скачать книгу бесплатно
In Search Of Dreams
Ginna Gray
HE WAS SEARCHING FOR HIS FAMILY…And J.T. Conway struck gold when he found the one woman who could help fulfill his dream. Although being ensconced together in Kate Mahoney's cozy inn sparked a irresistible attraction, gaining this fragile beauty's trust after she'd been shaken by a shocking small-town scandal proved to be the ultimate challenge. But J.T. couldn't walk away from this angelic innkeeper whose soft vulnerability and tantalizing lips wreaked havoc on his heart. Before long, J.T.–who had never before let anyone close enough to soothe his restless soul–got much more than he'd bargained her. Could this elusive bachelor have finally been blindsided by true love?
“I don’t want you here.”
“Too bad, I’m staying.” J.T.’s own anger faded as quickly as it flared. Wow, she was something. All fire and ice.
Had he really thought she was cool and dispassionate? Beneath that calm surface was spirit enough for any man. More than most could handle. He stared into her turbulent gray eyes and felt raw desire rip through him.
He wanted this woman more than he’d ever wanted any woman in his life.
Consumed with need, he couldn’t think for a moment. His gaze zeroed in on that lush mouth, trembling now with the force of her emotions, and heat speared through him. He leaned closer, his gaze fixed on her mouth as his head began a slow descent.
“Kate, you’re not throwing me out.”
Dear Reader,
Welcome back to Special Edition, where a month of spellbinding reading awaits you with a wonderful lineup of sophisticated, compelling August romances!
In bestselling author Jodi O’Donnell’s memorable THAT’S MY BABY! story, When Baby Was Born, a pregnant woman with amnesia meets a cowboy she’ll never forget! Beloved author Ginna Gray sweeps us away with another installment of her miniseries, A FAMILY BOND. In her emotional book In Search of Dreams, a woman with a scandalous past tries to say no to the man who vows to be in her future. Do you think a reunion that takes seventeen years to happen is worth waiting for? We’re sure you’ll say yes when you read When Love Walks In, Suzanne Carey’s poignant story about a long-ago teenage passion that is rekindled—then a secret is exposed. When the hero of Carole Halston’s Because of the Twins… needs help caring for his instant brood, the last thing he expects is a woman who turns his thoughts to matrimonial matters, too! Also this month is Jean Brashear’s Texas Royalty, in which a tough, once-burned P.I. seeks revenge on the society girl who had betrayed him—until she manages to rekindle his desires again! And finally, Patricia McLinn kicks off her compelling new miniseries, A PLACE CALLED HOME, with Lost-And-Found Groom, about a treacherous hurricane that brings two people together for one passionate live-or-die night—then that remembered passion threatens to storm their emotional fortresses once and for all.…
All the best,
Karen Taylor Richman
Senior Editor
In Search of Dreams
Ginna Gray
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Books by Ginna Gray
Silhouette Romance
Golden Illusion #171
The Heart’s Yearning #265
Sweet Promise #320
Cristen’s Choice #373
* (#litres_trial_promo)Fools Rush In #416
* (#litres_trial_promo)Where Angels Fear #468
If There Be Love #528
* (#litres_trial_promo)Once in a Lifetime #661
* (#litres_trial_promo)A Good Man Walks In #722
* (#litres_trial_promo)Building Dreams #792
* (#litres_trial_promo)Forever #854
* (#litres_trial_promo)Always #891
The Bride Price #973
Alissa’s Miracle #1117
* (#litres_trial_promo)Meant for Each Other #1221
† (#litres_trial_promo)A Man Apart #1330
† (#litres_trial_promo)In Search of Dreams #1340
Silhouette Romance
The Gentling #285
The Perfect Match #311
Heart of the Hurricane #338
Images #352
First Love, Last Love #374
The Courtship of Dani #417
Sting of the Scorpion #826
Silhouette Books
Silhouette Christmas Stories 1987
“Season of Miracles”
GINNA GRAY
A native Houstonian, Ginna Gray admits that, since childhood, she has been a compulsive reader as well as a head-in-the-clouds dreamer. Long accustomed to expressing her creativity in tangible ways—Ginna also enjoys painting and needlework—she finally decided to try putting her fantasies and wild imaginations down on paper. The result? The mother of two now spends eight hours a day as a full-time writer.
Contents
Chapter One (#ub99258bd-aead-56e2-86ec-2364af0ee6ff)
Chapter Two (#udf295ced-5248-5e40-bdea-498075b6856d)
Chapter Three (#u2a124b9b-d1db-5baf-9061-4f93a651ef38)
Chapter Four (#ua5ecc4f4-40f8-5b46-b9fe-d10494b88d1a)
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)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One
“Quit! Whadda you mean? You can’t quit!” Charlie Van Horn bellowed.
The bellicose editor-in-chief of the Houston Herald stuck out his chin and glared at his top reporter across the cluttered surface of his desk. The beady-eyed look and pugnacious set of his jaw would have reduced any other person on his staff to a stammering wreck.
J. T. Conway grinned.
“Sure I can, Charlie. This is a newspaper, not a prison.” Sitting slouched on his spine with his long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles, J.T. gazed back at his boss with a devilish twinkle in his blue eyes, the picture of unruffled male confidence.
