Page 4 of The Bride's Desire

She drew in a shaky breath. The sun would set within the hour, so she had to get moving.

Naomi reminded herself, like she had so many times on this trip, that the worst that could happen was he wouldn’t want her, and she’d have to leave. She had saved some money to live for a few months as she tried to find a place to live and work. She had other options. The only thing she wouldn’t do was go back home.

The first few steps down the gravel driveway were the worst. It felt like she was taking giant steps that would change her life forever, and she didn’t know if it was a good change or a bad one. But it was the only step she had taken.

She passed the first large barn. Men turned to stare at her as if they’d never seen a woman before, making her nervous and shaky. She kept her chin up and walked toward the large stone house.

“Ma’am, can I help you?”

She stopped. The cowboy was tall and looked strong. He had gentle brown eyes and a sweet smile.

“I’m here to see Mr. Dawson.”

“He’s up at the house.”

“Thank you.”

She could feel the eyes that followed her up the porch steps and to the front door. She inhaled and knocked. When no one answered, she knocked again, and it was a little harder.

She jumped when the front door flew open. The two stared at each other for a long moment.

If this was Mr. Dawson, she would have been pleasantly surprised. He was at least six-foot-four, had dark hair like her own, and piercing blue eyes that stood out from a strong, tan face, testimony to the fact he was a hard worker and the majority of it he did outside. He stood in front of her in a shirt with all the buttons undone, showing her a tremendous amount of his sculpted chest. The way he wore his jeans and his bare feet made him even sexier.

“Um, hi,” she said. “I’m Naomi.”

He looked around like he was searching for someone.

“Who are you here to see, Honey?”

“Are you Mr. Joseph Dawson?”

“Yes.”

“Then, I’m here to see you.”

His eyes narrowed. “Why?”

Her brows pinched together in confusion.

“You were expecting me today, right?”

“No, darlin’. I’ve no idea who you are.”

“I’m going to be your wife.”

He snorted and looked around again outside as if watching for another person.

“Okay, who put you up to this?”

“What are you talking about?” She had a horrible thought he was telling her the truth, and if he was, who would play this kind of joke on them?

“No one put me up to anything. You and I have been emailing back and forth for a few weeks. We decided to meet, and here I am.”

“Do you have these emails?”

She nodded. “Yes, I brought all of them like you told me to.”

He sighed and opened the screen door.

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