скачать книгу бесплатно
Hard Choices
Allison Leigh
TRUTH RISES, ANNIE. STOP TRYING TO FIND IT THE HARD WAY.Annie Hess knew that the roiling clouds overhead had nothing to do with the storm that had already arrived. First the secret daughter she'd turned over to her brother to raise showed up, looking for answers. Then her brother sent Logan Drake, who'd scorned her youthful advances, to retrieve the girl! As Logan provided Annie shelter from the fierce winds raging outside, this former wild child saw how hollow her seemingly perfect life was. But when her secret came out, could the hard choices Annie and Logan had once made for love now lead them to everlasting happiness?
“Storm’s here,” Logan said.
It had been a long time since Annie had had any storms in her life—this one just happened to be a physical storm, rather than an emotional one. And she’d survived the emotional ones.
More or less.
She tilted her head to look up at Logan, only to find the dark cast of his eyes watching her through the gloomy light.
Annie was suddenly aware of the intimacy of their positions. Of the fact that his chest was pressed against her back. Hard, wide and feeling damnably perfect.
The kind of chest that could shelter her.
And had. Impossible memories of his warm touch, his rough sighs, slipped into her mind. Impossible, because he’d turned her away all those years ago. Impossible, because what they’d shared had lived only in her dreams.
His long fingers skimmed over her cheek and her mouth went dry. She shuddered and the warmth of him became something else entirely.
Dear Reader,
Breeze into fall with six rejuvenating romances from Silhouette Special Edition! We are happy to feature our READERS’ RING selection, Hard Choices (SE#1561), by favorite author Allison Leigh, who writes, “I wondered about the masks people wear, such as the ‘good’ girl/boy vs. the ‘bad’ girl/boy, and what ultimately hardens or loosens those masks. Annie and Logan have worn masks that don’t fit, and their past actions wouldn’t be considered ideal behavior. I hope readers agree this is a thought-provoking scenario!”
We can’t get enough of Pamela Toth’s WINCHESTER BRIDES miniseries as she delivers the next book, A Winchester Homecoming (SE#1562). Here, a world-weary heroine comes home only to find her former flame ready to reignite their passion. MONTANA MAVERICKS: THE KINGSLEYS returns with Judy Duarte’s latest, Big Sky Baby (SE#1563). In this tale, a Kingsley cousin comes home to find that his best friend is pregnant. All of a sudden, he can’t stop thinking of starting a family…with her!
Victoria Pade brings us an engagement of convenience and a passion of inconvenience, in His Pretend Fiancée (SE#1564), the next book in the MANHATTAN MULTIPLES miniseries. Don’t miss The Bride Wore Blue Jeans (SE#1565), the last in veteran Marie Ferrarella’s miniseries, THE ALASKANS. In this heartwarming love story, a confirmed bachelor flies to Alaska and immediately falls for the woman least likely to marry! In Four Days, Five Nights (SE#1566) by Christine Flynn, two strangers are forced to face a growing attraction when their small plane crashes in the wilds.
These moving romances will foster discussion, escape and lots of daydreaming. Watch for more heart-thumping stories that show the joys and complexities of a woman’s world.
Happy reading!
Karen Taylor Richman,
Senior Editor
Hard Choices
Allison Leigh
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
For my daughters, Amanda and Anna Claire.
Always a joy, continually challenging
and the greatest of blessings.
ALLISON LEIGH
started early by writing a Halloween play that her grade-school class performed. Since then, though her tastes have changed, her love for reading has not. And her writing appetite simply grows more voracious by the day. She has been a finalist in the RITA
Award and the Holt Medallion contests. But the true highlights of her day as a writer are when she receives word from a reader that they laughed, cried or lost a night of sleep while reading one of her books.
Born in Southern California, Allison has lived in several different cities in four different states. She has been, at one time or another, a cosmetologist, a computer programmer and a secretary. She has recently begun writing full-time after spending nearly a decade as an administrative assistant for a busy neighborhood church, and currently makes her home in Arizona with her family. She loves to hear from her readers, who can write to her at P.O. Box 40772, Mesa, AZ 85274-0772.
