A Valentine for Harlequin's Anniversary

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by Catherine Mann


  God, she loved him.

  But after the incident with Judd, Vince wouldn’t talk to her, just cosseted her and clammed up. They’d even made sweet tender love last night, then stared at the ceiling for hours. Him, not talking. Her, already feeling shut out enough without having him ignore any attempt at meaningful conversation.

  She tried to imagine her life without him—and couldn’t.

  Her heart now insisted he’d pushed her away before leaving for the Middle East because he was as scared as she was of their growing feelings. He’d obviously regretted breaking up since he’d arranged the parachuting surprise meeting before learning about Junior. She trusted her instincts at work, but this was so much riskier.

  And so much more important with a kick-butt payoff.

  How could she have been such a coward? Time to trust her heart as well and fight for the man she loved.

  The helicopter flying maneuvers overhead seemed to applaud her decision with the chop, chop, chop of its rotors. Louder and louder. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. The chopper seemed to chant in support of one of its own.

  And she would. As soon as she finished waiting for the darned delivery of…what was it Ruthie had said? It should be on the invoice she was supposed to show when the truck arrived. Maybe there was a number to call on the paper.

  McKenzie tugged the envelope from her purse and pulled out the folded paper. Spreading it flat on the hood of her car, she struggled to read in the dim parking lot light. It didn’t look like any invoice for office supplies she’d ever seen.

  In fact it looked like a handwritten letter. Don’t be an idiot this time. Grab that fine man of yours by his equally fine ass with both hands and don’t let go.

  Say what?

  “McKenzie?” a familiar—and beloved—masculine voice boomed through a loudspeaker.

  She jolted, her purse smacking the pavement and scattering in a rolling clatter of keys, lip gloss and quarters. She looked around and found no one.

  “McKenzie, up here,” the voice called again a second before a spotlight from the sky snapped on, focused on her, a light and voice overhead from a hovering helicopter.

  Vince. Ohmigod. There was no delivery truck coming. Ruthie had maneuvered her again.

  And she couldn’t have been happier.

  McKenzie clasped the paper to her heart with one hand and extended the other to wave, tears blinding her eyes that didn’t have a thing to do with hormones or the beating wind from the helicopter blades.

  “McKenzie Rowe,” Vince’s voice resonated from above, “I love you more than arena football and sunrises and my own life. Will you please do me the honor of letting all our mail read Captain and Dr. Novak?”

  Captain. An Air Force aviator. She knew with a surety that he’d embraced his destiny. Now it was time to embrace hers.

  She flung her arms wide and yelled into the roar of chopping blades, “Yes, yes, yes!”

  “I can’t hear real well up here.” Vince’s response swelled from the spotlight. “But I’m ‘gonna assume that smile of yours is a yes. And if you’ll take cover under the porch, I’ll come down there to hear your answer in person.”

  As she stumbled back under the overhang, the helicopter descended in a swirl of wind, dust and noise. Holy guacamole, he really was landing in the parking lot. For her.

  His Pave Low kissed the asphalt, settled, the blades slowing. Again, he’d landed at her feet. In his helicopter this time rather than on his fine butt, with a confidence and surety echoed in her heart.

  Tossing aside his helmet, Vince leapt through the side door, the copilot staying behind at the controls and grinning big time. Vince’s smile was even larger.

  She raced and met him half way—what she should have done all week long. “Marry me.”

  “Hey wait, I asked first.” His strong arms banded around her, hauling her to his solid chest.

  “Okay, yes, I’ll marry you. Will you marry me?”

  “Yes, of course, Roger that, soon-to-be wife of mine.” He buried his face in her hair, his arms trembling a little. “God, Kenzie, I love you so much. The past months without you have been hell. I am so sorry for doing that to us. The last thing I ever wanted was to hurt you, but I swear I’ll be smarter this go round.”

  Turning her face toward his, she pressed a kiss to his mouth before giving him the words she knew he needed to hear most. “I forgive you.”

  She kissed him again, lingering, savoring as long as she dared in a public parking lot.

  He smoothed her hair from her face with tender hands. “I don’t deserve to be let off that easy.”

  “Who says you’re getting off easy, Captain Novak?” She smiled up at him and enjoyed the joy of being together again. “Junior and I are expecting some serious TLC from you. I’ve even marked pages in that book of yours you kept hiding in your sock drawer.”

  “My pleasure, lady, absolutely my pleasure.”

  He took her mouth again in that bold but surprisingly gentle way of his that never failed to singe her insides. And as per Ruthie’s advice, McKenzie grabbed hold of his fine ass and never intended to let go.

  Vince’s approval rumbled against her lips. “Hold that thought until we get home where I plan to work on creating a lifetime of evenings to remember.”

  For 60 years, Harlequin has been providing millions of women with pure reading pleasure. From passion, paranormal, suspense and adventure, to home and family, Harlequin has a romance for everyone!

  Visit www.HarlequinCelebrates.com to choose from a variety of sixteen great series romance stories that are absolutely FREE to download! (Total approximate retail value $60.)

  Look for all the variety Harlequin has to offer wherever books are sold, including most bookstores, supermarkets, discount stores and drugstores.

  Enjoy!

  Bestselling author Catherine Mann writes contemporary military romances, a natural fit since she’s married to her very own USAF research source.

  Prior to publication, Catherine graduated with a B.A. in Fine Arts: Theater from the College of Charleston, and received her master’s degree in Theater from UNC Greensboro. Now a RITA® Award winner, Catherine finds following her aviator husband around the world with four children, a beagle and a tabby in tow offers her endless inspiration for new plots.

  Learn more about her work, as well as her adventures in military life, by visiting her web site: http://catherinemann.com.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-3424-0

  Copyright © 2009 by Harlequin Books S.A.

  The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:

  A Valentine for Harlequin’s Anniversary

  Copyright © 2009 by Harlequin Books S.A.

  An Evening to Remember

  Copyright © 2005 by Harlequin Books S.A.

  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, Canada M3B 3K9.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. 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.

  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.

  ® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.

  www.eHarlequin.com

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Table of Contents:

  A Valentine for Harlequin’s Anniversary

  A Valentine for Harlequin’s Anniversary

  Contents

  First/Most Memorable Harlequin Book I Ever Read...

  Exotics Locales

  Inspiration

  Sharing the Harlequin Moment

  Selling My 1st Novel to Harlequin

  The Harlequin Parties

  Top 10 Lists

  Making New Friends in the Harlequin Community By aspiring authors @www.eharlequin.com

  Why I believe in Love

  Why I Write

  An Evening to Remember

  Contents

  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

  BPA

  Author Bio

  Copyright

 

 

 


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