Candace Havens - Model Marine

Twelve military heroes.

Twelve indomitable heroines.

One UNIFORMLY HOT! miniseries.

Don’t miss a story in Harlequin Blaze’s

12-book continuity series, featuring irresistible

soldiers from all branches of the armed forces.

Heat up your holidays with A Few Good Marines…

DEVIL IN DRESS BLUES

by Karen Foley

October 2011

MODEL MARINE

by Candace Havens

November 2011

RED-HOT SANTA

by Tori Carrington

December 2011

Uniformly Hot!—

The Few. The Proud. The Sexy as Hell!

Available wherever Harlequin books are sold.

Dear Reader,

There is something about a man in uniform that gets me going. I know you understand what I’m talking about. But there’s another side to that. Every time I see a man or woman in uniform, I think about the sacrifices they must go through and the fact that they face dangers most of us could never imagine. They put their lives on the line every day to protect us and to preserve democracy around the world.

Captain Will Hughes is a marine who’s been through hell. The scars on the outside of his body are not the only ones that need to heal. When the fun-loving fashion designer Hannah Harrington steps into his life, he begins to wonder if there is more to life than the next mission.

Hannah has made it her mission to lighten Will’s soul and to give him some comfort. What she doesn’t expect are the many surprises that come with dating a marine.

I hope you love this couple as much as I do. I want to say a special thank-you to Kim, who helped me make sure my marine “stuff” was correct. Her husband is on active duty in a faraway land. I hope you’ll email me at candacehavensbooks@gmail.com and tell me what you think of the book. You can also find me on Twitter/Facebook/MySpace through my website, www.candacehavens.com.

Enjoy!

Candace Havens

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Before you start reading, why not sign up?

Thank you for downloading this Mills & Boon book. If you want to hear about exclusive discounts, special offers and competitions, sign up to our email newsletter today!

SIGN ME UP!

Or simply visit

signup.millsandboon.co.uk

Mills & Boon emails are completely free to receive and you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in any email we send you.

Award-winning author and columnist Candace “Candy” Havens lives in Texas with her mostly understanding husband, two children and two dogs, Scoobie and Gizmo. Candy is a nationally syndicated entertainment columnist for FYI Television. She has interviewed just about everyone in Hollywood from George Clooney and Orlando Bloom to Nicole Kidman and Kate Beckinsale. You can hear Candy weekly on The Big 96.3 in the Dallas–Fort Worth Area. Her popular online writer’s workshop has more than 1,300 students and provides free classes to professional and aspiring writers.

To all the servicemen and servicewomen, and their

families, around the world. Thanks for all you do.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

“THE MALE MODELS are in jail.” Anne Marie whispered the words so Hannah wasn’t sure if she heard her correctly. They were backstage working with the stylists to make sure the hair was correct for each model, and the deafening noise from the chatter made it difficult to converse without screaming. Anne Marie, the assistant director of Hannah Harrington Designs, had to be wrong. The fashion show launched in exactly forty-seven minutes and Hannah had planned everything down to the last stitch in the handbags the models would carry. There was no way something like this could happen.

Though it was freezing backstage, a small bead of sweat dampened her brow. “Did you say they’re in jail?” Hannah tried to keep the panic from rising in her voice, but there was a tiny squeak at the end. “Oh, Anne Marie— You— No—take it back. I mean it. This is some kind of horrible joke. My entire life for the last six years is about to walk down that stage, and it has to be perfect. You know that. You promised me you had the models covered,” she squeaked.

Anne Marie’s lips formed a straight line at Hannah’s harsh tone.

“Sorry.” She’d been on edge the past few weeks and had lost her temper more than once. This was no time to make Annie Marie her whipping girl.

“Don’t you dare apologize, Hannah. I know I screwed up.” Anne Marie’s jaw jutted out and her hands were in fists. “I saw them at Jake’s party last night and they were drinking. I should have sent them home then. This sucks, and I’ve totally failed you. I just don’t know how to fix it in—” Anne Marie glanced at her watch “—forty-three minutes.”

Hannah glanced around the tent, searching for any man who could fill out the jeans she’d designed. It had been a risky venture to do male and female lines in her first collection, but it had paid off. Before tonight’s show she had received great buzz in the fashion world from some of the magazine editors who’d toured her collection early. Without the men, the show wouldn’t work. They were her big reveal.

The only men in a sea of six-foot female models were the ones doing hair, and they were all too short, pasty and waif-thin.

Are there any real men left in Manhattan?

She closed her eyes and lifted her head in a silent prayer.

I’m going to walk out the door, and I’m going to find two of the most handsome men I’ve ever seen in my life who will fit perfectly into my show.

Yeah, right.

Opening her eyes again she headed out.

“Where are you going?” Anne Marie cried.

“To find the men of my dreams,” Hannah said determinedly. “Check and make sure the girls have their belts right-side up, and that Clara wears the pink cowboy boots. I’ll be back in ten minutes.”

Hannah had almost convinced herself she would find the men she needed just outside the tent, or in the crowd waiting to get in. No such luck.

The good news was there was a crowd.

The bad news was that ninety-nine percent of it was women.

Any men she saw were either way too short, or a little thick around the middle. She never cared about anyone’s size, but she needed a perfect fit for the jeans. Worried she might be recognized, Hannah pulled her cowboy hat down low on her eyes, and made her way around the crowd and out onto Columbus.

Shivering against the cold, she pulled her leather jacket tighter, which did nothing for her legs, which were in tights and a miniskirt.

As usual on Friday afternoon, the area was packed with people. There were some teens in baggy jeans and shirts, but they were all either too skinny or too short to fit in the clothes.

She didn’t want to think about the worst-case scenario, but she had to.

Please. I haven’t come this far to fail.

Everything she had was tied up in this show. If the editors hadn’t had a sneak peak she could get away with losing the final two, but that was what most of the buzz had been about.