Pat Warren - The Way We Wed

As an evil traitor threatens

to destroy the top-secret SPEAR agency,

A YEAR OF LOVING DANGEROUSLY continues….

Jeff Kirby

A green-eyed M.D. and a man

very much in love with his wife…

Though he’d married Tish Buckner in haste, this M.D. in training took his vows very seriously. Especially now that his bride was struggling for her life!

Tish Buckner

A stubborn strength in her dark brown eyes

was outdone only by her passion

She never dreamed she and Jeff had a chance, yet her heart could not refuse his sudden proposal. But had her dangerous undercover work jeopardized her future with Jeff?

Del Rogers

An amber-eyed agent

who is determined to get his man

After seeing the havoc the deadly traitor called Simon had caused for his colleagues, Del is prepared to do anything to take down the man who hopes to take down SPEAR….

Dear Reader,

Once again, we’ve rounded up six exciting romances to keep you reading all month, starting with the latest installment in Marilyn Pappano’s HEARTBREAK CANYON miniseries. The Sheriff’s Surrender is a reunion romance with lots of suspense, lots of passion—lots of emotion—to keep you turning the pages. Don’t miss it.

And for all of you who’ve gotten hooked on A YEAR OF LOVING DANGEROUSLY, we’ve got The Way We Wed. Pat Warren does a great job telling this tale of a secret marriage between two SPEAR agents who couldn’t be more different—or more right for each other. Merline Lovelace is back with Twice in a Lifetime, the latest saga in MEN OF THE BAR H. How she keeps coming up with such fabulous books, I’ll never know—but I do know we’re all glad she does. Return to the WIDE OPEN SPACES of Alberta, Canada, with Judith Duncan in If Wishes Were Horses…. This is the kind of book that will have you tied up in emotional knots, so keep the tissues handy. Cheryl Biggs returns with Hart’s Last Stand, a suspenseful romance that will keep you turning the pages at a furious clip. Finally, don’t miss the debut of a fine new voice, Wendy Rosnau. A Younger Woman is one of those irresistible stories, and it’s bound to establish her as a reader favorite right out of the starting gate.

Enjoy them all, then come back next month for more of the best and most exciting romance reading around—only in Silhouette Intimate Moments.

Yours,

Leslie J. Wainger

Executive Senior Editor

www.millsandboon.co.uk

This book is dedicated to my neighbor,

Judy Eddy, whose energy and sense of humor

make her a joy to be around.

A note from popular writer Pat Warren, author of over thirty novels for Silhouette and Harlequin Books

Dear Reader,

As much as I love writing and reading romances, I’m also very drawn to mysteries, which is why when the editors at Silhouette offered me a chance to be a part of A YEAR OF LOVING DANGEROUSLY, I jumped at it. To watch a love story unfold between two special people is heartwarming. Then to see all the dangers their jobs—their very lives—are involved in is pure excitement.

Tish Buckner turned her back on a life of privilege to work with the agents of SPEAR because she believes in what they stand for. She’s intelligent, highly trained and dedicated, as well as very beautiful. She has no intention of falling in love, yet from the moment she lays eyes on Jeff Kirby, she’s his.

Jeff’s had a hard life—abandoned by his alcoholic parents, living on the streets, constantly on the run. Until East Kirby, a highly respected SPEAR agent, found him and showed him how to care. When he meets Tish, he’s ready for love. Now all he has to do is convince her that what they feel is real and lasting.

And all they both have to do is stay alive amid terrorist bombings and an evil man out to destroy SPEAR.

I’ve been a part of several continuities, starting with Harlequin’s TYLER series a while back, then Silhouette’s first MONTANA MAVERICKS and also the more recent MONTANA MAVERICKS series. It’s a privilege and a challenge to join so many talented authors in telling a thrilling love story with a mystery threaded throughout all twelve books. I hope you enjoy reading about Tish and Jeff’s romance as much as I enjoyed writing it for you.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Epilogue

Condor Mountain Resort and Spa

The late afternoon sun was quite hot along the Pacific Coast of Southern California even in mid-April. Jeff Kirby felt his shirt sticking to his back as well as the dampness of his jogging shorts, but he ignored both. Running on the hard-packed sand of the beach at the foot of Condor Mountain Resort and Spa was something he looked forward to each time he returned. His shoes hit the ground with staccato precision, spraying clumps of wet sand as he made his way north alongside the frothy waves. Some distance out, seagulls artfully dived into the sea in search of a late lunch.

Glancing at a cloudless blue sky, Jeff felt glad to be alive, grateful for each day. A near-death experience will do that to a person, he decided. He’d come a shade too close for comfort last year and didn’t ever want to repeat the ordeal. Yet he was increasingly aware that the work he did, the job he’d chosen, would ultimately put him in danger more often than not. He knew that, yet chose to stay, and his reasons were many and varied. They included his dad, the exciting challenge and the assurance that he was contributing, doing some good in some small way.

Jeff’s adoptive father, Easton Kirby, had once been one of the top field agents for SPEAR, a secret government agency that dated back to the Civil War and was rumored to have been founded by no less than Abraham Lincoln himself. But a devastating personal incident had all but turned East into a recluse, a man haunted by his own demons, one who holed up in his room at Condor and withdrew from all who cared about him.

Until the night he’d encountered a fourteen-year-old boy who’d run away from the latest in a series of foster homes, a boy as damaged and needy as East was. That boy’s name was Jeff.

They’d both been the walking wounded back then, but each had managed to overcome a disturbing past, to bond with one another and learn to care, to trust again. After a slow healing time, East, who’d been twenty-five ten years ago, only eleven years older than Jeff, had adopted the boy and taken over the running of Condor Mountain Resort as a civilian employee. Only occasionally these days did either of them speak of those past terrible years.

Through most of his teen years and later, Jeff had met or heard about several agents—men and women—who’d been badly hurt in the line of duty, some physically, some emotionally. A few had even died. But with the arrogance of youth, he’d felt certain none of those things would happen to him. He’d quickly shot up to a height of six feet, lean and muscled from training sessions and working out regularly. He’d felt confident, invincible, ready to take on the world.