Alison Kelly - Yesterday's Bride

“I’m Craig Adams and I’d like to sleep with you.” “I’m Craig Adams and I’d like to sleep with you.” She forced the type of “cool” smile she’d practised at least a hundred times in the mirror and willed her voice to calmness. “Really? Well, I’m Taylor Radcliffe and you’re out of luck—I don’t sleep around.” “I’m not asking you to sleep with anyone but me, Taylor Radcliffe.” “You’re still out of luck,” she replied, taking a sip of her drink for courage. “I’m a virgin.” “Then you’ll be starting at the top!” About the Author 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 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! Humor, emotion, passion...Alison Kelly has it all! We know you’ll love the warm, witty writing style of this lively new talent for Presents. Title Page Yesterday’s Bride Alison Kelly www.millsandboon.co.uk Dedication FOR TRACY & BROOKE RUSSO, THE INSPIRATION BEHIND TAYLOR & MELANIE PROLOGUE PROLOGUE AFTER returning her gaze from across the crowded yard for what seemed like an eternity, he straightened and pushed off the picket fence he’d been nonchalantly propped against and started towards her. The current of electric excitement that rushed through her body caused her heart to lurch and the drink she held to slop over her hand. She swallowed hard, unfamiliar with the confused messages her brain and body were radiating through her. She recognized one as fear, but wasn’t sure if it stemmed from the possibility he might veer off the direct course he was taking to her or that he wouldn’t. With each swaggering step the denim-and-leather-clad male took, her teenage heart beat faster, until it was drumming so fiercely it crashed into her lungs and took her breath away. ‘G’day, I’m Craig Adams and I’d like to sleep with you.’ She forced the type of ‘cool’ smile she’d practised at least a hundred times in the mirror and willed her voice to calmness. ‘Really? Well, I’m Taylor Radcliffe and you’re out of luck—I don’t sleep around.’ ‘I’m not asking you to sleep with anyone but me, Taylor Radcliffe.’ ‘You’re still out of luck,’ she replied, taking a sip of her drink for courage. ‘I’m a virgin.’ ‘Then you’ll be starting at the top.’ ‘But if I start at the top the only place I can go is down.’ His grin was sinful. ‘See you’ve got the hang of it already! I like a fast learner.’ The innuendo was hardly veiled. But even as Taylor backed up against the paling, she was excited rather than afraid of the stranger’s arrogant and direct pick-up technique. ‘I’ve been warned off you by my friend,’ she informed him. ‘You’re not considered financially desirable.’ ‘You, on the other hand, Taylor Radcliffe, are considered very financially desirable,’ he returned, planting his hands on the fence just above her shoulder. ‘Ah! So you want me for my money.’ ‘No. I just want you,’ he whispered against her already opening mouth. ‘For the rest of my life.’ Four months later they married. She was eighteen; he was twenty-one... 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 EPILOGUE Copyright

“I’m Craig Adams and I’d like to sleep with you.”

She forced the type of “cool” smile she’d practised at least a hundred times in the mirror and willed her voice to calmness.

“Really? Well, I’m Taylor Radcliffe and you’re out of luck—I don’t sleep around.”

“I’m not asking you to sleep with anyone but me, Taylor Radcliffe.”

“You’re still out of luck,” she replied, taking a sip of her drink for courage. “I’m a virgin.”

“Then you’ll be starting at the top!”

FROM HERE TO PATERNITY—romances that feature fantastic men who eventually make fabulous fathers. Some seek paternity, some have it thrust upon them. All will make it—whether they like it or not!

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 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!

Humor, emotion, passion...Alison Kelly has it all! We know you’ll love the warm, witty writing style of this lively new talent for Presents.

Yesterday’s Bride

Alison Kelly

www.millsandboon.co.uk

FOR TRACY & BROOKE RUSSO,

THE INSPIRATION BEHIND

TAYLOR & MELANIE

PROLOGUE

AFTER returning her gaze from across the crowded yard for what seemed like an eternity, he straightened and pushed off the picket fence he’d been nonchalantly propped against and started towards her.

The current of electric excitement that rushed through her body caused her heart to lurch and the drink she held to slop over her hand. She swallowed hard, unfamiliar with the confused messages her brain and body were radiating through her. She recognized one as fear, but wasn’t sure if it stemmed from the possibility he might veer off the direct course he was taking to her or that he wouldn’t.

With each swaggering step the denim-and-leather-clad male took, her teenage heart beat faster, until it was drumming so fiercely it crashed into her lungs and took her breath away.

‘G’day, I’m Craig Adams and I’d like to sleep with you.’

She forced the type of ‘cool’ smile she’d practised at least a hundred times in the mirror and willed her voice to calmness. ‘Really? Well, I’m Taylor Radcliffe and you’re out of luck—I don’t sleep around.’

‘I’m not asking you to sleep with anyone but me, Taylor Radcliffe.’

‘You’re still out of luck,’ she replied, taking a sip of her drink for courage. ‘I’m a virgin.’

‘Then you’ll be starting at the top.’

‘But if I start at the top the only place I can go is down.’

His grin was sinful. ‘See you’ve got the hang of it already! I like a fast learner.’

The innuendo was hardly veiled. But even as Taylor backed up against the paling, she was excited rather than afraid of the stranger’s arrogant and direct pick-up technique.

‘I’ve been warned off you by my friend,’ she informed him. ‘You’re not considered financially desirable.’

‘You, on the other hand, Taylor Radcliffe, are considered very financially desirable,’ he returned, planting his hands on the fence just above her shoulder.

‘Ah! So you want me for my money.’

‘No. I just want you,’ he whispered against her already opening mouth. ‘For the rest of my life.’

Four months later they married. She was eighteen; he was twenty-one...

CHAPTER ONE

‘WHAT the hell have you done to your hair?’

For five years Taylor had wondered what her estranged husband’s first words would be when they met again. Yet in all her mental scenarios not once had she imagined his reaction to be outrage because she’d changed her hairstyle.