Anna Stewart - Always The Hero

He never relied on anyone but himself...

But he needs her now!

Butterfly Harbor deputy Matt Knight wants two things: to date Lori Bradley and the chance to adopt Kyle, a troubled teen. Wounded in Afghanistan, Matt knows he can’t move forward anchored to the past. But once he regains the guarded hotel manager’s trust, will his need to protect those he loves cost him a future with this extraordinary woman?

Bestselling author ANNA J. STEWART can’t remember a time she wasn’t making up stories. Raised in San Francisco, she quickly found her calling as a romance writer when she discovered the used bookstore in her neighborhood had an entire wall dedicated to the genre. Her favorites? Harlequins, of course. A generous owner had her refilling her bag of books every Saturday morning, and soon her pen met paper and she never looked back—much to the detriment of her high school education. Anna currently lives in Northern California, where she continues to write up a storm, binge watches her favorite TV shows and movies, and spends as much time as she can with her family and friends...and her cat, Snickers, who, let’s face it, rules the house.

Also By Anna J. Stewart

Honor Bound

Reunited with the P.I.

More Than a Lawman

Gone in the Night

A Dad for Charlie

Recipe for Redemption

The Bad Boy of Butterfly Harbor

Christmas, Actually

“The Christmas Wish”

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Always the Hero

Anna J. Stewart

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08294-5

ALWAYS THE HERO

© 2018 Anna J. Stewart

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

All Lori wanted to do was wrap her own arms around him and never let go.

“I like how you’re always thinking,” he whispered and pressed his forehead against hers. “Smart girls are hot.”

Tears prickled the back of her eyes, tightened her throat. Why did he do this to her? Make her want the one thing she knew would only hurt her in the end? Why did he let her believe in something that could never be hers? “So are men in uniform,” she said before she could stop herself. “But you know what?” With more strength than she thought she possessed, she planted her hands flat on his chest and pushed herself away. “Friends don’t kiss friends like that.”

“No.” Matt caught one of her hands before she could pull free. “No, they don’t. But maybe I’m on my way to earning another chance at being something other than friends.”

Dear Reader,

Welcome back to Butterfly Harbor.

When I “met” Lori Bradley, she was one of those solid background characters I knew would pop up occasionally. So, thinking she’d be in the shadows, I made her a little like me. Okay, I made her a lot like me, which means this is probably the most personal book I’ve written to date. I think if you ask, a lot of authors will admit to putting bits of themselves into their characters or, if they don’t, they put other people they know into them. It’s the nature of the art. The fun part of the story was finding her “match.” Lori isn’t the only woman who falls for Matt Knight. I kinda did, too.

Matt Knight made his first appearance in The Bad Boy of Butterfly Harbor. Like Lori, he was really just supposed to be a one-scene walk-on, but when he arrived he was so much more. Burly, a touch of Southern good old boy and a former soldier who has seen more than his share of tragedy. He’s as honorable as they come, sometimes to a fault.

For me, this story proves you never realize who you truly are until you see yourself through someone else’s eyes. When someone else believes in you, challenges you, that’s when you become who you’re meant to be, which is precisely what Matt and Lori do.

I hope you enjoy their story, and the stories still to come. And yes, before you ask, Kendall will be getting her own story soon.

Anna J.

For Victoria Curran

Whatever comes next is because you said yes

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

Extract

About the Publisher

CHAPTER ONE

DEPUTY MATT KNIGHT sat at his desk and stared at the divorce papers that had taken him three years to have drawn up. He stared at the black on white print, the familiar words blurring behind tired eyes.

“Just sign the thing already.” Even as he muttered to himself, his fingers tightened to the point of going numb. What on earth was stopping him? It wasn’t as if divorce was some big taboo these days. He certainly wasn’t holding out hope for a reconciliation. How could he when his soon-to-be ex had made it perfectly clear—well before Matt’s discharge papers from the army had been processed—that she’d moved on. There was no ill will. There were no feelings at all. It only made sense. If he was serious about moving on with his life, serious about becoming a father to an abandoned troubled teen, it was time to cut ties and start over.

His stomach knotted. Signing his name was the right thing to do. For everyone. And yet...

If only signing the decree didn’t mean admitting he’d failed. Matt had spent a good portion of his thirty-two years determined to avoid anything close to failure. He couldn’t shake the deadening sensation that writing his name only proved his father right.