Emilie Rose - The Secrets of Her Past

An irresistible attraction!

Veterinarian Madison Monroe faces her days by ignoring her past. That’s impossible when her former brother-in-law Adam Drake appears. She’d love to refuse his demands for help—who needs his attitude? But she owes the family. So fine, she’ll work at their vet clinic, then walk away.

Easier said than done. Being with Adam shows the differences between the twin brothers. Intense and intriguing Adam makes her feel things she never felt before. Worse, Adam gets past her defenses, putting her carefully hidden secrets in jeopardy. And once the truth comes to light, everything will change!

Had Adam always been this handsome?

Of course he had. He looked just like Andrew, only with shorter hair, more muscles and a scowl that was somehow more attractive than his brother’s charming grins had been.

Why was he here?

“This way,” he said before Madison could ask, and jerked his chin toward the end of the building from which he’d come. He reached for her bag, and in her confusion over his appearance, she didn’t release it fast enough.

The heat of his hand covered hers on the handle and the contact zapped her. She snatched the tingling extremity away, and her pulse skittered out of control.

Static electricity. That’s all it is.

Who was she trying to fool? Warmth pooled low in her belly. She squashed that reaction.

His gaze snapped to hers, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

She carefully blanked her expression until he pivoted and headed for a pair of glass doors on the opposite side of the building from where she’d parked. A slow breath leaked from her lungs. For pity’s sake. You’d think she’d never been touched by a man before. She hadn’t in a long time. Years, actually. But still, celibacy was no excuse for her neglected hormones to start tap-dancing now, and for Andrew’s brother no less.

Dear Reader,

There are those who say you only get one chance at true love, and if you choose unwisely romance is over for you forever.

I’m not one of those people.

I believe in second chances. I believe that growing older makes us wiser and teaches us what’s really important in life and in a partner. Sometimes we find the one we were meant to be with only after we’ve earned a few bumps and bruises on our heart. I finally found my soul mate, and in this story Madison finds hers, but to do so she must face her painful past, overcome her fears and risk her wounded heart to see past the superficial and into the heart of the man who was meant for her.

Come back to Quincey, North Carolina, with me. It’s a fictional town in the countryside through which I love to drive.

Happy reading!

Emilie Rose

The Secrets of Her Past

Emilie Rose

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bestselling Harlequin author and RITA® Award finalist Emilie Rose lives in her native North Carolina with her own romance book hero and two adopted mutts. Her four sons have flown the coop. Writing is her third (and hopefully her last) career. She’s managed a medical office and run a home day care, neither of which offers half as much satisfaction as plotting happy endings. Her hobbies include gardening, fishing and cooking (especially cheesecake). She’s a country music fan because she can find an entire book in almost any song. She is currently working her way through her own “bucket list.” Visit her website, www.emilierose.com, or email her at EmilieRoseC@aol.com. Letters can be mailed to P.O. Box 20145, Raleigh, NC 27619.

To my own romance book hero.

We have traveled some very bumpy roads to find exactly where we were meant to be—with each other.

Contents

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

Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE

“BRING MADISON HOME.”

Tension and loathing snatched a knot in Adam’s gut at the sound of his former sister-in-law’s name. He stared at his father across the motor home’s small galley table. “I know your diagnosis was a shock, but bringing her back into our lives would be a mistake.”

“I disagree. At times like this we need family support.”

“She’s not family, Dad. Not anymore. By her choice.”

“Madison wasn’t responsible for your brother’s death. The ice storm was.”

“Even if that was true—” and it wasn’t “—she betrayed you. After all you and Mom did for her, Madison took the life insurance money and disappeared immediately after Andrew’s funeral, and she hasn’t bothered to call and check on you since. Family wouldn’t do that.”

“Madison was grieving, too, son, in her own way. She lost her husband and her son that night.”

“A baby she didn’t want.” His father’s stubborn refusal to accept reality made Adam want to punch something.

“You can’t know that, son.”

“I know what Andrew told me. He said she resented the pregnancy.”

“You only heard one side of the story. The pregnancy might have been unplanned and the timing less than ideal, but Madison would have been a good momma once the little one arrived.”

“Damn it, Dad, her carelessness killed—” An abrupt slicing motion of his father’s hand made Adam bite back his words. Danny Drake had never been willing to hear anything negative against the woman he’d loved like a daughter.

Adam tried again—this time with cold, hard facts. “She was ticketed for ‘driving too fast for conditions.’ Your son and grandson died in that wreck, and she walked away with barely a scratch. How can you not hold her responsible?”

“Not all wounds are visible. She was injured enough to miscarry her baby. Placing blame doesn’t change what’s happened. Andrew is gone. Holding on to your anger won’t bring him back.

“You asked what you could do for me, Adam. I’m telling you. If I’m going to devote all my energy to beating this cancer, then I need to know my practice is in good hands. Madison is the only veterinarian I trust to do things my way while I’m out of commission.”

“But you know nothing about what she’s been doing since she left.”

“Wrong. I’ve been keeping tabs on our girl. Bring her home, son, or I’ll skip the surgery and take my chances with the chemotherapy radiation treatments. At least then I won’t have to miss as much work.”

“The odds of a nonsurgical approach—”

“I know the damned odds,” his father snapped, then took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “Ripping my rib out to get to my lung is going to sideline me for months. I need backup. Reliable backup. This is my cancer. My fight. And I’ll do it my way. Bring. Madison. Home.”

His father snatched up his newspaper and stormed from the galley down the short hall and into the bedroom, his footsteps shaking the motor home in which Adam’s parents had been living since beginning the renovations on their house. The door slammed shut.

Frustrated by his father’s refusal to listen to reason, Adam balled his fists. What choice did he have except to comply if he wanted his father to take the most successful course of treatment?

Adam had to go after the one woman he never wanted to see again. If he succeeded, would he finally win his father’s approval?

* * *

A GHOST ROSE from the rocking chair on Madison’s front porch, freezing her fatigued muscles with icy horror and chilling the sweat on her skin.

No. Not a ghost—ghosts weren’t tall and tanned. They didn’t plant fists on lean hips and scowl with hatred-filled blue-green eyes and flattened lips.