Showdown!. Laurie Paige

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      “My room has a private entrance.”

      The silence arced between them, intense and urgent, as compelling as the fire blazing in his eyes. With him, she would find sweet fulfillment.

      It would be bliss. And it would be based on lies. Tomorrow always came and with it the reckoning she’d come to expect. Then whatever they’d shared would be lost, one more thing to remember with regret….

      “What troubles you so?” he asked.

      “Us,” she admitted. “And all that it implies.”

      “Which is?”

      She turned from his scrutiny. “I don’t know.”

      He nodded as if he understood. “Sometimes things move too fast. There are too many questions.”

      The questions pertained to her. She clenched her hands and wished she could tell him everything—all her worries, her yearnings, her dreams.

      He let off the brake and made the turn onto the road home. His home, not hers. She must remember that.

      Dear Reader,

      Your best bet for coping with April showers is to run—not walk—to your favorite retail outlet and check out this month’s lineup. We’d like to highlight popular author Laurie Paige and her new miniseries SEVEN DEVILS. Laurie writes, “On my way to a writers’ conference in Denver, I spotted the Seven Devils Mountains. This had to be checked out! Sure enough, the rugged, fascinating land proved to be ideal for a bunch of orphans who’d been demanding that their stories be told.” You won’t want to miss Showdown!, the second book in the series, which is about a barmaid and a sheriff destined for love!

      Gina Wilkins dazzles us with Conflict of Interest, the second book in THE MCCLOUDS OF MISSISSIPPI series, which deals with the combustible chemistry between a beautiful literary agent and her ruggedly handsome and reclusive author. Can they have some fun without love taking over the relationship? Don’t miss Marilyn Pappano’s The Trouble with Josh, which features a breast cancer survivor who decides to take life by storm and make the most of everything—but she never counts on sexy cowboy Josh Rawlins coming into the mix.

      In Peggy Webb’s The Mona Lucy, a meddling but well-meaning mother attempts to play Cupid to her son and a beautiful artist who is painting her portrait. Karen Rose Smith brings us Expecting the CEO’s Baby, an adorable tale about a mix-up at the fertility clinic and a marriage of convenience between two strangers. And in Lisette Belisle’s His Pretend Wife, an accident throws an ex-con and an ex-debutante together, making them discover that rather than enemies, they just might be soul mates!

      As you can see, we have a variety of stories for our readers, which explore the essentials—life, love and family. Stay tuned next month for six more top picks from Special Edition!

      Sincerely,

      Karen Taylor Richman

      Senior Editor

      Showdown!

      Laurie Paige

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      To the Redding bunch—for the laughs, the sharing and the wedding from you-know-where. It was a riot!

      LAURIE PAIGE

      “One of the nicest things about writing romances is researching locales, careers and ideas. In the interst of authenticity, most writers will try anything…once.” Along with her writing adventures, Laurie has been a NASA engineer, a past president of the Romance Writers of America, a mother and a grandmother. She was twice a Romance Writers of America RITA^® Award finalist for Best Traditional Romance and has won awards from Romantic Times for Best Silhouette Special Edition and Best Silhouette.

      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 One

      “Last one,” Zack Dalton reminded Lady Luck, but without much hope the fabled lady would have a change of heart and smile on him.

      Huh. His luck with females had been pretty sour lately. A tang of bitterness like the aftertaste of fine wine gone to vinegar lingered on his tongue. He ignored it and the accompanying pang in his heart. He’d trusted one female with that organ and had had it handed back to him last summer when his fiancée had visited relatives in Denver, met some rich guy and married him on the spot.

      So much for trust, loyalty and true love.

      His uncle Nick said all things happened for the best. Looking at it that way, he figured he’d gotten off easy, heart and pride dinged but repairable.

      He fed his last quarter into the slot machine, pushed the button and watched the wheels spin. They came up zilch. Okay, so he wasn’t destined to be rich. That probably was for the best, he consoled himself philosophically, then chuckled at his little jest.

      Glancing at the clock, he saw it was midnight. The reason he was at the slots was simple. Las Vegas was truly a city that never slept. It wouldn’t let him catch any zzz’s, either. Too many lights, too many people, too much noise at all hours.

      His duty here was done and he could start home tomorrow. He’d better try for some rest, assuming he could find the elevator that would take him from the casino level to his floor far above the neon sparkle of the famous strip. He glanced around, searching for a landmark as a guide.

      “You dropped a coin, sir,” a polite voice, very feminine, very soft, spoke from behind his left shoulder.

      He swiveled around on the stool and gazed into eyes rimmed by false lashes so long he wondered how the cocktail waitress could lift her eyelids. The lashes cast such deep shadows he couldn’t tell what color her eyes were. The rest of her makeup was just as exaggerated, giving her a fake tan and rosily blushing cheeks that were obviously painted on. Dark roots showed along the uneven part in her blond hair.

      While he liked his women more natural, sort of outdoorsy, his interest was piqued by the beauty spot a half inch from one corner of her mouth. Her lips had a full, soft look in spite of the thick lipstick. The fullness coupled with the tiny mole gave her mouth a sort of vulnerability that surprised him.

      Even more surprising was his urge to touch her, as if he needed to be sure she was real. He had an instant, equally strong desire to kiss her.

      Whoa! He hadn’t had that many beers, at least he didn’t think he had.

      “Sir?” she said in that soft voice so at odds with her been-there-done-that appearance.

      He took the quarter, dropped it in the slot and hit the spin button as he watched her deliver a drink to a man three machines down. From this view, she looked great.

      Her outfit was cut into a provocative drape that left a lot of bare skin. She had smooth shoulders and a small waist, slender hips and firm thighs clad in fishnet hose.

      He paused to admire the thighs.

      A