Unexpected Hope (Book 2 in the Red Valley series)

Prologue

The characters in this story are purely fictional. All rights reserved. Copyright 2013                                                                      

                                                                       Prologue

He'd had too much to drink and he knew it. Levi Matthews was not a drinker and he didn't have a clue as to what had possessed him to imbibe so much. He would reflect on this night later and realize that it had been fate. For years he would curse it but later on he would get down on his knees and thank the powers that be for the night that would change his life forever.

Alicia Morgan had been trying to trap Levi Matthews into marriage for years. Somehow he had managed to escape her clutches until tonight. Levi stumbled out of the Lucky Lady saloon and into the cool night air and started down the empty street, his path lit by the silvery light of the half moon overhead. Even through his alcohol induced haze he knew it was too late and too dangerous to ride home tonight. Stumbling down the uneven planks of the dusty sidewalk, he headed for one of the hotels in town.  

Levi had a smaller but profitable ranch that he had built from the ground up. He'd refused to fight in the civil war; therefore his family had disowned him. So he'd taken the small inheritance he'd received from his maternal grandfather and left, never once looking back. He'd moved from town to town gambling and living a carefree life. One night the stakes had gotten pretty high and one of the players had run out of cash and put his land up. Levi had won so he took it as a sign that he should put down some roots and do something with the opportunity that had unexpectedly presented itself.

He walked into the lobby of the hotel but didn't see the clerk so he rang the bell and waited. A few minutes later a sleepy Harold Morgan came to the counter and gave Levi the key to a room upstairs. Walking up the steps; only stumbling twice he opened the door and walked across the room stripping as he went. By the time he fell across the bed and pulled up the covers he was naked. Snoring softly he didn't hear the door open then quietly close.

Alicia heard the bell ring as she lay in her bed trying to think of a way to get Levi Matthews to marry her. She'd done everything she could think of short of seducing the man. She was a beautiful woman and she knew it. She could have any man in town she wanted but the one man she did want didn't seem to be interested her. She wanted Levi and by God she would have him if it killed her. She could just imagine what it would feel like to have those strong calloused hands caress her body. Voices coming from the lobby of the hotel her father owned brought her out of her thoughts. One voice of course was her father's but the other one, that one belonged to the man she had just been fantasizing about.

Quickly she threw back the covers, ran across her room and quietly opened the door just enough to peak out. There, standing on the other side of the counter was the man of dreams. He was wearing his signature brown Stetson, a cream colored shirt with a form fitting chocolate colored leather vest and although she couldn't see his lower half she knew he was wearing a pair of snug fitting denims. Her father handed him a room key then the two men went their separate ways. Her father back to his room and Levi to his.

Alicia didn't think about what she was doing as she went back to her bed to put on her slippers then quickly went up the back stairs to the room her father had given Levi. Trembling fingers reached out and grabbed the door knob turning it' silently opening the door. The room was dark but with the milky light of the moon filtering through the curtains she could make out the sleeping form on the bed. Turning the lock on the door, she started across the room. His clothing was scattered on the floor and she realized that he was naked under the covers. Not wanting to be overdressed, she removed her own filmy gown and slippers then pulled the covers back and slid into the bed.