Dear Reader,
I love books. I love to read them, puzzle over them, agree with them and disagree with them. But not until the past several years did I realize that in my process of devouring and enjoying these books, I was missing one particularly enjoyable element of the reading experience: discussing. And, interestingly enough, we readers, we lovers of books, don’t have to necessarily agree with each other about what a particular book is saying. That’s the beauty of it. We each take away from what we’ve read something distinctly individual. But even in the differences, we tend to find our common ground with one another. In the process of discussing a book, we take an activity that is ordinarily rather solitary and we touch others. And that, in a nutshell, is one of the reasons why I love to write. To reach out and, in some small way, touch someone.
Needless to say, I was particularly honored and pleased to learn that Hard Choices would be part of the Readers’ Ring. I hope you enjoy reading Logan and Annie’s story. I also hope the questions at the back of this book will jump-start your own enjoyable discussions!
Best wishes, and happy reading.
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Discussion Questions (#litres_trial_promo)
Prologue
“Don’t.”
She nearly sagged with relief at the deep voice that came out of the darkness. But she didn’t sag too long; she took advantage of Drago’s momentary surprise and twisted out of his loosened grip. The whitewashed stucco snagged at her dress as she pushed away from where he’d pinned her into the corner outside the boathouse.
Drago’s surprise didn’t last long, though. His hand shot out and sank into her hair, yanking her back toward him. She cried out, twisting her ankle as she tipped back, scrabbling at his hold on her. Tears stung her eyes. Her skin crawled as his mouth touched her cheek.
“I said, don’t.” The voice came again.
It was all she could do not to whimper—in pain at the agonizing pull of Drago’s hand on her hair, in relief that maybe her own stupidity wasn’t going to be the end of her, after all.
The moment seemed excruciatingly clear. Drago’s breath on her cheek. Her own whistling between her clenched teeth. And the faint scrape of a shoe on the damp walkway.
Her rescuer.
She shifted, trying to alleviate the pressure on her scalp. “Let go of me, Drago. I warned you to leave me alone.”
He laughed softly, and slid one hand over her hip. “We had a deal, baby doll. Remember?”
She wriggled against his grip. “And the deal’s off. You’re dealing dr—ah!” She fell back against him at another vicious pull on her hair. She opened her mouth to scream, but suddenly, she was free. She stumbled, tried to right herself, but failed. She threw her hands backward to catch herself, but the sidewalk still met her rear with teeth-jarring force, and fresh tears clogged her throat, stung her nose.
Her hair streamed across her face. The curls she’d painstakingly ironed smooth were springing back to life in the damp air and she watched through them as Drago scrambled up from where he, too, had hit the sidewalk.
The man who stood over Drago was tall. Taller, even, than her brother, Will, who topped six feet. And he was dark. She didn’t need the golden light cast by the iron lampposts to tell her that his dark hair was just shy of ebony, or that he was tanned. Not a cultivated tan like that her father maintained to complement his tennis whites, either. But the hard, bronzed kind. The kind worn by a man who could drop a thug to the ground without so much as creasing the classic black tux he wore.
“Don’t move.” Despite the laughter and music floating on the night air from the wedding reception, his quiet voice could still be heard.
She held her breath and looked at Drago, not wanting to acknowledge her own fear of what he might do. But he subsided, sitting on the ground, glaring at her, as if the entire situation were her fault.
It probably was, of course. Most things that went wrong in the sphere Annie Hess occupied were her fault.
And now, she had Logan Drake—her big brother’s friend—to deal with as well.
“Are you all right?”
She gingerly brushed her hands together. Her palms stung like mad. She’d been trying to get Logan’s attention for the past two days, ever since he’d arrived for Will’s wedding. She hadn’t intended him to notice her in this manner, though.
“Annie.” Logan’s voice was a little sharper. “Are you all right?”
She pushed her hair out of her face and nodded. He was watching her, his expression neutral. “Go back to the house,” he said evenly. “Call 911. And get your brother or your father.”
Her stomach clenched. “No.”
Logan raised his eyebrows. “No?”
Drago smirked with satisfaction.
