Gentlemen Prefer... Brunettes. Liz Fielding

      

       Time for this bachelor to change his ways!

      There are two things Nick Jefferson can't resist: a challenge and a blonde! So when the latest platinum-haired woman to cross his path challenges him to cook her a romantic dinner, what else can he do but accept? Unfortunately, Nick could burn water. Which is where chef Cassie Cornwell comes in.

      Cassie knows she’s not Nick’s type. For one thing, she’s a brunette. For another, she’s the only woman ever to turn Nick down…even if reluctantly! Cassie might be wary of sweet-talking playboys, but seeing Nick again reminds her of just how irresistible he is. Maybe it’s time to persuade him that blondes aren’t necessarily more fun…!

      “What’s the matter with you, Nick? Isn’t one woman enough for you?

      “Better not keep the lady waiting,” Cassie continued, turning away from him. “It sounds to me as if you’ve hit pay dirt.”

      “Damn it, Cassie—”

      “Careful. She’ll hear you.... Go and eat.... You’ll have to come back for the rice. Unless you’ve got three hands?”

      “With two women to keep happy, I’ll need them, won’t I?”

      He hadn’t got two women, Cassie thought furiously, but Nick didn’t hang around long enough for her to say so, which was perhaps just as well.

      Cassie tried to ignore the soft murmur of voices seeping into the kitchen from the dining room over the elegant strains of Mozart. She tried hard not to think about what Nick was saying, what he might be doing.

Dear Reader,

      Like Cassie Cornwell, the heroine of Gentlemen Prefer.. Brunettes, I love cooking for my family and sharing recipes with friends.

      Toad-in-the-hole is a traditional English favorite. If you would like to find out Cassie’s recipe for this, and the other dishes mentioned in Gentlemen Prefer . . . Brunettes, you’ll find them on my web site, which can be accessed via the Mills & Boon Enterprises site at http.//www.romance.net. Maybe you’ll leave a favorite of your own, while you’re there?

      I’ll be waiting to hear if you enjoyed them. In the meantime, happy cooking and reading!

      Gentlemen Prefer…Brunettes

      Liz Fielding

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      MILLS & BOON

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      For wonderful aunts and uncles,

       with whom I have been much blessed.

      Table of Contents

       Cover

       “What’s the matter with you, Nick? Isn’t one woman enough for you?

Letter to Reader

       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

       Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

      CASSANDRA CORNWALL had a problem. Or rather she had three of them, all male. Added to that, she was suffering from writer’s cramp, smile fatigue and a serious lack of caffeine.

      She looked up, hoping to catch Beth’s eye, but her friend was too busy flinging herself into the arms of a man who had just walked through the door to notice her plight.

      ‘Nick, darling!’

      Beth’s squeal of pleasure turned every head in the shop and Cassie paused mid-signature as ‘Nick, darling’ bent from his considerable height to kiss Beth’s cheek.

      The movement sent a thick cowlick of hair the colour of clear dark honey sliding over a broad, tanned forehead. ‘Beth, you look gorgeous.’ His voice was honey too—warm honey, running with butter over thick crunchy toast. ‘I don’t know why I ever let you get away.’

      The squeal of pleasure, Cassie decided, had been thoroughly justified. The man was sex on a pair of very long legs, with a smile that fanned around a pair of dark eyes that she could tell, even from this distance, would make any woman feel beautiful, desired. The kind of man any girl would be a fool to take seriously.

      Beth clearly knew that. ‘There were just too many distractions, I guess,’ she said, laughing. ‘Let’s see. There was Janine Grey... Georgia Thompson... Caroline Clifford—’ she ticked off the names on her fingers ‘—and rumour had it that Diana Morgan...’

      ‘Enough, Beth! Enough!’ ‘Nick, darling’ held his hands up in mock surrender. ‘I’ve never denied it. I just have this incurable weakness for tall blondes.’

      ‘Tall, beautiful, willowy blondes,’ Beth said, somewhat pointedly, as he hugged her own full curves. ‘It’s a weakness that will get you into big trouble one of these days.’

      ‘Is that a promise?’

      ‘You are appalling, Nick. When are you going to grow up?’

      His grin was an admission that Beth was right. But he wasn’t contrite, far from it. ‘Never, I hope. How’s Harry?’

      ‘Harry,