Virginia Kantra - All A Man Can Do

“Virginia Kantra whips up a perfect blend of sexy romance and spine-tingling mystery. Now that I’ve read this book, I want to move to Eden. Better yet, I want Jarek Denko!”

—New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner

“You’re not married now, but you were once. Maybe more than once. You’re straight. You don’t smoke, you drink beer, you vote Democrat and think Republican. How am I doing?” Tess challenged the new police chief, her instincts on alert.

“Pretty good…Sherlock.”

Maybe Jarek had a sense of humor after all. Maybe she had a shot at a story. Maybe there was a real, live, warm human being buried inside the Ice Cop.

Tess smiled engagingly. “Your turn.”

“A good detective doesn’t theorize ahead of his facts.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I’d have to spend more time with you before I developed any theories.” And then Jarek gave her a long, slow smile.

Dear Reader,

Once again, Silhouette Intimate Moments starts its month off with a bang, thanks to Beverly Barton’s The Princess’s Bodyguard, another in this author’s enormously popular miniseries THE PROTECTORS. A princess used to royal suitors has to “settle” for an in-name-only marriage to her commoner bodyguard. Or maybe she isn’t settling at all? Look for more Protectors in On Her Guard, Beverly Barton’s Single Title, coming next month.

ROMANCING THE CROWN continues with Sarah’s Knight by Mary McBride. An arrogant palace doctor finds he needs help himself when his little boy stops speaking. To the rescue: a beautiful nanny sent to work with the child—but who winds up falling for the good doctor himself. And in Candace Irvin’s Crossing the Line, an army pilot crash-lands, and she and her surviving passenger—a handsome captain—deal simultaneously with their attraction to each other and the ongoing crash investigation. Virginia Kantra begins her TROUBLE IN EDEN miniseries with All a Man Can Do, in which a police chief finds himself drawn to the reporter who is the sister of a prime murder suspect. In The Cop Next Door by Jenna Mills, a woman back in town to unlock the secrets of her past runs smack into the stubborn town sheriff. And Melissa James makes her debut with Her Galahad, in which a woman who thought her first husband was dead finds herself on the run from her abusive second husband. And who should come to her rescue but Husband Number One—not so dead after all!

Enjoy, and be sure to come back next month for more of the excitement and passion, right here in Intimate Moments.

Leslie J. Wainger

Executive Senior Editor

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credits her enthusiasm for strong heroes and courageous heroines to a childhood spent devouring fairy tales. A three-time Romance Writers of America RITA ®Award finalist, she has won numerous writing awards, including the Golden Heart, Maggie Award, Holt Medallion and Romantic Times W.I.S.H. Hero Award.

Virginia is married to her college sweetheart, a musician disguised as the owner of a coffeehouse. They live in Raleigh, North Carolina, with three teenagers, two cats, a dog and various blue-tailed lizards that live under the siding of their home. Her favorite thing to make for dinner? Reservations.

She loves to hear from readers. You can reach her at VirginiaKantra@aol.com or c/o Silhouette Books, 300 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017.

To Damaris Rowland, who thought a series would be a really good idea.

Special thanks to Lt. Joseph T. FitzSimmons for his patience with my questions, to Nora Armstrong for introducing me to her brother in the Chicago PD, to Pamela Baustian and Judith Stanton for the usual reasons and to Michael, who has always done all a man can do. I couldn’t have written this book without 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

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

The only thing worse than dying on the job was living long enough to retire.

Jarek Denko steered his aging police cruiser with one hand along Eden’s main drag. He eyed the empty steps of St. Raphael’s Catholic Church, checked out the sidewalk action in front of the Rose Farms Café.

Unless the senior citizens were carrying concealed, the street was quiet.

Jarek had never wanted to spend his retirement on a bar stool at the Joint, nursing a beer and his memories while all around him the active cops talked the job and women. But he sure hadn’t figured on giving up the street to become police chief in some backwater town.

His town, now, he reminded himself. It was a good town. And a great place to raise kids. His kid. Maybe the community of Eden could provide whatever was missing from his little girl’s life.

His jaw tightened. Yeah, like a father. It sure as hell couldn’t bring her mother back for her.

He thought with gratitude of his own parents. At least they were trying to support his decision to make a fresh start in a new place. His father muttered about coming up for the fishing. His mother insisted Allie stay with them until Jarek was settled in his new job.

And his brother, who had followed Jarek onto the force and into the most prestigious detective division in Chicago, was laughing his damn fool head off.

“You actually think you’ll be happy working in Pleasantville?” Aleksy had demanded.

“Eden,” Jarek corrected mildly. “And I can handle it.”

He had been a homicide detective for fourteen years. There was nothing he hadn’t seen, and damn little he couldn’t handle.

Now he cruised past Eden’s only movie theater, where a second-run action flick shared the screen with an afternoon cartoon, and turned right, toward the lake. The Town of Eden Police Department stood on a patch of winter-browned grass at the corner of North Lake and Highland. Except for the sign out front and the squad cars parked out back, the department looked exactly like the post office or the library. Trees and two flags softened the squat brick outline and shaded the severe concrete steps.

Jarek pulled into his reserved spot by the rear entrance and keyed himself into the building. The hallway was quiet. The whole building was quiet, even for a Tuesday morning. Just another day in paradise, Jarek thought wryly.

But as he walked to his office, he heard a heavy, genial voice carry from the receiving area.

“Well, well. We haven’t seen much of you around here lately. What can I do for you, sweetheart?”

“You can get me in to see Chief Denko,” a woman’s voice replied crisply. “And don’t call me sweetheart.”