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“Why didn’t we stay together?”
She should have expected it. In a way, it was surprising that he hadn’t asked before. “I don’t see any need to go into it,” she said, folding her arms. She saw no need to open old wounds—mostly hers.
His jaw set in a stubborn line. “It was because of my job, wasn’t it?”
Abby drew in a breath, and let it out slowly. “Whatever happened back then, those days are over, Ryan.”
“And what about the nights?” With that quiet question he stepped forward to close the gap between them. “Did I leave you alone then, too?”
He’d moved too close to let her feign indifference. Close enough to have certain memories flaring to life. Much too close for her comfort. She saw the challenge in his eyes. “Do you mean to tell me that if I kissed you right this minute, you wouldn’t feel anything?”
“You’re not kissing me,” she informed him in no uncertain terms.
And then he was.
Dear Reader,
Welcome to Harlequin American Romance, where you’re guaranteed heartwarming, emotional and deeply romantic stories set in the backyards, big cities and wide-open spaces of America. Kick starting the month is Cathy Gillen Thacker’s Her Bachelor Challenge, which launches her brand-new family-connected miniseries THE DEVERAUX LEGACY. In this wonderful story, a night of passion between old acquaintances has a sought-after playboy businessman questioning his bachelor status.
Next, Mollie Molay premieres her new GROOMS IN UNIFORM miniseries. In The Duchess & Her Bodyguard, protecting a royal beauty was easy for a by-the-book bodyguard, but falling in love wasn’t part of the plan! Don’t miss Husbands, Husbands…Everywhere! by Sharon Swan, in which a lovely B & B owner’s ex-husband shows up on her doorstep with amnesia, giving her the chance to rediscover the man he’d once been. This poignant reunion romance story is the latest installment in the WELCOME TO HARMONY miniseries. Laura Marie Altom makes her Harlequin American Romance debut with Blind Luck Bride, which pairs a jilted groom with a pregnant heroine in a marriage meant to satisfy the terms of a bet.
Best,
Melissa Jeglinski
Associate Senior Editor
Harlequin American Romance
Husbands, Husbands…Everywhere!
Sharon Swan
MILLS & BOON
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For all my great friends in Illinois
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born and raised in Chicago, Sharon Swan once dreamed of dancing for a living. Instead, she surrendered to life’s more practical aspects, settled for an office job, concentrated on typing and being a Chicago Bears fan. Sharon never seriously considered writing a career until she moved to the Phoenix area and met Pierce Brosnan at a local shopping mall. It was a chance meeting that changed her life, because she found herself thinking, what if? What if two fictional characters had met the same way? That formed the basis for her next novel, and she’s now cheerfully addicted to writing contemporary romance and playing what if?
Books by Sharon Swan
HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE
912—COWBOYS AND CRADLES
928—HOME-GROWN HUSBAND*
939—HUSBAND, HUSBANDS…EVERYWHERE!*
Contents
Chapter One
A man who once had sworn he would never forget her looked her straight in the eye with a blank expression, as if he’d never seen her before in his life.
Abby couldn’t help but stare herself, thinking that unless Ryan Larabee had an identical twin with the same brilliantly blue gaze, it had to be him. And since she recalled quite well that his only sibling was an older sister, it was definitely Ryan.
She knew that. She was just having trouble convincing her vocal cords to say something to him, which was understandable. After all, it wasn’t every day that a woman met a dangerously attractive male from her past, one she’d never expected to see again, even if she hadn’t managed to block out all thoughts of him. To find that very male calmly standing on the doorstep, looking at her as though she were a complete stranger, was a startling experience, enough to leave anyone’s throat frozen.
And Abby could only produce one hard swallow.
It was the tall and lanky man facing her who finally broke the silence. “Are you, ah, by any chance Aunt Abigail?” he asked in a deep voice tinged with a Western drawl that she remembered all too well. His halting tone seemed to indicate he’d been anticipating someone older.
“No, I’m not,” she got out at last after another swallow.
He reached up and thumbed his black Stetson back from his forehead, revealing short, thick strands of dark brown hair. “I called earlier about a room. Someone said there were plenty available.”
She cleared her still-tight throat. “That would have been one of my godmother’s