Anna DeStefano - The Runaway Daughter

“I know.” She couldn’t look at him and stay focused, so she made herself let his hand go. A few more inches between them would be a good idea, too. She couldn’t make her body scoot away, so she grabbed on to harsh realities to create the distance she needed. “Running around town with a baby she’s not supposed to have might just get Maggie killed.”

“Then help me find her before anyone else does.” The desperation in Tony’s expression drew her in even further. “Help me protect my niece.”

She gave up her fight not to put her arms around him. Focusing on only the job had never seemed more impossible. Tony’s initial resistance melted into the kind of rib-crushing hug that confirmed how much he’d needed the comfort she was offering.

No man had ever felt more right in her arms.

Dear Reader,

We live our lives. We work hard. We look at the world around us, decide what’s next and strike a new course. Life goes on, and so do we. Most of the time.

But a day’s hard work sometimes reveals less about where we want to go, and instead mirrors what we’ve left behind. The past we refuse to deal with. The disappointments that never really go away.

The Runaway Daughter takes us back to Oakwood, Georgia, and to the exciting small-town lives of the Rivers family. Tony Rivers is a sheriff’s deputy. A good ol’ boy who’s the life of every party. It’s either laugh or look back, and Tony never looks back. Chief Deputy Angie Carter, who’s working hard to forget her own disappointments, becomes his unwilling accomplice as he fights to protect his brother’s child.

Tony’s finished with losing the people he cares about, and he can’t keep his niece safe without Angie’s help. Looks as if the past is tired of being ignored, and so is the attraction that’s been brewing between these two for months.

I love to hear from my readers. Be sure to let me know what you think of The Runaway Daughter at www.annawrites.com.

Sincerely,

Anna

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Andrew—For all you’ve been, every precious day you give,

and the future shining in each beautiful smile.

TOA—You were there for the very first sentence.

May every blessing given be returned hundredfold.

This is your year, sweetie!

Tanya—To believe, to dream, to laugh. Your friendship is

the well I return to time and again. The stars are yours, my

friend. Breathe deep and enjoy the ride.

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

EPILOGUE

I SHOULDN’T BE DOING this.

Oakwood Chief Deputy Angie Carter had been trying to talk herself out of trouble, and the dingy pool hall, for over an hour.

The voice in her head knew what it was talking about. She’d let things go too far, which made her an idiot. Playing with fire like this would only get her singed.

But tonight, her let’s be reasonable voice wasn’t having its say.

Her hand slid higher, on a mission she couldn’t stop. Up miles of strong muscles and across the soft, warm cotton that covered the chest leaning into hers. His arms pulled her more solidly against him. Her fingers tangled in his dark brown hair.

I shouldn’t be doing this….

Oh yes, you should.

“Mmm.” His warm lips nibbled from her ear down her neck. “So this is what a lady sheriff tastes like.”

“Not…” She gasped as his hands skimmed the undersides of her breasts. “Not the new sheriff yet. But still—”

His mouth settled over hers, swallowing the second thoughts he wouldn’t let her finish. At thirty-five she was ten years his senior, more experienced both in the department and in life. With more at stake. And he…he was too young, and too handsome, and far too good at kissing to heed warnings she’d stopped listening to hours ago.

I’m not going to do this….

“N…No.” She pushed away from the wall of muscle pressed against her, the craving to lose herself in its heat nearly her undoing.

Hell yeah, she wanted this. She’d wanted it for months. But what she wanted and the crumbs life actually threw her way were two different things. A gem of reality she’d learned three years ago, when the life she’d had by the tail had crashed and burned around her.

She pulled away. A traitorous sigh escaped when his lips grazed her cheek. “No more. We shouldn’t… We can’t—”

“Feels a lot like we can to me.” His eyes twinkled with mischief, but he loosened his hold and let her slide to the far corner of the booth.

She glanced around the shadowy bar, relieved that the Eight Ball was deserted. It was late at night in the middle of a work week, and every other sane person in town was home in bed.

“No one’s here to see your fall from grace, darlin’.” He followed her gaze. His deep chuckle made her ache to pull him closer again. He looked too amazing in his Wranglers and vintage Harley-Davidson T-shirt. Too much like something she could get used to wanting.

Why did he have to find fun in everything he did? Why did she have to envy him the talent?

The lightness he brought to every situation—even the tough ones they often faced on the job, or as they did volunteer work with some of the more mixed-up kids at Oakwood’s youth center—was a constant temptation. Terrifying was a better word for the way his laughter drew her in.

Why hadn’t they left well enough alone? People didn’t stumble over friendships like theirs every day. He was easy to like, easy to hang out with, this man who’d cornered the market on forgetting the past— the very thing she longed to be a pro at herself.

Then she’d gone and let herself want more.

“Tonight was a mistake,” she sputtered.

A real stupid move, and she wasn’t stupid.

Not anymore.

“Mistakes aren’t always bad, Carter.” He used her last name, the way officers addressed each other. Like a peer on the force. A good buddy.

Only this was the buddy she’d just been crawling all over. And he never called her Carter in that lazy, sinful way when they were on duty.

She applied the back of her hand to her lips and wiped. Sipped her now-warm beer. If she couldn’t taste him anymore, she’d have a shot at damage control.

“I’m ten years older than you are.”

“Damn straight! I like my women more experienced and ready to teach me somethin’.”

“Don’t be an ass.” If whatever this was between them was about sexual experience, he was a dirty old man, and she was the jailbait.

He tipped back his own longneck bottle and raised an eyebrow at her get-real glare.

“Okay,” he conceded. “Maybe I like a challenge. Pushing limits can be a whole lot of fun.”

“If getting fired is the kind of limit you’re looking to blow, then I’m your girl.”

“No one’s getting fired.” His settled his shoulders against the cushioned seat with a thump. “Lighten up, will ya?” There wasn’t much punch behind his complaint. Without looking her in the eye, he toyed with the label he’d shredded off his beer. “Why is everything so damn serious with you? You’ve got so much moody bottled up inside, you feel enough for ten people. Probably why we’re such a good fit.” He chuckled. “Lord knows, there’s no other woman in town who’d get me within ten feet of talking about feelings.”