The Matchmaker's Apprentice. Karen Toller Whittenburg

      

      “I have other plans for you,” Ainsley said

      The words were out before she quite realized how much they gave away.

      Ivan lifted his eyebrows. “Now, that’s an intriguing possibility.”

      She gave him a blithely mysterious smile, as if she wasn’t frantically trying to figure out a way to cover her tracks. “I think so, too.”

      “Let’s see…you need a burly hunk of man to move your furniture? Is that it?”

      “It could be, but it isn’t, although I can see where you’d want to picture yourself as the burly-hunk kind of furniture mover.”

      “I’ll be happy to show you my muscles if you have any doubts about that.”

      He was teasing, she knew, but the image of him bare-chested and flexing his biceps for her inspection brought a flush of heat to her cheeks again….

      Dear Reader,

      Once in a while, a character appears in a bit part and winds up stealing the scene. In my last series, THE BILLION-DOLLAR BRADDOCKS, I intended Ainsley Danville to have only a walk-on role, but she charmed me into thinking she needed a story of her own. To my surprise, she wasn’t satisfied with just one. She needed at least three in order to prove she could become an extraordinary matchmaker like her mentor, Ilsa Fairchild. And that’s how this series, MATCHMAKER, MATCHMAKER, came to be written.

      Harlequin American Romance novels are stories about home and family, about love, commitment and the belief that there is a happily ever after. The Matchmaker’s Apprentice is no exception. I’m privileged to have spent the past year with Ainsley, and I hope you will love her enthusiasm for life as much as I do.

      I appreciate the wonderful editors whose experience and insights make these books the best they can be. I appreciate the other writers of Harlequin American Romance novels who continue to raise the bar on quality. But most of all, I appreciate you, the reader. You’re the reason books exist—you make it all worthwhile.

      Thank you.

      Karen Toller Whittenburg

      Books by Karen Toller Whittenburg

      HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE

      822—LAST-MINUTE MARRIAGE

      877—HIS SHOTGUN PROPOSAL †

      910—THE C.E.O.’S UNPLANNED PROPOSAL *

      914—THE PLAYBOY’S OFFICE ROMANCE *

      919—THE BLACKSHEEP’S ARRANGED MARRIAGE *

      The Matchmaker’s Apprentice

      Karen Toller Whittenburg

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

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      For Cindy and Cody

      With best wishes for your own

      Happily Ever After

      Contents

       Chapter One

       Chapter Two

       Chapter Three

       Chapter Four

       Chapter Five

       Chapter Six

       Chapter Seven

       Chapter Eight

       Chapter Nine

       Chapter Ten

      Dear Diary,

      It’s finally appened. I’ve met the man I’m going to marry!

      I’m in love!

      Deeply. Passionately. Awesomely in love with Ivan Patrick Donovan.

      Ivan Patrick Donovan…. Ivan. Ivan. Ivan.

      It was love at first sight for him, too. I know it was!

      It happened the very minute Matt introduced us tonight. Ivan smiled at me and my heart stopped. I mean, it really stopped! I could hardly breathe. He’s so handsome! So tall! So gorgeous! His hair is blond, but darker than Miranda’s honey blond. Not reddish-blond like Andrew’s, either. And it’s way darker than mine. Ivan’s is like the sun…except deeper. Sort of brown, but with a lot of gold, too. His eyes are dark. Not black—that would be too ordinary, too…one-dimensional. They’re like the color of winter midnights—dark and mysterious and…No, winter is too cold, too frozen, too blue to describe anything about him. His eyes are more like summer nights—misty and profound and…fiery. Fiery eyes. They blazed into my very soul!! He has passionate eyes…with hidden depths. And his voice—it sent shivers right through me! It’s deep and husky—he could be on the radio if he wanted. But he’s going to be a doctor. He told me. “I’m going to medical school,” he said. Just like that. So confident. So positive. I told him I’m going to be an astronaut and he didn’t laugh. Not like Matt and Miranda did when I told them. Ivan thinks I’m smart enough to be anything I want. He didn’t say that, but I could see he believes I can do it if I want to. He shook my hand, too, like I was twenty instead of only thirteen. He smiled—did I mention how wonderful his smile is? He might have worn braces, but I don’t think so because he has this one sort of crooked tooth. Just the tiniest bit of a slant…but it makes his smile seem really real. If you know what I mean. He is more handsome even than Matt, who is plenty handsome…for a brother. And his laugh is even nicer than Andrew’s, who has the best laugh I know, even if he is my twin. Ivan acted all surprised and startled when he saw me. Well, really, I ran right into im. Andrew and me—I mean, Andrew and I—were skating in the ballroom and I was so determined to win I didn’t know anybody was there and I skated right into Ivan. Kind of hard, too. But he just laughed. Matt scolded me for not watching what I was doing, but Ivan smiled at me and I knew he didn’t think I was just a silly kid.

      I think that’s when Ifell in love, but it wasn’t until Ivan said, “You’re Ainsley? Matt’s little sister, Ainsley? The way he talks about you, I was expecting an adorable little toddler, not a beautiful, young lady. Shame on you, Matt, for not warning me your baby sister is already a heartbreaker,” that I knew for certain. Me? A heartbreaker? I could have died!! My heart, my soul, my whole being just melted!! He talked to me all through dinner, too, pretending