Loving A Lonesome Cowboy. Debbi Rawlins

      Ethan stood on the front porch of the house to which he’d swore he’d never return.

      Sara opened the door. Her lips curved in a shy smile. She stepped aside, and he had to force his feet over the threshold.

      “Well, what do you think?”

      Ethan slowly scanned the sparkling clean room. “I, uh, it’s fine, Sara. The place looks real nice.” Clearing his throat, he moved back a step. “I think I’ll just go—”

      “You’re leaving?”

      The disappointment in her voice sent a flush of pleasure through him. “Actually, I was just going to get something from my truck.”

      She smiled.

      Ethan headed out the door, calling himself every kind of a dumb jerk. He didn’t even like petite, fair-haired women. So why was he getting all tongue-tied and weak-kneed?

      He was getting worked up over nothing. Of course he would have a reaction to a woman. He hadn’t had female company in a mighty long time. By his own choice, he reminded himself. And he wanted to keep it that way.

      But he couldn’t, if Sara kept smiling at him.

      Dear Reader,

      Happy New Year! May this year bring you happiness, good health and all that you wish for. And at Harlequin American Romance, we’re hoping to provide you with a year full of heartwarming books that you won’t be able to resist.

      Leading the month is The Secretary Gets Her Man by Mindy Neff, Harlequin American Romance’s spin-off to Harlequin Intrigue’s TEXAS CONFIDENTIAL continuity series. This exciting story focuses on the covert operation’s much-mentioned wallflower secretary, Penny Archer.

      Muriel Jensen’s Father Formula continues her successful WHO’S THE DADDY? series about three identical sisters who cause three handsome bachelors no end of trouble when they discover one woman is about to become a mother. Next, after opening an heirloom hope chest, a bride-to-be suddenly cancels her wedding and starts having intimate dreams about a handsome stranger, in Have Gown, Need Groom. This is the first book of Rita Herron’s new miniseries THE HARTWELL HOPE CHESTS. And Debbi Rawlins tells the emotional story of a reclusive rancher who opens his home—and his heart—to a lovely single mother, in Loving a Lonesome Cowboy.

      In February, look for another installment in the RETURN TO TYLER series with Prescription for Seduction by Darlene Scalera.

      Wishing you happy reading,

      Melissa Jeglinski

      Associate Senior Editor

      Harlequin American Romance

      Loving a Lonesome Cowboy

      Debbi Rawlins

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      Debbi Rawlins currently lives with her husband and dog in Las Vegas, Nevada. A native of Hawaii, she married on Maui and has since lived in Cincinnati, Chicago, Tulsa, Houston, Detroit and Durham, NC, during the past twenty years. Now that she’s had enough of the gypsy life, it’ll take a crane, a bulldozer and a forklift to get her out of her new home. Good thing she doesn’t like to gamble. Except maybe on romance.

      Books by Debbi Rawlins

      HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE

      580—MARRIAGE INCORPORATED

      618—THE COWBOY AND THE CENTERFOLD

      622—THE OUTLAW AND THE CITY SLICKER

      675—LOVE, MARRIAGE AND OTHER CALAMITIES

      691—MARRY ME, BABY

      730—THE BRIDE TO BE…OR NOT TO BE

      741—IF WISHES WERE…HUSBANDS

      780—STUD FOR HIRE?

      790—OVERNIGHT FATHER

      808—HIS, HERS AND THEIRS

      860—LOVING A LONESOME COWBOY

      HARLEQUIN INTRIGUE

      587—HER MYSTERIOUS STRANGER

      SINGLE MOTHER SEEKS…

      Job as a housekeeper. I will clean your house till it shines and cook meals guaranteed to make you sigh. If you have children, I can even charm them into behaving for you. (At least, I’ll try!)

      Please call Sara Conroy, at 555-2725.

      And if you happen to be a brooding-but-oh-so-handsome cowboy, I might just find my way into your heart….

      Contents

       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 One

      Ethan Slade parked his old pickup in front of Manny’s General Store, ignoring the stares and whispers of the midday crowd as he climbed out and headed for the post office. Most folks wouldn’t expect to see him in town so close to Christmas, and they all had to be wondering what he was doing here. But other than a nod or a brief greeting, no one said a word. They wouldn’t. Not when he employed most of their brothers, sons and fathers.

      The responsibility of owning the second-largest ranch in Central New Mexico, which made him the town’s major employer, was one of two reasons that kept him here.

      The other was Emily’s grave.

      Simon Whitefeather looked up from the mail he was sorting and his black eyes immediately narrowed over his wire-rimmed reading glasses. “Mornin’, Ethan, what brings you into town? Weren’t you here just five months ago?”

      Ethan slowly nodded. “I’m out of supplies. Any mail for me in the back?”

      “Nope.