Kimberly Van Meter - An Imperfect Match / Next Comes Love

The Tycoon’s Perfect Match by Christine Wenger & Their Second-Chance Child by Karen Sandler

A Marriage-Minded Man by Karen Templeton & From Friend to Father by Tracy Wolff

An Imperfect Match by Kimberly Van Meter & Next Comes Love by Helen Brenna

A Bravo’s Honour by Christine Rimmer

Lone Star Daddy by Stella Bagwell

Claiming the Rancher’s Heart by Cindy Kirk

To Save a Family by Anna DeStefano

“I’m sorry about yesterday.

“I was rude,” Dean said gruffly. “Be at the office tomorrow at 8:00am and we’ll talk about the job.”

“Sure. Thanks.” Annabelle shifted and bit the inside of her cheek.

“You got family who could help you out?” he asked, wishing he hadn’t. It wasn’t a good idea to get too acquainted.

She chuckled wryly. “Nope. My mum died a few years ago and my daddy was a bit of a rambling man. I haven’t seen him since I was about seven. I have a younger brother, but the less I see of him the better off my pocketbook is.” She shrugged as if admitting that her family was less than desirable wasn’t a big deal. “I learned to rely on myself a long time ago.”

He believed her. Dressed in a denim skirt that was too short and a blouse that fitted too tightly across her breasts, she looked like a white trash prom queen, but there was a sense of dignity clinging to her that dared anyone to pass judgement.

Closing his eyes briefly to block out the image of her as she stood before him, he bit out a terse, “Don’t be late”, as his goodbye and walked – no, practically ran – from the restaurant.

“Never been married. Never plan to be.”

Erica took a step towards Garrett. “But if you think anything is going to happen between us, guess again. You are so not my type it isn’t even funny.”

They might as well have been alone in the apartment for the charge in the air. Flirting with her was dangerous. Still, Garrett couldn’t rein himself in. “So what is your type?”

“Not a cop, that’s for sure,” she said.

“What do you have against cops?”

“You wouldn’t get it.”

“Try me.”

“Don’t think so.” Erica’s dark brown eyes were laced with something he couldn’t put a finger on. Something that looked an awful lot like fear.

Someone had badly hurt her and the little boy. All Garrett wanted was to get his hands on the guy who had.

By

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By

An avid reader since before she can remember, Kimberly Van Meterstarted her writing career at the age of sixteen when she finished her first novel, typing late nights and early mornings on her mother’s old portable typewriter. Although that first novel was nothing short of literary mud, with each successive piece of work her writing improved to the point of reaching that coveted published status. Kimberly, now a journalist, and her husband and three kids make their home in Oakdale. She enjoys writing, reading, photography and drinking hot chocolate by the windowsill when it rains.

Special thanks must go to RJ Murdoch

for taking time out of his tremendously

busy schedule to educate me on the big world of a

successful builder/contractor. Any deviations from

the way things are truly done are my own and no

reflection on what anyone has taken the time to

teach me. Thanks for all your help!

To Dawn Henley for being the best “office roomie”

a person could ask for and helping me brainstorm

when my own brain went on hiatus.

To Marg Jackson for the laughter, friendship and

overall good company from day one.

To the Leadin’ Ladies for their unwavering support

that never fails to humble me and buoy my spirits

in one fell swoop. You ladies are the best!

DEAN HALVORSEN’S day soured just about the same time his breakfast burrito heartburn kicked in, and he realized as he fished around in his pocket that he’d left his antacids at home.

“Eagle came in with a lower bid. You know how it goes. Times are tough. The bottom line is tight and we had to go with the lowest bidder. You understand, right?”

Dean bit back what he wanted to say and gave a short nod to Petey Simonsini. No, he didn’t understand. What he did understand was that Eagle Construction had snaked another job out from under his company by somehow coming under the Halvorsen Construction bid. Which was damn near impossible since Dean had cut the bid to the bone in an attempt to get the job.

“Aaron beat us fair and square, I suppose,” Dean said, though it made his teeth grind just to say it. Aaron Eagle never did things the right way. He cut corners, hired unlicensed subcontractors and bought shoddy materials to punch holes in the budget. No. Dean didn’t figure Aaron had beat him square at all, but there was no sense in whining about it. Except, as he rubbed at the spot on his chest where the acid pooled, he knew his temper was about to get the best of him.

Damn him. The man was on a personal quest to put Halvorsen Construction out of business. This was the third bid they’d lost to Eagle in six months. It seemed every time Dean put in a bid, Aaron was right behind him, even on the out-of-town jobs. The man had an agenda and it was starting to piss Dean off. Pretty soon he was going to have to start bidding on state jobs and that idea didn’t appeal at all—not because he hated the unions, which wasn’t entirely true, but because of all the red tape that came with those jobs.

By the time he arrived at the office, his heartburn had reached four-alarm status. As he burst through the door, intent on one thing—to find his antacids—he pulled up short and choked on what he saw.

His younger brother Sammy looked up and grinned broadly, daring Dean to yell, and then introduced the woman sitting behind the desk.

Beth’s desk.

“Dean, meet our new office manager, Annabelle Nichols.”

She stood and extended her hand, but Dean wasn’t in the mood to play nice anymore. Too bad for her. And he was going to have one less brother in about two minutes.

“I don’t remember hiring an office manager,” Dean said stonily, and she withdrew her hand with a nervous glance at Sammy.

“Aw, c’mon now. Don’t be a jerk in front of Annabelle. There’s plenty of time to show her just how difficult and surly you can be. Why start with the first day?”

Sammy—ever the comedian. But Dean wasn’t laughing. Sammy had broached the subject of hiring someone new last week, and Dean thought he’d communicated quite clearly his thoughts on the subject. They didn’t need anyone new.