The Millionaire’s Club: Connor, Tom & Gavin
Three intense, passionate romances from three favourite Mills & Boon authors!
The Millionaire’s Club:
Connor, Tom & Gavin
Michelle Celmer
Sara Orwig
Kristi Gold
In August 2010 Mills & Boon bring you four classic collections, each featuring three favourite romances by our bestselling authors
THE SPANIARD’S PLEASURE
The Spaniard’s Pregnancy Proposal
by Kim Lawrence
At the Spaniard’s Convenience by Margaret Mayo
Taken: the Spaniard’s Virgin by Lucy Monroe
BOUGHT FOR HIS BED
Virgin Bought and Paid For by Robyn Donald
Bought for Her Baby by Melanie Milburne
Sold to the Highest Bidder! by Kate Hardy
THE MILLIONAIRE’S CLUB: CONNOR, TOM & GAVIN
Round-the-Clock Temptation by Michelle Celmer
Highly Compromised Position by Sara Orwig
A Most Shocking Revelation by Kristi Gold
PROTECTOR, LOVER…HUSBAND?
In the Dark by Heather Graham
Sure Bet by Maggie Price
Deadly Exposure by Linda Turner
Round-the-Clock Temptation
BY
MICHELLE CELMER lives in southeastern Michigan with her husband, their three children, two dogs and two cats. When she’s not writing or busy being a mum, you can find her in the garden or curled up with a romance novel. And if you twist her arm really hard, you can usually persuade her into a day of power shopping.
Michelle loves to hear from readers. Write to her at PO Box 300, Clawson, MI 48017, USA.
Don’t miss Michelle Celmer’s exciting new novel, The Oilman’s Baby Bargain, available in September 2010 from Mills & Boon® Desire™.
To Melissa Jeglinski, for taking an eight-year dream and making it a reality. Words can not express my gratitude.
To Patience Smith, for being the editor I had always dreamed of and then some, and for her unwavering faith in me. It has truly been a joy to work with you.
To my agent Jessica Faust, for her unconditional support for talking me down from a ledge a time or two and for being a hell of a lot of fun (and of course perky).
To the exceptional authors I had the privilege of getting to know while working on this project. Cindy, Brenda, Shirley, Sara and Kristi, thanks for making my first continuity such a fun, rewarding experience.
To Wanda Ottewell for diving into this mid-project and managing to make sense of it all. I’d love to work with you again.
And finally, to my brother and sister-in-law, Jim and Sue, for their help researching this book. Thanks, guys!
Prologue
From the diary of Jessamine Golden
October 11, 1910
Dear Diary
Just when I thought I’d lost my taste for revenge, when I believed Brad’s love for me had lifted the dark shadows that hung over my heart, I’ve been betrayed once again. Edgar Halifax stole my family and my security when he murdered my father. He ruined my life and took away my dreams of being a teacher. Now he’s stolen the only man I could ever love, the only man who has ever loved me, and my thirst for revenge is like a fire burning out of control in my belly.
I’ve been framed, Diary. I didn’t steal that gold and I told Brad so. I swore to him on my father’s grave that it wasn’t me, that it was Halifax himself who’d done it. That he’d taken the gold and hidden it and made it look like a robbery. But Diary, when I saw the doubt in Brad’s eyes I felt sick deep inside my soul and a sharp pain stole my breath. It was my heart ripping in two. I’ve been betrayed before, but it never hurt like this. I realize now what a fool I’ve been to let myself believe we could beat the odds.
But, Lord, I still love him. I crave the lips that touched mine so sweetly, the hands that caressed me so tenderly. The pendant rests close to my heart, a reminder of all that could have been. I’ll keep it there, even though I know now our love can never be. In Brad’s heart he will forever be a man of the law and my thirst for revenge will never be quenched. Not until Halifax pays for his sins. And he will pay. I’ll see to that.
Without Brad’s love, I have nothing left to lose.
Chapter One
Nita Windcroft wasn’t the crying sort.
The last time she ‘d shed a tear had been thirteen years ago, in the fourth grade, when she fell off the monkey bars and dislocated her shoulder. Buck Johnson had laughed and called her a baby and she’d hauled off and given him a black eye with her good arm. As far as she was concerned, most females were way too emotional for their own good. But in light of the recent happenings at their family horse farm—deliberately broken fences, poisoned feed that nearly killed more than a dozen horses and the threatening letter they’d received just last week warning them to get off the land—she was at the end of her emotional rope and clinging for dear life.
Doc Willard, the town veterinarian, came out of Ulysses’s stall, a grim look painted in the lines of his weathered old face. Nita felt tears prickling the corners of her eyes, but refused to let them flow over.
“I’m sorry, Nita. The break is too severe, and with his age…we’re going to have to put him down.”
“Ulysses was just an old workhorse, but he was Daddy’s favorite. He’s going to be crushed by this.”
“How is your Pa?” Doc Willard asked. “I heard he took quite a spill when the horse went down.”
“He’s in surgery right now.
