Claiming the Cowboy's Heart Read online

  The cutest threesome in Haven is still in diapers

  Opening Haven’s first boutique hotel is Liam Gilmore’s longtime dream come true, especially when he hires alluring Macy Clayton as manager. Good thing the single mother’s already spoken for—by her adorable eight-month-old triplets! Because Liam isn’t looking for forever after. Then why is the playboy rancher fantasizing about a future with Macy and her trio of tiny charmers?

  “Brenda Harlen writes couples with such great chemistry and characters to root for.”

  —#1 New York Times bestselling author Linda Lael Miller

  Macy wanted more.

  So much more.

  Liam gave her more, kissing her deeply and oh-so-very-thoroughly. Only when they were both desperate for breath did he ease his mouth from hers so they could fill their lungs with air. But even then, he continued to hold her close, his forehead tipped against hers.

  “This is why I didn’t want to hire you,” he reminded her. “I knew it would be a struggle to keep my hands off you. Then the chemistry took over.”

  That chemistry continued to spark and sizzle between them, but she ignored it. Or tried to.

  She finally pulled out of his arms, putting some much-needed space between them. “It won’t happen again.”

  “Do you really believe that?” he challenged.

  The heat in his gaze warmed her all over. “I’m not your type.”

  “You sure felt like my type when you were in my arms.”

  “Single mom,” she reminded him, gesturing to herself with her thumb. “Three kids. Babies.”

  * * *

  MATCH MADE IN HAVEN:

  Where gold rush meets gold bands!

  Dear Reader,

  Once again, I’m recommending a Harlequin Special Edition book to encourage readers to discover these compelling contemporary romances. The Special Edition line has always been full of great stories. The heroes and heroines are dynamic and relatable, trying their best to resist their attraction to each other while resolving the conflict that keeps them apart. But the undeniable chemistry that simmers between them cannot be denied. These books will pull you in and take you on an emotional and satisfying journey. Each story ends with a marriage proposal or wedding—delivering the happily-ever-after, because the love and security of family is the ultimate promise of Special Edition.

  Brenda Harlen, the author of this month’s recommendation, Claiming the Cowboy’s Heart, writes couples with such great chemistry and characters to root for. Her plots are multilayered, and she is a master at creating communities readers want to revisit again and again.

  In Claiming the Cowboy’s Heart, rancher turned innkeeper Liam Gilmore has a lot of high hopes for his new venture—and one serious concern: an unwelcome attraction to his new property manager. Thankfully, he’s too smart to mix business and pleasure. Former Las Vegas concierge Macy Clayton recently returned to her hometown to raise her three adorable babies with the support of her own parents. She gave up on romantic love a long time ago, but she can’t deny that her heart beats a little bit faster whenever her hunky boss is around.

  All the best,

  Linda Lael Miller

  Claiming the Cowboy’s Heart

  Brenda Harlen

  Brenda Harlen is a former attorney who once had the privilege of appearing before the Supreme Court of Canada. The practice of law taught her a lot about the world and reinforced her determination to become a writer—because in fiction, she could promise a happy ending! Now she is an award-winning, RITA® Award–nominated national bestselling author of more than thirty titles for Harlequin. You can keep up-to-date with Brenda on Facebook and Twitter or through her website, brendaharlen.com.

  Books by Brenda Harlen

  Harlequin Special Edition

  Match Made in Haven

  The Sheriff’s Nine-Month Surprise

  Her Seven-Day Fiancé

  Six Weeks to Catch a Cowboy

  Those Engaging Garretts!

  A Forever Kind of Family

  The Bachelor Takes a Bride

  Two Doctors & a Baby

  Building the Perfect Daddy

  Baby Talk & Wedding Bells

  The Last Single Garrett

  Montana Mavericks: The Great Family Roundup

  The Maverick’s Midnight Proposal

  Montana Mavericks: The Baby Bonanza

  The More Mavericks, the Merrier!

  Visit the Author Profile page at www.Harlequin.com for more titles.

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  For Neill—with love and gratitude. xo

  Contents

  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

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from A Soldier’s Return by RaeAnne Thayne

  Excerpt from Flare Up by Shannon Stacey

  Chapter One

  “Oh, no,” Liam Gilmore said, shaking his head for emphasis when he saw his sister Katelyn walk through the front doors of the inn with her briefcase in one hand and a rectangular object that he knew to be her daughter’s portable playpen in the other. The baby was strapped against Katelyn’s body and an overstuffed diaper bag was draped over one of her shoulders. Loaded down with the kid’s stuff, she looked like a Sherpa ready to embark on a mountain trek.

  “I’ve got an emergency hearing at the courthouse in half an hour,” she explained, as she dropped the diaper bag next to his makeshift desk and set her briefcase beside it.

  “And I’ve got interviews scheduled for this afternoon,” he told her.

