His Pledge to Have: A Sweet Marriage of Convenience Romance

By Shanae Johnson

Tilly Silver can get any horse to eat its curds and hay. But when her mouth begins to water for the soldier who's promised to marry her twin, can she convince her family to change what's on the menu?

 

Artillery “Tilly” Silver needs to get married, quick. If she’s not hitched in just a couple of weeks, her family will lose the ranch they've lived on all their lives. But when yet another date goes bust, she’s rescued by an unexpected hero, a man who is perfect marriage material, except for one thing—he’s already engaged to her twin sister.

 

Carter Shane agreed to marry a woman he’s never met. Getting close to his fiancée’s sister wasn’t part of the plan, but now Tilly is all he thinks about. Well, her and the addiction to pain medication he just can’t shake after a wartime injury. Getting clean is a lot more difficult than running off one of the jerks Tilly’s been dating, and when he steals a forbidden kiss, he realizes which twin he’s supposed to be with.

 

Between her sisterly loyalty and the secret he’s keeping, they’re off to a rocky start. And now Tilly’s stepmother is on a warpath, determined to prove all the Silver girls' marriages are fraudulent in order to gain the ranch for herself. If her stepmother can convince the judge of wrongdoing, the girls won't just lose their home and the horses they care for, they'll each lose the loves of their lives.

 

Find out if love can truly heal all wounds in this light-hearted, sweet romance of convenient arrangements that unfold into lasting love. His Pledge to Have is the fifth in a series of marriage of convenience tales featuring Wounded Warriors who are healed with the power of love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publishdrive
• Release date: Nov 29, 2021
• ISBN: 1954181493

Book preview

Chapter One

C an you believe I've never been in a long-term relationship?

Artillery Silver could believe that about the guy who was sitting across from her. His name was Chet. Or -wait? Was it Chaz?

Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't the name he'd given on the dating app they'd initially connected on. On the popular app, MeetCute, individuals could use nicknames. Tilly had used her actual nickname of Tilly. Charles—or was it Chester?—had called himself MomApproved. Tilly was starting to wonder if the moniker boasted that the mothers of the women he dated approved of him? Or if it was only his mother who approved of him?

Most women aren't honest about who they are on these dating apps, you know. When you meet them in person, you often get a big shock.

Christian -or maybe it was Chase?- only barely resembled his profile picture. In his current state, he sported a comb-over that barely had enough wisps to complete the trek to the other side of his forehead. He was five inches shorter than his dating profile claimed and forty pounds heavier. That picture on his profile had to be at least ten years older than the man who sat across from her at the dinner table.

All that evidence led Tilly to think it must have been his college picture… or maybe his high school yearbook photo. Whenever the picture had been snapped left Tilly in no doubt that Clarence—or maybe it was Clinton?—had been telling the truth about one thing; it was easy to believe he'd never been in a long-term relationship.

I find most women can't live up to my high expectations.

Maybe because they're too busy looking down at you?

Tilly hadn't muttered the words under her breath. She'd said them loud enough for the guy at the next table to hear her. Like her, her next-table-neighbor didn't bother to mute his reaction. The dark-haired man laughed out loud. His sensual lips parted, allowing a few red droplets to fall back into the wineglass he held partway to his mouth. Most of the droplets seemed to cling to the flesh of his quirked lower lip as if the liquid was unwilling to part from him.

Light green eyes met hers. They twinkled with mirthful delight. A second laugh escaped him, sending more droplets. A few of those droplets landed on Tilly's arm.

Tilly glared at the man. He grinned back at her. She had to turn away quickly before he made her laugh too. The way he lifted his right brow in a perfectly arched upside-down V of mocking never failed to elicit a giggle out of her.

I think you're different, Artie, her date was saying.

Tilly's attention snapped back to… whatever his name was. The man deigned to ignore her nickname and gave her one of his liking. She saw no reason to exert herself any further over trying to remember his.

You're pretty enough. MomApproved leaned to the side and gave her seated frame a once over as though to confirm his words. You were early for our date, which shows eagerness. You ordered a steak, which shows me you're healthy. But… He held up a finger and wagged it at her as though she'd been a naughty child. … you'll need to cut back on the calories before things get out of hand and you balloon up. I won't be one of those husbands who'll stand to let his wife let herself go after I put a ring on it.

