New Year's Wife

Table of Contents

Cover Page

Excerpt

Dear Reader

Title Page

Dedication

About the Author

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Epilogue

Copyright

“We had no business kissing like that!”

Tyler caught Julie by the shoulders. “Why not? We’re both legal and free.”

“All the more reason for us to be careful.” She shook off his touch and walked to the end of the deck, to the exact spot where they had first kissed eight years ago.

Tyler followed. “All I’m asking is what’s so bad about our being together?”

“I’ll tell you what’s so bad,” Julie answered, suddenly furious with herself. “How you make me feel, that’s what. It isn’t right It isn’t good. It isn’t even—”

Tyler’s lips smothered the rest of her sentence, which was forgotten in the wake of one devastating kiss. Clearly she had no willpower where he was concerned.

Clearly, he knew it…

Dear Reader,

This month Silhouette Romance has six irresistible novels for you, starting with our FABULOUS FATHERS selection, Mad for the Dad by Terry Essig. When a sexy single man becomes an instant dad to a toddler, the independent divorcée next door offers parenthood lessons—only to dream of marriage and motherhood all over again!

In Having Gabriel’s Baby by Kristin Morgan, our BUNDLES OF JOY book, a fleeting night of passion with a handsome, brooding rancher leaves Joelle in the family way—and the dad-to-be insisting on a marriage of convenience for the sake of the baby…

Years ago Julie had been too young for the dashing man of her dreams. Now he’s back in town, and Julie’s still hoping he’ll make her his bride in New Year’s Wife by Linda Vamer, part of her miniseries HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS.

What’s a man to do when he has no interest in marriage but is having trouble resisting the lovely, warm and wonderful woman in his life? Get those cold feet to the nearest wedding chapel in Family Addition by Rebecca Daniels.

In About That Kiss by Jayne Addison, Joy Mackey, sister of the bride, is sure her sis’s ex-fiancé has returned to sabotage the wedding. But his intention is to walk down the aisle with Joy!

And finally, when a woman shows up on a bachelor doctor’s doorstep with a baby that looks just like him, everyone in town mistakenly thinks the tiny tot is his in Christine Scott’s Groom on the Loose.

Enjoy!

Melissa Senate, Senior Editor

Please address questions and book requests to:

Silhouette Reader Service

U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269

Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

New Year’s Wife

Linda Varner

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Special thanks to pilots Jack and Sharon Davis for their

suggestions, advice and critique.

LINDA VARNER

confesses she is a hopeless romantic. Nothing is more thrilling, she believes, than the battle of wits between a man and a woman who are meant for each other but just don’t know it yet! Linda enjoys writing romance and considers herself very lucky to have been both a RITA finalist and a third-place winner in the National Readers’ Choice Awards in 1993.

A full-time federal employee, Linda lives in Arkansas with her husband and their two children. She loves to hear from readers. Write to her at 813 Oak St., Suite 10A-277, Conway, AR 72032.

Prologue

“Yo, Ty! Would you see if the birthday gal’s out on the back porch? It’s twenty minutes till a brand new year—party time!—and we can’t find her anywhere.”

Tyler Jordan nodded agreement to Don Newman, host of this fun and confusion. Winding his way through the jam-packed room, bright with streamers and bobbing balloons, Tyler dodged more than one guest wearing a colorful party hat and wielding the noisy blow-outs provided earlier. He chuckled as he slipped into the kitchen, then headed straight out the back door to look for Julie, one of Don’s two younger sisters.

Tyler saw her at once, standing alone and bathed in moonlight at the far end of the porch that stretched across the rear of the rambling Victorian house. Instead of calling out, he just stared for a moment at the slender brunette, marveling that she could be so different from her ditsy kid sister, Kit. Though Don, a college classmate, seldom talked about his female siblings, he had once commented that the oldest was “legal.” Tyler, of course, had figured out which was which the moment he met the two girls upon his arrival earlier that evening.

He now crept forward, not stopping until he stood just behind his favorite of Don’s sisters. “So you’re not a missing person after all, but a star gazer.”

