Winning her fortune, p.1
Winning Her Fortune, page 1
The Fortunes of Texas
Follow the lives and loves of a complex family with a rich history and deep ties in the Lone Star State
HITTING THE JACKPOT
The Maloneys of Chatelaine, Texas, have just discovered they are blood relations to the Fortunes—which makes them instant millionaires. But their inheritance comes with a big secret that could change everything for their small-town family...
Alana Searle is holding out for a hero—a stable, steady guy who’s ready to settle down and raise another man’s baby. Coop Fortune Maloney is a ranch hand with a reputation for fun and...philandering. Alana is certain Coop can never be the man she needs, but that doesn’t stop her from longing for something she can’t have...
Dear Reader,
This is my first time working on The Fortunes of Texas series, so thank you for welcoming me into this wonderful Western world. The readers of this series are dedicated, loyal and amazing. You’re the kind of reader I love to keep in mind as I develop a book.
I wanted to write about two people who’ve been in each other’s circle for a while but were never free to be together. It turns out Alana Searle and Cooper Fortune Maloney are perfect for each other. They’re both very much alike—out for a good time and plenty of laughs. The problem is Alana stopped laughing a few weeks ago. She’s secretly pregnant by an ex-boyfriend who left as soon as he heard the news. In her situation, she naturally questions whether she’ll have a real chance with Coop now that she’s finally met her match.
If you’ve read this far, you can be assured there will be a happily-ever-after ending for these two, but getting there is half the fun!
I hope you enjoy reading Alana and Coop’s romance as much as I did writing it. As always, I love to hear from you. You can reach me at heatherly@heatherlybell.com.
Heatherly Bell
Winning Her Fortune
Heatherly Bell
Bestselling author Heatherly Bell was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, but lost her accent by the time she was two. After leaving Alabama, Heatherly lived with her family in Puerto Rico and Maryland before being transplanted kicking and screaming to California’s Bay Area. She now loves it here, she swears. Except the traffic.
Books by Heatherly Bell
Harlequin Special Edition
The Fortunes of Texas: Hitting the Jackpot
Winning Her Fortune
Charming, Texas
Winning Mr. Charming
The Charming Checklist
A Charming Christmas Arrangement
Montana Mavericks:
The Real Cowboys of Bronco Heights
Grand-Prize Cowboy
Wildfire Ridge
More than One Night
Reluctant Hometown Hero
The Right Moment
Harlequin Superromance
Heroes of Fortune Valley
Breaking Emily’s Rules
Airman to the Rescue
This Baby Business
Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.
For Vince Font, brother extraordinaire, and the other writer in our family. Love you!
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Excerpt from The Lawman’s Surprise by Catherine Mann
Prologue
Here’s something Cooper Fortune Maloney never thought he’d say: after tonight, he could add escort to his résumé. He waited for his time to go on the auction block. He removed his hat to run a hand through his hair, then dropped it back on, ready for his moment with the ladies.
It was Valentine’s Day, and the night of the bachelor auction in Chatelaine, Texas. Tonight they were raising money for the Chatelaine Fish and Wildlife Conservation Society and two of his brothers were also participating.
Coop stood in the hot storage space where they’d put all the bachelors at the back of the Saddle & Spur Roadhouse. Bidding for his older brother Max had gone out of control. Lively and enthusiastic. Just the way Coop liked things. Eliza Henry and Alana Searle were now battling it out for Max dollar by dollar. Everyone else had dropped out of the bidding.
Coop laughed as Max gave a tight smile and pulled at the collar of his shirt when Eliza once again outbid a frustrated Alana.
Coop had thought Max and Eliza were just friends. Since Max came into his Fortune silver mining inheritance, she was helping him find a house. Coop assumed she was just Max’s Realtor. Now, she seemed to be giving Alana death glares every time she countered her bid.
Coop hoped Eliza’s interest had nothing to do with the windfall Max had recently received. When Martin Smith had come to Chatelaine last month and handed his oldest brother, Lincoln, a check, all five of the Fortune Maloney children were given the shock of their lives. It turned out their grandfather Wendell Fortune had left a sizable inheritance from the silver and gold mines in Chatelaine. When his estate had tracked down his son, their father, Rick Maloney, they’d all learned of their father’s death. That meant all his children would receive the inheritance. For some odd reason, Wendell’s good friend Martin explained, the money was being disbursed slowly. So far, only Linc and Max had received their checks, Max just recently.
Coop looked at Max onstage, completely out of his element. His brother hated anything that involved being the center of attention, but Cooper had jumped at the chance to have a little fun tonight. He didn’t have a girlfriend at the moment and was free and clear of any romantic entanglements. Perfect. Whoever won him wasn’t going to regret it for a second.
Eventually, Alana took a seat and didn’t get up again, ending the bidding war. Coop figured they’d all have a good laugh later at how she’d pushed up the final price for Max.
“Aaaand sold to number fifty with the winning bid! Ladies, thank you for the enthusiastic bidding.” The MC pointed to Alana and winked. “Especially the lady in red.”
She was smoking hot in that short red dress with matching Western boots. With long blond hair and beautiful blue eyes, Alana had style. She was every man’s type. Too bad for Max his Realtor won him instead.
