He’d have to make sure to leave the room as he found it in the morning. No one must ever know that he’d slept there.

The truth was, he had only himself to blame for this whole mess.

Chase had been sixteen when his brother died. Bent on punishing himself for Michael’s death, Chase had spent more than a year in a drunken stupor. When that failed to relieve his crushing guilt, he lashed out with his fists and landed in jail.

When he’d finally come to his senses, he returned to the ranch, hoping to make up for what he had done and earn his father’s forgiveness. The will proved that he’d never fully succeeded. Now he had to pay the penalty with a woman who had no business on a ranch.

None!

How he hated this, hated having to go through with this awkward charade just to keep what was rightfully his. His grandfather would turn over in his grave if he knew how his beloved ranch was now mired in such deception.

Pushing his thoughts aside, Chase rubbed his head and groaned. He shifted his body, and the straw mattress rustled beneath his weight. At least the bed was more comfortable than the floor of his office where he’d spent the previous night. But not by much.

He needed to get some shut-eye. Life on a ranch started early. If only his feet didn’t hang off the end of the thin mattress. If only he could turn over without banging against the wall.

If only she hadn’t been nearly naked…

The last thought popped into his head unbidden, and he sucked in his breath. He had no earthly reason to think of her creamy-white shoulders or the gentle swell of her breasts. She was his wife in name only. Theirs was but a temporary arrangement. It’s what she wanted. What they’d agreed upon. What he wanted. It was the price he had to pay for his recklessness.

If and when he married for keeps, his wife of choice wouldn’t be some prissy greenhorn, that was for certain and sure.

But even as he thought it, a vision of big blue eyes came to mind. He’d only heard her laugh the one time, but it had been enough to make him want to hear it again. At the very least, he’d like to see her smile.

What a puzzle she was. He couldn’t help but be intrigued. Never had he met a woman of such extremes. She had startled at the sight of a mouse. Didn’t even know how to ride a horse. Yet she had traveled halfway across the country to marry a stranger—a scary prospect in anyone’s book.

But a mouse, for crying out loud! Heaven knows what she would do should a rattler or pack of wolves cross her path. What possible good was a woman like that on a ranch? The best he could hope for was that the two of them survived the length of their marriage without any serious mishap.