Melanie Schuster - Let Me Hold You

Love in the fast lane

In the five years since Alana Sharp Dumond lost her husband, she has remodeled her life. Her vintage car company, Custom Classics, is raking in money. She owns her own home and she has top-of-the-line friends. If she misses the feel of a man’s arms around her, she’d never admit it. The shadows from her past are nobody’s business but her own.

Worldly restaurateur Roland Casey has had his eye on Alana for months, but and now he wants to speed up put their relationship. With his tall, muscled build and cognac-brown eyes, he’s never had any trouble romancing a woman—until now. Sultry Alana keeps putting the brakes on all his moves. Roland has no doubt that he can send her temperature racing, but can he mend her once-broken heart?

He wanted to tell her that she was living her late husband’s dreams, not hers.

But he didn’t want to come across all preachy and fatherlike, because she hadn’t asked for his advice, just his listening ear. He asked her to talk to him, to confide in him and that’s what she’d done. What came next had to be up to her.

“What can I do to help, Alana? I don’t want you to feel like you’re alone anymore,” he said. He tilted her chin up so that their eyes met. “You’ve been handling a whole lot of things by yourself, from what I can tell, and it’s time for that to be over. It’s time for a new life for you.”

They leaned into each other at the same time and the resulting kiss started out tender and binding, but it soon turned hot and passionate. Her hands slid up his broad shoulders and she locked her arms around his neck, while his went down her body, sliding under the soft sweater until she could feel him against her bare skin. She moved against him urgently, changing positions until she was straddling him and they were beginning to get lost in each other. Alana managed to slow down, gently pulling away from his lips.

“Stay with me, Roland. Stay with me tonight,” she whispered.

MELANIE SCHUSTER

started reading when she was four and believes that’s why she’s a writer today. She was always fascinated with books and loved telling stories. From the time she was very small she wanted to be a writer. She fell in love with romances when she began reading the ones her mother would bring home. She would go to any store that sold paperbacks and load up! When she had a spare moment she was reading. Schuster loves romance because it’s always so hopeful. Despite the harsh realities of life, romance always brings to mind the wonderful, exciting adventure of falling in love and meeting your soul mate. She believes in love and romance with all her heart. She finds fulfillment in writing stories about compelling couples who find true, lasting love in the face of all the obstacles out there. She hopes all of her readers find their true love. If they’ve already been lucky enough to find love, she hopes that they never forget what it felt like to fall in love.

Let Me Hold You

Melanie Schuster

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Dear Reader,

Thanks for coming on another Friends & Lovers adventure. I hope you all enjoyed Alana and Roland’s story. So many of us have given up on the idea of finding love; we think it’s never going to happen, or we won’t let it happen because of past experiences. Let Me Hold You is all about love and second chances and what can happen when you follow your heart. Maybe it will inspire you to give love another chance.

I’m so happy that the Sharp sisters, Alexis, Alana, Adrienne and Ava, have captured your interest. The next sister to find love will be Adrienne, and if you thought there were complications with Alexis and Alana, just wait until you read Adrienne’s story, which will be out next year.

Until then,

Stay blessed and keep reading!

Melanie

To my readers, who as always support me and encourage me. It always means a lot to me, but even more when I was down for the count!

Thanks also to Dr. Minoo Khetarpal and Dr. Gavin Awerbuch for getting me well.

And a special thanks to Pam and Joyce for all your help; I never would have made it without you!

This is dedicated with sincere appreciation to my editor, Tracy Sherrod,

for her encouragement, her expertise and above all, her patience.

She put up with a lot during the creation of this book and I thank her

from the bottom of my heart. Her support meant the world to me.

Contents

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 1

“This is the best party I’ve been to since you got married,” Alana Sharp Dumond announced. She raised her flute of champagne to her sister, Alexis Sharp VanBuren. Alexis had married her true love, Jared VanBuren, in a fabulous Valentine’s Day wedding and now, the Saturday before Christmas, they were at the reception of Sherri Stratton and Lucas VanBuren, Jared’s younger brother.

Alexis took a sip of her alcohol-free spumante and smiled at her older sister. She wasn’t drinking because she and Jared were expecting their first baby. “We started off the year with a wedding and we’re ending it with one. Perfect symmetry, I’d say.”

“A great way to end the year,” Alana agreed. “Yes, I’d love some more,” she added happily to the waiter who was offering to refill her glass.

Alexis raised a carefully groomed eyebrow as Alana took a rather healthy swallow of her drink. “You better slow down, sister. You’ve had quite a bit of that tonight.”

Alana grinned to show that she didn’t take offense at her younger sister’s words of caution. “I’m drinking for two since you can’t have any. Don’t worry, I’m fine. I’ve eaten enough food for two linebackers and it’s soaking up all the alcohol very nicely. Now I want to dance,” she said cheerfully.

They were sitting at the long table set up for the wedding party, which was being held at Seven-Seventeen, the stylish and successful upscale restaurant owned by the VanBuren brothers and their friend, Roland Casey. The VanBurens were chefs and restaurateurs and Roland was their partner. The table was mostly empty at the moment, since the bride and groom were out on the dance floor looking at each other with the eyes of love. Jared and Roland were outside smoking expensive cigars while most of the other attendants were either dancing or taking funny pictures in the photo booth that had been rented for the occasion.

Alana could sense Alexis getting ready to continue the conversation about her intake of Moet and she beckoned to David Stratton, Sherri’s brother.

“C’mon and dance with me, David,” she said. “We haven’t had a chance to catch up yet.” Giving her sister a wink, she took his hand and they went to join the other dancers just as the music changed to something fast and jazzy.

Alexis sighed while she watched the two of them head for the dance floor. Alana was just a bit too giddy for her taste, not that her older sister would act up or make a scene. It just wasn’t like her to imbibe so much, but it was such a festive occasion that who could blame her?