Max walked to the back and met Coop. Quite frankly, he looked ridiculous dressed in the cowboy hat they were all wearing tonight. Max was an accountant, not a cowboy.
“I think Eliza must have a thing for you.” Coop elbowed Max.
Eliza Henry was number fifty. The ladies were all bidding anonymously with numbered paddles, but Coop knew that Eliza Henry was Max’s friend and Realtor. He didn’t think anything else had been going on, but Eliza had been quite enthusiastic.
“She did me a favor. I asked her to make sure she got the winning bid for me. This is for charity, don’t forget.”
“All right, then. Whatever floats your boat,” Coop said. “You better go meet your woman.”
A bead of sweat slid down Max’s face, and he pulled at his collar again. “Is it hot in here?”
“Yes. Good job bringing it, Mr. Hottie.” Coop clapped his shoulder. “Eliza is a catch, which I’m sure you already know. Y’all have a good time tonight. Who knows? Maybe this is a chance to become more than friends.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
The way Coop understood things, tonight wasn’t the actual date, just a short time to chat and get to know each other a little better. The other bachelor who’d already been auctioned had left the private room and was now near the restaurant section having a drink with the woman who’d won. Coop watched as Max awkwardly went to join Eliza and led her out of the room.
The youngest Fortune Maloney brother, Damon, came up behind Cooper. “Damn, did you see that? Alana Searle is bidding tonight. I would give anything for her to win me. I’ve had a crush on her forever.”
“Get in line. Who doesn’t have a crush on her? She’s not interested in you. You saw what just happened. She wanted Max.”
“So what?” Damon adjusted the cowboy hat he never wore. “I’m better-looking than Max, and I could be her consolation prize.”
“Step aside, youngster, and let me show you how this is done.” Coop walked toward the auctioneer’s podium.
“Ladies, welcome our next bachelor, the notoriously single Cooper Fortune Maloney! Yes, that’s right, ladies. He’s one of the Fortunes of Texas. Let’s hear it for this cowboy who promises you one wild ride!”
A gratifying swell of applause and whistles rose up over the room. Coop tipped his Stetson and flashed everyone a smile.
Vicky Chandler, an entertainment news reporter from Corpus Christi, was their MC tonight. She turned to Coop expectantly.
“Cooper, what kind of date do you promise the young lady who wins you tonight?”
He tipped back on his heels. “You’ll have a good time. I’ll make sure of it. We’ll take a ride out to Lake Chatelaine and have a picnic, then watch the sun set. Whatever happens af ter, well, that will be ladies’ choice. Let’s just say I’m going to leave my entire night wide-open. We can stay up and watch the sunrise.” He grinned. “I make a mean breakfast.”
A few more whoops and hollers, and the auction began.
Within minutes, there were several bids from some excited women, and the price quickly increased. Some of his ex-girlfriends were bidding, which gave him pause. But hey, this was for charity. He’d go on a date with an ex if he had to, but he would prefer someone else to win. Someone like, for instance, Alana. The lady in red.
The bidding inched up, one lady always outbidding another. Then Alana reentered the room. He hadn’t seen her in the crowd after she’d lost Max, probably having left to go lick her wounds. Now she raised her hand and made a bid several steps ahead of the last one.
This caused a general moan from the ladies, but Coop’s ex-girlfriend Shannon rose to the challenge. When Alana jumped way ahead with her next bid, Shannon sat down in a huff.
“Aaaand sold, to number sixty-one. Congratulations. Way to hang in there.” The MC pounded her gavel.
Coop walked toward Alana, who, if possible, looked even better close up. That dress was doing all kinds of things for him. She wore her blond hair down, her skin creamy and peachy, cheeks pinked. Probably from all the effort. Every time someone had outbid her tonight, she’d jumped up in her chair, springing up like a jack-in-the-box.
They’d gone to school together, like so many in their small town, and so they were acquainted with each other. But she was four years younger, still in junior high when he’d been a senior. It had been out of the question for him then, as he had his own rules for dating. But beyond that, he’d always found her gorgeous and somewhat unattainable. Now, he wondered why they’d never dated after high school, since they seemed like a likely pairing. Both had reputations for hard partying and good times.
“How about that? I won the next-best brother,” Alana said with a sly wink.
Coop winced, not from the raucous noise from the back room at the closing of the bidding on Damon, but from the reference to the “next-best” brother. But yeah, okay. He got it. At the moment, since his inheritance hadn’t come in, he supposed one could look at it that way.
Then again, he’d always had more game than Max.
“I’m kidding!” She elbowed him.
“Don’t worry, darlin’, I’ll make sure you don’t ever regret winning me.” He sent her his most wicked smile.
“I’m sure I won’t.”
“Would you like to get a drink, and we can talk about this date I’m taking you on?” He pointed her toward the bar.
“Um, sure.”
When they each took a stool, he ordered a beer, but Alana wanted a soft drink.
“Not drinking tonight?” Coop handed her the soda.
“Everyone asks me that.” She didn’t meet his eyes. “It’s...this new diet I’m on.”
