A fan-favorite contemporary romance from New York Times bestselling author Diana Palmer
“Retired” soldier of fortune Ebenezer Scott was a bad boy to the core. Schoolteacher Sally Johnson was the fresh scrubbed beauty from across the street. When Sally’s life was put in danger, Ebenezer fought to protect her. But this sweet-natured beauty yearned for so much more. She dreamed of a lifetime of love in Ebenezer Scott’s big, strong arms. Could she slip through his ironclad defenses and become this beloved mercenary’s bride?
Previously published.
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“Nobody does it better.”
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—Affaire de Coeur
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“The dialogue is charming, the characters likable and the sex sizzling....”
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“Diana Palmer does a masterful job of stirring the reader’s emotions.”
—Lezlie Patterson, Eagle (Reading, PA), on Lawless
Mercenary’s Woman
Diana Palmer
MILLS & BOON
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CONTENTS
EBENEZER SCOTT STOOD beside his double-wheeled black pickup truck and stared openly at the young woman across the street while she fiddled under the hood of a dented, rusted hulk of a vehicle. Sally Johnson’s long blond hair was in a ponytail. She was wearing jeans and boots and no hat. He smiled to himself, remembering how many times in the old days he’d chided her about sunstroke. It had been six years since they’d even spoken. She’d been living in Houston until July, when she and her blind aunt and small cousin had moved back, into the decaying old Johnson homestead. He’d seen her several times since her return, but she’d made a point of not speaking to him. He couldn’t really blame her. He’d left her with some painful emotional scars.
She was slender, but her trim figure still made his heartbeat jump. He knew how she looked under that loose blouse. His eyes narrowed with heat as he recalled the shocked pleasure in her pale gray eyes when he’d touched her, kissed her, in those forbidden places. He’d meant to frighten her so that she’d stop teasing him, but his impulsive attempt to discourage her had succeeded all too well. She’d run from him then, and she’d kept running. She was twenty-three now, a woman; probably an experienced woman. He mourned for what might have been if she’d been older and he hadn’t just come back from leading a company of men into the worst bloodbath of his career. A professional soldier of fortune was no match for a young and very innocent
