Bungalow Nights. Christie Ridgway

      Return to USA TODAY bestselling author Christie Ridgway’s Crescent Cove, California, where the magic of summer can last forever…

      Combat medic Vance Smith made a promise to a fallen officer: to treat the man’s young daughter to an idyllic vacation at Beach House No. 9. One month, some sun and surf, a “helmet list” of activities to check off and Vance will move on. But the “little girl” he’s expecting turns out to be a full-grown woman. With silky hair, big brown eyes and smelling sweetly of the cupcakes she makes for her mobile bakery, Layla Parker is irresistible. And Vance shouldn’t lay a finger on her. Honor—and one heck of a scarred heart—says so.

      To Layla, Vance is a hero who was injured trying to save her father’s life. She intends to spend their month of lazy days and warm nights taking very good care of the gorgeous soldier—inside and out….

      Praise for USA TODAY bestselling author

      CHRISTIE RIDGWAY

      “Sexy and addictive—Ridgway will keep you up all night!”

      —New York Times bestselling author Susan Andersen on Beach House No. 9

      “Ridgway’s feel-good read, with its perfectly integrated, extremely hot, and well-crafted love scenes, is contemporary romance at its best.”

      —Booklist on Can’t Hurry Love (starred review)

      “Sexy, sassy, funny, and cool, this effervescent sizzler nicely launches Ridgway’s new series and is a perfect pick-me-up for a summer’s day.”

      —Library Journal on Crush on You

      “Pure romance, delightfully warm and funny.”

      —New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Crusie

      “Christie Ridgway writes with the perfect combination of humor and heart. This funny, sexy story is as fresh and breezy as its Southern California setting. An irresistible read!”

      —New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs on How to Knit a Wild Bikini

      “Christie Ridgway is delightful.”

      —New York Times bestselling author Rachel Gibson

      “Sexy, smart, sparkling—say yes! to An Offer He Can’t Refuse.”

      —New York Times bestselling author Christina Dodd

      Dear Reader,

      Summer days are long and lovely at Crescent Cove’s Beach House No. 9, but there’s just something about those summer nights that will make your visit unforgettable! Even as the sun goes down, there’s plenty of heat left in the most enchanting bungalow on the sand. Join me to see what the magic is all about....

      Not so far from the cove is another unique place you’ll visit in Bungalow Nights—“avocado country,” where the hills are covered with the deep green-leaved trees that bear the prickly product sometimes known as the fertility fruit or the alligator pear. It’s another part of California I’m pleased to show you. After all, everything goes better with a little guacamole on the side, doesn’t it?

      Combat medic Vance Smith has no idea of all that’s on the menu when he makes his visit to No. 9. Only when he meets pretty, brown-eyed baker Layla Parker does he get an inkling of the sweets within his grasp. The two struggle against their growing feelings for each other—they both have wary hearts—but fighting love is as useless as fighting an incoming tide. I hope you’ll root for their happy ending.

      Here comes the sun!

      Christie

      Bungalow Nights

      Christie Ridgway

      

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      This book was written when I was virtually bed-bound due to a fractured leg that required surgery (plates! pins! screws!) followed by three months when I wasn’t allowed to put weight on it. My loyal and loving husband came home at lunch every day to make me a good meal and followed that up with dinner every night. That’s not to mention all the other household tasks that he took over or the many times he cheered my spirits, including when he drove me to visit the places that inspired the Beach House No. 9 books. So, my darling Rob, this one is for you. Again. Always.

      Contents

       Epigraph

       Chapter One

       Chapter Two

       Chapter Three

       Chapter Four

       Chapter Five

       Chapter Six

       Chapter Seven

       Chapter Eight

       Chapter Nine

       Chapter Ten

       Chapter Eleven

       Chapter Twelve

       Chapter Thirteen

       Chapter Fourteen

       Chapter Fifteen

       Chapter Sixteen

       Chapter Seventeen

       Chapter Eighteen

       Chapter Nineteen

       Chapter Twenty

       Chapter Twenty-One

       Recipes

      

      Every lover is a soldier.

      —Ovid

      A family is a place where minds come in contact with one another. If these minds love one another, the home will be as beautiful as a flower garden. But if these minds get out of harmony with one another, it is like a storm that plays havoc with the garden.

      —Buddha

      CHAPTER ONE

      VANCE SMITH HAD FACED down Taliban bullets with more cool than he felt sitting on the beachside restaurant’s open-air deck. He was here to meet his companion for the next month, and not that he’d admit it to anyone, but there was an undeniable film of sweat on both palms—sweat he couldn’t