Diet? What kind of diet allowed a sugared soft drink but no alcohol? What the hell did he know. He’d never dieted a day in his life.
“Thanks for outbidding Shannon. We dated once a while ago, and let’s just say I didn’t want to go there again.” He took a pull of his beer. “So, tell me, what do you like to do on a date?”
“Probably some of the same things you do.” She smiled—if he wasn’t mistaken, a bit wickedly.
The rumors swirling around flirty Alana were apparently true. She was aggressive and knew who and what she wanted. Once again, two of a kind. He could play that game. It sounded like they were very much in sync, at least in one way. Coop couldn’t wait to find out more.
“Well.” He waggled his brows. “That kind of thing could take me all night.”
“Promise?”
Damn, Coop really liked this girl. He would schedule this date tomorrow if possible.
“You got it, sweetheart. I’m your man.”
She shook her head. “Don’t say that. I know you would have never asked me out on your own.”
This was probably true, but only because she hadn’t been on his radar recently. She’d worked at GreatStore with Linc, until he’d received his inheritance and quit. And she’d been dating Patrick, a fellow ranch hand. Every time Coop saw Alana, in fact, she’d been with some guy.
Until tonight.
“You date a lot,” he explained. “I didn’t think I stood a chance.”
“I could say the same thing about you, cowboy.”
This was true, so he didn’t bother arguing. “Well, I think you’re beautiful.”
“Thank you, that’s sweet.”
“It’s the truth.” He leaned forward. “So, what did you have in mind for this date that will probably last all night long?”
She sipped from her soft drink and gazed at him from hooded eyelids. “Surprise me.”
Yet one more thing they had in common. She liked surprises.
“Just wait. It’s going to be epic.”
Chapter One
The Chatelaine Report: We are still feeling the ripple effects from last month’s Valentine’s Day Bachelor Auction. Max Maloney Fortune is now engaged to real estate agent Eliza Henry, who “won” Max on Valentine’s Day. We particularly admired the determination of Alana Searle, who landed Max’s brother Coop as a consolation prize. Look out, Chatelaine! There’s no telling what might happen when two of the town’s most colorful characters wind up together...
One month later
Alana Searle might’ve won Cooper Fortune Maloney at the Valentine’s Day Bachelor Auction, but she should probably give him back.
The auction had been for charity, and Alana figured spending the birthday money Nana sent her every year would be a good “pay it forward” gesture. Besides, Nana always made her promise to spend the money on “something special” for herself and not on paying her many bills. This was the perfect situation, because when else could she give money to charity and still get something for herself? She’d tried to win Max, but the bidding had quickly gone out of her range.
Of all four Fortune Maloney brothers, Coop was by far the best-looking in her opinion. Tall and lean, with strong arms and muscular thighs, he was a feast for any woman’s eyes. He had dark bedroom eyes that she’d wager regularly saw the inside of a woman’s room. His wavy brown hair was always tousled by the wind, and he usually appeared to have recently dismounted a horse.
A studly cowboy through and through.
Unfortunately, there was a word for men like him. Player was the nicest. Women tended to lick their lips and toss their hair when Coop walked by. Once upon a time, she’d been one of them. And oh yes, he noticed the attention he got. A huge flirt, he always had a kind word for the ladies. Those words involved “sweetheart” and “darlin’” even to women he didn’t know.
He was precisely the type of man who should stay at least a hundred miles away from Alana. He was trouble. And she already had enough trouble of her own, thank you. But he’d been her consolation prize at the bachelor auction, and she wasn’t too jaded to give Cooper a chance tonight. After all, he was one of the Fortune Maloneys, one sister and four brothers of solid character and strength. His brother Lincoln had been the best boss Alana ever had. Lincoln hadn’t changed who he was after his inheritance made him a wealthy man. Now, he was in a serious relationship with Remi Reynolds, one of Alana’s good friends and a former coworker. Alana couldn’t be happier for them both.
Maybe Cooper could surprise her tonight. There might be a lot more depth to this cowboy than anyone realized. The same could be said of her, after all. Some people in town didn’t hold the best opinions of her, either. She wanted to be fair and give him the benefit of the doubt. He’d kept calling to schedule their date, but there was always a conflict either on his side or hers. Four weeks later, the day had finally arrived.
Tonight might be the last time she’d get to go out for a little fun before everyone in their small town of Chatelaine discovered her little secret, so she’d talked herself into enjoying the evening. She would make it a quick night, however, and insist he bring her home early, making up some excuse about work.
Though the Valentine’s Day auction had been for a good cause, she’d lost her head when she’d been outbid on her intended bachelor. Coop’s brother Max was handsome, too, plus he was stable and secure. He’d been her first choice. Max managed an accounting firm, for crying out loud. Did it get any safer than that? Rumors in town were that Max was a commitment-phobe, but she’d hoped maybe his being older than Coop, he might be ready to have a family and settle down. Alana had his ready-made family waiting for him right here, but no dice. She lost the auction to an incredibly zealous Eliza, who’d obviously had a bigger budget than Alana. Eliza and Max were together now—full confirmation that despite being anti-commitment, Max had become serious with a woman once he found the right one.