“Yes,” she murmured, as though somehow she’d known he was there all the time. “Aren’t they gorgeous tonight?”

“Breathtaking,” Tyler answered. He ignored the night sky, instead gluing his gaze to the dark-eyed beauty who’d stolen his heart. Julie laughed, obviously pleased by the offhanded compliment.

“It’s almost midnight,” she said after a moment’s silence.

“Which is why Don sent me out here to get you.”

Julie nodded that she’d guessed that. Turning her back to the yard, she leaned against the ornate iron rail that edged the porch, then crossed her arms over her chest in a self-hug Tyler wished he could help her with. Her bold gaze swept Tyler from head to toe.

“So what do you think of our midnight birthday party tradition?”

“I think it’s perfect for someone born at 12:01 on January first.” Tyler, too, leaned against the rail, so close that the smell of her cologne instantly assailed him. The subtle floral scent brought to mind sunrise streaming through an open window, crisp cotton sheets and lazy wake-up kisses that led to morning love.

At once Tyler wished he could whisk Julie away to just such a place. They’d celebrate her birthday with a private party neither would forget. That is, if he hadn’t imagined the incredible instantaneous chemistry between them when they were first introduced. Had he? Tyler had to wonder, risking a sidelong glance in Julie’s direction. At that moment she shivered violently, and he realized why she hugged herself.

“My God!” he exclaimed. “You don’t even have on a coat.”

“You could share yours,” she suggested.

Tyler hastily unzipped the leather bomber jacket that was a gift from his parents on his twenty-second birthday, four years ago. He opened the front of it wide in invitation. Julie stepped up to let him share his warmth. Conveniently, Tyler’s temperature shot up another couple of degrees, and his heart began to thump erratically against his rib cage.

Wired as he was, Tyler didn’t trust himself to do anything more than hold the jacket around her with a loose hug, his chin resting on the top of her head. To his delight, Julie slipped her arms around his waist and pressed her body closer.

Green light? he wondered, even as she tipped her head back and met his questioning gaze square on. She smiled at him, a sexy smile that was an unmistakable invitation.

Accepting it but still holding back, Tyler did nothing more than touch his lips to hers in a brief, brushing kiss. Julie sighed with what could only be frustration. Reaching up to clasp her hands behind his neck, she took the initiative, tugging his head down to press her mouth fully to his. Her tongue teased for entry, sending a shock wave clear to Tyler’s toes. Groaning his defeat, Tyler gave in to their mutual desire, parting his lips, then taking control of the kiss.

And what a kiss it was! Wet, wild and wonderful…but not enough to satisfy him. Not nearly enough.

How could it be when Julie seemed to be everything he’d ever dreamed of? Her heated response set him on fire, and at once hungry for whatever he could coax from her, Tyler planted kisses on Julie’s cheeks, nose, chin and neck. Ah, but she tasted good…so damn good.

Tyler felt Julie slip her hands under his sweater. Lightly she raked her fingernails over his bare back, an incredibly tantalizing action that further fueled his need. Tyler responded by palming each of her breasts in turn through the thick yarn of her oversize sweater.

But even that wasn’t enough—not when she was so willing, so obviously excited by his touch. Taking his cue from Julie, Tyler slipped his hands under her sweater and traced with his fingertips the lace-encased fullness hidden there. Her breasts seemed to swell to his touch. The tips grew noticeably taut. Her breaths became soft pants that Tyler’s kiss stole away. His body tensed, strategic parts hard and ready for love.

He struggled with the front clasp of her bra. Somewhere nearby a door slammed.

Tyler leapt back, his own breath now ragged. A quick glance round revealed that they were still alone. Gulping audibly, Tyler looked down at Julie, now a good three feet away and obviously rattled. They exchanged a rueful glance, then shared a guilty laugh.

“Something’s happening here,” he blurted, anxious to let her know how serious he was about this.

Julie’s smile instantly vanished. She nodded solemnly, but said nothing.

