Jennifer Lewis: The Maverick’s Virgin Mistress / Lone Star Seduction: The Maverick’s Virgin Mistress

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

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A mysterious fire on the Montoya ranch seems to be all anyone can talk about these days. Well, that and the fact that Justin dupree has been seen canoodling with an unnamed woman at The Millionaire’s Club. Could this be the same woman the Lone Star playboy has moved into his luxurious penthouse? because if we had to “name” this woman, we’d be calling her Alicia Montoya…and that would equal a whole passel of trouble.

For, not long ago, we recall a certain dupree brother accusing a certain Montoya brother of some dirty deeds. Has the hatchet been buried between these families…or is the feud about to go into overdrive when word of the dupree-Montoya merger (and we mean that, literally) gets out?

Jennifer Lewishas been dreaming up stories for as long as she can remember and is thrilled to be able to share them with readers. She has lived on both sides of the Atlantic and worked in media and the arts before she grew bold enough to put pen to paper. Happily settled in New York with her family, she would love to hear from readers at jen@jenlewis.com. Visit her website at www. jenlewis.com.

For Anne, Carol, Jerri, Kate, Leeanne and Marie

Dear Reader,

As you can probably tell from the title of this book, my heroine Alicia Montoya is a virgin. A twenty-six-year-old virgin.

I can already hear the scoffs of disbelief. People seem incredulous that a woman could grow into adulthood without ever experiencing sex. I suspect, however, that there are a lot more adult virgins out there than many people realize.

For Alicia, a strict convent-school upbringing and a protective older brother built a strong moral code and kept her chastity belt firmly locked. before she knew it, she’d missed that “window of opportunity” in the late teen years, when most of us dip our feet in the waters of sensuality.

It happens. I know people who were in the same situation. Outgoing, fun, friendly women who just never met the right person and suddenly found themselves in their mid-twenties, wondering what went wrong. At that point sexual inexperience can become awkward, an embarrassing and shameful secret.

Luckily for Alicia, she meets just the man to help her explore her sexuality in a nonjudgmental way. Alicia’s innocence and sweetness are, in turn, refreshing—and ultimately life changing—for jaded Justin dupree. I hope you enjoy reading their story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Jennifer Lewis

Who on earth could be calling at this time of night?

Alicia Montoya reached out from under the covers and groped for the phone on her bedside table. She squinted at the green numerals on the clock.

2:07. What the heck ?

She lifted the phone to her ear.

“Hello?”

“You’re okay. Thank God.”

“Who is this?” Her sleepy whisper was barely audible.

“Hi, beautiful.”

Oh, boy. His rich, deep voice flowed into her ear and started to awaken parts of her she’d never even known she had until she met Rick Jones. “Hi, Rick.”

“I’m so glad you’re fine.”

Alicia glanced at the clock again. “I was fine until the phone woke me. Didn’t I tell you not to call me at home?”

She wondered if her brother Alex had heard the phone. Probably. She was a deep sleeper so it may have been ringing for a while.

Pretty much nothing could happen in the Houston-metro area without her brother being aware of it. Any minute now he’d come barreling in to see what was going on.

“Sweetheart, are you sure you’re not married?” Rick teased her relentlessly about her insistence on keeping their relationship secret.

If you could call it a relationship. They hadn’t actually kissed yet, but they’d held hands once. That counted, right?

“I’m most definitely not married.” She laughed. “Not even close. But I told you my brother is insanely overprotective. Believe me, you do not want him to know you’re calling me at two in the morning.”

“Why not? You’re a grown woman. You can do whatever you want at two in the morning.” His tone suggested there were some delicious things they could be doing together at this very moment.

Alicia wriggled under her warm sheets. What would it be like to have Rick right here in bed with her? To run her fingertips over his hard chest or through his silky dark hair?

She had no idea what that would be like, and if Alex learned about Rick, she wouldn’t get a chance to find out.

“Trust me on this. It’s better if he doesn’t know about you. Why are you calling me in the middle of the night, anyway? To torment me with the sound of your sexy voice?”

She smiled in the privacy of darkness. She’d never met a man she felt so comfortable around. With Rick, she could relax enough to tease and flirt. To just…be herself.

“Actually, I was calling to see if you’re okay. I’m watching TV and there’s breaking coverage of a big fire in Somerset right now. It’s hard to tell what’s going on in the dark but it almost looks like El Diablo.”

“What?” Alicia wondered if she was dreaming. “Our ranch is fine.”

Still, fear pricked through her and she slid out of bed onto the cool wood floor. “Hold on, let me look out the window.” She hurried across the room and pulled back the thick curtains.

“Oh, my God.” Her hand flew to her mouth. An orange glow pierced the darkness.

The flashing lights of emergency vehicles moved along the drive through the ranch, and even through the insulated glass she heard the throb of a helicopter circling overhead.

“It’s on fire! The barn! Oh, no, the animals are in there—” She darted across the dark room to the closet.

“I’m coming over.”

“No, please don’t.” Panic flashed through her as she tugged on jeans under her nightshirt. “Whatever’s going on, you coming here will make it worse. I have to find Alex. The calves…” She struggled to pull on a pair of boots. “I’ve got to go.”

“Please, let me come.”

“No, Rick. Not now. I’ll call you as soon as I can.” She hung up the phone.

“Alex!” She called out into the hallway of the big ranch house.

A light shone downstairs, and Alex’s bedroom door stood open. “Alex, are you here?”

No answer.

She dashed down the stairs two at a time and ran to the front door. She opened it to the smell of smoke and the wail of sirens.

A mass of heaving flame engulfed the barn roof and lit the darkness all the way to the house. “Alex!”

Alicia took off running across the lawn that separated the house from the barn. She could see figures moving, running in the eerie glow from the fire. Shouting mingled with the roar of flames crackling, wood splintering and water gushing from hoses.

“Alex, where are you?” Fear made her voice crack.

Alex was always at the center of everything. She knew with every cell of her body that he was inside that burning barn.

Heart pounding, she raced toward the fire. He might be bossy and overbearing, but he was also the best brother and the warmest, most caring man in the world.