by Rita Herron
To have Benji and Sage in his life forever?
Sage looked up at him with a tentative smile, but Benji vaulted up and leaned over the porch rail. “Your horse is cool, Mr. Dugan.”
Gone was the traumatized kid from the night before. One night at home with his mother had the boy smiling and at ease.
“Thanks. If your mama agrees, I’ll take you riding sometime.”
Sage stood, walked to the rail and leaned over it, then looked down at him. “Maybe you can take us both out?”
The subtle question in her eyes made him smile. Was she flirting with him?
“Maybe I will,” he said with a wink.
She laughed softly in response, and he realized she was flirting.
One night with her son had erased the shadows and pain from her eyes.
Benji ran down the steps. “Can I pet him?”
“Sure.” Dugan showed him how to gently rub the horse’s mane.
“We brought dinner for you,” Sage said. “That is, if you don’t have plans.”
Dugan met her gaze. “That was real nice of you.”
She walked down the steps and rubbed a finger along his arm. “It wasn’t nice. I missed you, Dugan.”
He liked this side of her. He angled his head, heat sizzling between them. And something more. An attraction that went far beneath the surface. He admired her. Liked her.
Loved her.
“I missed you, too,” he said in a gruff voice.
For a brief moment, his breath stalled as he waited on her to make the next move.
Finally she lifted a finger to his lips. “Did you?”
A grin split his face. She was fishing for a compliment? “Yes.” He suddenly couldn’t help himself. That big rambling farmhouse needed her and Benji in it.
He yanked her up against him. “I’m in love with you, Sage.”
Her eyes sparkled as she looped her arms around his neck. “Good, ’cause I’m in love with you, too.”
Then she rose on her tiptoes, closed her lips over his and kissed him. Dugan had never felt anything so sweet, so wonderful.
And suddenly he knew what being in a family was like. He would make one with Sage and Benji, and he would never let them go.
* * * * *
Look for award-winning author Rita Herron’s next book, COLD CASE IN CHEROKEE CROSSING,
on sale in December 2014. You’ll find it
wherever Harlequin Intrigue books are sold!
Keep reading for an excerpt from DELIVERANCE AT CARDWELL RANCH by B.J. Daniels.
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SPECIAL EXCERPT FROM
Read on for a sneak peek of
DELIVERANCE AT CARDWELL RANCH
by New York Times bestselling author
B.J. Daniels
Part of the CARDWELL COUSINS series.
Daniels delivers another Cardwell Ranch keeper with a woman on the run...
and the lawman sworn to keep her safe.
“Maybe you don’t understand the fine line between snooping and jail. Breaking and entering is—”
“I’m going with you,” Donning a hat and gloves, Gillian turned to look at him.
Austin was smiling at her as if amused.
“What?” she asked, suddenly feeling uncomfortable under his scrutiny. She knew it was silly. He’d seen her at her absolute worst.
“You just look so…cute,” he said. “Clearly breaking the law excites you.”
She smiled in spite of herself. It had been a while since a man had complimented her. But it wasn’t breaking the law that excited her.
She breathed in the freezing air. It stung her lungs, but made her feel more alive than she had in years. Fear drove her steps, along with hope.
At the dark alley, Austin slowed. It was late enough that there were lights on in the houses.
“Come on,” Austin said, and they started to turn down the alley.
A vehicle came around the corner, moving slowly. Gillian felt the headlights wash over them and let out a worried sound as she froze in midstep.
Her moment of panic didn’t subside when she saw that it was a sheriff’s department vehicle.
“Austin?” she whispered, not sure what to do.
He turned to her and pulled her into his arms. Her mouth opened in surprise and the next thing she knew, he was kissing her. At first she was too stunned to react. But after a moment, she put her arms around his neck and lost herself in the kiss.
As the headlights of the sheriff’s car washed over them, she gave a small helpless moan when Austin deepened the kiss, drawing her even closer.
The sheriff’s car went on past, and she felt a pang of regret. Slowly, Austin drew back a little. His gaze locked with hers, and for a moment they stood like that, quick, warm breaths coming out in white clouds.
“Sorry.”
She shook her head. She wasn’t sorry. She felt…lightheaded, happy, as if helium filled. She thought she might drift off into the night if he let go of her.
“Are you okay?” he asked, looking worried.
She touched the tip of her tongue to her lower lip. “Great. Never better.”
Find out what happens next in
DELIVERANCE AT CARDWELL RANCH
by New York Times bestselling author B.J. Daniels,
available December 2014, only from Harlequin® Intrigue®.
Copyright © 2014 by Barbara Heinlein
ISBN-13: 9781460342213
Cold Case at Cobra Creek
Copyright © 2014 by Rita B. Herron
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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Table of Contents
Prologue
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 Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapte
r Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Excerpt