Diamond Spur. Diana Palmer

      

      New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author DIANA PALMER serves up one of her most popular Texans—Jason Donavan—in a thrilling story destined to enthrall her many readers!

      Texas rancher Jason Donavan is known for his temper, his brooding nature and his deep distrust of women. No one at the Diamond Spur ranch can stand his moods—except Kate Whittman. She might be young, but she knows Jason is the only man for her. Kate wants him more than anything, but he offers her only brotherly protection—until she discovers that Jason’s desire for her is as strong as hers for him.

      Ever the gruff cowboy, Jason insists that commitment and love aren’t for him. So Kate pursues her own life, away from the man she loves. But just when it seems that her fairy tale is coming true, fate brings her back to Texas. To Jason. And to a dream that she’d almost abandoned…

       Praise for the novels of New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author DIANA PALMER

      “The popular Palmer has penned another winning novel, a perfect blend of romance and suspense.”

      —Booklist on Lawman

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

      —Publishers Weekly on Dangerous

      “Readers will be moved by this tale of revenge and justice, grief and healing.”

      —Booklist on Dangerous

      “Palmer’s romance is a refreshing and suspenseful adventure. Her humor and drama-filled narrative shines as her tale spins and hints to future stories.”

      —RT Book Reviews on Texas Born

      “Lots of passion, thrills, and plenty of suspense… Protector is a top notch read!”

      —Romance Reviews Today on Protector

      “A delightful romance with interesting new characters and many familiar faces. It’s nice to have a hero who is not picture perfect in looks or instincts, and a heroine who accepts her privileged life yet is willing to work for the future she wants.”

      —RT Book Reviews on Wyoming Tough

      Diamond Spur

      Diana Palmer

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

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      For Dean and Donna DeSoto and Doris and Ben McCord in San Antonio; for editors Claire Zion and Beth Lieberman in New York; for Pat in PA and Melinda in Lewisville, Texas; for my agent Maureen Walters of Curtis Brown Assoc. Ltd.; and last, but not least, for my husband, James, my son Blayne, daughter-in-law Christina, grandkids Selena and Donovan, my family and friends and my own very special category readers. God bless you all. —Susan Kyle (aka Diana Palmer) Habersham County, Georgia 2014

      Contents

       Cover

       Back Cover Text

      Praise

       Title Page

       Dedication

      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

       CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

       CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

       CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

       CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

       Copyright

       CHAPTER ONE

      THERE WERE HUGE live oak trees sheltering the Donavan place from the south Texas heat. The impressive pale yellow Spanish-styled stucco house sat between barbed wire fences, far back off the ranch road at the end of a dusty, winding driveway. Kate Whittman was glad to be poking along on the old quarter horse Jason had given her instead of driving. It had been dry in this part of Frio County, Texas, for some weeks now, and the dust was much less noticeable on a slow-moving horse than in a car.

      The Donavan driveway had never been paved. The ranch covered thousands of acres and spare cash always went into buying more cattle, not into modernizing roads. In these days of low cattle prices and overwhelming interest on ranch loans, it took a business mind like Jason Donavan’s to keep the wolf away from the door.

      Her green eyes scanned the horizon. It was roundup time, Kate knew, and on an operation this size, the spread had to be broken down into sections. Each camp had its own crew and foreman, and Jason would be riding around from one to the other to keep an eye on things. During roundup, somebody always got hurt. While broken bones, burns, contusions, and abrasions were part of the usual demands of ranch work, herding cattle and branding always brought grief. This time the boss himself had run afoul of a maddened mama longhorn, and the ranch foreman had gone sneaking over to Kate’s house to fetch her. Any time Jason got hurt, they sent for Kate, because Jason Donavan wouldn’t let anybody else near him. He trusted Kate because she wasn’t afraid of his temper, and because she alone could manage him when that temper was at flash point.

      Kate sighed wistfully, thinking about all the times she’d come down this winding driveway. She and Jason didn’t date; in fact he hardly