The Accidental Boyfriend. Maggie Dallen

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      Cover Copy

      What do you do when Mr. Right seems oh-so-wrong?

      Holly Sinclair is ready to have it all. She’s even found her Mr. Right—a steady, reliable guy who just needs a little convincing. Now all the former wild child has to do is free herself of her very inconvenient attraction to Jack Everett. Not only does the notorious playboy and tabloid king seduce her at her sister’s wedding, he follows her to Paris! Suddenly, Holly is alone with Jack in the most romantic city in the world—and his family is leaping to the wrong conclusions…

      The world’s most infamous bachelor has finally met his match. If Jack was the type to settle down, Holly would be the woman of his dreams. There’s just one hitch: Holly actually believes she wants to marry Mr. Oh-So-Boring. Intent on proving that she deserves someone better, Jack finds himself playing the role of the perfect boyfriend…a little too well. If he’s not careful, he might just lose this game—and his heart.

      THE ACCIDENTAL BOYFRIEND

      A Chance Romance

      Visit us at www.kensingtonbooks.com

      Books by Maggie Dallen

      The Chance Series

      The Accidental Engagement

      The Accidental Boyfriend

      The Accidental Elopement

      Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation

      The Accidental Boyfriend

      A Chance Romance

      Maggie Dallen

      LYRICAL PRESS

      Kensington Publishing Corp.

      www.kensingtonbooks.com

      Copyright

      Lyrical Press books are published by

      Kensington Publishing Corp. 119 West 40th Street New York, NY 10018

      Copyright © 2016 by Maggie Dallen

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      First Electronic Edition: May 2016

      eISBN-13: 978-1-60183-467-6

      eISBN-10: 1-60183-467-5

      First Print Edition: May 2016

      ISBN-13: 978-1-60183-468-3

      ISBN-10: 1-60183-468-3

      Printed in the United States of America

      Chapter 1

      Crayon drawings covered every inch of Holly’s classroom walls. They needed to be taken down, but instead Holly sat cross-legged atop her desk, surveying the mess her second-graders had left behind.

      Summer vacation technically started twenty minutes ago but she still had hours of cleanup and paperwork ahead of her before she was done for the school year. Picking up the stack of cards her students had given her as they filed out, Holly sifted through them with teary eyes. She stopped when she came to a hot pink card with a picture of Cinderella and Prince Charming on the cover.

      One of her students had drawn an arrow to Cinderella and in big block letters wrote “Miss Holly” underneath. Holly’s laugh sounded loud in the empty classroom. She had come to loathe the word “princess”, thanks to the girls in her class with their rabid obsession for all things Disney, but this...this was adorable.

      And so very fitting. Clapping a hand over her mouth, Holly smothered a near-hysterical giggle. It was true, for one night she had actually thought of herself as Cinderella.

      Her breathing slowed as the memory of that night came back in vivid Technicolor. Her very own Prince Charming held her in his arms beneath the twinkling lights and twirled her in time with the music on the Italian veranda. The crowd was a blur to her because she only had eyes for one man, the man she’d had a crush on for years—Jack Everett.

      “Do you need a hand in here?”

      Holly came crashing back to the present as Donna, the grade school principal poked her head into her classroom.

      “What? Oh, no. I got it, thanks.” She scrambled off her desk and started to take down the giant panda bear poster that hung next to the chalkboard. It was the one poster she brought with her from school to school as she traveled and she’d hung it here earlier in the year when she’d taken over as a long-term substitute when old Mrs. Ferndale had been hospitalized with pneumonia.

      “I’m glad I caught you,” Donna said. She walked into the room and perched on the corner of one of the student’s desks. A tall, heavyset woman, Donna dwarfed the small piece of furniture and made the warm, cozy classroom feel ten times smaller. “I heard from Mrs. Ferndale this morning and she’s decided that she won’t be coming back in the fall. She’s opted to retire as I suspected she would.”

      Holly froze, her fingers clenching the poster so tightly that it ripped. Slowly she turned to face the other woman. She knew where this was going. This was what she had been hoping for since she moved back to her hometown of Oakdale, Ohio.

      This was what she wanted. She should be excited. So why was there a cold pit in her stomach? Sliding into the chair behind the desk, she placed her hands on her knees to keep from fidgeting. She smiled at Donna with wide eyes, hoping she conveyed excited anticipation—although she had a funny feeling she just looked deranged if Donna’s flinch was anything to go by.

      “Oh really?” Holly said. Her voice came out slightly breathless.

      Donna paused for a moment, seemingly weighing her words. “The students and their parents absolutely love you, Holly, and I know you’ve expressed interest in settling down here in Oakdale.”

      She paused, giving Holly room to respond. Holly just nodded; she didn’t trust herself to speak. It was true. She’d decided to give up travel and adventure to return to her hometown in Ohio and have the life she wanted. Have the family she wanted.

      “If you’re interested,” Donna said, a slow smile spreading across her face, “We would love to make your role here permanent.”

      Holly gasped as though surprised—as if this wasn’t a possibility they’d been talking about at great length for the past few months. But now that it was here…she broke into a cold sweat but forced a smile to match the principal’s. Of course she was nervous. Major life changes were scary. “Oh, Donna, thank you,” she gushed.

      Donna’s