Tilly's fingers pinched at her wineglass stem. Her eyes narrowed on the bright, bald spot on her date's forehead. It made an excellent bull's eye. She bet she could hit that marker with her eyes shut.

The man sitting at the table next to them cleared his throat. The sound was loud enough to bring a few of the other dining guests’ attention to him. Not Tilly's date, though. He went on and on about what he expected of his wife-to-be as their next-table-neighbor began to cough.

The coughing man wasn't in any distress. His gaze was locked on Tilly's hand. Belatedly, she realized she'd raised her wineglass an inch off the tablecloth. The contents of the glass were nearly empty. But really, who could blame her with the tediousness of this date. Still, what was left in the glass would make a splash if the contents met with MomApproved's bloated face.

The guy next to them coughed a little louder. Tilly distinctly made out the words Don't, Cause, and Scene in the midst of his theatrical hacking. To punctuate his whooping Morse Code, he narrowed those light green eyes at her.

Tilly huffed as she set the glass back down. The man was right. She wasn't on this date to cause a scene. Her date was doing exactly what she had planned for him to do; he was proposing marriage.

Tilly needed to get married, and soon. She'd been going through dating apps like a horse quidding hay. She chomped at each straw of a man she came in contact with and spit out the wet bundles of rejects. But just like with a horse that wasn't properly swallowing his food, Tilly had to put a stop to the practice because she wasn't getting what she needed to keep her livelihood going.

Her father's will stipulated that she and her five sisters had to get married within three months of the reading of his will if they were going to keep the ranch they'd grown up on. It was the only home they'd known. And in two weeks, their time would be up. So, Tilly couldn't afford to be picky about who she would wind up rolling around in the hay with.

I would suggest we go Dutch on dinner, her date was saying. But, since you ordered the more expensive item on the menu, I think we should each pay our own way tonight. Like it says in my profile, I'm a feminist. I believe in equality of the sexes, and that includes financially.

Tilly lifted her wineglass again. Her hand didn't jerk to empty the contents in his face. She pressed the rim of the glass to her mouth and took a healthy gulp of what remained of her drink and her pride.

She had to do this. Her sisters were counting on her. Already four of the six Silver sisters had married. Only Tilly and her twin Gunny were left. And Gunny had a fiancé.

Why don't we take this back to my place, said MomApproved. My parents will be out until midnight playing bridge, and we'll have the whole basement to ourselves.

Annnnnd cut scene. That was a wrap on this date. Because, nope, she couldn't do it. She could not spend five more minutes with this joker, much less the rest of her life. She had only one choice left. She threw up the white flag.

Not just metaphorically. She tossed her white dinner linen to the floor.

Her neighbor at the next table lowered his left eyebrow as he looked down at the crumpled signal at his feet. Where lifting the right brow was always done in amusement, lowering the left brow was a sign of exasperation. His expression read, Are you really giving up?

Tilly wanted to glower at him that, Yes, she was giving up, and he'd better do something about it.

With the same pouting sigh he'd affected when she'd asked him to watch Grosse Pointe Blank for the tenth time—even though she knew he loved it, Carter Shane lifted his long form from the chair. Tilly took a moment to admire the play of muscles under his fitted black shirt as his lean fingers smoothed out the fabric.

Tilly knew firsthand what those muscles felt like under her cheek. She'd fallen asleep more than once while leaning against him on the sofa as they watched old movies. She'd even woken up a couple of times, laying fully against his chest with his arms wrapped snug around her, the television blaring static at them.

Now Tilly watched as Carter bent his form to pick up her napkin. Excuse me, ma'am, I think you dropped… Artillery? Artillery Silver, is that you?

I'm sorry, Tilly pressed her hand to her chest. Do we know each other?

Do we know each other? Carter turned and gave her date a chuckle. How could you forget me? We met at fat camp when we were teens. Don't you remember?

There was a sputtering cough. It didn't come from Tilly or Carter. The man that only his mother would approve of was choking on his drink after Carter's pronouncement of Tilly as a formerly overweight person.

She would've killed her friend for this if she managed to keep herself from laughing. Gotta hand it to Carter. Her sister's fiancé knew how to clear Tilly's unwanted dates quickly and efficiently. After all, he'd been doing it for weeks now.

Chapter Two

Carter Shane used the discarded white dinner napkin to dust off the vacated chair. He was mildly surprised that he didn't see a puddle in the seat after the occupant's hasty retreat. He was also surprised that Tilly's date moved so