The veins in Charlie’s neck bulged, and his face turned an alarming shade of purple. Pressing all ten fingertips to the desktop, he levered his stocky body out of the chair and leaned forward. The threatening stance merely widened J.T.’s grin.
“Now you listen to me, Conway, I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but I don’t have time for it. Now get back to work. I’ve got a paper to run.”
“This is no game, Charlie.” J.T. withdrew an envelope from the inside pocket of his suitcoat, leaned forward and tossed it onto Charlie’s desk. “That’s my formal resignation. It’s effective in two weeks.”
Without bothering to open the envelope, Charlie tore it in two and tossed the halves over his shoulder in the general direction of the overflowing wastebasket.
“Nice shot,” J.T. drawled as the pieces hit the top of the pile and slid to the floor. “But I still quit.”
Charlie spat out a string of curses that turned the air blue. When that failed to faze J.T., he plopped back down into his chair, plucked a half-chewed cigar from the ashtray and stuck it in his mouth. “All right. What’s this about?” he growled. “Is this a bluff to get more money? Hell, man, you’re already the highest-paid reporter in Houston. Not to mention your generous expense account.”
“This isn’t about money.”
Leaning back in his chair, Charlie laced his ink-stained fingers together over his belly and rolled the foul-smelling stogie from one side of his mouth to the other. He never lit the disgusting things anymore. At his wife’s insistence, he’d quit smoking a year ago. She would skin him alive if he started again.
However, whenever Clarice wasn’t around he always had an unlit cigar stuck in his mouth like a nasty, brown pacifier.
“Then what is it you want? More vacation? A bigger picture with your column? A fancier car? A bigger desk? What?” Before J.T. could answer, an arrested look came over Charlie’s face. “Aw, hell, don’t tell me this is another push to get your own office. How many times do I have to tell you, the other reporters would set up a howl if I okayed that. No. No way. Forget it, Conway. It ain’t gonna happen.”
“Charlie, you aren’t listening. I’m not putting the squeeze on you for anything. I’m resigning. Period. That’s it.”
Charlie stared at him. Slowly his anger faded into shock. His flabbergasted expression was so comical J.T.’s grin returned.
“You’re really serious,” the older man said in an incredulous voice, sagging back in his chair as though he’d just had the wind knocked out of him.
“I’m serious.”
“Have you lost your mind? Dammit, man, you’ve been with this paper for twelve years. You’ve built a name for yourself in this town. Why in God’s name would you throw away a successful career? Are you having a midlife crisis or something?”
“Maybe.” J.T. hesitated, not sure he wanted to explain his reasons. However, from his boss’s expression it was apparent that he wasn’t going to accept the resignation until he did.
“I want to write a novel. That’s what I’ve always wanted to do with my life, not be a reporter. When I took this job it was supposed to be temporary, but I got caught in a rut. Anyway, I have enough money put away to live comfortably for a few years, so I decided to give it a shot.”
“Oh, good night, nurse. Not another one,” Charlie muttered, rolling his eyes. “I’ve never met a reporter who didn’t think he had the next great American novel in him. I thought you were different. Shoulda known better.”
“Looks like it,” J.T. replied with his usual nonchalance, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes. Normally he was slow to anger, but Charlie’s derision touched off an uncharacteristic spurt of fury that he barely managed to hold in check.
Charlie slammed his hand down on his desk. “Do you know what the odds are of getting a book published? Particularly a novel? You’re living in a dream world.”
“Actually…I have an in. An old friend of mine is a vice president at Hubbard and Rhodes Publishing. He wants to see my manuscript when it’s finished. But that’s not the only reason I’m leaving. I also want to devote time to finding the rest of my family if I can.”
“Why, for Pete’s sake? I’d think after learning that that hard-nosed cop was your brother the last thing you’d want would be to go looking for another one. Hell, this one may turn out to be even more annoying.”
“Matt’s not so bad. Anyway, my missing sibling may be a sister.”
“Humph. That could be worse. I’ve got four of them. Take it from me, sisters are a real pain in the arse. They’re either driving you nuts with all their chatter and giggling and all that feminine clutter, or worrying you to death making eyes at boys. I spent half my twenties checking out the losers that came sniffing around my sisters.”
J.T. grinned, his good humor restored. He had a mental picture of Charlie protecting his sisters like a junkyard dog. They’d probably wanted to kill him for his efforts. “You may be right, but I have to try. If I don’t I’ll always wonder.”
For most of his life J.T. had known that he was adopted, but it hadn’t been until six weeks ago that he had made the startling discovery that he was one of a set of triplets, and that his old nemesis, Matthew Dolan, was actually his brother.
Until recently Matt had been a detective with the Houston Police Department. He and J.T. had been butting heads for the past twelve years whenever J.T. showed up at a crime scene to get the story.
Discovering that they were brothers had been a shock to both of them. At first neither he nor Matt had been ready to initiate a search for their missing triplet. Recently, however, J.T. had grown curious.
“How the devil do you expect to find this person, with nothing to go on except that he or she presumably has the missing third piece of a medallion and was adopted at age two? Talk about your needle in a haystack. It’s a waste of time.”
“Not necessarily. As a matter of fact, I already have a lead to check out.”
“Humph. So you’re determined to do this, are you?”
“Yep. I’ve put it off too long already.”
