Kara Lennox - Virgin Promise

“I was a virgin.”

Vic felt dizzy at the realization of what he’d done. He’d taken something from Angela through deception. If he’d known…he never would have come on so strong.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked in a hoarse voice.

“I didn’t want you to change your mind. Men like you run from virgins. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize for giving me an incredible gift.” He was the one who should be apologizing. But to do that, he’d have to confess this night started off as a setup….

Dear Reader,

Come join us for another dream-fulfilling month of Harlequin American Romance! We’re proud to have this chance to bring you our four special new stories.

In her brand-new miniseries, beloved author Cathy Gillen Thacker will sweep you away to Laramie, Texas, hometown of matchmaking madness for THE LOCKHARTS OF TEXAS. Trouble brews when arch rivals Beau and Dani discover a marriage license—with their names on it! Don’t miss The Bride Said, “I Did?”!

What better way to turn a bachelor’s mind to matrimony than sending him a woman who desperately needs to have a baby? Mindy Neff continues her legendary BACHELORS OF SHOTGUN RIDGE miniseries this month with The Horseman’s Convenient Wife—watch Eden and Stony discover that love is anything but convenient!

Imagine waking up to see your own wedding announcement in the paper—to someone you hardly know! Melinda has some explaining to do to Ben in Mollie Molay’s The Groom Came C.O.D., the first book in our HAPPILY WEDDED AFTER promotion. And in Kara Lennox’s Virgin Promise, a bad boy is shocked to discover he’s seduced a virgin. Will promising to court her from afar convince her he wants more than one night of passion?

Find out this month, only from Harlequin American Romance!

Best wishes,

Melissa Jeglinski

Associate Senior Editor

Virgin Promise

Kara Lennox

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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For my husband, Rob

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Texas native Kara Lennox has been an art director, typesetter, advertising copy writer, textbook editor and reporter. She’s worked in a boutique, a health club and has conducted telephone surveys. She’s been an antiques dealer and briefly ran a clipping service. But no work has made her happier than writing romance novels.

When Kara isn’t writing, she indulges in an ever-changing array of weird hobbies, from rock climbing to crystal digging. But her mind is never far from her stories. Just about anything can send her running to her computer to jot down a new idea for some future novel.

Dear Reader,

I can’t imagine any career more satisfying—or more fun—than writing romance novels. After writing dozens of books over the past few years for different romance lines and different publishers, I’m especially happy to have found a home with Harlequin American Romance, a line I’ve been reading since its launch.

Virgin Promise was a fun story to write, probably because my cautious, organized heroine, Angela, who plans every detail of her life, is nothing like me! I always wondered how such people cope when they fall crazy in love. Here, at least, is one theory about what might happen. Poor Angie doesn’t know what hit her, and Vic, the steady, reliable cop she falls in love with, doesn’t fare much better! Eventually, of course, they figure it all out. But I tortured them a bit along the way. (Authors get to do that.)

I hope you enjoy Virgin Promise, and I look forward to sharing more fun stories with you in the future.

Sincerely,

Prologue

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

Epilogue

Prologue

“It was in the back seat of my mother’s station wagon at the local lovers’ lane.”

Angela Capria listened to her friend Phoebe’s sordid confession with a mixture of discomfort and fascination. Fascination because her friends looked so normal, yet each one shocked her anew with their tales of painful embarrassment. Discomfort, because she’d already heard three humiliating anecdotes during the past half hour. Her turn was rapidly approaching.

She wasn’t sure how the subject had come up, but over pasta salad and diet Cokes at their favorite deli, Angela’s co-workers had spontaneously started confessing how they’d lost their virginity, sparing no details.

“I was sixteen,” Phoebe, a bouncy physical therapist, continued in a hushed voice, “and he was the biggest nerd in the entire school. But he was crazy about me, and, you know, when a guy’s crazy in love with you, it’s really an aphrodisiac.”

Angela was appalled. “So, you didn’t have any feelings for this guy, but you had sex with him anyway?”

“Well, I felt sorry for him. You know how that goes.”

The other three women nodded their commiseration, much to Angela’s confusion. Why would anyone, even a sixteen-year-old, have sex with someone out of pity? Sex was such a…a personal thing. A powerful and special gift that a woman gave to a man after careful consideration. Or at least that was how it worked in Angela’s universe. Anyway, she thought so.

“So, how was it?” someone asked Phoebe.

“Terrible, of course. The guy needed a flashlight and a guide book.”

Everyone laughed, including Angela. Phoebe had a way with words. As the laughter faded, however, Angela realized four pairs of curious eyes were riveted on her. She cleared her throat and looked down into her salad, playing with an olive she had no intention of eating.

“Well, Angie?” Phoebe prompted. “Your turn.”

“No, thanks,” Angela said politely.

“Aw, c’mon,” said Victoria, a refined blond nurse who fifteen minutes ago had admitted she’d been so drunk during her deflowering she didn’t even remember it.

“It couldn’t be worse than mine.” The usually shy Sarah, their clinic’s office manager, piped up. She was the only one in the group who was married, and she’d turned bright red as she’d confessed that she’d been an awkward virgin bride.

“We won’t laugh,” said redheaded Terri, the clinic’s receptionist, who only minutes earlier had sent the whole table into hysterics with her tale of whipped cream and a rubber spatula.

Angela daintily blotted her mouth with her napkin. “All right. You asked for it. But I think you’ll be shocked.”

“I’m a nurse,” Victoria said. “You can’t shock me.”

Angela took a deep breath. “I’ve never had sex with anybody. I’m still a virgin.”

Phoebe dropped her fork. It rolled across the floor with a cherry tomato still attached, but no one bent to retrieve it. They all just stared, mouths gaping.

“Angie, honey, that’s impossible,” Phoebe said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. “You’re twenty-six years old!”