Wade Dwyer's life is turned upside down when his father dies and he learns he must marry or he and his siblings will lose the ranch. One last jab of the knife from his father. On top of that, his father's only friend knows about the stipulation and is determined to own the property by any means necessary.<br><br>He's facing the very real possibility of being the reason his family loses their home when his brother's best friend, Lance Matthews, offers to walk down the aisle with him. A faux marriage to the man he's loved for years is a torture he isn't sure he can endure.<br><br>Can he keep the ranch ... and the man of his dreams, too?

The Twisted Oak

Lance turned his gaze upward, too. The small raindrops were cold on his skin, but he knew those clouds were going to open up and release a torrent of rain any minute—they’d been threatening to all day. But he wasn’t about to move until Wade was ready.


“I always knew he hated me,” Wade admitted. “But to try and destroy my brothers’ lives because of it?” He looked back at Lance. “Actually, my sister’s life, too, huh?”


“So, you’re on board, then? We’ve got a lot of details to cover.”


Wade shook his head. “Seriously. This is going to backfire.”


Lance chuckled. “So is that a ‘yes’ to my proposal?”


A smile slowly spread across Wade’s face. “Yeah, I guess it is.”


Lance grinned and turned his horse so they could ride back to the house.


They barely made it to the barn before the heavens opened up, releasing sheets of heavy rain.


The next few hours became a flurry of activity. Once Wade had agreed to marry Lance, everyone sat in the great room and went over the plan.


Chapter 13