скачать книгу бесплатно
Honeymoon Hunt
Judy Christenberry
For Julia Chance and Nick Rampling, chasing after her mother and his father was more than a search for eloping lovers; it was an exercise in frustration. Of all partners, how did a jet-setting millionaire get stuck with a prim virgin like Julia, who called him unfeeling and jaded? Still, Nick couldn't deny Julia intrigued him.After all, he appreciated a woman, just not a wife! But the more time he spent with Julia, sharing the same hotel rooms but enduring separate beds night after night, the more he wondered just which couple would make it to the finish line…er, altar…first!
“You’ve never been in love?”
Julia cocked her head as she stared at him, waiting for an answer.
He leaned toward her and lowered his voice. “I’ve been in lust, Julia, more than once. And when I was young, I thought it was love. But time proved me wrong.”
“I—I’m sorry, Nick.”
Her unwanted sympathy irritated him. “I don’t need you to feel sorry for me, Julia. I’m fine the way I am. And if you think love is so important, why aren’t you married?” He was very interested in her answer.
“You can’t just decide to fall in love.” She shrugged. “I hope to fall in love one day. It just hasn’t happened yet.”
He saw the longing in her eyes, heard it in her voice and he felt a response in himself. One that scared the hell out of him.
Dear Reader,
No month better suits Silhouette Romance than February. For it celebrates that breathless feeling of first love, the priceless experiences and memories that come with a longtime love and the many hopes and dreams that give a couple’s life together so much meaning. At Silhouette Romance, our writers try to capture all these feelings in their timeless tales…and this month’s lineup is no exception.
Our PERPETUALLY YOURS promotion continues this month with a charming tale from Sandra Paul. In Domesticating Luc (#1802) a dog trainer gets more than she bargained for when she takes on an unruly puppy and his very obstinate and irresistible owner. Beloved author Judy Christenberry returns to the lineup with Honeymoon Hunt (#1803)—a madcap adventure in which two opposites pair up to find their parents who have eloped, but instead wind up on a tight race to the finish line, er, altar! In A Dash of Romance (#1804) Elizabeth Harbison creates the perfect recipe for love when she pairs a self-made billionaire with a spirited waitress. Cathie Linz rounds out the offerings with Lone Star Marine (#1805). Part of her MEN OF HONOR series, this poignant romance features a wounded soldier who craves only the solitude to heal, and finds that his lively and beautiful neighbor just might be the key to the future he hadn’t dreamed possible.
As always, be sure to return next month when Alice Sharpe concludes our PERPETUALLY YOURS promotion.
Happy reading.
Ann Leslie Tuttle
Associate Senior Editor
Honeymoon Hunt
Judy Christenberry
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Books by Judy Christenberry
Silhouette Romance
The Nine-Month Bride #1324
* (#litres_trial_promo)Marry Me, Kate #1344
* (#litres_trial_promo)Baby in Her Arms #1350
* (#litres_trial_promo)A Ring for Cinderella #1356
† (#litres_trial_promo)Never Let You Go #1453
† (#litres_trial_promo)The Borrowed Groom #1457
† (#litres_trial_promo)Cherish the Boss #1463
** (#litres_trial_promo)Snowbound Sweetheart #1476
Newborn Daddy #1511
When the Lights Went Out…#1547
** (#litres_trial_promo)Least Likely To Wed #1570
Daddy on the Doorstep #1654
** (#litres_trial_promo)Beauty & the Beastly Rancher #1678
** (#litres_trial_promo)The Last Crawford Bachelor #1715
Finding a Family #1762
†† (#litres_trial_promo)The Texan’s Reluctant Bride #1778
†† (#litres_trial_promo)The Texan’s Tiny Dilemma #1782
†† (#litres_trial_promo)The Texan’s Suite Romance #1787
Honeymoon Hunt #1803
Silhouette Books
The Coltons
The Doctor Delivers
A Colton Family Christmas
“The Diplomat’s Daughter”
Lone Star Country Club
The Last Bachelor
JUDY CHRISTENBERRY
has been writing romances for over fifteen years because she loves happy endings as much as her readers do. She’s a bestselling author for Harlequin American Romance, but she has a long love of traditional romances and is delighted to tell a story that brings those elements to the reader. A former high school French teacher, Judy devotes her time to writing. She hopes readers have as much fun reading her stories as she does writing them. She spends her spare time reading, watching her favorite sports teams and keeping track of her two adult daughters.
