Beauty and the Brooding Boss. Barbara Wallace

      

       “Come on, Grady. The statute of limitations has long expired on breakup hard feelings.”

      “Says who?” He shoved an extra pillow behind his head. “From where I’m sitting, I’m still mad as hell.” He downed his second longneck and went in for a third.

      Jessie had the gall to cross her arms and roll her eyes.

      “You think I still shouldn’t be pissed? I asked you to marry me. You accepted.”

      “Almost a decade ago!” She smacked the dresser top. “Get over it. That’s ancient history.”

      “The hell it is.” He sprang from the bed, planting his hands on either side of her, pinning her in but not giving her the satisfaction of touching her. “Give me an honest reason and I’ll let it go. More than anything, I want to let this—you—go, but you’re stuck in my head.”

      “Sorry.”

      “I need a reason, Jess.”

      She raised her chin. “You know the reason.”

      “Oh, right—you don’t love me.”

      “You know how much I care for you. You were my best friend. Why can’t we just go back to that?”

      “No, thanks.” The friend card had long been off the table.

      The SEAL’s Miracle Baby

      Laura Marie Altom

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      LAURA MARIE ALTOM is a bestselling and award-winning author who has penned nearly fifty books. After college (Go, Hogs!), Laura Marie did a brief stint as an interior designer before becoming a stay-at-home mum to boy-girl twins and a bonus son. Always an avid romance reader, she knew it was time to try her hand at writing when she found herself replotting the afternoon soaps. When not immersed in her next story, Laura plays video games, tackles Mount Laundry and, of course, reads romance!

      Laura loves hearing from readers at either PO Box 2074, Tulsa, OK 74101, USA, or by e-mail, [email protected]. Love winning fun stuff? Check out www.lauramariealtom.com.

      MILLS & BOON

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      This story is dedicated to the town of Moore, Oklahoma. May your skies be forevermore blue.

      Contents

       Cover

       Introduction

       Title Page

       About the Author

       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

       Epilogue

       Extract

       Copyright

       Chapter One

      For all practical purposes, Rock Bluff, Oklahoma, was gone.

      Navy SEAL Grady Matthews pulled his rental sedan onto the highway’s shoulder, being careful not to hit a pink bathtub that rested on its side in a nest of debris. He lowered his window, bracing his forearm on the vehicle’s frame to take in the tragic view. The early-May tornado had been damn near a mile wide, and it had razed everything in its seventeen-mile path.

      When his dad called, asking him to help rebuild their ranch, Grady thought he’d exaggerated the degree of the storm’s damage, but if anything, Ben’s description had been inadequate. Grady’s brain knew that a hundred yards down the road was where the historic Flamingo Motel should be, along with a McDonald’s, an Arby’s, the First Baptist Church and the Dairy Barn, but all of it was just gone, as if God had swept His hand over it, wiping the slate clean. Only the resulting mess wasn’t clean. It was an unfathomable pile of concrete blocks and upended church pews and— Tears stung his eyes.

      He