook her head to clear away that conflict. “And you have to leave right this very instant or you’ll never get a second chance to move up?”
    She meant her comment to be sarcastic, but Luke answered, “Yep,” with dead certainty. “I’m sorry that I had to marry you and run. I’ll be back in a couple of weeks. If all goes well, sooner.”
    That was it. With a sharp nod, he turned and scrambled out through the door. It banged shut behind him.
    “Well, I’ll be a turkey’s tail feather,” Eden cursed under her breath. She sank her weight to one hip and shook her head. That was it? That was all the explanation he had to offer?
    She wasn’t going to stand around and take that. With a burst of energy, she rushed back into the bedroom. It would be worse if Luke abandoned her the day after their wedding without a care. At least he had looked troubled about it. That would keep her from slapping him into next Sunday when she caught up with him.
    She splashed water from the pitcher on a side table into its matching bowl, soaked a cloth, and went to work washing up as fast as she could. Her mind bustled with calculations. It couldn’t take that long to get everyone organized for a cattle drive. They’d seen the cattle themselves waiting in the field the day before. Chances were that the whole operation was ready to set out. This wasn’t the first time she’d had to jump into action with no time to spare.
    It was a good thing she’d unpacked and put everything away just so the day before. She threw open the middle drawer of the bureau and pulled out the narrow, split skirt she used to wear when riding with her brothers and tossed it on the bed along with a simple blouse, a chemise, and drawers. There was no time for a corset on the open range, and in truth, she was tired of wearing one just to fit in.
    She dressed in less than a minute, then dropped to a crouch and reached under the bed. Good thing Luke had been too busy with everything going on in the bed to question if she’d hidden anything under it. She slid out the long, heavy, flat case that had been at the bottom of her trunk and moved it to the jumbled and bunched bedcovers on top of the bed.
    With a quick glance around to make extra sure no one was watching, she flipped open the case. A grin spread across her face at the sight of her old friend, her