“I didn’t expect this.” He could barely get the words out, suddenly and uncharacteristically flustered, thanks to this woman he’d met mere hours ago. “I just came to Idaho to ski.”

She nodded again.

“Don told me he had two sisters, but I never dreamed—” Tyler swallowed hard again. “I never dreamed one of them—” He shook his head, completely at a loss for words. “God, but you’re beautiful.”

Her smile lit up the night.

Tyler relaxed and smiled back. “We’ll just take this thing slow, okay?”

“Slow?” Her twinkling eyes challenged him.

Tyler chuckled. “Well, maybe not.”

For a moment they just looked at each other, then Tyler cleared his throat rather loudly. “I, um, guess you’d better go in. Don’s going to send out a search party if you don’t.”

“You’re not coming?” Julie caught hold of his arm as if she feared he’d suddenly vanish into the night.

“In a minute.” He did not add that he needed time alone to cool down. Surely she knew. They’d been standing so close…

“Promise?” Suddenly she sounded more like her teenaged sister than the mature young woman that she was.

Tyler, charmed by her unexpected air of innocence, nodded. “Nothing could keep me away, Julie. Nothing.”

With obvious reluctance, she left him and entered the house. Moments later, Tyler heard her guests cheer a welcome. Anxious to join the midnight fun, he sucked in a lungful of frosty air and willed his love-tense body to relax. He thought of the week that lay ahead and vowed to spend every hour with Julie, a woman like no other, surely the woman of his dreams. Several minutes of fantasizing about the days to come slipped by before Tyler came to with a start and glanced at his watch. Cursing softly, he spun and headed straight for the kitchen.

Just as he stepped through the door a noisy countdown to the New Year’s birthday began in the next room.

“Ten…nine…eight…”

Determined not to miss a millisecond of Julie’s special night Tyler quickened his pace.

“Seven…six…”

Just before he got to the living room door, he spied a two-tiered, heart-shaped birthday cake sitting on the table. It had not been there earlier.

“Five…four…”

The fancy red writing on it leapt out at him.

“Three…two..”

Tyler stumbled to a halt.

“One!”

And read the words.

Wild cheers and congratulations echoed off the walls, but Tyler stood in stunned silence, staring at the sentiment that changed his life forever and not for good.

Happy Birthday, Julie.

17.

Chapter One

Eight years later

“Happy birthday, Sis.”

“Thanks,” Julie Newman McCrae replied, setting down a warm pitcher of spiced apple cider so she could accept the hug that Kit Porter, her older sister by four years, offered to her.

“So tell me, how does it feel to be twenty-five?” Kit might as well have been asking how it felt to be a leper. She looked that horrified.

Julie shrugged. “So far it’s not a bit different than twenty-four…or twenty-three…for that matter.”

“Oh, but it is,” Kit teased, brown eyes twinkling. “And I’ll tell you why.” She glanced around as if to make sure no one eavesdropped, then leaned close, whispering, “The big three-oh is just five years away now.”

“Only one for you,” Julie retorted.

The redhead groaned and sagged against her sister. “Oh God, don’t remind me.”

Laughing, they shared a sympathetic hug.

“Donnie boy is finally here.” Kit ran a hand through her short, copper-colored hair, a genetic throwback from an Irish great-great. “And he’s brought someone with him.”

“So what else is new?” Julie questioned. One of her older brothers worked public relations for New-Ware, their father’s cookware business, and had more friends than an Idaho winter had snowflakes. He was forever bringing one or another of them to Clear Falls, where the six-bedroom, three-story home owned by Julie’s dad, widower John Newman, was located. Luckily she had planned her birthday party refreshments with that in mind. “I have plenty to eat tonight.”

“Yeah, well they both have suitcases,” Kit advised. “Not to mention skis. So you may have more than tonight to worry about.”

Julie sighed at that news, though she didn’t really mind it. Of all the household tasks she’d taken on in exchange for rent-free accommodations, cooking was the one she liked most and did best. She got plenty of practice, too. In the five months since her dad had suggested the trade-off and she’d agreed to it, they’d been alone together in the house for maybe a week.

