Honor-Bound Lawman. Danica Favorite

      

      Her Rancher Bodyguard

      When Laura Booth’s dangerous ex-husband escapes from prison, she turns to the one man who can protect her: Owen Hamilton. Living with the widowed former lawman—who once helped put her ex in jail—and his adorable twin daughters on their Colorado ranch is a welcome respite. For the first time, Laura feels safe—but after her troubled past, she’ll never trust her heart again.

      Owen would like to say only obligation draws him to Laura’s side. But in his gut he knows his feelings for the gentle beauty run deeper than duty—and it stops him cold. After guarding their wary hearts for years, can Owen and Laura give love a second chance?

      DANICA FAVORITE loves the adventure of living a creative life. She loves to explore the depths of human nature and follow people on the journey to happily-ever-after. Though the journey is often bumpy, those bumps refine imperfect characters as they live the life God created them for. Oops, that just spoiled the ending of Danica’s stories. Then again, getting there is all the fun. Find her at danicafavorite.com.

       Also by Danica Favorite

      Rocky Mountain Dreams

      The Lawman’s Redemption

      Shotgun Marriage

      The Nanny’s Little Matchmakers

      For the Sake of the Children

      An Unlikely Mother

      Mistletoe Mommy

      Honor-Bound Lawman

      Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

      Honor-Bound Lawman

      Danica Favorite

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      ISBN: 978-1-474-08044-6

      HONOR-BOUND LAWMAN

      © 2018 Danica Favorite

      Published in Great Britain 2018

      by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

      All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

      By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      “Come on, Laura. I’m going to help you today.”

      Little Anna grabbed the reins and pulled Rascal in the direction of the barn.

      Once again, Laura’s heart was warmed by the sweet child. What a shame this little girl didn’t have a mother.

      Laura turned and saw Owen standing in the doorway, light filtering around him so that he was merely a shadow. How she longed to run to him and thank him for giving her one more piece of her dignity back. But to him, teaching her to ride was just one more practical part of life on the ranch. Just another part of his job.

      “Thank you again for letting me ride Rascal. I truly enjoyed it,” Laura said.

      Owen gave a jerky nod. “I’m glad. It’s a skill everyone should have, and it’s good you’re finally learning.”

      His words confirmed Laura’s previous thoughts. No matter how close she felt to him, or how much she wished for them to be friends, he was just doing his job.

      Dear Reader,

      I’ve been playing with the idea for this story for a long time, so when I finally got to write it, I thought it would be super easy. And then a series of crazy things happened, and I had to write this book during one of the most difficult seasons of my life. The verse I chose for this book ended up being fitting, not just because my characters had to learn how to deepen their trust in God, but I did, as well. I learned the hard way that I am stronger than I think I am and can do more than I think I can, but only by the grace of God.

      I pray that as you go through your own challenges, you find the same strength in the Lord as I did, and that He’ll give you blessings such as a mean rooster. No, wait. You probably don’t want a mean rooster. But if you do end up with one, you’ll be able to see the blessing in having him. Which might take a while, but when you take the time to seek the Lord’s goodness, you’ll see it.

      I always love hearing from my readers, so feel free to connect with me at the following places:

      Website: DanicaFavorite.com

      Twitter: Twitter.com/DanicaFavorite

      Instagram: Instagram.com/DanicaFavorite

      Facebook: Facebook.com/DanicaFavoriteAuthor

      May the peace of Christ be with you always,

      Danica Favorite

      Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.

      —Proverbs 3:5–6

      To Princess and the roosters she’s loved: Mat, Myron, Tristan and Char.

      Thank you for the inspiration behind Henry the rooster. All rooster events in this story are based on real events, and while they were exasperating at the time, they’re kind of funny now. Here’s to the challenges of having an accidental rooster.

      And to Cowgirl: thank you for all your horse knowledge and making sure my horse details are right. I guess all these years of taking you to the arena and watching you ride through freezing winters, scorching summers and all the days in between have