Bachelor Undone. Brenda Jackson

       He tried to push the thought from his mind that while he’d been sitting on the sofa, whether she knew it or not, he had been fighting desire; desire for her that had all but seeped into his bones.

      Why on earth would he be attracted to her of all women?

      Before he’d gotten up to her room tonight he’d been approached by a couple of women who’d all but invited him to their hotel room. One had brazenly offered to give him a blow job right there in the elevator. He hadn’t wanted any of them. But he did want this one. This haughty-looking female, who had his blood firing through his veins, who was staring him down and standing in front of him looking as sexy as any woman had a right to look in a bathrobe.

      He glared down at her when the room got too quiet for his taste. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

      “I won’t. Now, goodbye, York.”

      At that moment, something inside of him snapped. She was glaring at him, yet earlier tonight she’d been smiling at someone else. Not only had she been smiling, but she’d also flirted with the man. “You like pushing my buttons, don’t you, Darcy.”

      “Yes,” she said smiling. “Gives me great pleasure.”

      “No, this is pleasure.” And then he reached out, pulled her to him and captured her mouth with his.

      Dear Reader,

      Please envision six men who, for various reasons, are members of the Bachelor in Demand Club, and are determined to stay single for as long as they can. With each book I write in this series, I am having fun making each man open their hearts to love when the right woman comes along.

      Bachelor Undone is York Ellis’s story, and his leading lady is Darcy Owens. Both York and Darcy are strong-willed individuals who think they know what they want, and who stubbornly refuse to admit their true heart’s desire is to want each other. York has his own agenda and Darcy has hers, but they soon discover that what the mind sometimes refuses to accept, the heart ultimately will.

      I hope all of you enjoy reading York and Darcy’s story.

      Happy reading!

       Brenda Jackson

      About the Author

      BRENDA JACKSON is a die “heart” romantic who married her childhood sweetheart and still proudly wears the “going steady” ring he gave her when she was fifteen. Because she’s always believed in the power of love, Brenda’s stories always have happy endings. In her real-life love story, Brenda and Gerald, her husband of thirty-nine years, live in Jacksonville, Florida, and have two sons.

      A New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than eighty-five romance titles, Brenda is a retiree from a major insurance company and now divides her time between family, writing and traveling with Gerald. You may write to Brenda at PO Box 28267, Jacksonville, Florida 32226, USA; e-mail her at [email protected] or visit her website, www.brendajackson.net.

      Bachelor Undone

      Brenda Jackson

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      To the love of my life, Gerald Jackson, Sr.

      To all the family, friends and dedicated readers.

      This one is for you.

      For God hath not given us the spirit of fear;

      but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

      —II Timothy 1:7

      Prologue

      Spending her vacation in New York during the month of December was not on Darcelle Owens’s list of things to do, which was why she was in a cab headed for JFK International Airport. She loved living in the Big Apple, but when forecasters had predicted the city’s coldest winter ever, she was glad she had plans to get the hell out of Dodge.

      Jamaica, here I come, she thought relaxing back in her seat. While her coworkers would be battling the snow, she planned to be lying half-naked on the beach under the heat of the Jamaican sun. And then at night, she’d become a sophisticated hooch and let her hair down, party and even do a little man-hunting. She deserved it after working her tail off the past two years.

      She had the whole month of December off and would have loved to spend the entire time in Jamaica. But her parents expected her to come home for Christmas, as usual. She got a chill in her bones just thinking of returning to Minneapolis for even a little while.

      She’d always hated cold weather and would have headed south to attend college if her parents hadn’t convinced her of how much money they could save not having to pay out-of-state tuition. When she talked to her mother just that morning, it was twenty below zero. Brrrr.

      And then her best friend Ellie Lassiter expected her to spend a few days with her at her lake house in North Carolina before Ellie and her husband Uriel’s New Year’s Eve bash.

      Darcy planned to keep her family and Ellie happy, but first she intended to relax in the warm weather for at least three weeks.

      Darcy cringed when she heard the chime of a text message on her cell phone. How dare her younger brother Prescott teach their mother how to text! Darcy bet between her, Prescott and her older brother Jonas that their mother, Joan Owens, sent out over one hundred text messages a day. Okay, maybe she was exaggerating a tad bit, but it would seem about that number.

      Checking her phone, Darcy smiled when she saw the message hadn’t come from her mother after all. It was from Ellie.

      Behave yourself in J. Have fun. E

      Darcy chuckled and quickly texted back. Can’t behave myself and have fun, too. LOL.

      Got Bruce with you? the responding text asked.

      Darcy’s smile widened. Bruce was the name she’d given her little sex toy. Nope. Left Bruce behind this time. I hope to get lucky and find someone who’s looking to have some fun. Looking forward to relaxing, reading and replacing Bruce with the real thing.

      She wasn’t surprised when within seconds of sending that message her cell phone rang. Of course it was Ellie. “Yes, El?”

      “And just what do you mean by that?” her best friend asked.

      Darcy threw her head back and laughed. “Just what I said. It’s time Bruce goes into retirement. He’s earned it.”

      “Girl, you’re awful.”

      “No, I’m not. If I was awful, I wouldn’t have gone without being in a relationship for two years. If it hadn’t been for Bruce and my romance novels, I don’t know what I would have done to keep sane.”

      And that was so true. She had moved from Minneapolis after taking a job as a city planner for New York City. Over the past two years, she had been working day and night trying to prove the city hadn’t made a mistake by hiring an outsider.

      She had worked hard and hadn’t taken any time off other than the recognized holidays, which was why she had accumulated so much vacation time. And now she intended to enjoy it. It was the end of the year, and her boss had warned her to “use it or lose it.” The only thing she planned to lose was two years of abstinence.

      “Chill, El,” she said when there was silence on the other end. “I’m taking plenty of condoms with me if that makes you happy.”

      She glanced up and saw the elderly cabdriver looking at her looking in the rearview mirror. Oops. She couldn’t do anything but smile. She lowered her head and whispered into the phone. “Look, you’re going to get me in trouble, El. The cabbie heard my remark about condoms and