LITMIR.BIZ

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looking for a wife.

      Shut up, already. I’m just walking her into the party, not getting down on one knee.

      That was good because he didn’t even know if this woman was interested in getting married. Or if she was even interested in him.

      And then there was that…thing she had on around her neck. What in the hell was that all about?

      “Name’s Mack, by the way, Mack McCaulley.” He stuck out his hand.

      She studied him a moment. “Haven’t we already met?” she asked finally in a breathy whisper.

      “Oh no, ma’am. I would never forget a lady like you.”

      For some reason his statement caused her to frown in displeasure when he figured she should have been flattered. What had he done wrong? Could they have met before? He paused a moment to think. Nah. He would have remembered her.

      “I’m Camryn,” she said after a moment. “Camryn Josephine.”

      He grinned. “Like Cameron Diaz?”

      “Pronounced the same but spelled differently.”

      “Still.” He wriggled his eyebrows and hoped he was forgiven for whatever he had done to make her frown. “It’s a very sexy name.”

      “Thank you.”

      He pushed open the door and escorted her into the community center. Kay and Quinn came over to greet them. Camryn leaned over and said something to Kay.

      “You’re kidding.” Kay laughed at whatever it was Camryn had told her, then Kay looked at Mack with a disapproving gleam in her eyes.

      What? Now it was Mack’s turn to frown. What on earth had he done, dammit? He hated being talked about behind his back. It brought back bad childhood memories from the time his mother had run off with another man. And from the time his first serious girlfriend had dumped him for a software program designer who pulled down a high six-figure salary.

      “Am I missing out on a joke?” he asked Kay.

      “You could say that,” Kay demurred. “Do you have any idea who she is?”

      “No.” Mack snorted in exasperation.

      “She’s the winner of the Metropolitan magazine contest.”

      “No kidding.”

      Hmm, that meant she probably was interested in snagging a husband. The plot thickened. Mack looked at her with new possibilities but Camryn still seemed miffed with him for some reason. He wanted to make amends and quick.

      Kay locked arms with Camryn and whisked her away before Mack could protest. “I’ll bring your date back in a minute.”

      “I’m not Mack’s date,” Cammie Jo murmured to Kay once they were out of the men’s earshot.

      “He thinks you are.” Kay guided her up a staircase to the second floor and pushed open the door to the powder room. She stopped in front of the mirror, pulled a comb from her purse and ran it through her sleek blond hair.

      “No he doesn’t. He doesn’t even recognize that I’m the same person he flew in from Anchorage this afternoon. He thinks I’m some gorgeous creature.”

      Kay gave her an appraising glance. “Well, sweetie, in Mack’s defense, you do look like an entirely different woman.”

      “It’s irritating. When I was Cammie Jo he didn’t give me the time of day. But as Camryn Josephine, he can’t be solicitous enough.” Cammie Jo folded her arms across her chest, felt the smooth sleekness of the totem against her forearm.

      “That’s men for you.”

      “And that’s precisely why I’m not interested in them. It doesn’t matter that I have an IQ of 145. All that matters is that I look good in a dress.” Camryn snorted.

      “Don’t judge them too harshly,” Kay said. “You’ve got to remember in Bear Creek the men outnumber the women ten to one. That’s why the bachelors advertised for wives. And the women that do live here are practical, rural women who don’t have much use for makeup and designer clothes. This publicity-generated infusion of femininity has gone straight to their heads.” Kay giggled conspiratorially. “Quinn’s ape crazy over my collection of provocative stockings.”

      “Promise me you won’t tell Mack what I’m really like.”

      “What do you mean?” Kay applied a fresh layer of lipstick to her full lips, then passed the tube to Cammie Jo.

      Cammie Jo swept her hand at her sexy outfit. “I’m not really beautiful and sophisticated and self-confident.”

      “Don’t be silly, of course you are. You just needed a little makeover.”

      Kay didn’t understand. This transformation wasn’t the result of a little blush, a push-up bra and a new color of contact lens. Only the totem could have wrought such a change, and she couldn’t explain that to her new friend. For one, she didn’t want to sound like a nutcase and for two, she certainly didn’t want to chance defusing the magic by talking about it.

      “Please, just don’t tell Mack I’m Cammie Jo. Okay?”

      “Sure, honey. Whatever you want.” Kay squeezed her hand.

      “Thanks.”

      “Now let’s get back out there. We’ve kept the men waiting long enough.”

      They returned to find the party gearing up. More guests had filtered in. The band was playing some current, chart-topping country-and-western tune. Mack was standing near the front door, his eyes on her. He was resplendent in that tuxedo. Every little girl’s dream date. In fact, he looked as if he could grace the top of a wedding cake.

      Cammie Jo hadn’t taken five steps toward him when she found herself surrounded by men. For a second, panic set in. Then she took a deep breath and reminded herself there was no reason to be afraid. She had the treasured wish totem, which she had decided looked less suggestive in plain view than tucked into her dress. She tugged on the totem and told herself not to get embarrassed. If they wanted to gawk, by George, let ’em gawk.

      That ought to give Mack something to think about.

      4

      MACK STOOD BY the punch bowl glowering at Jake, who’d scooped Camryn out from under him. He glared while his best friend waltzed his dream woman around the dance floor.

      No fair! He had seen her first. Had almost ran her down in fact, because he’d been studying her so hard.

      He admired Camryn’s graceful movements. Enjoyed the way her dress swirled and flared around her legs. A bullet of jealousy shot through him when she cocked her head upward and smiled at something Jake said. He shouldn’t be jealous. He wasn’t much of a dancer himself. Let her have fun with someone who didn’t possess two left feet.

      So why the burning sensation in his gut? Camryn’s hair fanned out, swirled behind her as she danced. Mack found himself enchanted by that twirling mane and he wasn’t the only one. He spied many covetous glances angling her way from the numerous single men lined against the wall.

      She might be pretty but it really wasn’t enough. Not anymore. Secretly, he was terrified of making a grave mistake, of picking a woman too beautiful and delicate to survive in his homeland. That’s why he had the “wife” list.

      Mack patted his breast pocket, then remembered he was wearing a tuxedo and had left his list at home. No matter. He knew the requirements by heart. His ideal woman would be brave, feisty, loyal, trustworthy, adventuresome, honest and intelligent. Just like his grandmother.

      When Jake had seen his list, he’d retorted that what Mack wanted was a Boy Scout, not a wife. Mack had pondered on Jake’s comment for a few days, then added: a sense of humor, likes to snuggle and doesn’t

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