  “You’ve got a manager, a weekend housekeeper and a breakfast chef—what more does a boutique hotel need?” she asked, as she unzipped the carrying case of the playpen.

  Because he couldn’t sit there and watch his sister struggle, he took the portable enclosure from her and opened it up, then clicked to lock each of the sides, pushed down the center support and slid the mattress pad into place. “Andrew decided to take a job in Los Angeles, so I no longer have a manager,” Liam admitted.

  “I’m sorry,” Kate said sincerely, as she unbuckled the baby carrier and carefully extracted the sleeping baby.

  He shrugged. “Not your problem,” he said. “Just as your requirement for a last-minute babysitter—again—isn’t my problem.”

  “And yet I’m willing to help you out, because that’s what siblings do,” she told him.

  “Tell me how you’re going to help me,” he suggested.

  She pressed her lips to Tessa’s forehead, then carefully laid the sleeping baby down in the playpen.

  And maybe his heart did soften a bit as he watched his sister with her little girl, and maybe that same heart had been known to turn to mush when his adorable niece smiled at him, but he had no intention of admitting any of that to Kate, who already took advantage of him at every opportunity.

  “By giving you the name of your new manager,” she said.

  “Please do. Then I can cancel
the interviews I’ve scheduled.”

  “Your sarcasm is unnecessary and unappreciated, and if I didn’t have to be in court in—” Kate glanced at the slim silver bangle on her wrist “—sixteen minutes, I’d make you not just apologize but grovel. Since I do have to be in court, I’ll just say Macy Clayton.”

  Liam recognized the name. In fact, Macy was scheduled for an interview at two thirty, but he didn’t share that information with his sister, either. “And why should I hire her?” he prompted.

  “Because she’s perfect for the job,” Kate said. “She’s been working in the hotel industry in Las Vegas for the past eight years, including several as a desk clerk and concierge before she was promoted to assistant to the manager at the Courtland Hotel & Casino.”

  “If she had such a great career in Las Vegas, what is she doing in Haven?” he wondered aloud.

  “That’s something you’ll have to ask her,” she told him.

  * * *

  He hated when his sister was right.

  And as he looked through the applications on his desk after Kate had gone, Liam couldn’t deny that she was right about the woman she’d recommended for the managerial position.

  Macy Clayton was, at least on paper, perfect for the job. Then again, he’d thought Andrew would be perfect, too—and so had the Beverly Hills Vista. Not surprisingly, Andrew had chosen the possibility of celebrity sighting on the West Coast over the probability of boredom in northern Nevada.

  Most of the locals had expressed skepticism about his plan; opening a boutique hotel in a sleepy town off the beaten path was a risky venture. David Gilmore had been less kind in his assessment, referring to his oldest son as both a disappointment and a fool.

  “Gilmores are ranchers” had been his refrain every time Liam tried to talk to him about the inn. And while it was true that the family had been raising cattle on the Circle G for more than a hundred and fifty years, Liam had been chafing to get away from the ranch for more than fifteen years.

  Not that he’d had any specific plans. Not until he’d seen JJ Green affixing a New Price sticker to the faded For Sale sign stuck in the untended front yard of the Stagecoach Inn.

  The old, abandoned hotel had been falling apart when Hershel Livingston bought it for a song nearly a decade earlier. The Nevada native had made his fortune in casinos and brothels, but he’d planned to make his home in Haven, one of only a few places in the state where those vices were illegal.

  Hershel had spent millions of dollars on the rehab, then abandoned the project just as it was nearing completion. No one knew why, although the rumors were plenty. One of the more credible stories was that his wife had visited Haven during the renovation process and immediately hated the small town. A different version of the story suggested that his wife had caught the billionaire dallying with a local girl.

  There were as many variations of this claim as there were single women in town. The only indisputable truth was that Hershel had abruptly ordered his construction crew to vacate the premises, and then he called Jack Green to put a For Sale sign on the narrow patch of grass in front of the wide porch.

  The real estate agent got a lot of calls about the property in the first few weeks, but they were mostly local people who wanted to walk through and take a gander at the work that had been done. None of them was seriously interested in buying the inn, because they didn’t believe a fancy hotel could survive in Haven. As a result, interest had faded more quickly than the paint on the sign.

  Then, nearly two years ago, JJ Green—now working in the real estate business with his father—slapped that New Price sticker across the weathered sign. More out of curiosity than anything else, Liam had called the agent to inquire and learned that the price had been drastically reduced.

  Without any prompting, JJ confided that the elusive Mrs. Livingston had filed for divorce from her cheating husband and was going after half of everything. To retaliate, Hershel was selling off his assets at a loss to decrease the amount of the settlement he would have to pay to her.

