Patricia Potter - Tempted by the Soldier

Forgetting the past, facing the future

Stephanie Phillips is sick of charm. And Clint Morgan, the newest resident of Covenant Falls, has it in spades. Stephanie knows she should run the other way because the former Blackhawk pilot is too good-looking, too charismatic…and much too sexy.

As the town veterinarian, Stephanie has truly found her home here. Clint, on the other hand, is staying for only a short time while he recovers from an injury. But when he starts to fit seamlessly into the close-knit community, the irresistible risk-taker makes his way into her heart.

“What are you afraid of?” Clint asked in a low, gentle voice.

Stephanie couldn’t answer. She couldn’t say “you” because that would be admitting there was something there between them, something so strong that she still hadn’t moved when she should be running like hell.

“I don’t want to get involved with anyone,” she finally said.

“Why?”

“You’re here just for a short time,” she said, seeking a more logical reason than fear. “It makes no sense to start something. It’s not…practical.”

His fingers moved to the back of her neck again. “And you’re big on practicality?”

Go. Go. Go…

She swallowed hard, then summoning all the self-control she had left, she moved away from him and stood on trembling legs. “I try to be,” she said in what she feared was not a very convincing tone.

“I don’t give up easily,” he said.

Dear Reader,

When I first envisioned my previous book, The Soldier’s Promise (Mills & Boon Superromance April 2014), and created the fictional Colorado town of Covenant Falls, I thought it would be a stand-alone book, a story about a wounded soldier returning home and a military dog with PTSD and how they healed each other.

But I fell in love with the town and its citizens who believe baked goodies cure all ills, who have an infinite curiosity about newcomers and who band together in times of trouble. From Maude, who runs the diner, to Doc Bradley, the irascible town doctor, they did not want to go quietly into the night.

Most of all, I fell in love with Stephanie, the town’s veterinarian with the big but very cautious heart. It would take a very special guy to break the barriers she’d constructed against the opposite sex, and Clint Morgan, an army helicopter pilot with a mild traumatic brain injury, was just the man to do it as he tried to rebuild his life.

And no story in Covenant Falls would be complete without a cast of animals. Braveheart is back and plays no small part in matchmaking.

Enjoy!

Patricia Potter

Tempted by the Soldier

USA TODAY Bestselling Author

Patricia Potter

www.millsandboon.co.uk

PATRICIA POTTER is a bestselling and award-wining author of more than sixty books. Her Western romances and romantic suspense novels have received numerous awards, including an RT Book Reviews Storyteller of the Year Award, a Career Achievement Award for Western Historical Romance and a Best Hero of the Year Award. She is a seven-time RITA® Award finalist for RWA and a three-time Maggie Award winner. She is a past president of Romance Writers of America. Patricia is also a passionate animal lover, which is reflected in many of her books, but never more so than in her Covenant Falls series. She believes curiosity is the most important trait of any writer, and she’s often led far astray when researching a subject.

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Dedicated to the volunteers in our society, from the volunteer firefighters, to the search-and-rescue teams, to people who deliver meals to the homebound.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Extract

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

Pueblo, Colorado

FASTER. FASTER. HE ran the gears, his foot heavy as he edged up to ninety miles an hour. The road ahead was straight and empty. Plains stretched in every direction. He relished the power of the used Corvette that had cost him nearly every penny he had and hundreds of hours of work.

The road was perfect for his purpose. Rarely, if ever used, it connected one Texas ghost town to another. A fellow chopper pilot, who was also a car enthusiast, had told him about it. A forty-mile strip of pavement from nowhere to nowhere.

He had finished restoring the car two weeks earlier. In ten days, he would be back in Afghanistan. This was his last chance to put the Corvette through its paces.

The sun danced and shimmered on the pavement ahead. His foot lightened on the gas pedal as the road took a turn and mounted an incline. An old battered truck appeared from nowhere, turning into... He slammed on the brakes...

Clint Morgan, former army warrant officer and military helicopter pilot, jerked awake as the bus stopped. It took him several seconds to realize where he was. Some place going to no place.

“Hey, mister,” the bus driver said. “Your stop.”

Clint reluctantly stepped through the open doors into the first day of the rest of his life.

He was the last passenger to leave the bus, an indication of his total lack of enthusiasm for his new reality. He glanced around. He had been told someone named Josh Manning, also a vet, would meet him at the bus in Pueblo. But Clint saw no former-military-looking guy.

Damn but he hated being dependent on a stranger, even a fellow vet. It was bad enough that occasional blackouts and blinding headaches kept him from driving, but the helplessness he felt now was searing. What in the hell was he doing standing here in the middle of nowhere on a blistering September day?

The other bus passengers quickly dispersed. He was alone with a large duffel at his side. As he contemplated his alternatives, which were few, a van roared onto the street and squeezed into a parking spot. A woman emerged and strode quickly toward him.

“Clinton Morgan?” she asked.

“Clint,” he corrected. This woman did not look like a Josh.

“Sorry to be late,” she said. “I hope you haven’t been here long.” She thrust out her hand. “I’m Stephanie.”

He took her hand, and her grip was as strong as his. She was nearly as tall as his own six feet. No makeup, but then she didn’t seem to need any. Her eyes were a dark blue, and her skin was tanned, the kind that came from working outdoors. Her hair was a mass of unruly rich copper curls, some of which escaped the braid that reached below her shoulders. Clad in jeans and a checkered cotton shirt splotched with dirt, her body was more lean than curved. Athletic.