Lori Wilde - Mistletoe & Mayhem

Two brand-new stories in every volume…twice a month!

Duets Vol. #39

“Colleen Collins is a real find,” says Under the Covers, and there’s no doubt Colleen is one of the funniest authors around. Joining her in this volume is talented Darlene Gardner, an Intimate Moments writer making her Duets debut with a hilarious story!

Duets Vol. #40

According to Romantic Times, Cara Summers “thrills us with her fresh, exciting voice…rich characterization and spicy adventure.” Teaming up with Cara in this humorous Christmas volume is talented Lori Wilde, who has more than ten books to her credit.

Be sure to pick up both Duets volumes today!

Mistletoe & Mayhem

Cara Summers

Santa’s Sexy Secret

Lori Wilde

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Mistletoe & Mayhem Mistletoe & Mayhem Cara Summers

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Epilogue

Santa’s Sexy Secret

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Mistletoe & Mayhem

Cara Summers

Shane fought to control his breathing. He looked at Jodie, expecting to find her embarrassed, angry even. Instead in her eyes was pure, unadulterated glee. Obviously noticing his confusion, Jodie let out a delighted chuckle.

“Aren’t you upset about what that kid saw? The two of us necking like…” Shane’s throat dried up at the thought of how far he would have liked to have taken the interlude. “Do you realize he thinks we’re—”

“Lovers.” Nodding, Jodie burst into a fresh wave of giggles. “Don’t you see? I’ve been trying so hard to change my image in this town. I’m tired of being poor, predictable Jodie. And now they’ll think that you and I, that we…Oh, I wish I’d thought fast enough to introduce you as the gardener.”

“The gardener? Why would you want a gardener at this time of year?”

“So I could be the Lady Chatterley of Castleton, New York,” she quipped. “After all, if people are going to talk, we might as well give them something to talk about….”

Dear Reader,

When my editor asked me if I wanted to set my romantic comedy in the holiday season, I jumped at the chance. After all, Christmas has got to be the most perfect time of year to fall in love.

The only problem was that my hero and heroine wouldn’t cooperate. Jodie and Shane simply didn’t have time to fall in love, let alone time to think about Christmas. They were much too busy trying to catch Jodie’s embezzling ex-fiancé, who’d just escaped from jail. Only, they kept getting in each other’s way…. And this led to a whole lot of mayhem…and many, many moments under the mistletoe!

I hope you have as much fun watching Shane and Jodie fall in love as I did bringing them together.

Merry Christmas!

Cara Summers

P.S. I’d love to hear what you think. You can write to me at: P.O. Box 327, Dewitt, NY 13214.

To Heather Smith Hanlon, my new daughter-in-law. I always wanted a daughter, and I’m so lucky to finally have one as nice as you. Welcome to the family.

“I WANT TO BUY A GUN.”

Jodie Freemont barely kept herself from wincing at the blunt way she’d blurted out her request. But the moment she’d actually seen the gun lying in the display case, the little speech she’d been working on all morning had flown right out of her mind.

Glancing around, she saw that everyone in Hank Jefferson’s sporting goods store was staring at her, including the tall, handsome stranger testing a fishing pole. And Alicia Finnerty, Castleton’s number one gossip, had stopped chattering to him in mid sentence.

In the sudden silence the music pouring out of the radio behind the counter seemed to grow louder. “All I want for Christmas is…”

“That gun.” Jodie quickly pointed to the smallest pistol in the case before she could change her mind. “Could I hold it?”

“I can’t sell you a gun.” As if to emphasize his point, Hank moved forward and planted his hands, palms down, on the glass-topped counter.

Jodie peered between Hank’s thick fingers, trying to keep the gun she’d chosen in view. Visualize Your Goal. In her mind, she pictured yesterday’s motto of the day, one of many that her landlady Sophie Rutherford had been magnetizing to her refrigerator door over the past two months. She’d had plenty of time to practice her visualization skills last night while she’d listened to a prowler walk stealthily across the attic floor.

For just a second, the memory flashed through her—the creak of a board, the tension curling cold and tight in her stomach, the icy shivers shooting through her veins while she waited for the next sound…and the next.

Picturing a gun in her hand had helped her to keep the fear at bay.

But the one she’d imagined had seemed smaller, less lethal-looking than the one in the display case. How would it feel in her hand, she wondered? If she could lift it, would she actually be able to point it at someone and shoot it?

Raising her eyes to Hank’s, she said, “If you’re worried that I can’t afford it, I have cash.”

Hank leaned closer, pitching his voice low. “You’ve got every reason to be feeling a little low, losing your fiancé and your house all in the space of a few months. But what you need is a new young man, not a gun. Billy Rutherford isn’t the only fish in the sea.” Moving around the counter, Hank took Jodie’s arm, patting it gently as he steered her up the aisle. “See that man at the cash register, the one with the fishing pole. He’s new in town.” Pausing, Hank winked at her. “And the Mistletoe Ball is less than a week away. Let me introduce you to—”

Jodie stopped short. “I didn’t come here for an introduction.” Or a date! She barely kept herself from shouting the words. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the man with the fishing pole smile. He’d heard her whole life story and now he was laughing at her.

Next to him Alicia Finnerty had her mouth open like a guppy, absorbing the whole scene.

“My mother told me not to have anything to do with strangers,” Jodie said and immediately bit her tongue. She sounded like a prude. When the stranger’s grin widened, anger mixed with her embarrassment.

“That was good advice when you were young,” Hank said, still keeping his voice low, “but you’re a grown woman now, and you don’t want to spend all your life pining away for a man who walked away.”

Like your mother did. Hank didn’t say the words out loud, but Jodie could hear them hanging in the air before she said, “I won’t. I’m not. What I need right now is a gun.”