Judy Duarte: Worth Fighting For

The silk of her hair lay soft against his cheek, and without a conscious thought, his lips brushed the strands in a whisper-soft kiss that was too out of line for anyone’s good.

Her arms still locked around his neck, she lifted her face. A vibrant aquamarine gaze wrapped around him like seaweed in the surf.

His heart slammed into his chest.

Should he apologize? Make some moronic excuse for letting a hug get out of hand?

He tried to think of an apology, an excuse, some explanation of why his body had taken charge of his brain—until he spotted desire brewing in her eyes. And in the scheme of things, reason and good sense no longer seemed to matter.

So he lowered his mouth to hers….

Dear Reader,

We’re deep into spring, and the season and romance always seem synonymous to me. So why not let your reading reflect that? Start with Sherryl Woods’s next book in THE ROSE COTTAGE SISTERS miniseries, The Laws of Attraction. This time it’s Ashley’s turn to find love at the cottage—which the hotshot attorney promptly does, with a man who appears totally different from the cutthroat lawyers she usually associates with. But you know what they say about appearances….

Karen Rose Smith’s Cabin Fever is the next book in our MONTANA MAVERICKS: GOLD RUSH GROOMS continuity, in which a handsome playboy and his beautiful secretary are hired to investigate the mine ownership issue. But they’re snowbound in a cabin…and work can only kill so much time! And in Lori’s Little Secret by Christine Rimmer, the next of her BRAVO FAMILY TIES stories, a young woman who was always the shy twin has a big secret (two, actually): seven years ago she pretended to be her more outgoing sister—which resulted in a night of passion and a baby, now child. And said child’s father is back in town… Judy Duarte offers another of her BAYSIDE BACHELORS, in Worth Fighting For, in which a single adoptive mother—with the help of her handsome neighbor, who’s dealing with a loss of his own—grapples with the possibility of losing her child. In Elizabeth Harbison’s hilarious new novel, a young woman who wonders how to get her man finds help in a book entitled, well, How To Get Your Man. But she’s a bit confused about which man she really wants to get! And in His Baby to Love by Karen Sandler, a long-recovered alcoholic needs to deal with her unexpected pregnancy, so she gratefully accepts her friend’s offer of her chalet for the weekend. But she gets an unexpected roommate—the one man who’d pointed her toward recovery…and now has some recovering of his own to do.

So enjoy, and we’ll see you next month, when things once again start to heat up, in Silhouette Special Edition!

Sincerely yours,

Gail Chasan

Senior Editor

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To Patricia Kawano Barberio, with whom I’ve shared

laughter, tears and wine while we discussed—

and sometimes cussed—life’s unexpected curves.

Together, we always come out on top.

I love you, Patty!

An avid reader who enjoys a happy ending, Judy Duarte always wanted to write books of her own. One day she decided to make that dream come true. Five years and six manuscripts later, she sold her first book to Silhouette Special Edition.

Her unpublished stories have won the Emily and the Orange Rose, and in 2001, she became a double Golden Heart finalist. Judy credits her success to Romance Writers of America and two wonderful critique partners, Sheri WhiteFeather and Crystal Green, both of whom write for Silhouette.

At times, when a stubborn hero and a headstrong heroine claim her undivided attention, she and her family are thankful for fast food, pizza delivery and video games. When she’s not at the keyboard or in a Walter Mitty–type world, she enjoys traveling, spending romantic evenings with her personal hero and playing board games with her kids.

Judy lives in Southern California and loves to hear from her readers. You may write to her at: P.O. Box 498, San Luis Rey, CA 92068-0498. You can also visit her Web site at www.judyduarte.com.

From the Bayside Banner:

A drive-by shooting on Saturday evening claimed the life of an eighteen-year-old pregnant woman at a downtown bus stop. The woman was rushed to Oceana General, where she was placed on life support until her baby girl was delivered by Caesarean section.

Kay Logan, a member of the board of directors of Lydia House, a nonprofit organization that helps homeless young women get their lives on track, said, “Jennifer Harper was once a teen runaway from the Midwest and was living on the street when she first came to Lydia House. She was well on her way to becoming a success story until this senseless tragedy occurred.”

According to Mrs. Logan, funeral services for the single mother will be held at 2:00 p.m. this Saturday at the Bayside Community Church.

A hospital spokesman reported the five-pound two-ounce newborn was doing well and would be placed in foster care.

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

Epilogue

Lieutenant Brett Tanner had never done anything so stupid.

Not since he joined the U.S. Navy ten years ago.

And he damn sure didn’t know why he did it now, after all this time. Curiosity, he supposed, but for some reason he felt compelled to drive by the house, to peer from a safe distance. To make sure his kid was okay.

He rode his black Harley Softail past the high school, where he’d first met Kelly, his son’s mother, and turned left at the fire station. The old neighborhood appeared the same, but he knew better.

The bike made another left onto Periwinkle Lane, as though it didn’t need a rider, then slowed to a stop.

Brett cut the engine before he reached the cul-de-sac, where the two-story house stood in silent testimony of the things that had remained the same.

And the things that hadn’t.

The outside walls boasted creamy-white stucco. And the wood trim was painted a pale teal—something Kelly had repeatedly told him had needed to be done. Something he’d never gotten around to, since he’d been deployed most of the short time they’d been together.

The grass, obviously fertilized, was a deep shade of green and had been newly mown, the edges cut straight. A rainbow spray of flowers grew along the sidewalk—from the front porch to the drive, where a late-model, white Chevy pickup and a blue minivan rested.

For a moment, he had a masochistic urge to leave the Harley parked at the curb and saunter up the walk like he still owned the place.

But he remained rooted to the spot.

On a couple occasions he’d reconsidered his decision to walk away from his son without a fight. But that was only after having one too many beers. When he was thinking clearly, he knew he’d done the right thing.

His son, a little boy Brett hadn’t seen since he was two, deserved to be happy.

Why confuse the poor kid and screw him up now? Too much time had passed, and David Hopkins was the only dad Justin had ever known.

Besides, with the duty Brett pulled, he’d be in and out of the kid’s life like he was pushing through a revolving door. What good was that?