Kate’s smile went nuclear. “You’ve found me. Please, come in.”
The woman stepped inside, and my heart didn’t just stop—it flatlined. She was soft in all the ways the world had stopped making women—curves that filled out her jeans, a flowy blouse that skimmed over a body generous enough to make a man forget what he was doing. Which, apparently, I had. Because I was standing there staring like I’d never seen a woman before in my life.
Her gaze swept the room and then landed on me. Recognition flashed across her face, followed by a slow, mischievous grin.
“Oh,” she said, her smile widening even more. “There you are.”
As if she’d been waiting for me since forever.
I looked at Kate. Kate looked at me. The woman looked between us and her smile grew.
“Am I early?” she said slowly.
“No, no.” Kate stood, extending her hand like this was a normal client meeting and not whatever fresh hell she’d orchestrated. “You must be Maddie.”
Another bright smile. “Yes, Maddie Cooper.” She shook Kate’s hand, then turned to me with a grin that suggested she was enjoying this way too much. “And you must be Thorne. The brooding mountain man.”
I opened my mouth. Closed it. Looked at Kate. “Did you tell her to call me that?”
“Of course not.” Kate waved off my question and turned her attention to Maddie, motioning for her to take a seat. “Thank you so much for coming on short notice. I know the email was a bit… abrupt.”
Maddie’s grin widened. “How could I resist? Broody mountain man needs wife immediately.”
“Kate.” I growled my sister’s name
Kate ignored me. “So are we ready to discuss the arrangement?”
I grabbed my jacket from the back of the chair. “We’re not doing this. Whatever this is.” I gestured between us. “I don’t know what my sister told you, but I’m not interested in—”
“A wife?” Maddie offered. “Yeah, that’s pretty clear from the body language. Way to sweep me off my feet, mountain man.”
“I’m not—”
Kate made a noise that might have been a laugh or a cough.
I turned to Maddie fully. Up close, she was worse. Better. Whatever.
“Look,” I said. “I’m sure you’re... nice. But this isn’t going to work.”
“You don’t even know what this is, apparently.” There was a sharp note of snark in her voice now. “Maybe before you storm out, we could skip the part where you pretend this is about romance and get to the part where we talk like adults.”
Silence.
Kate was grinning behind her desk like she’d just won a case.
Maddie was staring at me with an expression that clearly saidyour move, Mountain Man.
And I was standing there, jacket in hand, with absolutely no idea what to do next.
Because she was right. This wasn’t about romance. This was about the land. About keeping the one place that felt like mine.
And apparently, the price of solitude was wearing fitted jeans and calling my bluff. “Fine,” I said. “We’ll talk.”
Maddie’s eyebrow arched. “Wow. Don’t overwhelm me with enthusiasm.”
I dropped back into the other chair, gripping my jacket like a lifeline. “You’ve got ten minutes.”
“How generous.” Maddie crossed her legs. She had nice, thick thighs, the kind a man could think about entirely too long. Again, another wave of thoughts rushed through me. What the hell was happening? I hadn’t reacted to a woman like this since… well, never, if I were honest. The description she had of me was accurate. I was a broody mountain man with no interest in interacting with people. Even those with full, pouty lips and generous curves. “Let’s start with the basics. You need a wife for an inheritance. We play house for six months. Go our separate ways. I need... well, we’ll get to what I need. The app apparently thinks we’re compatible.”
