“Another disk for my food processor? I could use one of those French-fries blades.”
He laughed, took her hand and tugged her down the hall, away from the crush of party goers. Several people had a hot-and-heavy gambling game going with a dreidel and a stash of gold-foil-wrapped chocolate coins in her bedroom, so she and Jeff ducked into the laundry alcove, as private a place as they could find in her crowded house tonight.
“You once told me,” he said, “that your ideal would be to have a house in the city and a house here in Crescent Cove. Remember?”
She nodded.
“Well…as cities go, Boston isn’t bad.”
“Boston?”
“I’ve been negotiating with my firm. Since I’m their labor specialist—and I’m so damn good at what I do—”
“I know, I know,” she cut him off, then rolled her eyes. “You never make mistakes. You’ve told me.”
He grinned. “Anyway, they’re willing to allow me to work for them as a consultant, one or two days a week, unless a big case comes up.”
“And the rest of the week?”
“Remember Burt Ammond? Eleanor Chase’s lawyer? He wants to cut back on his hours so he can spend more time on the ski slopes. I talked to him, and he seemed to like the idea of having someone to share his practice with.”
“You’re moving to Crescent Cove?” she blurted out, then clamped her hand over her mouth. Not that anyone could have heard her, with so many other noisy conversations churning the air.
“I figured we could spend some time here and some time in the city. Isn’t that what you want?”
What she wanted, she acknowledged, was a man willing to turn his life upside down to give her what she wanted. What she wanted was a man who loved her enough to make her dreams come true.
“What I want,” she said, “is you.”
“Well, that’s an easy one,” he said, giving her a sexy smile before he gave her an even sexier kiss.
Closing her eyes, she lost herself in his embrace for one blissful moment. A chorus of rowdy laughter from the living room reminded her that she had a house full of guests, and she ended the kiss. But she couldn’t let go of him quite yet. She wrapped her arms around him and tucked her head against his shoulder.
Her grandmother’s voice floated through her head—or maybe it was the voice of the woman from the candle shop, the one Alana wished had been here tonight. This is the one you need, the voice said. Trust me.
“Yes, Grandma,” Alana whispered, so softly even Jeff couldn’t hear her. “This is the one.”
ISBN: 978-1-4592-2423-0
BURNING BRIGHT
Copyright © 2004 by Harlequin Books S.A.
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:
RETURN OF THE LIGHT
Copyright © 2004 by Margaret Benson.
STAR LIGHT, STAR BRIGHT
Copyright © 2004 by Anne Kristine Stuart Ohlrogge.
ONE FOR EACH NIGHT
Copyright © 2004 by Barbara Keiler.
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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Table of Contents
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
TITLE PAGE
CONTENTS
STAR LIGHT, STAR BRIGHT
Dedication
Letter to Reader
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
RETURN OF THE LIGHT
Dedication
Letter to Reader
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
ONE FOR EACH NIGHT
Dedication
Letter to Reader
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Epilogue
COPYRIGHT
Burning Bright Page 24