Free Howard Haskell Takes A Bride (The Brides of Paradise Ranch Book 0) by Merry Farmer Page A

garment would have fallen off.
    Howard leaned back and broke their kiss, though his hands remained around her breasts. “We don’t have much time.” In a flash, he’d switched back to business.
    “What do you need me to do?” she asked.
    “My plan,” he began. “It requires a secluded spot. A place where the two of us can be…alone.” He pinched both of her nipples.
    Elizabeth gasped, the ache between her legs flaring to life again. “Alone,” she repeated with all the heat Howard had put into the word and more.
    “Yes.” He kissed her briefly. “Very much alone. And it may be to your benefit to have cushions or blankets on hand.”
    Her insides quivered. The fire in his eyes left no question about what he planned to do in that secluded place with cushions. But how that was meant to help him win a race was a mystery to her. Did men gain some sort of supernatural ability after losing themselves in a woman?
    “Anything,” she breathed out, not caring. “I’ll do anything for you.”
    Howard flickered an eyebrow. “I’m hoping that you’ll do anything with me, my love.”
    His throaty laugh was interrupted by the sound of Trudy greeting the chickens at the other end of the garden. “Monrin’ sweeties. Let’s see if you’ve got some eggs for me.”
    “It’s our maid,” Elizabeth whispered. “She can’t see us like this.” She broke free of Howard and pulled her nightgown up over her shoulders.
    Howard tilted his head to the side, considering her statement for a moment. At last, he shook his head and said, “You’re right. No sense in springing the trap before it’s ready.”
    Elizabeth glanced over her shoulder at him as she started back to the house. “Before it’s ready?”
    He caught up to her and swept her into his arms for one more kiss. “You’ll see, my dearest heart. I told you that I had a plan that will ensure we will be able to spend the rest of our lives together in wedded bliss.” His expression was so full of mischief that she believed he was every bit the devilish rogue her father had said he was.
    Elizabeth grinned, proud of that fact. He may have been wicked, impish, and devilish, but he was her devil, and no one would stand in the way of that.

Chapter 8
    H oward couldn’t keep still . A crowd had started to form at the starting line of his race against Jonas Armstrong even before the competitors had arrived. Word has spread throughout Cincinnati that Elizabeth Ayers’s hand in marriage would be decided by a competition between two suitors. Howard eyed the spectators as he danced on the balls of his feet. Some were there because they enjoyed a good competition, like him, no doubt. The rest were nothing more than gossip-mongerers.
    “Are you certain this is the best idea?” Virginia fretted. She put a hand on Howard’s shoulder in an attempt to still him.
    Howard shook her off gently. “Of course this is the best idea. This is my plan.” He grinned and winked at her.
    Virginia arched a brow. “Yes, dear brother, and your plans have a tendency to veer wildly off-course when you haven’t had time to think them through.”
    “I’ve had plenty of time to think this through, dear sister,” Howard replied with a laugh. “Elizabeth and I are destined to be together. Her parents see otherwise. What is the absolute best way to convince unrelenting parents to consent to an unlikely marriage?”
    Virginia’s only response was to hum and shake her head in disapproval.
    “You do realize that the two of you will be forced to leave Cincinnati when this is all done?” Cyrus put his two cents’ worth in, although his grin held more approval than censure.
    Howard shrugged and resumed running in place to limber up his muscles. “We were planning to leave anyhow. The great mystery of the West calls to me, and it calls to Elizabeth as well. We will embrace it.”
    “Yes, but at what cost?” Virginia drawled.
    Howard was spared giving her an answer as Jonas Armstrong made his