Christyne Butler - His Destiny Bride

Nolan cut off the thought. It didn’t make any sense to go down a path that could only lead to trouble.

Not just for him. Or her.

There was a whole group of people who’d be affected if he allowed—

Damn, there I go again!

He curled his fingers into a tight fist and pushed aside one image for another, bringing to mind the one person who’d caught—and held—his attention tonight.

And who explained his surprising state of arousal.

Everyone was here to be looked at. It was the point of a costume party, he guessed. When he felt the hairs stand up on the back of his neck, despite the crazy wig, he turned and found her staring.

His first thought had been she was a pretty sexy-looking clown, until the pieces of her outfit came together as a Batman villainess, a cool throwback to his youthful preference for the bad girl.

Temptation to lessen the distance between them had filled him.

Surprised him.

So much so that when she got lost in the crowd moments later, he decided he would finish his beer and end the evening before he did something stupid.

He needed to call one of his brothers. Driving home was out of the question.

He slapped the pirate hat back on and started walking along the edge of the dance floor, holding tight to the costume’s overcoat. There was no way he’d let anything happen to it, considering this wasn’t a run-of-the-mill rental getup.

“There you are, lover!”

Luscious curves, warm and radiating a sexy scent of spicy vanilla and lime, slammed into his chest. Nolan instinctively wrapped his free arm around the woman’s svelte waistline, mostly to keep the both of them from toppling to the ground.

His first thought was that she must have mistaken him for someone else, but then her lips brushed at his ear. “Play along, please.”

Her whispered words, a fiery blast on his skin, surprised him. Her voice almost sounded familiar. “Hey, do I know—”

“But no booze. Whaz up with that?” The blonde switched to a nasally accent, her voice loud again as she gave him a quick squeeze and whirled back around, grabbing at his waist as she stumbled. “Ya see? Not for nuttin’, but I told yuz I had a fellow here. Now, amscray.”

Nolan had no idea what was going on.

The costumed guy standing in front of him resembled a deranged clown with his red hair and yellow jumpsuit. He was eyeing the beauty hanging on to Nolan with a nasty glare.

He pulled her closer and looked down, surprised to find he was holding the lady he’d caught checking him out earlier. A sexy Harley Quinn, right down to the character’s Brooklyn accent and attitude.

An attitude with a hint of fear.

“Me and my captain’s gotz plans. So yuz can move on,” she slurred, waving an empty glass jar in the air. “No interest here.”

“You were interested a few minutes ago,” the clown said.

“N-not really.” She dismissed him as she handed off the jar to a waitress. “Jusz passing time.”

“Just a tease,” the guy growled and took a step forward. “Typical of a drunken girl on the prowl—”

“That’s enough, matey.” Nolan slipped back into full pirate mode with the fake British tenor, his voice low as he angled himself between the clown and the lady. “The lass is taken. So you take a walk.”

“Or what? You’ll challenge me to a duel, Captain Kangaroo?”

The sword hanging from Nolan’s waist was a prop, but it’d do some damage. Still, he didn’t plan to be goaded into a fight.

He had no idea who this guy was, but he figured the jerk wasn’t a local. Hell, she probably wasn’t, either, but she obviously didn’t want anything to do with this clown.

“Oh, get lost.” Miss Quinn grabbed at Nolan’s vest, pressing those curves against him once more. “Come on, Cap’n Jack. Let’z dance.”

Dancing was the last thing Nolan wanted to do. Okay, last after fighting.

He was too old, too tired to deal with either tonight.

Yet he shuffled backward, watching the pissed-off clown stomping off into the crowd. Nolan could’ve escaped then from the slightly tipsy and very sexy bad girl in his arms and been on his way, too.

Instead he tossed common sense to the wind, cursed the booze floating in his veins and pulled her in close.

Chapter Two Contents Cover Introduction Girl, get over it! Another familiar refrain, one she’d repeated daily to herself over the last few weeks, echoed in her head. Getting back to normal—whatever that might be— was harder than she thought. That morning after Nolan left, she’d cleaned up the room as best she could. She then hurried home, determined to live up to the agreement they made. To make sure everything stayed the same. Between her and Nolan. Her and the Murphys. Her and the job she loved so much. Easier said than done. Yes, her actions had been dumb that night. Not just dumb, but careless, too. Hey, it wasn’t the first time she’d done something stupid in her never-ending search for— Nope, don’t use the L word. What happened that night had been a combination of lust, booze and foolishness. She’d been lucky the man she’d fallen into bed with had been someone like Nolan. To allow herself to think one night of great sex would lead to … to something … was crazy. He’d made his feelings about their night together clear when he said they should go on with their lives as if nothing had happened. Nothing. Yeah, right. Welcome to Destiny: Where fate leads to falling in love Title Page His Destiny Bride Christyne Butler www.millsandboon.co.uk About the Author CHRISTYNE BUTLER is a USA TODAY bestselling author who fell in love with romance novels while serving in the US Navy and started writing her own stories in 2002. She writes contemporary romances that are full of life, love and a hint of laughter. She lives with her family in central Massachusetts and loves to hear from her readers at www.christynebutler.com . Dedication To my sisters Peggy and Jennifer and the sisters of my heart, the Gamma Theta Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi. Thank you for letting me borrow your names to populate the characters, businesses and locations in my books … The yellow roses are always for you! 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 Extract Copyright

“It’z not Sinatra, but it’z slow.” Katie enjoyed the solid feel of the sexy pirate. She hoped she still sounded like the Brooklyn villainess she was pretending to be. This guy was as much of a stranger to her as that jerk from a moment ago. Her instincts told her she could trust him, but still... “Hang on, sailor. Thingz might get bumpy.”

“Don’t you think—”

Lost in the warmth of his embrace as a slow country song played, she reached up and found his mouth with her fingertips on the first try. Light pressure cut him off. “Naw, no thinking. No talking, no names. Jusz dancing.”

He went still for a moment, but then his lips creased into a smile and his arms tightened around her. Happy with his submission, she withdrew her hand, moving it downward over the softness of his goatee, the beads woven into his whiskers tapping against her fingers.

Slowly, she traced over his Adam’s apple, past his collarbone until her palm rested on his chest. His heart pounded fast beneath her touch in a cadence that matched hers.

Flying into a strange man’s arms probably wasn’t the best idea, but that clown-costumed jerk wouldn’t take no for an answer. And she hadn’t been flirting. With Peggy gone for the last hour thanks to her ex bailing on their sick son, Katie had partied on with more margaritas. She’d been heading for the exit when that joker got in her way and wouldn’t leave her alone.