Julie’s dad blamed that on their proximity to the ski slopes. Julie blamed it on his big heart. After all, who had talked her oldest brother, Sid, into leaving his two stepchildren and his baby in Idaho while he and his wife explored European markets for New-Ware? Who had demanded Kit move back home, when her sailor husband was stationed on an aircraft carrier? And who always insisted that Don stay at the house whenever he was in town, whether or not he had girlfriends, co-workers or buddies in tow?

John Newman, that’s who.

“Well, I hope they have an appetite for cold cuts, dips and leftover birthday cake,” Julie murmured, picking up the pitcher again and slipping out the door of the kitchen so she could hug that rascal of a brother she hadn’t seen for a month. “Because that’s what we’re going to have for days to come.”

A second later she deposited the pitcher on the buffet table. Ever the perfect hostess—at home and at the New-Ware cooking demonstrations that were her source of income—Julie assessed the table to see if it lacked anything else.

It didn’t, and gratefully she wound her way through the crush of friends and relatives to where her brother and his companion stood talking.

Don, a handsome young man by even a stranger’s standards, looked especially wonderful to his little sister tonight. Though six years separated their ages, Julie bad always been particularly close to him.

“Don!” she exclaimed when still several feet away. He turned, all smiles, and engulfed her in a bear hug that threatened her rib cage. “You just missed the countdown.”

“Sorry about that,” he said with a shrug of apology, adding, “Happy New Year.”

“Same to you,” she replied.

“And happy birthday.” Don set her back on her feet. “How does it feel to be twenty-five?”

Julie smiled at his unwitting echo of Kit’s earlier question. “You should know. You were there six years ago.”

“Low blow,” Don scolded, but he laughed. “I brought someone with me,” he said. “I ran into him at the gas station on the corner, and since he didn’t have motel reservations anywhere, I talked him into staying here a night or two. Dad seemed pleased. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Hey, I’m just a guest, myself,” Julie replied with a laugh, for the first time shifting her full attention to Don’s companion.

“Hi, I’m Julie McCrae,” she said, automatically extending her hand to him as she raised her gaze to meet his—dark, intense and too, too familiar. At once Julie was hurled back in time eight years to a birthday party just like this one.

She forgot her name. She forgot her manners. She forgot how to breathe—astonishing reactions that floored her.

“Actually, I think you two have already met,” Don commented, apparently oblivious to her life-threatening discomfiture. “This is—”

“Tyrone, right?” she blurted, desperate that this man now holding her hand so tightly would never guess what he’d done to her fragile, teenaged ego at that party so long ago.

“Tyler,” he solemnly corrected. “Tyler Jordan.”

“Oops,” Julie said, adding a who-cares-anyway laugh. She tugged her fingers free of his and swiped them down her black wool pants. “Sorry. I’m terrible with names, but I never forget a face. How long has it been since we last, um, spoke? Six years, seven?”

“Eight years, eleven minutes and—” he glanced at his watch “—thirty seconds. At a party just like this one.”

Julie nearly choked and glanced quickly at Don. She’d never told anyone about the intimacies shared with Tyler just before midnight so long ago out on the porch.

Did this mean Tyler had?

But Don just laughed and slapped his old friend on the back—an act of affection that meant he didn’t know the truth. Julie, of course, should’ve guessed that. Don had bored her with more than one tale of Tyler’s dangerous—no, foolhardy—exploits through the years, things Don would never have told her if he’d been aware of what had happened between them. “No wonder you didn’t argue when I invited you to come home with me. You remember what great parties my little sis throws.”

“Yeah,” Tyler agreed with a half smile. “What great parties she throws.” His gaze dropped to Julie’s mouth and lingered there. Immediately she wondered if it were her parties he remembered or her kisses. But no, it couldn’t be her kisses. He’d long since proved that they—and everything else about her—were totally forgettable.

