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Couldhe?CHAPTER

THREECASEYfelt as if she were

fighting her waythrough cotton-

wool

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thick, wispy

clouds of it

thatstopped her

reaching thesurface, stopped

her fromremembering

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This was all a

dream! Xander

Fraser was a

dream. As hismarriage proposal

had been a dream

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Drinkthis,

rasped an

autocratic voice.

Comeon, Casey,open your eyes

and drink.Unfortunately,

that voice was alltoo familiar. Not a

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dream, then. Or

even a nightmare!

Whichmeant thatXanders marriage

proposal hadbeen very real

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Iknow youre

awake, Casey.

His voice was

softer now. Imnot going to

disappearjust because you

refuse toopen your eyes

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and look at me,

he taunted gently.Her lids snapped

open and sheglared up at her

tormentor.She was now

sitting slumped inthearmchair

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Xander must have

carried her to when

shed fainted, andhe was bent over

her, holdingout a glass of clear

brown liquid.

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as he held the

glass closer to

her. Itshould be

brandy, Iknow, butits all I could find

in the way ofalcohol,he

added wryly.

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It was cooking

sherry, Casey

recognised with a

grimace as shetook the glass

from him, usedtoflavour a trifle

she had made forChristmas, several

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months ago. And

not a very good

cookingsherry,

either. But he wasright. She needed

something todispel some of the

numbed shockshewas

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feeling.Xander

Fraser was the

type of man

who was alwaysright, she decided,

thoroughlydisgruntled.She

gulped

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down the sherry,

finding it as

disgusting as shed

thought it wouldbe, butnonethelessreviving for all

that.Great, Xandermuttered inwardly

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when he saw those

green eyes begin

to sparkle

unnaturally andthe flush that

suddenly colouredCaseys

previously

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pale cheeks; one

glass of bloody

awfulsherry and thewoman was drunk.

No doubt the factthat she obviously

didnt eat properly

hadnt

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helped.Thats enough of

that,he said

firmly. He took theempty glass away

from her andplaced it onthe coffee table,straightening as he

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did so to move

slightly away from

her. His

deliberately blandexpression showed

none of theconcern he had felt

a few minutes ago,

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as hed carried her

limpbody from the

kitchen toplace her in the

chair in the sittingroom.The woman

had been like

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gossamer in his

armsso light shed

felt as though shedidnt weighmuch

more than Lauren.As he had looked

down at her hed

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wondered what

difference a fewgood meals andsome TLC would

bring to the

hollows of her

cheeks and the

slender curves

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of her body. How

she would look if

the worry and

stress she wasobviously

suffering were toberemoved and

she could actuallystart to enjoy life

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again.Then he had

chastised himself

for even thinking

along those lines.His idea that the

two of themmarry was a business

proposition.Nothing more,

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nothing less. Far

better that he

didnt eventhink

of Casey Bridgesundoubted beauty,

or the possibleallure of her with a

fuller,

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morecurvaceous

bodyNo, thinkingabout her like

that certainlywasnt a goodidea. Not if sheagreed to marry

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him.And he had

every intention,

now he had

actually voiced theidea, of making

sure that shedid!Casey looked

up at Xander frombeneath long

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golden lashes,

easily recognising

his leashedstrength

as he pacedthe room

restlessly. He wasa man who

wielded poweralong with

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supremeself-

confidence. A

man, she was sure,

who never took nofor an answer. A

man who hadjustsuggested, with

the offer of afinancial incentive,

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that she marry

him!She moistened

stiff, unyieldinglips before

speaking. Ithinkyou had better

leave now.

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Im afraid I cant

do that, Casey.

You and I have a

lot more to say toeach other before I

agree togoanywhere.

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Butyou cant

have seriously just

suggested the two of us getmarried?

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declared. Youre

hardworking.

Independent. A

good motherMyteeth aresound, too,she

putin sarcastically.

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Xander gave an

appreciative grin.

