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He dialed 911 and told the operator where the fire was.
Fire was spreading rapidly over the floor, gathering fuel as it devoured hay. Beams lay crossed on one side.
That’s when he saw Eliza lying under one of the beams, flames beginning to lick at her legs. Brandon hefted the beam off her and threw it aside. Sparks flew and the fire heightened.
Willow neighed in terror, kicking the stall door. Brandon lifted Eliza and ran with her out of the stable, the sounds of Willow’s screaming haunting each stride.
Placing Eliza gently on the ground outside the corral, he bent to check for breathing. Worry swallowed every thought and emotion in him. The beam that had fallen on her was big. Had it hit her head, or had she been knocked out when she struck the ground? He couldn’t lose her now. He’d already lost her once.
Dear Reader,
Continue the journey in Vengeance with Eliza Harvey-Reed and Brandon Reed. It’s no accident that they share a common last name. Eliza is in love with her husband’s brother…and her husband is one of three murder victims. I invite you to follow this intriguing homicide investigation in a town erupting with drama and excitement.
Eliza and Brandon do engage in a scandalous affair, so I let love play a guiding hand in writing this story. The cost of losing a husband and brother is great, and takes great love to overcome. I particularly enjoyed writing the ending. I hope you’ll find the twists and turns as satisfying as I did—and may you find yourself reaching for the next book in the continuity!
Jennie
About the Author
Two-time 2009 RITA® Award nominee and a golden Quill winner for Best First Book for The Secret Soldier, JENNIFER MOREY writes contemporary romance and romantic suspense. Project manager par jour, she works for the space systems segment of a satellite imagery and information company. She lives in sunny Denver, Colorado. She can be reached through her website, www.jennifermorey.com, and on Facebook.
A Rancher’s
Dangerous
Affair
Jennifer Morey
MILLS & BOON
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For Mom.
Chapter 1
September 5th
Eliza Harvey-Reed always felt better when she was busy planning parties. Just a day into her vacation and she already missed the hustle and bustle of Effervescent Events. She’d made a name for herself in Hollywood and had a reputation for delivering flawless, flamboyantly entertaining service. Fun. Exciting. Newsworthy. That was her business. She’d rather be back in California than in her hometown of Vengeance, Texas, climbing out of the rental car to visit her husband’s brother, the object of a teenage crush she’d never quite forgotten.
Except, to her, it had been more than a crush. She hadn’t realized how much more until he’d ended their relationship. Things had grown hot and heavy between them. He had begun to rule her world. She’d had so much ambition back then. Still did. He had begun to feel like an anchor, a hot, hard, sexy anchor, but an anchor nonetheless. And then he’d dumped her. Out of the blue. She hadn’t seen it coming. If there was to be any dumping going on, she had thought it would have been her. He’d begun to matter more than he should.
Sometimes she wondered if his rejection had elevated him to some unnatural level of importance. People always wanted what they couldn’t have. More expensive cars. Bigger houses. Better vacations. More chocolate. When denied these things, they became suspiciously more important. Brandon Reed had become too important.
Walking toward the front porch of the Reed Ranch house on a wide stone circular driveway, Eliza noticed her husband, David, look behind him again. He kept doing that. When they’d turned onto the long dirt road leading to the ranch, he’d checked the rearview mirror more than once. When he’d gotten out of the car, he’d checked the road. Now he was doing it again.
Her long, dark brown hair waved in the slight breeze as she looked toward the road. No cars. No people. No animals. It wasn’t dark yet. A winding dirt road disappeared over a hill several hundred yards away. The expensive copper fence lined one side; a carpet of green grass rolled to the edge of a thick stand of trees.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
“Nothing.”
His austere profile only stoked her concern. “Is Brandon expecting more company?”
“No.”
“Are you?”
“Enough, Eliza.”
That meant leave him alone. He’d changed since they’d run into each other at one of her parties and followed impulse to a quick Vegas wedding. He never talked to her about anything that bothered him. She tried to get him to open up, but he always responded with short answers. If there was one thing she’d learned about him in the short time they’d been married, it was that David Reed could keep secrets. Had those secrets gotten him into trouble?
His dark brown eyes scanned the surroundings again. A couple of inches shorter than Brandon’s six-two, he was handsome and blonder but not as rugged as his brother. Why she always made those comparisons, she’d rather not examine.
“You’re acting like Bruce Willis in one of his Die Hard movies.”
“I’m not in the mood, Eliza.”
“Did you piss off a hacker or something?” She couldn’t help her sarcasm. He was nothing like Bruce Willis.
He scowled at her before stepping onto the porch. This was how they spoke to each other now. Why had she married him, anyway? She was afraid the answer was just on the other side of the door.
Brandon Reed had captured her heart when