Unfortunately such wasn’t the case for Julie, who suddenly remembered not only the kisses they’d shared but the caresses that had accompanied them. And then there had been that awful moment later when she’d been forced to face the fact that Tyler had only been playing with her out on the porch…

A little surprised by the vividness of her memories, Julie gave herself a get-it-together shake. Surely she wasn’t still mourning a relationship that had never existed anywhere except in her fanciful, teenage head.

“And speaking of birthdays,” Don continued, bringing her back to the here and now, “I’ve brought you a present from Uncle Sy.” He looked at Tyler and winked. “It’s special. Really special.”

Julie looked at her brother’s empty hands, then all around. “Where is it?”

“In the garage.” Don grinned.

“The garage?” She turned toward the back of the house, fully intending to step out the kitchen door and see whatever her eccentric uncle, Silas Newman, had sent. Don stopped her with an outflung arm.

“Not yet. I want Dad to get the camera, and I want all your guests to come watch.”

Though avidly curious now, Julie obeyed. She eyed Don rather suspiciously as he ushered their dad, Kit and the guests in the direction of the garage, knowing he wasn’t above playing a good practical joke on her. And while she usually didn’t mind them, she wasn’t at all sure she could handle another surprise this night.

On that thought, Julie shifted her gaze to her first surprise, still standing next to her, his gaze on Don. Discreetly she assessed him—the man who’d broken her teenage heart so long ago. He looked older than his age, which she’d always assumed to be the same as Don’s. In fact, she could have sworn she saw a silver strand or two gleaming in his otherwise brown hair. And there were wrinkles around his eyes, too—little crow’s feet that the sun had most likely furrowed into his skin.

Or had hard living engraved them there? After all, it must be tough to seduce a woman at every port, or in his case, on every mountain.

Woman? Julie almost laughed. Not by a long shot. Just a teen with raging hormones, too easily flattered by big brother’s dashing college friend. She should have known that Tyler hadn’t meant a word he said.

And she should’ve gotten over it long ago.

At that moment, Tyler’s gaze found and locked with Julie’s. She jumped as if he’d reached out and touched her. Then, acutely embarrassed, she brushed past him to hurry up Don. Julie managed one step away before Tyler caught her by the arm.

“I’d really like to speak with you,” he said. “To explain…and apologize.”

“Whatever for?” Julie responded, easing her arm free. God, but he was still gorgeous. And at Tyler’s touch, every hormone in her body—hormones surely older and wiser—sprang to life and waved for attention just the way they had the first time she met him. Rattled, sweating, Julie could barely fake a smile.

Tyler laughed—a humorless sound. “I know damn good and well you remember what happened at your birthday party eight years ago. In fact…if I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re still pretty steamed.” He sounded as if he couldn’t believe it, either.

“About something that happened that long ago? Trust me, Tyler, I’ve had much better things to do than carry a grudge against you. Besides, if anyone should apologize, it’s me for trailing after you like some little lost pup that first evening we met. As for that midnight fooling around—”

“Stop it!” Tyler hissed, stepping so close she had to tip her head back to meet his gaze.

But meet it she did. “You don’t owe me an explanation or an apology. That’s water way under the bridge. Now please excuse me. I have guests and a party to attend to.”

“Fine,” he coolly replied. “We’ll talk later. When everyone is gone.”

“Everyone will never be gone,” she said, stepping back to put precious inches between them. “In case you hadn’t noticed, this house is a lot like Grand Central Station…or maybe the Grand Hotel would be more appropriate?”

He winced, clearly picking up on the jibe. “I won’t hang around here long. Hell, I won’t hang around at all—if you’ll talk with me tonight.”

“Stay as long as you like,” she said. “It’s nothing to me.” With that, Julie whirled and hurried to Don and her dad, who had his video camera in hand.

At the sight of her grinning parent, Julie instantly regretted her rudeness to Tyler. Her father had seemed so lost since the death of Julie’s mother almost nine months ago. Knowing how devastating it was to lose a spouse, she suspected that loneliness was the main reason he’d begged her to come live with him again and not any desire to help her save rent money.