Cheryl Kushner - He's Still The One

“Which one?” Zoe asked cheekily.

“Be serious,” Ryan admonished her. “You know what I’m talking about. The day we got a little carried away.”

“You’re going to sit there and dissect our kiss?” She didn’t bother to keep the shock out of her voice. She remembered that kiss—no, make that series of kisses that ended with her almost melting into a puddle at his feet. “So you’re never going to kiss me again?”

He nodded. “In that way.”

“Which way?” she demanded. “The way a man kisses a woman when he feels something for her? The way you kissed me a couple of days ago and we both burst into flames?”

“Yes,” he said, sounding as if trying to convince himself.

Dear Reader,

Spring cleaning wearing you out? Perk up with a heart-thumping romance from Silhouette Romance. This month, your favorite authors return to the line, and a new one makes her debut!

Take a much-deserved break with bestselling author Judy Christenberry’s secret-baby story, Daddy on the Doorstep (#1654). Then plunge into Elizabeth August’s latest, The Rancher’s Hand-Picked Bride (#1656), about a celibate heroine forced to find her rugged neighbor a bride!

You won’t want to miss the first in Raye Morgan’s CATCHING THE CROWN miniseries about three royal siblings raised in America who must return to their kingdom and marry. In Jack and the Princess (#1655), Princess Karina falls for her bodyguard, but what will it take for this gruff commoner to win a place in the royal family? And in Diane Pershing’s The Wish (#1657), the next SOULMATES installment, a pair of magic eyeglasses gives Gerri Conklin the chance to do over the most disastrous week of her life…and find the man of her dreams!

And be sure to keep your eye on these two Romance authors. Roxann Delaney delivers her third fabulous Silhouette Romance novel, A Whole New Man (#1658), about a live-for-the-moment hero transformed into a family man, but will it last? And Cheryl Kushner makes her debut with He’s Still the One (#1659), a fresh, funny, heartwarming tale about a TV show host who returns to her hometown and the man she never stopped loving.

Happy reading!

Mary-Theresa Hussey

Senior Editor

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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To my mother, Shirley Kushner,

and my sisters, Terry, Maureen, Robin and Randi.

trained as a journalist and is an award-winning writer and editor who has worked for several major newspapers in a variety of jobs—including news reporter, features writer and entertainment editor. She moved to New York in 1999, where she’s the arts and entertainment editor for Newsday. The best part of her job, she says, is spending her nights at the theater on Broadway.

An avid romance and mystery reader, Cheryl has been writing fiction since 1993. She was first published in 1998. He’s Still the One is her first book for Silhouette Romance.

Cheryl loves to hear from readers and can be e-mailed at CherRW@aol.com.

Dear Reader,

I’m a bookaholic, and there’s nothing I enjoy better than spending time with a captivating romantic story.

I’m also a journalist, and back in the mid-1980s I was assigned a feature story about the growing popularity of romance novels. I bought dozens of books as part of my research and found myself totally fascinated. I read, read some more and was hooked.

A few years later, I started writing fiction, and it seemed natural that I turn to writing romance. Not only do I get to create spirited heroines and to-die-for heroes, but I also get to make up their quotes!

Zoe and Ryan, the heroine and hero of He’s Still the One, have known each other since they were children. But even the best of friends can find themselves at odds, and sometimes friendships can be fractured so badly they seem impossible to repair. It’s been ten years since Zoe and Ryan have spoken, and their first meeting doesn’t bode well. It takes a wedding, and some unusual circumstances, for them to see they are truly meant for each other.

I’m proud to be a member of the Silhouette Romance family, and hope that you enjoy Zoe and Ryan’s story. You can contact me at CherRW@aol.com.

Happy reading!

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Zoe Russell had created hundreds, no thousands, of scenarios that had her face-to-face with Ryan O’Connor once again. None, however, had her wearing mud across her cheeks and heavy metal cuffs around her wrists.

She looked at her shackled hands, and tried not to wince at her twenty-five dollar manicure gone wrong. Zoe had no idea what Ryan was doing back in Riverbend, but it appeared for the moment he was all that stood between her and freedom. Showing any sign of weakness would be a mistake. He needed to remember Zoe Russell wasn’t a woman to be pushed around or trifled with.

Zoe squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and letting it out slowly, walked to the front of the cell keeping her gaze locked on his. “This has all been a terrible misunderstanding.”

Ryan cocked a brow, rubbed his index finger along his chin. Yep, she could see that the all-too-sexy cleft was still there. Along with the little scar from a baseball thrown awry. He rocked back on his heels, smiled. “That’s what all crooks say.”

Oh, and that smile, bracketed by dimples that still sent shivers down her spine. The little stubble across his jaw didn’t hurt, either. The man sizzled sex. Zoe steeled herself. No weakness. Especially not in front of the man she’d once considered her best friend—the man who’d broken her heart even if he hadn’t realized it at the time. Hadn’t she promised herself she wasn’t ever, ever going to be taken in by his smile again?

She wouldn’t think about what her hair must look like, or that a decent burial—not dry cleaning—likely would be the fate of her designer denim overalls. Forget about making a fashion statement. She was wet, tired, hungry and late for her dress fitting for her sister Kate’s wedding.

And from the uncompromising coplike look on Ryan’s face, she also was in big trouble. She still couldn’t understand why she was the only person arrested at the senior citizen’s rally. All she’d been doing was her job, interviewing the protesters, thinking she might have a good story for Wake Up, America.

“Shouldn’t you be catching criminals in Philadelphia?” She winced at the petulance in her voice.

“I’ve discovered that the more interesting—” he paused and threw her a pointed look “—criminals visit Southern Ohio.”