Alison Kelly - Ryan's Rules

Cover Page

Excerpt “Your trouble is, you worry too much about me.” “Tell me something I don’t know, Kirrily,” Ryan replied. “I’m no longer a naive sixteen-year-old. You have to stop regarding me as some kind of bimbo who’s going to fall into the arms of the first smooth-talking male who comes on to her.” “I don’t wish to encroach on your love life, but I do have strict rules about you bringing men home.” “Oh, goody, more rules! And they are…?”

About the Atuhor ALISON KELLY, a self-confessed sports junkie, plays netball, volleyball and touch football, and lives in Australia’s Hunter Valley. She has three children and the type of husband women tell their daughters doesn’t exist in real life! He’s not only a better cook than Alison, but he also isn’t afraid of vacuum cleaners, washing machines or supermarkets. Which is just as well, otherwise this book would have been written by a starving woman in a pigsty! Alison Kelly has a warm, witty writing style you’ll love! Bubbly heroines, gorgeous laid-back heroes…romances brimming over with sex appeal! Look out this month for Boots in the Bedroom! by Alison Kelly in THE AUSTRALIANS.

Books by Alison Kelly Books by Alison Kelly HARLEQUIN PRESENTS® 1903—YESTERDAY’S BRIDE 1975—MAN ABOUT THE HOUSE Don’t miss any of our special offers. Write to us at the following address for information on our newest releases. Harlequin Reader Service U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269 Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Ene, Ont. L2A 5X3

Title Page Ryan’s Rules Alison Kelly www.millsandboon.co.uk

PROLOGUE

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

EPILOGUE

Copyright

“Tell me something I don’t know, Kirrily,” Ryan replied.

“I’m no longer a naive sixteen-year-old. You

have to stop regarding me as some kind of bimbo who’s going to fall into the arms of the first smooth-talking male who comes on to her.”

“I don’t wish to encroach on your love life, but I do have strict rules about you bringing men home.”

“Oh, goody, more rules! And they are…?”

ALISON KELLY, a self-confessed sports junkie, plays netball, volleyball and touch football, and lives in Australia’s Hunter Valley. She has three children and the type of husband women tell their daughters doesn’t exist in real life! He’s not only a better cook than Alison, but he also isn’t afraid of vacuum cleaners, washing machines or supermarkets. Which is just as well, otherwise this book would have been written by a starving woman in a pigsty!

Alison Kelly has a warm, witty writing style you’ll love! Bubbly heroines, gorgeous laid-back heroes…romances brimming over with sex appeal!

Look out this month for Boots in the Bedroom! by Alison Kelly in THE AUSTRALIANS.

HARLEQUIN PRESENTS®

1903—YESTERDAY’S BRIDE

1975—MAN ABOUT THE HOUSE

Don’t miss any of our special offers. Write to us at the following address for information on our newest releases.

Harlequin Reader Service

U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269

Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Ene, Ont. L2A 5X3

www.millsandboon.co.uk

‘GOT a minute?’

The sound of his sister’s voice drew Ryan’s concentration from the quote he’d been working on all afternoon, while the sight of the two steaming mugs she carried drew his smile.

‘Kid, if you’ve got coffee, I’ve got more than a minute!’ He accepted the cup from her hand. ‘Thanks. This Emmerson project looks like being an even bigger pain in the rear than I expected.’

‘You’ll cope, Ryan. You always do.’

‘Coffee and flattery! You’ve not only got my attention but my curiosity too. What’s up—a delinquent account causing you problems?’

‘Er, no. No, everything is fine in that department, which is why I’ve decided to fly over and join Mum and Dad in Europe.’

Shock removed Ryan’s ability to swallow the mouthful of coffee he’d just taken until the need to question his hearing forced him to gulp it down; he opened and closed his mouth twice before he could even think of a response, let alone voice one. Had Jayne announced she could walk on water, he wouldn’t have been half as stunned.

‘You’re doing what?’

‘You heard me,’ she said, looking as if she wasn’t sure she could repeat the words. ‘I’m thirty-four years old, Ryan; it’s time I got my life together.’ She smiled. ‘At least, that’s what everybody’s been telling me and…well, I decided yesterday they were right.’

On one level Ryan wanted to cheer with joy. On another the suddenness of his sister’s decision worried him. Ever since the death of his best friend, Steven, Jayne’s fiancé, fifteen years ago, he’d wondered if she’d ever put the past behind her; until this minute there’d been no noticeable indication that it would happen. Apprehensive about the suddenness of the decision, he searched her face for an answer.

‘Don’t look at me as if I’m having another breakdown, Ryan.’

‘I wasn’t!’ Yet despite his denial the possibility had drifted through his consciousness. Trying to smile away his guilt, he rounded the desk to take his sister’s hand. It was soft, fragile and surprisingly naked.

‘You’ve taken your ring off.’ His observation drew a weak, shiny-eyed smile.

‘Last night. I think that was the hardest part. Flying to Europe is the easy stage.’

The admission was made in little more than a whisper, but the subdued strength behind the words swamped Ryan with a mixture of love and relief so great that it was easier to wrap his arms around her and draw her close rather than speak. Finally, after more than a dozen years, his little sister was ready to push free from the shadows which had cocooned her, her mourning was over. When he finally held her away they were both smiling.

‘Have you told Mum and Dad?’ he asked.

‘Yeah, I rang them before I came into work.’ She laughed. ‘They were stunned, thrilled and relieved, in that order!’

‘I’ll bet.’ He hesitated before adding, ‘And the Cosgroves?’

Jack and Claire Cosgrove were their folks’ best friends and currently touring Europe with them. They were also Steven’s parents.

‘They were pleased too…’ There was a slight break in her voice. ‘Claire said Steven would’ve been glad to know I was getting on with the business of living.’

Ryan nodded, then immediately steered the conversation back to lighter topics. ‘Well, from what Mum said when I spoke with her the other night you’ll love Italy! So—’ he leaned across his paper-scattered desk and retrieved his coffee ‘—when do you fly out?’

‘Sunday.’

‘Sunday! But today’s Friday. What about a passport and visa—?’

‘They’re up to date. Remember, I nearly did this a couple of years back?’

He remembered. K.C. Cosgrove, Steven’s younger sister, had all but convinced Jayne to take a vacation with her, but at the last minute Jayne had backed out and nothing anyone had said had been able to change her mind. If nothing else, perhaps the very impulsiveness of this decision would prevent Jayne from having second thoughts this time.