Contents
Chapter One (#u816fd595-0893-5de5-81df-334b876cbcf0)
Chapter Two (#ub67311e3-99cd-5dd3-99fb-3d75606a9c55)
Chapter Three (#u9be91538-746a-5abb-927a-e41b2bd3a492)
Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One
Julia Chance drove slowly down the block in her rental car, anxiously looking from one side of the street to the other, growing more and more uneasy as she went.
She was looking for the Hotel Luna. She was sure she’d followed directions, but she couldn’t imagine her mother being in this neighborhood.
Old, run-down buildings crowded each other in this area of Dallas. Minimarts, aglow with their bright interior lights, battled with the dark bars that found residence on at least every other street. Men loitered in dark alleys between the buildings, prompting her to step on the gas and keep moving.
There on the right, a couple hundred feet up, a small sign drew her attention. Hotel L*na. Despite the sign’s missing letter, Julia knew that had to be it. She drove up to the hotel and pulled to the curb, but hesitated. The hotel looked anything but safe. Surely her mother wouldn’t—
From inside the Hotel Luna a man came running, startling her. He was big, muscular, wearing a white knit shirt from what she could see in the dim street-light. Maybe he was running because he was in a hurry, or maybe he—
Just then, the passenger door was opened, cutting off her thought, and the man she’d glimpsed earlier jumped into her car.
“Step on it, lady!” he ordered with a growl.
Julia’s eyes widened in surprise. Almost as a reflex, she resisted. “I’ll do no such thing! Get out of my car or I’ll call the police!”
She heard a sound similar to a loud pop right before her windshield split. As it happened, the man beside her grabbed Julia and yanked her down.
“What’s going on? Who’s shooting at you?”
“I accidentally interrupted a drug deal,” the man growled.
It took a minute for her to put things together. By that time, another bullet had hit her windshield. Then pain from her right foot shot through her as the man did as he’d asked her to do.
He stepped on the gas pedal, pushing it to the floorboard, ignoring the fact that her foot was under his.
He also grabbed the wheel, rising up just enough to see over the hood.
Julia felt like a coward, but she couldn’t bring herself to sit up and face any more bullets. Who was shooting? It could be the police, for all she knew. Was the man in her car the target? This guy could be a criminal escaping.
Well, he’d carjacked the wrong woman! She straightened and tried to wrest the steering wheel from his grasp. “Take your hands off. I’m the driver!”
To her surprise, he released the wheel. “Then drive. Get on the freeway. The entrance is right here.”
“What if I don’t want to get on the freeway?”
“Then we’ll both be killed! You don’t have much choice.”
The sound of a car behind them had her looking in the rearview mirror, but she couldn’t see much.
“They’re after us!” Again he slammed his foot on hers to increase their speed.
“I’m going to call the police if you don’t get out right now!”
“Do you have a phone? I seem to have lost mine. But call the police! I’d be more than happy to see a black-and-white.”
“You would?” Julia asked, surprised by his answer. Surely he must be a bad guy, she thought.
“Yeah, but hurry. They’re closing in on us quickly.”
“Who? Who is—”
She ended her questioning as bullets began to fly in their direction again. This time, she raced for the freeway, actually running a red light as she noted there was no traffic coming. She’d never done such an outrageous thing in her life!
They shot onto the freeway—and were immediately pulled over by a police car.
“Oh, dear! I don’t know—”
“Let me handle it!” the carjacker/passenger snapped.
The officer knocked on the glass and waited for Julia to lower the window.
Then he said, “You folks have an emergency, or do you just ignore posted speed limits?”
“Yes, officer, we do have an emergency,” the stranger beside her said calmly. Even his body language spoke of ease, but Julia was shaking.
“As you can see, we’ve run into trouble,” he said, gesturing to the bullet holes in the windshield.
“Where were you when this happened?” the officer asked, studying the evidence.
“We were looking for the Hotel Luna on Westmoreland,” the man said, causing Julia to look at him sharply. He was going to the hotel, too? She eyed him up and down, taking in his neatly trimmed brown hair, white shirt and pressed slacks. Not exactly Hotel Luna clientele, she thought.
