Jeannie Watt - Her Mountain Sanctuary

Is he a threat...or her protector?

Barrel racer Faith Hartman hasn’t set foot in a rodeo since she was attacked two years ago. Just when she’s ready to move on, along comes Drew Miller, a dead ringer for her assailant...and her new neighbor. Faith wants to give Drew the benefit of the doubt, but every time he’s near, her fight-or-flight instinct goes into overdrive.

When the solitary veteran asks Faith to give him and his daughter riding lessons, the obvious answer is no. She can’t risk setting back her rodeo dreams—or her recovery. Still, Faith is drawn to Drew’s quiet strength, and the hint of vulnerability that suggests he’s battling his own demons, too...

JEANNIE WATT lives on a small cattle ranch in Montana’s beautiful Madison Valley. When she’s not writing, Jeannie serves as the tractor copilot (aka the gate-opener/cattle-fender-offer). She enjoys horseback riding, reading, sewing and knitting.

Also By Jeannie Watt

The Brodys of Lightning Creek

To Tempt a Cowgirl

To Kiss a Cowgirl

To Court a Cowgirl

Molly’s Mr. Wrong

Wrangling the Rancher

The Montana Way

Once a Champion

Cowgirl in High Heels

All for a Cowboy

Montana Bull Riders

The Bull Rider Meets His Match

The Bull Rider’s Homecoming

A Bull Rider to Depend On

The Bull Rider’s Plan

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Her Mountain Sanctuary

Jeannie Watt

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08289-1

HER MOUNTAIN SANCTUARY

© 2018 Jeannie Steinman

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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“Faith Hartman?”

The unexpected sound of her name brought her head up and she found herself staring into ice-blue eyes. It took her a second to find her voice, because this guy—this tall, dark, trigger-inducing man—couldn’t be pixie-like Debra’s brother. Could he?

She cleared her throat and managed to say “Yes, I’m Faith” in a remarkably normal voice.

“Drew Miller.”

Worst nightmare coming true. She somehow managed to force her lips into a smile as excuses started tumbling over themselves in her brain. Her schedule had changed...she’d decided not to take on clients...her job was taking up more time than she’d anticipated...

Get a grip.

She really hoped she could. More than once she’d left public places because of people who reminded her of her assailant. But grip or not, she wasn’t going to be spending time with this guy. How could she if having him sit across the table from her made her heart race?

And the worst part was that he was her new neighbor.

Dear Reader,

We all have moments when we want to get away—to escape the reality of our lives, regroup and rejuvenate. In this story, both the hero and heroine have experienced life-altering traumas, escaped to heal and are now finding their way back.

Faith Hartman has spent a year recovering from an assault and is now actively working to put her life back on track and reclaim her place in the rodeo world. My hero, Drew, on the other hand, is still working through his pain and looking for strategies to help him build a life for him and his young daughter. When he approaches Faith for riding lessons, he never dreams that he’ll end up traveling the state, acting as her bodyguard as she competes in rodeos...or that he’s going to fall in love with her.

Drew and Faith had a rough journey toward their happily-ever-after, and they beat me up a little on the way. I didn’t mind, though. It was worth it to get these two together.

Happy reading,

Jeannie Watt

I’d like to dedicate this book to those who stood beside me on my writing journey—Mom and Dick, Gary, Jamie and Jake, Mike Allen, Charlie Hauntz. Thank you for all of your encouragement. It helped so much.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Dedication

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

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Extract

About the Publisher

CHAPTER ONE

DREW MILLER WOKE as he hit the floor, a scream catching in his throat.

The brilliant orange yet eerily silent flash from the blast faded into the night as his eyes snapped open. Kicking himself free of the sheets, he lay on the cold floor next to the bed, taking deep, gulping breaths. Sweat beaded on his forehead as his eyes adjusted to the moonlit loft. He pushed up to a sitting position and took in the damage. The lamp had taken another hit, and the books he’d had on the nightstand were strewn across the room.

Shit.

He looked at his knuckles—no blood this time—then leaned back against the bed, drawing his knees up and resting his forearms on them, letting his head fall forward. It didn’t take a whole lot of thought to connect the nightmare to the second anniversary of his wife’s death, but he hadn’t dreamed of Lissa. He’d dreamed of the roadside bomb that had taken out his convoy a year ago. As always.