Betrayed by Love. Diana Palmer

      

       From New York Times bestselling author Diana Palmer comes a fan-favourite story of second-chance love.

      Cattle rancher Jacob Cade rarely denies himself anything—except his passion for Kate Walker. When it comes to his younger sister’s best friend, Jacob sets boundaries as solid as his ranch fences. But when Kate returns home for his sister’s wedding, he sees her with new eyes. She’s older, wiser and more attractive than ever—and Jacob can’t help but feel that the time for restraint is over…

      Kate has been in love with Jacob for as long as she can remember. She knows the ruggedly handsome older man isn’t offering forever, but the sparks between them are as hot as they ever were. Yet, will a few precious nights in his arms be worth the heartache that’s sure to follow?

       Praise for New York Times bestselling author Diana Palmer

      “Readers who enjoy stories by authors who know how to pack an emotional wallop will add Palmer to their list.”

      —Booklist on Renegade

      “Palmer demonstrates, yet again, why she’s the queen of desperado quests for justice and true love.”

      —Publishers Weekly on Dangerous

      “Diana Palmer is a mesmerizing storyteller who captures the essence of what a romance should be.”

       —Affaire de Coeur

       DIANA PALMER

      A prolific author of more than one hundred books, Diana Palmer got her start as a newspaper reporter. A multiple New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author and one of the top ten romance writers in America, she has a gift for telling the most sensual tales with charm and humor. Diana lives with her family in Cornelia, Georgia.

      Betrayed by Love

      Diana Palmer

      

www.millsandboon.co.uk

       Contents

       Cover

       Back Cover Text

       Praise

       About the Author

       Title Page

Dear Reader

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

       Chapter 4

       Chapter 5

       Chapter 6

       Chapter 7

       Chapter 8

       Chapter 9

       Chapter 10

       Chapter 11

       Extract

       Copyright

      Dear Reader,

      It’s been a very long time since I wrote Betrayed by Love, a story about a newspaper reporter from South Dakota named Kate Walker, who works for a daily paper in Chicago and is carrying a huge torch for rancher Jacob Cade.

      While I was writing this book, I really wanted to push Jacob over a cliff by chapter three, and by chapter five I wanted to run a bus over him. But he redeems himself big time when Kate gets shot in the course of her news gathering. Kate and Jacob show up for a cameo later in Tom Walker’s story in the anthology A Long, Tall Texan Summer, along with their son, Hunter.

      I wrote Betrayed by Love in 1986 (it was published in Silhouette Desire in 1987), and this was only a few years after I gave up reporting full-time and came home to write books and raise our own son, Blayne. At the time I wrote the book, Blayne was six years old. Now, Blayne and Christina are raising my beautiful little granddaughter, Selena Marie, who is three years old. I never realized how quickly those days would end. The old saying that time flies as you get older is so true.

      But back to the book—I had a wonderful time writing it, during a very sweet time in my own life. I hope you enjoy revisiting these early characters as much as I have.

      As always, thank you, my wonderful reader family, for your kindness, your tolerance and your loyalty down all the long years. Thank you, thank you, for all that you do for me, just by being the kind people that you are.

      Much love, many hugs, from Diana Palmer (who is still your biggest fan).

       Chapter 1

      He looked just as Kate remembered him, standing on the outside of the small gathering in front of the church. Jacob Cade had never mixed well. He might have his share of adoring women, thanks to his sizable fortune, but he seemed to treat everyone with the same impartial contempt. He was quietly standing there, his dark gaze glancing toward the road where his niece was due to arrive any minute. And despite his indifference to the crowd, he drew women’s eyes. He was darkly tanned and rugged, his powerful legs outlined by the superb fit of his trousers, his broad shoulders straining against the fabric of his suit coat. His hands were lean and dark, and there were no rings on them. Jacob wasn’t a sentimental man. He was an old-fashioned reactionary in everything from dress to attitudes, and he made no apologies for it. He didn’t have to. He had enough money to make up his own rules as he went along.

      “Lord of all he surveys,” Kate muttered, glaring.

      “Isn’t he entitled?” Tom, her brother, laughed softly. “He’s got enough fluttering female hearts in his pocket. Including yours…”

      “Hush!” she bit off, nibbling on her lower lip.

      “He doesn’t know,” he mused, glancing down at her. They were both tall, dark-haired and green-eyed. Although Tom, at twenty-eight, was four years her senior, they might well have been twins for the resemblance of their facial features. The same even, etched features highlighted both high-cheekboned faces, the faint remnants of