“Do you have an extra room, by any chance?” Damien asked.
Molly laid down a spoon and looked at him with such hope. “You’ll stay here? With me?” Her relief was nearly palpable.
“I have an idea,” he said, using his most businesslike tone. “How do you think Jensen would react to your having a live-in lover?”
Her beautiful mouth dropped open, and her eyes widened with shock. Then she laughed, that full-bodied, head-thrown-back laughter he remembered from when he’d first met her. His own smile widened in response to it. Even her child giggled and patted its sticky hands together.
How would it be if Molly touched him with a bit of that caring she showed so easily to her family? She must have some to spare. It needn’t be anything permanent. Love certainly wasn’t necessary, or even something he wanted from her. That would be a little too deep for comfort. He wished only for a taste of how it would feel to know someone cared.
Dear Reader,
It’s the beginning of a new year, and Intimate Moments is ready to kick things off with six more fabulously exciting novels. Readers have been clamoring for Linda Turner to create each new installment of her wonderful miniseries THOSE MARRYING MCBRIDES! In Never Been Kissed she honors those wishes with the deeply satisfying tale of virginal nurse Janey McBride and Dr. Reilly Jones, who’s just the man to teach her how wonderful love can be when you share it with the right man.
A YEAR OF LOVING DANGEROUSLY continues to keep readers on the edge of their seats with The Spy Who Loved Him, bestselling author Merline Lovelace’s foray into the dangerous jungles of Central America, where the loving is as steamy as the air. And you won’t want to miss My Secret Valentine, the enthralling conclusion to our in-line 36 HOURS spin-off. As always, Marilyn Pappano delivers a page-turner you won’t be able to resist. Ruth Langan begins a new trilogy, THE SULLIVAN SISTERS, with Awakening Alex, sure to be another bestseller. Lyn Stone’s second book for the line, Live-In Lover, is sure to make you her fan. Finally, welcome brand-new New Zealand sensation Frances Housden. In The Man for Maggie she makes a memorable debut, one that will have you crossing your fingers that her next book will be out soon.
Enjoy! And come back next month, when the excitement continues here in Silhouette Intimate Moments.
Yours,
Leslie J. Wainger
Executive Senior Editor
Live-In Lover
Lyn Stone
LYN STONE
loves creating pictures with words. Paints, too. Her love affair with writing and art began in the third grade, when she won a school-wide prize for her colorful poster for book week. She spent the prize money on books, one of which was Little Women.
She rewrote the ending so that Jo marries her childhood sweetheart. That’s because Lyn had a childhood sweetheart herself and wanted to marry him when she grew up. She did. And now she is living her “happily-ever-after” in north Alabama with the same guy. She and Allen have traveled the world, had two children, four grandchildren and experienced some wild adventures along the way.
Whether writing romantic historicals or contemporary fiction, Lyn insists on including elements of humor, mystery and danger. Perhaps because that other book she purchased all those years ago was a Nancy Drew story.
In appreciation for pep talks and the lively exchange
of ideas, this book is dedicated to fellow adventure lovers Debra Webb, Dianne Hamilton, Martha Kreiger, Mary Bauer and Rhonda Nelson.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Epilogue
Chapter 1
Damien Perry popped the cap off his bottle of Guinness, shook his head and laughed, a mirthless sound, as most of his laughs were these days. Sad commentary when a man had to check where a message came from to determine who he was supposed to be.
His thumb traced the postmark on the unopened envelope that lay on the bunk beside him. Nashville, Tennessee. Ah, yes, his role as an assassin.
He’d spent almost a decade now assuming other accents and identities, and the job was getting old. The Bureau loaned him out to other agencies for joint operations as if he were a piece of office equipment.
He had considered resigning. Government pay was atrocious, even with the hefty allowance for designer clothes on assignments such as his last one. The investments he’d made with his inheritance would insure he never had to work again.
But what would he do if he quit? Hang out a shingle and use his law degree?
Damien scoffed and took a good, long swig off his stout. He kicked off his deck shoes and got comfortable, determined to enjoy this leisure even if it killed him. If he didn’t gear down between jobs, he’d burn out for certain.
The plain white envelope lay there as if daring him to rip it open, so he did. No letter inside, just a small rectangle of beige linen card stock.
He smiled for real when he read the name on it. Marian Olivia Jensen. He only knew one Jensen from Nashville. It had to be her. What on earth could Molly want from him? He flipped the card over and read the handwritten message on the back. Please call. I need your help. This is urgent. M.J.
He lay back on the narrow bunk in the cabin of the Anna Louise and held the card aloft to examine it further. The line beneath her name bore the words “Freelance Graphics.” Below that a post office box, phone and fax numbers.
How had she gotten the address of the post office box where he occasionally docked? Few knew of it.
The Bureau had used the Florida address a couple of times to contact him since he had been working the boat thefts up and down the lower east coast.
Now that the DEA had rounded up the smugglers who had been appropriating private craft for their runs, Damien was taking six weeks’ leave on his rented sloop to wind down.
When he’d gone into the small post office branch to cancel the box this morning, the mail clerk had given him the envelope.
Michael Duvek, the regional director in Memphis, must have given Molly Jensen the address. Other than her brother, Duvek was the only person they really knew in common.
But Damien hardly knew her at all. They had met only twice while he was in the hospital in Memphis after that Nashville fiasco. The acquaintance was memorable for him, despite its brevity. A bright ray of sun on one of his darkest days there six months ago.
She had been visiting her brother, Ford Devereaux,