Helen Lacey - His-and-Hers Family

Fiona wrapped her arms around her waist and sat forward. “I won’t screw this up. And I’ll be whatever she needs me to be. There’s no question about me trying to replace her mother. But I can be her friend.”

“Yes, you can.”

She let out a breath and experienced a heady warmth low down. There was something in his expression which heightened her awareness of him on every level.

She pushed some words out. “So, I guess considering you’re her legal guardian, we should be friends, too.”

Another look, longer, hotter. Hot enough to raise her temperature a degree or two.

“Logically. But I get the sense that whatever’s going on here,” he said and flicked a hand in the air, “it’s got nothing to do with friendship.”

“I don’t think—”

“And everything to do with sex.”

Dear Reader,

Welcome back to Crystal Point and to my second book for Mills & Boon ®Cherish™.

If you’ve read my first book you might remember Fiona Walsh from Made for Marriage . Fiona is a kindhearted, friendly schoolteacher who has settled in the small town to escape a painful past. But the secret she’s kept hidden for fifteen years is suddenly a secret no more when businessman Wyatt Harper turns up and informs her that his teenage niece wants to meet her birth mother. Very soon Fiona comes face-to-face with the child she gave up for adoption when she was just fifteen, and finds herself falling for a man who has sworn off love.

I’ve had so many readers ask me when the bubbly yet very much alone Fiona will get her happy ending, and I hope you enjoy her journey and fall a little in love with Wyatt along the way. I also invite you to return to Crystal Point very soon.

I love hearing from readers and can be contacted via my website at www.helenlacey.com.

Warmest wishes,

Helen Lacey

HELEN LACEYgrew up reading Black Beauty, Anne of Green Gables and Little House on the Prairie . These childhood classics inspired her to write her first book when she was seven years old, a story about a girl and her horse. She continued to write, with the dream of one day being a published author, and writing for Mills & Boon ®Cherish™ is the realization of that dream. She loves creating stories about strong heroes with a soft heart and heroines who get their happily-ever-after. For more about Helen, visit her website, www.helenlacey.com.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

For my dad, William Lacey,

1926–1994

who taught me to love books and who I still miss every day.

It was the third time she had seen him in two days. And because she had a vivid imagination, Fiona Walsh had created all kinds of possible scenarios as to why the most gorgeous man she’d ever clapped her eyes upon appeared to be following her every move.

Who was he? An admirer? Lottery official? Stalker?

Yesterday morning she’d spotted him across the road outside her house, leaning on the hood of his car and speaking into his cell phone. She’d gone to collect her morning paper from the footpath and hung around by the gate for a few minutes, feigning interest in her wilted herb garden. Then he appeared by the foreshore that same afternoon while she ran her dog along the beach. Same car. Same kind of well-cut clothes. Same dark hair and superbly chiseled features.

Now he was at the riding school where she stabled her horse.

Fiona eased Titan, her Thoroughbred gelding, to a halt in the center of the sand arena and lifted the rim of her helmet. The man remained by his car, leaning against the door as he watched her. There was nothing threatening in his demeanor. He appeared more mildly curious than anything else. With the idea he wasn’t about to attack her and toss her in the trunk of his car firmly out of her head, Fiona experienced a strange warmth across her skin. Handsome, nice car, the kind of clothes that oozed confidence—she couldn’t help but be intrigued.

He was on his cell again, talking as he watched her. Fiona collected the reins and clicked Titan forward. The big gelding obeyed instantly, and she maneuvered him toward the entrance gate. No more guessing games. She’d find out who the man was and just what he wanted. Right now.

She dismounted and tethered Titan to the hitching rail. Once he was secured, she pulled off her riding hat and wasted a few seconds adjusting her hair. As she left the arena and walked purposefully across the yard, Fiona watched him end his call, slip the cell phone into a pocket and straighten to his full, broad-shouldered height.

Ten feet away she stopped and clipped her booted heels together. He was ridiculously good-looking and appeared to be in his early thirties. Even though sunglasses shielded his eyes, Fiona knew he was staring at her. She suddenly had a silly thought about her appearance and wished she’d worn something other than her grass-stained riding breeches and century-old T-shirt.

Silence stretched like elastic. Finally, she summoned the nerve and drew in a deep breath. “I guess you’re not here to tell me I’ve won the lottery?”

He cracked a half smile and flipped the sunglasses off. “No.”

She clamped her hands on her hips and tried to ignore the way her belly rolled over when she met his perfectly brilliant blue eyes. “Then why are you following me?”

“I’m not,” he said and took a step toward her.

Fiona widened her gaze. “Three times in two days?” She clicked her fingers. “That’s quite a coincidence.”

“It’s not a coincidence at all,” he replied. “I’ve simply been waiting for the appropriate time to speak with you.”

Fiona raised her chin as annoyance wove up her spine. He had a little too much self-assurance for her liking. “With me? What on earth for? I don’t know you, and I—”

“Are you Fiona Lorelle Walsh?” he asked quietly, cutting her off.

She stilled and her breath grabbed at her throat. “What do you want?” she asked as suspicion crept along her skin.

He took another step. “To talk to you.”

Fiona stared at him. He knew her full name? Who was he?

She had the urge to retreat. Get away. Put distance between herself and his lovely eyes. “I’m sorry, but I’m busy at the moment. I have to get back to my horse,” she said and pivoted on her heels.

“Miss Walsh?” he called after her. “Fiona?”

She stopped midstride and took another breath, deeper, longer. Titan moved restlessly from his spot by the gate as though he sensed her unease. She spotted Callie Preston, owner of the riding school and her closest friend, walking across the arena toward the two remaining riders. If she needed her friend, Callie would be at her side in a moment. But she kept her wits. Whoever this stranger was, she wasn’t afraid of him. Fiona turned around and faced the man behind her.

Her heart continued to thump madly. In the sunlight his hair appeared almost black and shimmered in a way she’d usually find attractive. But a voice told her not to think about him like that. “Who are you?”

“My name is Wyatt Harper.”

She didn’t recognize it. “What do you want?”

“To talk.”

“What about?”

He stepped closer. “Perhaps we could go somewhere a little more private.”

Fiona bristled. “This is plenty private.”

He glanced toward the other riders and then back to her. After a moment he drew in a breath. “Okay. Firstly, let me assure you that I’m not any kind of threat to you.”