Her Mistletoe Husband. Renee Roszel

      “You’re a challenge, Miss Crosby.” Enchanted Brides - The Myth Title Page Dedication CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN EPILOGUE Copyright

      “You’re a challenge, Miss Crosby.”

      She eyed him with skepticism. Something seemed to dawn on her, and her green eyes went appealingly wide. “What do you think you’re going to do? Seduce me?”

      

      “Yes,” he whispered.

      

      She flinched and he experienced a twinge of compassion. He didn’t like putting her out of her home. But she would be okay. Elissa Crosby had more backbone than any ten women he knew.

      

      As they swayed intimately on the dance floor, he could feel her slim body move subtly against his. He found himself growing more and more aroused by her reluctant nearness. Lord, she was a temptress, even when temptation was the last thing on her mind.

      

      Damn the woman! If she would only throw herself at him, he’d grow bored and lose interest. He gazed into those sexy, guarded eyes again, his lips quirking in self-mockery. Like hell he would. Bowing his head, he lowered his face toward hers.

      Enchanted Brides

      The Myth

      The stately D’Amour mansion stands majestically in the countryside, its absentee owner rumored to be living in Europe. Glosed for years, this mansion has a charming myth surrounding it. Legend says that the mansion is enchanted and that “an unmarried woman who sleeps within its walls on her birthday, when the moon is full, will marry the first man she sees in the morning.”

      

      Her Mistletoe Husband is the third in Renee Roszel’s spellbinding Enchanted Brides trilogy.

      

      Also in the Enchanted Brides trilogy:

      To Marry a Stranger (#3470)

      Married By Mistake! (#3488)

      

      Praise for the trilogy:

      

      “Renee Roszel delivers a fast-paced, humorous tale as she blends commanding characters with a strong premise and lovable secondary characters in Her Mistletoe Husband.”

      —Romantic Times

      

      “Ms. Roszel adds sound characterization to a touching premise to win our hearts.”

      —Romantic Times on To Marry a Stranger

      Her Mistletoe Husband

      Renee Roszel

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      To my real-life sisters,

      Norda and Ronda. Can you find yourselves among the three Crosby sisters?

      CHAPTER ONE

      ELISSA’S elbow hit the floor with a thump, waking her and making her wince. She groaned, but as soon as the sound was out of her mouth, she clamped her hand over her lips.

      What if he heard?

      A shiver raked her body, but the reaction had more to do with her terror than the cold. She blinked, clearing away the blur of sleep. It was dark, very dark, except for the slash of light at the bottom of the door to the closet where she was hiding. She couldn’t believe she’d fallen asleep, but even in her fright exhaustion had finally taken its toll.

      The slash of light at the bottom of the door!

      She realized it must be after dawn. Around midnight she’d scrambled into the deserted D’Amour mansion through a loose board nailed over a window. She’d been sure the man following her hadn’t seen where she’d entered, but just to be safe, she’d hidden in this upstairs closet, barely breathing. For hours. Then she’d fallen into a fitful sleep.

      Her whole body ached and felt cramped. It was so cold. Of course, being December, that shouldn’t be a surprise. Still, Elissa wasn’t accustomed to sleeping in closets in abandoned, unheated mansions. Stiff from the cold and the cramped position she’d been curled in, she shifted her wristwatch into the light stream. Seven o’clock! She couldn’t believe it.

      What a lousy way to begin a birthday. First the flat tire, then, when she’d realized the flat was her spare, and started to walk home, there had been movement in the brush. A man. A big man. Something had glinted in the light of the full moon as he’d skulked from bush to bush—a wristwatch? A belt buckle? The blade of an ax? Her survival instincts had gone into high gear, especially after the unsigned letter she received last week. Threatening and scary. The police had taken a report and said they’d look into it. Even so, the sergeant had tried to reassure her, explaining it was most likely a prank, nothing to be worried about.

      Nothing! Well, she’d like to know what they’d think now, after she’d been forced to huddle in a closet all night. She stood, swallowing to bolster her courage, assuring herself that not even a certified nutcase would hang around in subfreezing temperatures all night. Taking a deep breath she cracked open the door and peered into the bare room. Cobwebs, dust motes and the smell of must were her only companions. Sunlight streamed in the dingy arched windows, the brightness of the day strengthening her resolve. Stalkers belonged to the night, didn’t they?

      As she emerged from the closet, the creak of the door sent a tingle of apprehension along her spine, but she controlled her reaction. “Elissa, are you a man or are you a mouse?” she muttered, then shook her head, her lips quirking. “Okay, so you’re neither. Just go.”

      As soundlessly as she could, in a mansion that seemed to squawk and groan with every step, as if it were a cantankerous old grump, she made her way down the grand staircase and along the dark hall to the den. After peering out of the window through which she’d eatered, she determined that no large men with hatchets were lurking nearby. With a prayer on her lips, she slipped outside, not the easiest thing to do in her tweed suit’s slender skirt.

      From her vantage point at the side of the house, she could see her old sedan, a hundred yards down the road, but she couldn’t see the front of the mansion. She hugged herself, watching her breath frost the air. What was she to do? Getting back to her inn and to a telephone was high on her list—just below staying alive. The trip would be cut in half if she took the shortcut