Thereyou havea sense of humour

as well!It

s hysteria, Mr

Fraser, not

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humour,Casey

pointed out, sitting

up straighter in the

armchair tolook athim searchingly.

Why?she finallyvoiced in

a guarded tone.

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Addastute to your list of

attributes!heteased, not

unkindly.Well,I certainlyknow you arent

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suggesting I marry

you because

youve suddenly

decidedyouvefallen madly in

love with me!sheretorted.

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No,he

acknowledged

seriously. Doyou

want to know whyyou? Or why I needto get marriedat all?

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Both,

Caseysnapped.DoesJosh have

any paternal

grandparents?he asked, instead

of answeringeither of those

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questions.Casey looked

surprised. Yes.Andhave they

ever consideredtrying to take Josh

from you?

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Afterthe way

their son behaved?

They wouldnt

dare!she assuredhim, wings of

angry colourappearing in those

pale cheeks.

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Well,Brad feels

no such scruples

where his

granddaughter isconcerned,

Xander saidcoldly.Yourfather

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-in-law wants to

takeLauren away from

you?Caseygasped. But

why?Xander raised aneyebrow. Why

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does he want

Lauren? Or why

does he think he

has reason totakeLauren from me?Either.Both!

Casey frowned heragitation at his

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habit of answering

her questions with

morequestions, at the

same timewondering how

she would have

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felt if Sams

parents had ever

threatened to try

and take Josh fromher.As desperate

as Xander Fraserobviously did, if

his marriageproposal to

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her was anything

to go by!He sighed. Brad

is hurtingvery badly at the

moment. Hisdaughter

his only child

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died four months

ago, and now that

his initial shockhas receded I

believe he seesLauren as a

replacementin hislife for Chloe. He

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informed me

on Sunday that he

intends applying

for custody ofLauren. Itried reasoningwith him, and

pointed out that heisnt thinking

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rationally at the

moment. He

isntlistening,

Xander concludeddarkly.Casey gave him a

searching look,

knowing by thegrimness of his

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expression that

he took hisfather-

in-laws threat seriously. But

surely BradHenderson, no

matter how richand influential,cou

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ld never succeed

in such a threat?Youdidnt

answer my otherwhy,she prompted.Xander Fraser

s

eyes flashed.

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Whydoes he

think he might

succeed in such a

claim?His lipsbriefly compressedinto a tight line

beforehe continued.

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Whetheryou

believe me or

not, Iconsider myself agood father. But

there have beenproblems since

Chloe and Iseparated. Im

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away on business

a lot, obviously.

Lauren has beendifficult at school.

She has alsomanaged todispatch the fournannies Ive

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employed in as

many months.

Brad intends using

all of the aboveasa way of proving

he would be abetter guardian

for Lauren than Iam.

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Butthose things

don

t meananything.Casey

shook her

head. Joshhas been a little

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troubledat school,

too. But with his

father leaving,

the strangeness ofhaving another

woman in hisfathers life, and

then their suddendeathsits only

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know that. Brad

obviously sees

things differently.

Hes angry,upset,and hes blaming

everything andeveryone,

including me, forChloes death. At

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themoment he

simply doesnt see

that he helped for

m Chloe into theselfish person she

undoubtedlywas. And no doubt

he would makeLauren equally

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selfish if he were

to get his hands on

her.It wasnt too

difficult for Caseyto imagine the

scenario Xanderdescribed.

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It was difficult,

however, to

understand how

proposingmarriage to her

was going to solvehisdilemma!Soyou thinkmarrying a

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complete stranger

is going to stop

him from going

ahead withacustody battle?

she said with afrown.

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Ithink marrying

a woman whose

young son is

already friends with my

daughtershes talked

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about Josh

incessantly the last

four months!and providing

Lauren with astepmother and thestability of a

proper family life,

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Canyou come up

with a better

idea?Xander

snapped.Howaboutmarrying someone

you actuallylove?

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