Myrna Mackenzie - Her Millionaire, His Miracle

“Today must have been hard. Having me lean and rely on you to cover for any mistakes I made.”

Eden pulled back. “No! Don’t think that. It wasn’t at all like that. I—you’re so obviously a master at what you do. I was just there today as a helper.”

He cupped his hands around her face. “I don’t want to ask more of you than you feel comfortable giving, so…tell me if I ever cross the line.”

His lips were a mere breath from hers, and he knew he was very much in danger of crossing the line right now. Her mouth was pure temptation, the scent of her drew him, enticed him. Her body felt so right this close. He wanted her.

“Tell me,” he said again.

“I will,” she said, the words coming out on a soft breath. “I promise I will.”

Myrna Mackenzieis a self-proclaimed ‘student of all things that concern women and their relationships’. An award-winning author of over thirty novels, Myrna was born in a small town in Dunklin County, Missouri, grew up just outside Chicago, and now divides her time between two lake areas, both very different and both very beautiful. She loves coffee, hiking, cruising the internet for interesting websites and ‘attempting’ gardening, cooking and knitting. Readers (and other potential gardeners, cooks, knitters, writers, etc…) can visit Myrna online at www.myrnamackenzie.com, or write to her at PO Box 225, La Grange, IL 60525, USA.

Dear Reader

Mills & Boon is celebrating its 100th anniversary! That’s a truly special milestone. For many of us, these were our first romances. They hold a momentous place in our hearts, and I’m honoured to be a part of this celebration of 100 years of joyous love stories and wonderful characters.

So…what makes a character in a story special? What is it that makes us admire certain people more than others? I’m sure we could all come up with a list. Mine keeps growing all the time. Here’s a little piece of it.

An admirable person:

1 Is kind to those less fortunate

2 Notices the shy person and gently helps them into the limelight

3 Takes time to appreciate the now

4 Is grateful for the small, precious gifts life offers and acknowledges them

5 Is polite because he or she cares, not just because of the ‘always be polite’ rule

6 Listens

7 Has a genuine laugh and laughs often

8 Is sincere

9 Is often at his or her best when things get tough

Well…number nine. That’s a difficult one. How a person deals with the tough moments is important, because those tough moments are when each of us has to face our weaknesses and when we’re most likely to feel alone and to fail.

Jeremy Fulton, the hero of HER MILLIONAIRE, HIS MIRACLE, faces a future that would destroy a lesser man. Eden Byars has faced adversity many times. The road ahead holds no certainty or hope of happiness. Yet the minute Jeremy and Eden walked into my imagination I knew they were the type of people who might manage to make something wonderful out of potential tragedy. I couldn’t help wanting to tell their story…because the world can never have enough admirable people—even fictional ones.

Wishing you much hope and joy in this special year

Myrna Mackenzie

BY

MYRNA MACKENZIE

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CHAPTER ONE

TURN around. Go back home. This could all go so wrong. What was I thinking when I decided to go through with this? Eden Byars tried to appear calm as the housekeeper at Oak Shores showed her into Jeremy Fulton’s north suburban Chicago mansion, but her thoughts didn’t seem to be willing to play the game.

Just keep moving forward , she ordered herself. This was too great an opportunity. She couldn’t let old, uncomfortable memories mess things up.

“Excuse me?” the housekeeper asked.

Eden blinked. Had she spoken her thoughts out loud? Maybe. “The house is beautiful,” she said, trying to regain her poise. “I’d forgotten.” And she had never actually been inside. Not even inside the gates or down the long, winding drive shaded by oaks. In fact, she’d only ever seen glimpses of the imposing mansion in the winter when the leaves had fallen.

The woman tilted her head. “Yes, there’s no other like it. Mr. Fulton is in the library, right through there. He’s expecting you.” She indicated a massive set of mahogany doors and left to return to her duties.

Eden stood before the doors, smoothing her hands over her old navy-blue skirt. Silly to be nervous. She’d barely known Jeremy ten years ago. They’d hardly exchanged a dozen words beyond hello and goodbye. Different social classes, different everything. It had been a nonexistent relationship.

Except for the fact that she’d had an overwhelming secret and painful crush on him until…

Eden’s face grew warm with embarrassment. She took a deep breath.

Dusty history, Byars. He won’t remember. Please . And even if he did, it couldn’t matter. She had to have the job she’d heard Jeremy was trying to fill. Fate had thrown her a curve last month just when she thought she was back on her feet. Suddenly she was down on her luck again. Creditors were calling and all of her plans were on the brink of evaporating if she didn’t do something quickly.

A sick feeling slipped into her stomach. The thought of standing before Jeremy and revealing her desperation while he judged her brought back old flashbacks from high school of never fitting in.

But that had been long ago. Awkwardness was no longer her constant companion. She’d changed.

Apparently, so had Jeremy. In one major way.

Eden closed her eyes, remembering what she’d heard. She tried not to think of how he’d once been with that disarming amber gaze and those wild, reckless ways that made girls forgive him anything. Fast and brilliant and very openly temporary, he had been the most vital, alive male she’d ever known.

And now he was…

Eden backed away from the thought. Don’t think about it. I can handle this , she told herself.

Could she? Maybe. Yes. She had to. Jeremy’s situation wasn’t her concern. No man was, not in a personal way. Besides, he was no longer a boy she coveted. He was just a man with a job to fill, someone who could aid or ruin her, and loitering outside the library wasn’t helping things. If she didn’t prove to Jeremy that she was the best—a term no one would have tagged her with when she was younger—if she didn’t convince him to hire her…

I’ll lose everything I’ve worked for . The distant dreams that had kept her going this past year would never materialize.

“I won’t let that happen,” she whispered. Not again. Ignoring her pounding heart and a lot of unfortunate memories, Eden took a deep breath, pushed at the massive mahogany door and prepared to confront her past.

Jeremy rose from the desk where he’d been sitting when the door opened. His housekeeper had buzzed him to let him know Eden was here several minutes ago and he’d been wondering why she hadn’t appeared yet.

Well, sort of wondering. He imagined it took a bit of courage to face an old acquaintance under these circumstances. But he refused to examine his circumstances. Too many dangerous emotions down that path, something he’d learned to avoid. Instead he concentrated on the moment…and the woman. He would have preferred someone who’d never known him as he once had been, but Eden had been sent here by her cousin, Ashley, an old friend of his whom he trusted implicitly.