Shirley Jump - Kissed by Cat

His gaze swept across the space in front of him. Beige carpet, the leg of a cherry desk, several crumbs from yesterday’s cookies baked as a thank-you by Mrs. Crane and…one woman’s naked foot.

He stood there for a second, blinking. One woman’s naked foot.

His gaze traveled up. A naked foot, attached to a naked leg. Garrett jerked upright and found himself looking at a twenty-ish blonde who filled out a lab coat—his lab coat—in ways that should be illegal.

His jaw dropped open. Not a word came out.

Dear Reader,

Let this month’s collection of Silhouette Romance books sweep you into the poetry of love!

Roses are red,

or white in the case of these Nighttime Sweethearts (SR #1754) by Cara Colter. Scarred both physically and emotionally, this cynical architect will only woo his long-lost love under the protection of night. Can a bright beauty tame this dark beast? Find out in the fourth title of Silhouette Romance’s exquisite IN A FAIRY TALE WORLD… miniseries.

Violets are blue,

like the eyes of the ladies’ man in Myrna Mackenzie’s latest, Instant Marriage, Just Add Groom (SR #1755). All business, even in his relationships, this hardened hero would never father a child without the protection of marriage—but he didn’t count on falling for the prim bookseller next door!

Cupid’s at play,

and he’s got the use of more than arrows for matchmaking! Even a blinding blizzard can bring two reluctant people together. Watch the steam rise when a gruff, reclusive writer is stranded with a single mom and her adorable baby in Daddy, He Wrote (SR #1756) by Jill Limber.

And magic, too!

With only six days left to break her curse, Cat knew she couldn’t count on finding true love. Until she happened upon a dark, reticent veterinarian with a penchant for rescuing animals—and damsels—in distress! You’re sure to be enchanted by Shirley Jump’s SOULMATES story, Kissed by Cat (SR #1757).

May love find you this Valentine’s Day!

Mavis C. Allen

Associate Senior Editor

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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To my daughter, whose love of cats provided

the inspiration for this book as well as many of

the details about how cats behave, walk and think.

Someday, I promise, you’ll be old enough and I’ll

let you read past the first chapter. I love you,

honey, more than words can say.

Books by Shirley Jump

Silhouette Romance

*The Virgin’s Proposal #1641

*The Bachelor’s Dare #1700

*The Daddy’s Promise #1724

Her Frog Prince #1746

Kissed by Cat #1757

has been a writer ever since she learned to read. She sold her first article at the age of eleven and from there, became a reporter and finally a freelance writer. However, she always maintained the dream of writing fiction, too. Since then, she has made a full-time career out of writing, dividing her time between articles, nonfiction books and romance. With a husband, two children and a houseful of pets, inspiration abounds in her life, giving her good fodder for writing and a daily workout for her sense of humor.

From the journal of Hezabeth, the witch: Curse #581:

I had a perfectly good black cat, until Catherine Wyndham came along and set it free, like some dogooder on an animal rescue mission. So I cursed her. Hee-hee-hee.

Yes, I did. I cursed her but good. If she loves animals so much, I told her, she could have a taste of life as one. I tossed my magic powder at her and in the language of the ancients said, “By day a woman, by night a cat. The curse can only be broken if you find a man who loves you as both.”

That’s never going to happen. No man in his right mind would love a woman like that. Especially not when he sees what happens to her when the sun goes down.

Hee-hee-hee. Sometimes, I’m too bad for my own good!

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Epilogue

Being chased down Broward Street by an ugly, hungry Great Dane at one in the morning did not rank on the top ten of Catherine Wyndham’s favorite ways to spend an evening. She’d much rather have been curled up in front of a fireplace with a fuzzy blanket, a saucer of warm milk and a freshly opened can of tuna.

The lumbering beast of a dog opened his jaws and lunged forward. Catherine scampered up someone’s back porch, across the railing and into the next yard, leaving the dog barking at nothing but cold November air.

For the ten thousandth time in two hundred years, Catherine regretted ever tangling with that witch. She’d always had a bad habit of helping stray and mistreated animals. She’d picked the wrong black cat one day and had thus been cursed by Hezabeth the Witch to live a half life—which was really no life at all.

Today, though, had been a good day, relatively speaking. Catherine turned the corner, quite pleased with her getaway.

She jerked to a stop. There it was. Their scent. She lowered her head to the ground, concentrating as she tracked. Her instincts perked up, telegraphing a warning signal, but she ignored it.

Five more seconds. I’ve almost—

And then she was being scooped up by a pair of strong, masculine hands. She shrieked and tried to twist away but the man held tight, depositing her into a small metal cage, with no more effort than he’d use to flick a whip.

She let out a second scream of protest. “I know, I know,” he said in a soft, crooning voice. “Right now, you probably hate me, but believe me, it’s for your own good.”

She glared back, swatted at the bars. Futile gestures. He had the upper hand—not to mention bigger hands that could transport her anywhere he wanted her to go.

She hated that. Hated being eight inches tall and about as powerful as a gnat wrestling a gorilla.

He did have a kind face, at least. Better to be kidnapped by a prince than an ogre. She’d been with both in the last two centuries. Handsome didn’t always equal nice or bright, but it did provide a better view.

Ugly or cute, none of the men she’d met had been the knight in shining armor that could end the curse put in place by Hezabeth—her revenge against Catherine for setting the witch’s cat free.

“You love animals so much, how about a taste of life like one?” the witch had cackled. Before Catherine could get away, Hezabeth had thrown some powder at her and muttered something in an ancient language. From that day forward, Lady Catherine Wyndham, heir to the Wyndham estates and fortune, daughter of the Earl and Countess of Wyndham, had ceased to exist. And, thanks to Hezabeth’s addition of a catch-22 twist, Catherine had no hope of ever breaking the curse with some storybook ending.

It didn’t matter. Finding Prince Charming wasn’t at the top of her To Do list. Hadn’t been in fifty-odd years. If he even existed, the chances of meeting him when she wasn’t sporting whiskers were pretty slim.