  Kate had pointed out that the wife could argue fraud and claim half of the fair market value rather than half of the sale price. On the other hand, the property was only worth what someone was willing to pay, and the fact that the old hotel had been on the market for years without anyone making an offer might support Hershel’s decision to slash the price. Either way, Liam wasn’t going to protest the lower number. In fact, after securing the necessary financing, he managed to negotiate an even further reduction before he signed on the dotted line.

  Now he was only weeks away from opening, still waiting on deliveries and attempting to schedule the final inspections—and trying to fill unexpected vacancies in his staff.

  If Macy Clayton had responded to the original posting, he might have hired her rather than Andrew and not been feeling so panicked right now. Of course, he was making this assumption on the basis of her résumé and his sister’s recommendation without even having met the woman. So while he agreed that she seemed to have all the necessary qualifications for the job, he was going to reserve judgment.

  Then she walked in—and his body stirred with a purely sexual awareness he hadn’t experienced in a long while. And in that first moment, even before the introductions, he knew there was no way he could hire her. He also knew that he had to at least go through the motions of the interview.

  When she accepted his proffered hand, he felt a jolt straight through his middle as their palms joined. Her skin was soft but her grasp was firm, and he caught a flicker of something that might have been a mixture of surprise and awareness in her espresso-colored eyes when they met his. Her hair was also dark, with highlights of gold and copper, and tied away from her face in the messy-bun style made famous by the Duchess of Sussex before she was royalty.

  He guessed Macy’s height at around five feet five inches, though her heeled boots added a couple of inches to that number, and her build was on the slender side, but with distinctly feminine curves. The long coat she wore in deference to the season had been unbuttoned to reveal a slim-fitting black skirt that fell just below her knees and a matching single-breasted jacket over a bright blue shell.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Clayton.” He resisted the temptation to brush his thumb over the pulse point at her wrist to see if it was racing; instead, he let his hand drop away.

  “Likewise,” she said.

  “Can I take your coat for you?”

  “No need.” She shrugged it off her shoulders and draped it over the back of the chair before perching on the edge of the seat. “I have to tell you, I was skeptical when I’d heard that the old Stagecoach Hotel was being renovated and reopened, but based on what I’ve seen so far, you’ve really done a wonderful job with this place.”

  “Most of the major renovations were done by the previous owner—I just hired the right people to pick up where he left off,” Liam admitted.

  “Well, the actual coach at the back of the lobby is a nice touch,” she noted.

  “I thought so, too,” he said. A simple idea that had been a lot more complicated to execute, as the antique carriage had to be taken apart to get it through the doorway and then reassembled inside.

  “You’re planning to open in three weeks?” she prompted.

  He nodded. “Valentine’s Day.”

  Her smile was warm and natural. Friendly. He imagined she’d make the guests feel welcome—which was, of course, what he wanted, but didn’t alleviate his other concerns.

  Sexual harassment in the workplace was a serious issue, and Liam had been raised to be respectful of all women. Still, he suspected it would be a mistake to hire a woman who, upon their first meeting, made him think all kinds of inappropriately tempting thoughts.

  “Your résumé shows that you spent the last four years working at the Courtland Hotel in Las Vegas,” he noted, forcing himself to refocus on the matter at h
and.

  “That’s correct.”

  “So why did you leave Las Vegas and move to Haven?”

  “I moved back to Haven,” she clarified. “I grew up in this town and my parents still live here and—” Her words stopped abruptly, as if she’d caught herself saying more than she wanted to.

  “And?” he prompted.

  She offered another easy smile and a quick shrug. “And I was ready to come home.”

  It seemed like a reasonable response, but he doubted it was what she’d initially intended to say.

  He looked at her résumé again, skimming through the pages that attested to a wealth and breadth of experience. She’d worked a lot of different jobs on her way up to her most recent position as assistant to the manager of the Courtland Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas: she’d served drinks in a hotel casino, worked as a hostess in the restaurant and even done a stint cleaning rooms.

  “Your experience is impressive,” he told her.

  “Thank you.”

  “But why do you want to work here?”

  “Because there are no openings at the Dusty Boots Motel.”

  His brows lifted. “Is that a joke?”

  The corners of her mouth tipped up at the corners. “Yes, Mr. Gilmore.”

  “Liam,” he said.

  “I’m not sure it’s appropriate to call my boss by his given name.”

  “I’m not your boss,” he pointed out.

  “Yet,” she clarified, and smiled again.

  Before he could reply to that, he heard a rustling sound in the playpen behind him, followed by a tiny, plaintive voice asking for, “Ma-ma?”

  Macy leaned forward in her seat, looking past him to the little girl who’d pulled herself up into a standing position, holding onto the top rail.

  “Mama’s going to be back soon,” Liam promised. Hoped.

  “You have a beautiful daughter,” Macy said.

  “What? No,” he responded quickly. Firmly. “She’s not my daughter—she’s my niece.”