Kianna Alexander - A San Diego Romance

Heaven in his arms

Christopher Marland, president of Millionaire Moguls of San Diego, is too busy for a personal life. The moment Eliza Ellicott arrives back in his world, he knows no woman has ever compared to his first love. A broken heart gave Eliza the drive to succeed and she’s opened a new boutique. She’ll gladly help Chris’s teenage daughter, but her heart is closed to him. Can she learn to trust again?

KIANNA ALEXANDER, like any good Southern belle, wears many hats: loving wife, doting mama, advice-dispensing sister and gabbing girlfriend. She’s a voracious reader, an amateur seamstress and occasional painter in oils. Chocolate, American history, sweet tea and Idris Elba are a few of her favorite things. A native of the Tar Heel state, Kianna still lives there with her husband, two kids and a collection of well-loved vintage ’80s Barbie dolls. You can keep up with Kianna’s releases and appearances by signing up for her mailing list at: www.authorkiannaalexander.com/sign-up.

Also By Kianna Alexander

This Tender Melody

Every Beat of My Heart

A Sultry Love Song

Tempo of Love

A Love Like This

A San Diego Romance

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

A San Diego Romance

Kianna Alexander

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08478-9

A SAN DIEGO ROMANCE

© 2018 Harlequin Books S.A.

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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They swayed back and forth together, as the night breezes caressed her bare skin in the way she wished he would. Once upon a time, he had touched her that way; always chaste, yet always as sweet and sensual as a touch could ever be. She kept her eyes straight ahead, which meant looking at his collarbone. That was far better than looking into his eyes again, because she knew that if she did, she would come undone.

As the vocalist hit a particularly high note, Chris placed his bent index finger beneath her chin. Wordlessly, he tilted her face upward, effectively forcing her to look at him. He said nothing, letting the intensity of his gaze speak for him.

Eliza gasped, but couldn’t look away. She remembered a time when he’d had full possession of her heart, and when she looked into his coal dark eyes, it was as if that time had never ended.

In that moment, it became clear why all her relationships had failed. Her feelings for Chris lingered on, despite their long separation. She wondered if she could ever really be free of the power he held over her, the power of first love.

Hi there!

I hope you’ll enjoy A San Diego Romance, my contribution to the Millionaire Moguls series. I was uncertain how this would all turn out since I’ve never done a group project quite like this before, but I think it turned out well. And I couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with Yahrah St. John and Reese Ryan. Check out Chris and Eliza’s love story, and let me know your thoughts on Facebook ( Facebook.com/kiannawrites), Twitter ( @kiannawrites) or Instagram ( @kiannaalexanderwrites).

All the best,

Kianna

For all those who love a sailor, soldier, airman, marine or other servicemember. Thank you for lending your loved ones to our nation.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Dedication

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

Extract

About the Publisher

Chapter 1

Coffee mug in hand, Christopher Marland took a seat on one end of the black leather sofa inside the San Diego office of Prescott George. It was quiet for a Wednesday morning, or maybe it just seemed that way to him. As an architect who’d created designs for buildings all over the world, and a divorced parent of teenage twins, he had a million things on his mind. One of his most important roles, though, was here, as the president of the San Diego chapter of Prescott George, a club of sorts for African American millionaires. And at the moment, the problems plaguing the organization were foremost in his mind.

Vaughn Ellicott, an old friend who served as treasurer of Prescott George, sat on the opposite end of the sofa, drinking from his own mug. “Listen, Chris. We need to talk about what happened at Jordan’s studio.”

Chris felt his face crease into a frown at the mention of the incident. Jordan Jace, a gifted sculptor and fellow member of Prescott George, had recently had one of his sculptures vandalized during a Prescott George party he’d hosted at his gallery. That would be upsetting enough in itself, but there was more to it. “I’m still pissed that he would accuse Jojo.” Chris wasn’t the type of parent to believe his children could do no wrong, but he knew his daughter. “Jojo isn’t a troublemaker.”

“You don’t have to tell me. I know Jojo’s a good kid.”

“I mean, I drop thousands every year for her and Jack to go to one of the best private schools in the city.” Chris ran his free hand over his head. “She makes the honor roll every nine weeks, she does her chores and she never gives me a bit of trouble.”