Delores Fossen - Lucas

A Texas Lawman will do anything to protect his son—even if it includes reuniting with the boy’s on-the-run mother…

Lucas Ryland always had a way with the ladies—until Hailey Darrow dropped him after a shared night of passion. Then he discovered her unconscious body in a wrecked car, with a fake ID and enough cash to disappear. Unbeknownst to him, the one who got away was leaving town with his baby…

Now Hailey is out of her coma and still in danger. But hiding her at his Silver Creek ranch ignites old passions…and introduces new dangers. Lucas must use every protective instinct in his arsenal to keep Hailey and their infant son safe. And keep his body from remembering how good it felt to hold her in his arms…

The Lawmen of Silver Creek Ranch

Before he could talk himself out of it, Lucas reached out and pulled her into his arms.

“I’m just so scared,” she admitted. “Not for me but for Camden and you. For your family.”

“No one is going to hurt Camden or my family,” he assured her. Not that he was in a position to give that kind of assurance. Not with hired guns after them. Still, those hired guns would have to get past him, and since he was protecting his son, Lucas had no intentions of making that easy for them.

Hailey looked up at him at the exact moment he looked down at her. He was so not ready for this. Well, his mind and heart weren’t anyway, but the rest of him seemed to think it was a good idea to kiss her or something.

Especially something.

The heat came. Memories, too. Vivid memories of Hailey naked and beneath him in his bed.

The very bed that was just up the hall.

Lucas

Delores Fossen

www.millsandboon.co.uk

DELORES FOSSEN, a USA TODAY bestselling author, has sold over fifty novels with millions of copies of her books in print worldwide. She’s received a Booksellers’ Best Award and an RT Reviewers’ Choice Best Book Award. She was also a finalist for a prestigious RITA® Award. You can contact the author through her website at www.deloresfossen.com.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text A Texas Lawman will do anything to protect his son—even if it includes reuniting with the boy’s on-the-run mother… Lucas Ryland always had a way with the ladies—until Hailey Darrow dropped him after a shared night of passion. Then he discovered her unconscious body in a wrecked car, with a fake ID and enough cash to disappear. Unbeknownst to him, the one who got away was leaving town with his baby… Now Hailey is out of her coma and still in danger. But hiding her at his Silver Creek ranch ignites old passions…and introduces new dangers. Lucas must use every protective instinct in his arsenal to keep Hailey and their infant son safe. And keep his body from remembering how good it felt to hold her in his arms… The Lawmen of Silver Creek Ranch

Introduction Before he could talk himself out of it, Lucas reached out and pulled her into his arms. “I’m just so scared,” she admitted. “Not for me but for Camden and you. For your family.” “No one is going to hurt Camden or my family,” he assured her. Not that he was in a position to give that kind of assurance. Not with hired guns after them. Still, those hired guns would have to get past him, and since he was protecting his son, Lucas had no intentions of making that easy for them. Hailey looked up at him at the exact moment he looked down at her. He was so not ready for this. Well, his mind and heart weren’t anyway, but the rest of him seemed to think it was a good idea to kiss her or something. Especially something. The heat came. Memories, too. Vivid memories of Hailey naked and beneath him in his bed. The very bed that was just up the hall.

Title Page Lucas Delores Fossen www.millsandboon.co.uk

About the Author DELORES FOSSEN, a USA TODAY bestselling author, has sold over fifty novels with millions of copies of her books in print worldwide. She’s received a Booksellers’ Best Award and an RT Reviewers’ Choice Best Book Award. She was also a finalist for a prestigious RITA® Award. You can contact the author through her website at www.deloresfossen.com .

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

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

Texas Ranger Lucas Ryland stared at the bed in the room at the Silver Creek Hospital.

It was empty.

He touched his fingers to the sterile white covers, already knowing they wouldn’t be warm. According to the doctor, no one had been in that bed for at least the last fifteen minutes.

Maybe longer.

Mumbling something that Lucas didn’t catch, Dr. Alfred Parton paced across the room. The doctor had already told Lucas that he wasn’t sure how long the patient had been missing. That was one of the first things he had told Lucas when he called him. Of course, first Dr. Parton had dropped the bombshell.

Hailey Darrow is gone.

Lucas had rushed to the hospital to see for himself. And now that he had seen the empty bed with his own eyes, it didn’t help with the jolt of adrenaline he’d gotten.

“How the hell did this happen?” Lucas demanded.

“No idea.” Dr. Alfred Parton scrubbed his hand over his balding head, something he’d been doing a lot since Lucas had arrived. “I’ve asked everyone on the staff, and no one knows. But Hailey must have had some help. She wouldn’t have been able to get up and just walk out of here.”

No. Not after being in a coma for three months. She wouldn’t have been able to stand on her own, much less get out of the bed and leave the building.

Of course, that only brought on a boatload of questions for Lucas—had she awakened and managed to talk someone into helping her leave? It was a valid concern, because the last time Lucas had seen Hailey conscious, she’d been nine months pregnant with their child and running. Not just from some guy who’d been chasing her.

But also running from him.

He’d found her, finally, unconscious from a car accident. She’d plowed into a tree, and a limb that’d come through the windshield had given her a nasty head injury. She’d also had a fake ID and enough cash for Lucas to know that she had planned on disappearing.

Even now, three months later, that felt like a punch to the gut, but a “punched gut” feeling pretty much described his entire relationship with Hailey for the year he’d known her.

“We have some security cameras,” the doctor explained, “but none back here in this part of the hospital. They’re at the front entrance, the ER and the pharmacy. We’re still looking, but she’s not on any of that footage.”

Which meant she might still be inside the place. It wasn’t a huge hospital, but there were clinics, storage closets and probably some unoccupied rooms.

“You think she’ll try to go to the Silver Creek Ranch?” the doc asked.

Lucas cursed and yanked out his phone. He’d been so shocked by the news that Hailey was missing that he hadn’t even considered the next step of how this might play out.

But, yeah, if she was capable of moving, she would almost certainly try to get to his cousins’ ranch, where Lucas now lived. Hailey would try to get to the baby.