The Marriage Campaign. Michele Dunaway

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      “I need to clear the air.”

      “Okay,” Mark said slowly, as if quite lost. “About what?”

      “About this. Us. Our motivations.”

      “I thought we’d done that already.” Mark frowned as he tried to comprehend the situation. “Today’s simply about having fun. I’ve got some great places in mind for tonight.”

      Lisa crossed her arms over her chest. She and Mark couldn’t afford any miscommunication here. “Before I can go anywhere with you, I have to know how tonight is going to end.”

      Mark shifted, planting his feet on the floor. He straightened but remained seated. The dark blue shirt set off his deep brown eyes, and his troubled gaze locked onto hers. “Tonight ends like any other night. I’ve already told you to stop worrying. We’re friends. I’m not going to seduce you.”

      Adrenaline unlike any she’d ever experienced pulsed through her. “That’s the problem,” she said. “I really think you should.”

      Dear Reader,

      I have great friends. Three of them have been friends since high school, while others have been my friends since my college sorority days. All have been with me through thick and thin, good and bad, better and worse. My friends and I chose each other, and I’m a better person for having them in my life. Even though we all live far away from each other and our lives have taken different paths, we are always there for each other.

      My AMERICAN BEAUTIES miniseries uses this concept of friendship. Lisa, Cecile and Tori are three single women who have been best friends ever since pledging the same sorority. The fourth sorority sister, Joann, is married with kids. While all are separated geographically, they know that they can always depend on each other. The bonds they have will never be broken.

      I hope you enjoy Lisa’s story as much as I did writing it, and be sure to watch for Cecile’s and Tori’s stories in the future. As always, feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].

      Enjoy the romance,

      Michele Dunaway

      The Marriage Campaign

      Michele Dunaway

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      MILLS & BOON

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      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      In first grade Michele Dunaway wanted to be a teacher when she grew up, and by second grade she wanted to be an author. By third grade she was determined to be both, and before her high school class reunion, she’d succeeded. In addition to writing romance, Michele is a nationally recognized high school English and journalism educator. Born and raised in a west county suburb of St. Louis, Michele has traveled extensively, with the cities and places she’s visited often becoming settings for her stories. Described as a woman who does too much but doesn’t know how to stop, Michele gardens five acres in her spare time and shares her life with two young daughters, six lazy house cats, one dwarf rabbit and two tankfuls of fish.

      Michele loves to hear from readers, and you can reach her via her Web site, www.micheledunaway.com.

      Books by Michele Dunaway

      HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE

      848—A LITTLE OFFICE ROMANCE

      900—TAMING THE TABLOID HEIRESS

      921—THE SIMPLY SCANDALOUS PRINCESS

      931—CATCHING THE CORPORATE PLAYBOY

      963—SWEEPING THE BRIDE AWAY

      988—THE PLAYBOY’S PROTÉGÉE

      1008—ABOUT LAST NIGHT…

      1044—UNWRAPPING MR. WRIGHT

      1056—EMERGENCY ENGAGEMENT

      1100—LEGALLY TENDER

      1116—CAPTURING THE COP

      For all the students I have taught over the years, I hope the friendships you’ve made and continue to make last a lifetime.

      And to my own friends, thanks again.

      You mean the world to me.

      Contents

       Prologue

       Chapter One

       Chapter Two

       Chapter Three

       Chapter Four

       Chapter Five

       Chapter Six

       Chapter Seven

       Chapter Eight

       Chapter Nine

       Chapter Ten

       Chapter Eleven

       Chapter Twelve

       Epilogue

      Prologue

      She shouldn’t be kissing him. Not here, not like this. But when he lowered his mouth to hers, no amount of moral fiber could keep her from tasting his forbidden lips.

      Mark tasted divine—of wedding cake and champagne. “We shouldn’t be doing this,” Lisa Meyer said weakly as, for one moment, they came up for air.

      “We should,” he said, leaning down again for another kiss.

      “You’re my best friend’s brother,” she protested in moth-to-flame futility. “Your date…”

      “Is just a friend,” he insisted, his dark eyes intense. “It’s you I want. Always have. Ever since we first met.”

      “You’re