Marriage on Her Mind

Cindi Myers

Danger! Marriage Ahead!It took a lot of courage to leave her groom at the altar. But Casey Jernigan knows she made the perfect decision, and she isn't about to make the same mistake twice. That's why she's come to Crested Butte, Colorado, to live life on her own terms. She's instantly smitten by the town and its colorful inhabitants. That goes double for her irresistible new landlord.With his bad-boy good looks and footloose ways, Max Overbridge is definitely not the marrying kind. Which is just fine with Casey. Until she realizes she may have met Mr. Right! What will it take to convince the town's most popular bachelor that wedding bells are in both their futures?

Marriage on her Mind

Cindi Myers

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

To the people of Crested Butte, Colorado

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 One

More than once in the past few weeks, Casey Jernigan had wondered if she was losing her mind. What was a Chicago-born-and-bred woman like her doing packing everything she owned in the back of her RAV4 and heading halfway across the country to take a job in a small town she knew nothing about?

Sitting in her car at the city limits of Crested Butte, Colorado, on a clear April morning, Casey wavered between hysterical laughter and abject panic. Though spring was fast approaching in the Midwest, here snow still lay in drifts to the rooflines, and passing cars were adorned with ski racks and snowboards. As she watched, a snowplow rumbled by, colored lights flashing as it scraped the roadway bare.

But the thing that most made Casey doubt her sanity was the dragon.

It rose, thirty feet long and fifteen feet tall, silver and gleaming in the bright afternoon sun. Neck outstretched, wings unfurled, it lunged toward the man who cowered before it. Saint George—surely it was Saint George—cringed before the dragon’s onslaught, his shining armor, upraised sword and shield seeming a poor defense against the giant beast.

As defenseless as Casey suddenly felt in this remote place where she knew no one and no one knew her. At the time she’d accepted the position as the assistant director of marketing for the Crested Butte chamber of commerce, the chance to make a completely fresh start had been the primary attraction of the job. Not to mention there was something so romantic and exciting about living in a ski town in the mountains. She’d pictured handsome ski instructors and laughing children, building snowmen and cuddling before crackling fires with cups of hot chocolate.

Dragons—and this sick feeling of being far out of her element—had never figured into her dreams.

Sighing, she put the Toyota in gear and rolled slowly toward downtown Crested Butte. Elevation 8,885 feet, proclaimed the city-limits sign. Never mind the population. What was important here was the elevation. In the distance, Casey could see the mountains of Crested Butte Ski Resort, like meringue peaks on a giant pie.

She checked the directions on the computer printout on the seat beside her and searched the street signs for Elk Avenue. She’d been assured that the apartment she’d rented sight unseen was easy to find. “Right on the main drag,” her new boss at the chamber, Heather Allison, had said. “You’ll be able to walk to work.”

Elk Avenue proved to be a collection of colorful Victorian storefronts arrayed behind towering snowdrifts. The sidewalk snaked between the drifts like a carnival maze. Casey checked her directions again and guided the Toyota to a stop in front of a bright pink-and-turquoise building with the number 27 out front. Mad Max’s Snowboards and Bicycle Rental, proclaimed the sign over the door.

Mad Max? Snowboards? Where was the apartment building within walking distance of the office? The dizzy feeling of being out of place returned. Obviously, she’d written the address down wrong. But she mig