Annie wanted to kick herself. She’d been working like a dog to convince Drago that their relationship was over, that she didn’t care what happened to him as long as he left her alone. “I don’t want to cause a scene at Will’s wedding,” she said.
His gaze drifted over her and she shivered. “Then you shouldn’t have invited your boyfriend, here.”
“I didn’t.” She eyed Drago. He’d been the last person she’d wanted to see. And though she’d threatened him with the combined wrath of her father and brother, she’d failed to get rid of him on her own. “And he’s not my boyfriend.”
Logan’s lip curled. “Right.”
“Ah, baby doll, don’t lie to the dude.”
“Shut up, Drago.” She wasn’t going to sit there on the ground like a schoolgirl beneath Logan’s censorious look. But rising was hardly an easy task, given the tight fit of her thigh-length dress. And she’d be damned if she’d hike the thing up to her hips just to stand.
Not with the way Drago was leering at her. She was nearly positive he was high. Why else would he have been so intent on getting her alone? Despite the appearance she’d fostered to others, he’d known the terms of their deal, and it hadn’t included her.
Logan finally made an impatient sound and reached down, sliding his hands under her arms and lifting her to her feet as if she were some toddler who couldn’t find her balance on her own. But when his hands slid away from her again, her heart thudded and her skin prickled in an entirely adult way.
His gaze traveled downward from her face, and it took every speck of nonchalance she possessed not to shiver visibly.
Logan Drake was her brother’s friend. He was also her best friend’s older brother. Yet she could probably count on her hand the number of times she’d actually seen him, and those incidents had left their impression. This time was no exception. He was dressed in the same sedate black tux that all the groomsmen wore, yet Logan possessed an edge the others did not.
And there was nothing Annie Hess liked better than walking on the edge.
“Get out of here, Drago, or I really will turn you in to the cops, myself.” She didn’t look away from Logan as she spoke. She’d warned Drago that she’d turn him in, that she’d sic her father, the venerable judge George Hess, on him if he continued bugging her. He didn’t need to know what an empty threat it was. She’d already sought out her father—and her mother—during the reception, when she’d realized Drago wasn’t going to be so easily shaken.
Neither George nor Lucia—that’s Loo-sha, dear—had been remotely interested in setting aside their champagne or their friends’ company to assist their wayward daughter.
Again, her own fault. She’d taken up with Drago in the first place to annoy her parents. But that was before she’d realized he was into a whole scene she wanted no part of.
Annie walked the wild edge, but she wasn’t a fool, and she had no desire to acquaint herself with a jail cell; which was definitely where Drago was headed if Will’s warnings were to be believed. Since her brother was already ensconced in the prosecutor’s office, believing him wasn’t difficult.
“You’re not going to turn me in, baby doll.” Drago rose, flipping back his shock of gold-brown hair. He smiled, as cocky as he’d ever been. “You and me are two of a kind, remember?”
That uneasiness she didn’t want to acknowledge coiled in her stomach again. “Hardly.”
“Annie, go and do what I said.” Logan’s voice was inflexible.
She looked from him to Drago. Going to her father would be useless. And Will—well, Will was already annoyed with her. They’d always been a team. But now her brother had married the dazzling Noelle and Annie’s one claim to any semblance of family who mattered was gone. He’d chosen Noelle, and that was that. Just like Lucia had warned. Will would have a new life and the troublesome Annie would have no place in it. He had a golden career ahead of him with Noelle-the-perfect right beside him. “Fine,” she bluffed, and headed up the walkway. Her painfully high heels clicked on the stone.
The last place she wanted to go was back into the fray of the reception. Yet, if she hadn’t cut off her own nose to spite her face and flatly refused to be one of Noelle’s bridesmaids, Annie would be dressed in elegantly tasteful salmon silk and standing up there with the rest of the wedding party while Will and Noelle shoved raspberry-cream-filled wedding cake into one another’s mouths and Drago wouldn’t have had an opportunity to get near her.
“All right, all right. I’m going.”
She stopped and looked back. Drago was shaking his head, backing away from Logan.
“Stay away from Annie. Permanently,” Logan said.
Her heart stuttered.
