Read Online Tycoon's Tryst (Culpepper Cowboys Book 10) by Merry Farmer, Culpepper Cowboys - Free Book Online Page A

for Fashion Week. I have this great idea for some performance art. I’m gonna buy a million dollars’ worth of designer clothes, then burn them all.”
    “That’s insane,” Sly cut in.
    “Since when are you interested in art?” Rachel growled.
    “Since because I am,” Bev snapped in return. “So fork over your shares and be done with it.”
    “No.” Rachel felt sick, but she had to do what she had to do. “I still have three months to make a profit.”
    “Well, I want the stupid company before then.” That was the sum total of Bev’s argument.
    “You can’t have it until exactly five years after Dad’s death.”
    Bev shrugged. “I always get what I want.” She turned away from Rachel and hooked her fingers in the waistband of Hans’s designer jeans. “Come on, baby. Mommy’s got an itch she needs you to scratch. A deep itch.”
    Without another word or look for Rachel or Sly, Bev turned to go, leading Hans with her. They pushed their way up to the counter and demanded a room. Rachel was too disgusted to watch. She slumped back into her chair and reached for another cookie. Might as well get fat and slovenly by stuffing herself with sweets.
    Sly sat slowly beside her. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”
    Rachel snorted. “Welcome to my life.”
    Sly nodded, but was silent, clearly thinking. Rachel bent forward, spilling crumbs on the financial reports spread across the table. She wasn’t sure she cared. Nothing seemed to matter at the moment. Her dad’s will had her trapped and on the verge of losing everything. Bev was a gross pill, and it looked like she would have to swallow it. Three months was barely enough time to make a profit, with or without the lawsuit, but if Bev had it in her mind to force the issue early, well, she was right about one thing. She did always get what she wanted.
    “I’ve got an idea,” Sly said at last, low and clever.
    Rachel dragged her eyes up to meet his, reluctant to get excited over anything. She didn’t want him to rescue her. She still wasn’t a hundred percent sure she even liked him. She did want to jump his bones, but at that point, it would only be a consolation prize, not anything substantial. At least he was dropping the lawsuit.
    “What’s your idea?” she sighed, not holding out any hope.
    Sly’s grin widened. “You can buy out Bev’s part of the company, right?”
    “Yes, that provision is in the will. But only if Bev agrees to be bought out.”
    Sly shrugged. “She wants to burn fashion in Milan. Of course she’ll let you buy her out.”
    Rachel crossed her arms, not sure where he was going. “So?”
    “So you have to use your own money, right? You can’t take out a loan or borrow from a friend or have a third-party help you out.”
    “Right,” she answered slowly. He had the look of someone about to come up with something conniving.
    “What about money you acquire through marriage? If you were to marry and pool your resources with your husband’s, that would technically be your money, right?”
    She stared at him and stared hard. What. The. Heck?
    He sat straighter and spread his arms. “I’ve got money. Plenty of it.”
    “And?” She didn’t like where this was going…did she? Was he suggesting…was he actually going to…could he really mean…?
    With an enormous smile, Sly said, “Marry me.”

5
    “ I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Rachel whispered to her reflection in the mirror at Culpepper’s church a day later. One day. One tiny little day.
    “I think it’s romantic,” Denise, the woman who was styling her hair in an up-do, commented with a smile.
    Rachel sent her a doubtful look. “Marrying someone only a couple of days after meeting them?”
    Denise shrugged and twirled the curling iron through Rachel’s long, blonde hair. “Yeah, but it’s Sly O’Donnell.”
    “So?”
    “If there’s anything close to royalty in Culpepper, Wyoming, it’s the O’Donnell brothers.” Denise tested the heat