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“I intend to stay a part of your life.”
Jessica looked at the floor, which had begun to spin beneath her feet. “Even if I don’t want you?”
“Even if you think you don’t want me. We shared something special that night, Jessica. Rare, fleeting, almost surreal. Don’t you want to know why it happened?”
“I know why it happened,” Jessica shot back at him. “It happened because Maddy called off the wedding, and you stayed. It happened because I felt…I felt sorry for you and came outside to…to comfort you, and we got…got carried away in a moment. It was all one great big mistake.”
“A mistake. I see,” Matt said, sighing. “And when you can say all that while looking at me—well, then I’ll go away. Until then, however, I’m here. For the duration. Here, or wherever you might run to next.”
Marrying Maddy (SR#1469)
Jessie’s Expecting (SR#1475)
Raffling Ryan (SR#1481)
Dear Reader,
As Silhouette’s yearlong anniversary celebration continues, Romance again delivers six unique stories about the poignant journey from courtship to commitment.
Teresa Southwick invites you back to STORKVILLE, USA, where a wealthy playboy has the gossips stumped with his latest transaction: The Acquired Bride…and her triplet kids! New York Times bestselling author Kasey Michaels contributes the second title in THE CHANDLERS REQUEST… miniseries, Jessie’s Expecting. Judy Christenberry spins off her popular THE CIRCLE K SISTERS with a story involving a blizzard, a roadside motel with one bed left, a gorgeous, honor-bound rancher…and his Snowbound Sweetheart.
New from Donna Clayton is SINGLE DOCTOR DADS! In the premiere story of this wonderful series, a first-time father strikes The Nanny Proposal with a woman whose timely hiring quickly proves less serendipitous and more carefully, lovingly, staged…. Lilian Darcy pens yet another edgy, uplifting story with Raising Baby Jane. And debut author Jackie Braun delivers pure romantic fantasy as a down-on-her-luck waitress receives an intriguing order from the man of her dreams: One Fiancée To Go, Please.
Next month, look for the exciting finales of STORKVILLE, USA and THE CHANDLERS REQUEST… And the wait is over as Carolyn Zane’s BRUBAKER BRIDES make their grand reappearance!
Happy Reading!
Mary-Theresa Hussey
Senior Editor
Jessie’s Expecting
Kasey Michaels
To Ron Hausman,
one of the world’s nicest guys!
KASEY MICHAELS,
the author of more than two dozen books, divides her creative time between writing contemporary romance and Regency novels. Married and the mother of four, Kasey’s writing has garnered the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Medallion Award and the Romantic Times Magazine’s Best Regency Trophy.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Epilogue
Chapter One
W alking the beach at dawn.
A time for lovers still dressed in tuxedo and gown, carrying their shoes as they walked barefoot in the sand. Held hands, danced to their own music, laughed and dreamed and kissed as the sun came up over the horizon.
A time for seniors and their metal detectors, cloth bags tied around their waists to hold the treasures of coins and small pieces of jewelry left behind by tourists on this Ocean City, New Jersey, beach. They’d stop, watch the young lovers, smile in reminiscence, then get back to business. The business of occupying their time, settling for smaller dreams, just happy to see another sunrise.
A time for muscle-shirted men and their large dogs: big, playful dogs with names like Fletcher, or Bruno; fierce-looking but bighearted babies who wore kerchiefs around their necks as they challenged the waves, running at them, barking furiously and then wisely retreating when the waves answered back. All while their owners did a few stretches, struck a few poses, admired the way their “pecs” looked: oiled, shining slightly in the light of the rising sun.
A time for a solitary woman to sit on the sand, her knees drawn up to her chin, and watch the mist rise and the sun come up, just as it came up every morning, even when her own personal world had very definitely gone on hold.
Jessica Chandler was twenty-eight years old, nearly twenty-nine. She was tall, with light brown, almost blond hair, for once not secured in a French twist or otherwise tamed by brush and comb and pins—and propriety. Her hair blew against her face in the breeze, hiding her even, patrician features, her tear-wet blue eyes.
She was a competent businesswoman, the middle child of three grown children, wealthy through both inheritance and in her own right. She was unattached, currently on a leave of absence from the company business she and her older brother, Ryan, ran in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and she had come to the Jersey shore to think and to walk the beach.
She was just one more person on the beach at dawn, watching the gulls without really seeing them, digging bare toes in the still-cool sand, sighing sighs the slight breeze snatched away but could not halt.
One of the muscle types spotted Jessica and deliberately tossed a Frisbee in her direction, so that he could shout out, “No, Buster, don’t chase it. Be careful of the lady,” and then came jogging across the sand to smile down at Jessica, to apologize if his charging dog had frightened her.
The guy was cute, in an overgrown-puppy way. All he needed was a friendly, waving tail and a Frisbee between his too-white teeth. He was tall, with muscles he obviously worked on daily, and had a broad, confident smile. The kind of guy who considered a beautiful woman a required accessory, just like the dog.
Boy, had he ever picked the wrong beach and the wrong girl.
“That’s
