Jackie Braun - One Fiancee To Go, Please

“Tess, have you changed your mind about…us?”

“Maybe…I don’t know. I’ve never felt like this, and when I’m with you, I can’t seem to think straight.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Jack said, his gaze straying to the swell of creamy flesh visible above the robe she clutched to her bosom.

Her eyes narrowed. She knew him well enough to know what he was thinking.

“Jack.” Her tone was a warning. “There are people in the next room. People who would have to be stupid not to know what we were doing before they arrived.”

He swallowed hard and nodded, then turned to go. Before pulling the door shut behind him, he whispered, “Next time, I vote we don’t answer the door when someone rings the bell.”

Dear Reader,

As Silhouette’s yearlong anniversary celebration continues, Romance again delivers six unique stories about the poignant journey from courtship to commitment.

Teresa Southwick invites you back to STORKVILLE, USA, where a wealthy playboy has the gossips stumped with his latest transaction: The Acquired Bride…and her triplet kids! New York Times bestselling author Kasey Michaels contributes the second title in THE CHANDLERS REQUEST…miniseries, Jessie’s Expecting. Judy Christenberry spins off her popular THE CIRCLE K SISTERS with a story involving a blizzard, a roadside motel with one bed left, a gorgeous, honor-bound rancher…and his Snowbound Sweetheart.

New from Donna Clayton is SINGLE DOCTOR DADS! In the premiere story of this wonderful series, a first-time father strikes The Nanny Proposal with a woman whose timely hiring quickly proves less serendipitous and more carefully, lovingly, staged…. Lilian Darcy pens yet another edgy, uplifting story with Raising Baby Jane. And debut author Jackie Braun delivers pure romantic fantasy as a down-on-her-luck waitress receives an intriguing order from the man of her dreams: One Fiancée To Go, Please.

Happy Reading!

Mary-Theresa Hussey

Senior Editor

www.millsandboon.co.uk

For my sister, Donna Warrick,

who believed in me even when I had doubts.

JACKIE BRAUN

wrote her first book, a murder mystery, in elementary school. To get some of the heart-pounding scenes just right, she first acted them out in her family’s suburban Detroit backyard. The neighbors are probably still talking about the skinny blond kid who had all the imaginary friends. The handwritten pages of that masterpiece are in her basement somewhere. They may be misplaced, but she never put aside her desire to write. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan University and has spent the past thirteen years working as a journalist, mostly penning editorials at a mid-Michigan newspaper. Weaving tales of fiction, however, has remained her first love. She lives with her husband in Flushing, Michigan.

Dear Reader,

Christmas arrived a little early for me last year. Four days before Santa shimmied down the chimney with his sack of presents, Silhouette Books called bearing the ultimate gift for a writer: a book contract.

For me, this isn’t just any book. It’s the first one I’ve sold after many years of hard work and high hopes, so I am especially excited to share it with you.

Someone recently asked me where I got the idea for this story. Writers find stories everywhere, even in everyday situations. As it happens, this one nearly landed on me while I waited for a cab to the airport. I was sipping orange juice in a hotel lobby when I bobbled the cup and narrowly avoided spilling it down my shirt. Inspiration struck, however, and I wrote the opening scene in a spiral notebook on my flight home. Let’s just say that seat in coach felt especially cramped with Jack, Tess and me all sitting in it.

For several weeks after that, I booted up my computer almost daily to “visit” with Jack and Tess. As they struggled with their growing attraction, sometimes they surprised even me with the way their story unfolded.

Writers say finishing a book is a great thrill, and it is.

It offers a sense of accomplishment that’s difficult to describe. But I was almost sad to finish the final scene. I didn’t want it to end, because I enjoyed spending time with Jack and Tess.

I hope you will, too.

Sincerely,

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

“Order up!” Earl Lester barked.

Tess Donovan stood at the counter just outside the diner’s small kitchen making a fresh pot of coffee. She jumped at the gruffly issued command, sending grounds flying. Exhaling slowly, she smoothed a stray wisp of hair back from her cheek and turned to the order window. Earl stood on the opposite side, a toothy grin spreading over his leathery face.

“A little edgy today, Red?” he inquired, all innocence.

“You know the saying—too much caffeine and not enough sleep make Tess an edgy girl. Midterms,” she reminded him needlessly. For six years she had worked full-time for Earl while freelancing for the local newspaper on weekends in the fall and working her way toward a journalism degree in the evenings. She figured he knew her schedule about as well as she did.

“So does exhaustion,” he reminded her with a pointed look. He motioned with his chin to the steaming crock. “It’s getting cold, Red.”

“This stuff has too much chili powder in it ever to be anything but blazing hot,” she replied, sending him a saucy wink as she loaded the bowl onto her tray. Then she hurried away, the tray held high over her head, her pockets heavy with tip money.

Wednesdays at Earl’s Place generally left Tess with enough time between taking food orders and clearing tables to study for her classes. But Earl had advertised a dinner special in the newspaper this week, and it seemed half the population of Pleasant River, Michigan, had turned out to take advantage of the deal. It was just Tess’s luck that one waitress had called in sick and another had had car trouble and would be late. Tess had agreed to fill in after her shift ended, at least until her political science class at seven. She had planned to use the in-between time to catch up on the seemingly endless barrage of reading assignments, but, with the holidays just around the corner, the extra tip money was too tempting to pass up.

“Hon, I need more coffee,” the burly trucker at table ten called as she passed. She managed to sidestep him in time to avoid the fanny pat he had bestowed on her twice already.

Three tables ahead sat the man who had ordered the chili. He was impeccably dressed in a navy wool suit, crisp white shirt and muted print tie, all of which screamed expensive. He looked as if he could be a banker or a lawyer or some other white-collar professional, not the usual sort to come into Earl’s greasy little joint. He sat alone with a Wall Street Journal spread out on the table in front of him, open to the stock page. But he wasn’t reading it. He was watching her. And the level, measuring look he gave Tess made her pulse pick up speed.

Handsome didn’t begin to do him justice. He had a strong jaw, wide-spaced eyes the color of jade, and a nose that listed slightly to the left and gave the impression he had once played contact sports. He wore his tawny hair short, but Tess had a hunch that if it were allowed to grow long it would have a tendency to curl, much like her own.