Hawk's Way: Rebels: The Temporary Groom. Joan Johnston

      “And you think marriage to me is the right choice?” Cherry asked incredulously. “We’re practically strangers! I barely know you. You don’t know me at all.”

      “I know plenty about you. You understand what it feels like to be different. What it feels like to lose your parents. What it feels like to need a parent’s love. You’d be good for my kids. And you could really help me out.”

      “Why me?”

      “I’m desperate,” Billy said. “I thought you were, too.”

      Cherry grimaced. Why else would a man choose her except because he was desperate? And why else would a woman accept such a proposal, unless she were desperate, too?

      “Are you ready to go home and face your parents and tell them you got expelled and that you aren’t going to graduate?” Billy demanded.

      “When you put it that way, I… No. But marriage? That seems like such a big step. Make that a huge step.”

      “It doesn’t have to be a real marriage. It can be strictly a business arrangement. We can stay married long enough for you to finish the high school credits you need and maybe take some courses at the junior college. When you figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life, we could go our separate ways.”

      “Couldn’t I just be your housekeeper?”

      Billy shook his head. “You’ve said yourself why that wouldn’t work.”

      “But marriage is so…permanent.”

      “It would be if it were for real. Ours wouldn’t be.”

      “Are you suggesting we tell people we’re married but not really go through with it?”

      He considered a moment. “No, we’d have to get married, and as far as I’m concerned, the sooner the better.”

      Cherry’s heart bounced around inside her like a frightened rabbit. She pressed a fistful of chiffon hard against her chest, as though she could hold her heart still, but it kept right on jumping. “You want to get married right away? This week?”

      “As soon as we can. We could fly to Las Vegas tonight.”

      “Fly?”

      “I’ve got a pilot’s license. We can charter a small private plane for the trip. Would you mind?”

      “I guess not,” Cherry said, overwhelmed by the speed at which things were moving.

      “The more I think about it, the more I like the whole idea. Getting married would certainly spike Penelope’s guns.”

      Cherry gnawed on her lower lip. “If you’re looking for someone who’d be an asset in court, maybe you ought to reconsider taking me as your wife. My reputation’s almost as bad as yours.”

      “You’re a Whitelaw,” Billy said. “That means something around this part of Texas.”

      “An adopted Whitelaw,” Cherry reminded him. “And I’m not so sure my parents wouldn’t change their minds if they had the chance.”

      Billy smiled. “I think we can make this arrangement work for both of us. How about it, Cherry? Will you marry me?”

      If Cherry had been anybody except who she was, she would have said no. Any rational person would have. It didn’t make sense to marry a virtual stranger, one who had reportedly made his previous wife miserable. But Cherry wasn’t thinking about Billy or even about herself. She was thinking about his two innocent little girls. If marrying Billy would give them a better chance of staying with their father, she really didn’t think she had any other choice.

      “All right, Billy,” she said. “I’ll marry you.”

      Billy gave a whoop of joy, swept her up into his arms, and whirled her in a dizzying circle, sending chiffon flying around her.

      “Put me down, Billy,” she said, laughing.

      He immediately set her on her feet. When she swayed dizzily, he reached out to steady her.

      The feel of his strong, callused hands on her bare shoulders sent an unexpected quiver skittering down her spine. She knew she ought to step away, but Billy’s dark eyes held her spellbound.

      “Okay now?” he asked, his voice rasping over her.

      “I’m fine.” She shivered, belying her words.

      “You must be getting chilly.” He slipped an arm around her shoulder that was warm and supportive…and possessive.

      She shivered again as he began walking her toward his pickup. Only this time she realized it had nothing to do with the cold.

      As Billy held open the pickup door she said as casually as she could, “This will be a marriage in name only, right?”

      He closed the door behind her, slid over the hood, got into the cab, and started the pickup before he answered, “That’s right.”

      She gave a gusty sigh of relief as the engine roared to life. “Good.”

      “We don’t even have to sleep in the same bed,” Billy said as he headed back toward the main road. “You can have the room my housekeeper will be vacating. If I feel the urge for some feminine comfort, I can get what I need from a woman in town.”

      “Wait a minute,” Cherry said. “I don’t think I’m going to want my husband satisfying his lustful urges in town.”

      “I won’t really be your husband,” Billy reminded her.

      “As far as my parents and neighbors and friends are concerned, you will be.”

      Billy eyed her cautiously. “What do you suggest?”

      “Couldn’t you just…not do it.”

      “I’m a man, not a monk,” Billy said.

      Cherry pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Then I suppose I’d rather you come to me than go to some other woman.”

      “This is starting to sound like a real marriage,” Billy said suspiciously. “I was looking for a temporary solution to both our problems.”

      “Oh, you don’t have to worry about me falling in love with you or anything,” Cherry reassured him. “I don’t believe in happily-ever-after.”

      “You don’t?”

      Cherry shook her head. “Except for the Whitelaws, I’ve never met any married couples who really loved each other. But I can see where it would be unfair to expect you to give up sex for who knows how long. Only, if you don’t mind, I’d rather we had a chance to get to know each other a little better before…you know…”

      “Maybe this marriage thing isn’t such a good idea, after all,” Billy said. “You’re just a kid, and—”

      “I may be only eighteen,” Cherry interrupted, “but I’ve lived a lifetime since my father died. You don’t have to worry about me. I’ve been in and out of a dozen foster homes. I’ve spent time in juvenile detention. I’ve survived the past four years in a house with seven other adopted brothers and sisters. I’ve come through it all with a pretty good idea of what I want from life. I’m plenty old enough to know exactly what I’m doing.”

      “I doubt that,” Billy said. Maybe if he hadn’t been so panicked at the thought of losing Annie and Raejean, he would have taken more time to think the matter over. But marriage to Cherry Whitelaw would solve so many problems all at once, he accepted her statement at face value.

      “All right, Cherry. We’ll do this your way. I won’t go looking for comfort in town, and you’ll provide for my needs at home.”

      “After we get to know one another,” Cherry qualified.

      “After we get to know one another,” Billy agreed.

      He