Mary McBride - Darling Jack

Cover Page

Excerpt This was no way for a Pinkerton agent to behave, Anna reminded herself as she rushed along. It was no way for a self-respecting woman to behave, either. To be so flummoxed by a kiss. To have her legitimate and quite serious concerns turned into frilly bows and butterflies by a man’s mouth on hers. And it wouldn’t happen again. Jack Hazard came to a halt. His dark face glowered down on her. “I apologize,” he snarled. “It won’t happen again, Mrs. Matlin. Mrs. Hazard. Whoever the hell you are.” He let go of her arm to drag his fingers through his hair. Had the kiss affected him, too? There was a definite flush to his face that Anna had never seen, and his fingers trembled as they threaded through that shiny black hair. Jack Hazard, master spy, seemed nearly as unsettled as she…!

Dear Reader Dear Reader, Welcome to Harlequin Historicals. Whether you’re a longtime fan of Mary McBride or have just discovered her, we know you’ll be delighted by her new book, Darling Jack, the touching tale of a handsome Pinkerton detective, driven by revenge, and the steady, unassuming file clerk who poses as his wife for an assignment Don’t let this terrific story slip by you. Dulcie’s Gift, from Ruth Langan, is the prequel to the contemporary stories in the Harlequin cross-line continuity series, BRIDE’S BAY. When a boatful of women and children seek refuge on his island, Cal Jermain isn’t pleased with the added responsibility, especially when he finds himself falling for their secretive leader, Dulcie Trenton. This month’s books also include a new medieval novel from Claire Delacroix, My Lady’s Champion, the story of a woman who must marry in order to protect her holdings, and a Western from newcomer Carolyn Davidson, Loving Katherine, about a lonely woman who has struggled to keep the family horse farm, and a drifter who teaches her that there’s more to life. We hope you’ll keep a lookout for all four titles. Sincerely, Tracy Farrell Senior Editor Please address questions and book requests to: Harlequin Reader Service U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269 Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont L2A 5X3

Title Page Darling Jack Mary McBride www.millsandboon.co.uk

About the Author MARY McBRIDE is a former special education teacher who lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with her husband and two young sons. She loves to correspond with readers and invites them to write to her at: P.O. Box 411202 St Louis, MO 63141

Dedication With deep affection to my friends in The Lounge

Prologue Prologue Anna Matlin was invisible. As a child in the grim coal-mining hills of southern Illinois, she had learned her lessons well. In a family of thirteen, the squeaking wheel got backhanded and burdened with extra chores. In any forest, it was the tallest tree that suffered the lightning. So Anna, early on, had decided to be a shrub. She had blossomed once—and briefly—at the age of sixteen, when she eloped to Chicago with Billy Matlin. But Billy had soon looked beyond her, to Colorado and the promise of gold. “I’ll send for you,” he’d said. But Billy never had. He’d died instead, leaving his young widow pale and even more invisible. Under bleak winter skies, in her somber wools and black galoshes, Anna Matlin was barely distinguishable from the soot-laden banks of snow along Washington Street as she made her way to number 89, the offices of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, where she had been employed for six years, filing papers and transcribing notes and more or less blending into the wainscoting. In summer, in her drab poplins and sensible shoes, she seemed to disappear against brick walls and dull paving stones. Whatever the season or setting, Anna Matlin was—by her own volition—invisible. But every once in a while, particularly in summer, when the sun managed to slice through the smokedense Chicago sky, it would cast a rare and peculiar glint from Anna’s spectacles, a flash that for an instant made her seem exceptional and altogether visible. As it did on the morning of May 3,1869…

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

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Epilogue

Copyright

Anna reminded herself as she rushed along.

It was no way for a self-respecting woman to behave, either. To be so flummoxed by a kiss. To have her legitimate and quite serious concerns turned into frilly bows and butterflies by a man’s mouth on hers. And it wouldn’t happen again.

Jack Hazard came to a halt. His dark face glowered down on her. “I apologize,” he snarled. “It won’t happen again, Mrs. Matlin. Mrs. Hazard. Whoever the hell you are.” He let go of her arm to drag his fingers through his hair.

Had the kiss affected him, too? There was a definite flush to his face that Anna had never seen, and his fingers trembled as they threaded through that shiny black hair. Jack Hazard, master spy, seemed nearly as unsettled as she…!

Dear Reader,

Welcome to Harlequin Historicals. Whether you’re a longtime fan of Mary McBride or have just discovered her, we know you’ll be delighted by her new book, Darling Jack, the touching tale of a handsome Pinkerton detective, driven by revenge, and the steady, unassuming file clerk who poses as his wife for an assignment Don’t let this terrific story slip by you.

Dulcie’s Gift, from Ruth Langan, is the prequel to the contemporary stories in the Harlequin cross-line continuity series, BRIDE’S BAY. When a boatful of women and children seek refuge on his island, Cal Jermain isn’t pleased with the added responsibility, especially when he finds himself falling for their secretive leader, Dulcie Trenton.

This month’s books also include a new medieval novel from Claire Delacroix, My Lady’s Champion, the story of a woman who must marry in order to protect her holdings, and a Western from newcomer Carolyn Davidson, Loving Katherine, about a lonely woman who has struggled to keep the family horse farm, and a drifter who teaches her that there’s more to life.

We hope you’ll keep a lookout for all four titles.

Sincerely,

Tracy Farrell Senior Editor

Please address questions and book requests to: Harlequin Reader Service

U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269 Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont L2A 5X3

www.millsandboon.co.uk

is a former special education teacher who lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with her husband and two young sons. She loves to correspond with readers and invites them to write to her at:

P.O. Box 411202

St Louis, MO 63141

With deep affection to my friends in The Lounge

Anna Matlin was invisible.

As a child in the grim coal-mining hills of southern Illinois, she had learned her lessons well. In a family of thirteen, the squeaking wheel got backhanded and burdened with extra chores. In any forest, it was the tallest tree that suffered the lightning.