The Valentine’s Day Disaster Read online

  But I’m feeling it. Right now. With Matthew DeLuca. And the way he’s looking at me almost makes me think he might be feeling it too.

  “So um, h-­how have I been driving you crazy?” I swallow hard. I sound like a stuttering idiot, and I’m trying to calm my racing heart but it’s no use. We’re staring at each other in silence, the only sound our accelerated breathing, and then he reaches out. Rests his fingers against my cheek. Lets them drift along my face.

  Slowly I close my eyes and part my lips, sharp pleasure piercing through me at his intimate touch. I curl my fingers against the wall as if I can grab onto it, afraid I might slide to the ground if I don’t get a grip and soon. I can smell him. Feel him. We’ve been close to each other before, but not like this. Never like this.

  An Excerpt from

  IF YOU ONLY KNEW

  A Trust No One Novel

  by Dixie Lee Brown

  Beautiful and deadly, Rayna Dugan is a force to be reckoned with. But when she must suddenly defend her life against a criminal empire, Rayna knows she needs backup. Ex-­cop Ty Whitlock never meant for his former flame to get mixed up in this mess—­a mess he feels responsible for. Now he’s got only one choice: find Rayna and keep her safe. But that’s the easy part. Once he finds her, can he convince her to stay?

  He leaned close. “Goddammit, Rayna. You could have been killed.” He breathed the words, and the anger in his expression morphed into fear as he grabbed her forearms and gave her a shake.

  The deep emotion playing across his face tugged at her heart. His tortured gaze held her transfixed. She searched for the words to fix everything, starting with the way she’d botched their relationship, but some things couldn’t be fixed.

  She hooked her fingers through his belt loops and drew semicircles on his firmly toned abdomen with her thumbs until she found her voice again. “But I wasn’t . . . thanks to you and Ribs.”

  Ty straightened and glanced upward, away from her face. “I thought I was going to lose you. I won’t lose you, Rayna.” His piercing gaze fastened on her again, and he raised one hand to caress her cheek. “Don’t you get it? We’re a team. I need you, and whether you’ll admit it or not, you need me too.”

  Hope flared within her at his words, followed almost immediately by a spark of anger. “If you truly believed that, you wouldn’t be trying to keep me out of the hunt for Andre. If we’re such a good team, why not act like one?”

  Ty swept a hand across the back of his neck. “I’m not trying to keep you . . .” He stopped and looked away from her. “Shit. You’re right. I wanted you out of it so you’d be safe, and so I could do my job without worrying about you. I still want you to be safe . . . but I’m fairly certain Joe was going to side with you anyway.” He swung his gaze back to her, and amusement quirked his lips. “Besides, if he takes you home, you’ll just spend all your time worrying about me.”

  “Oh, you think so?” Rayna raised a quizzical eyebrow. Did he mean it this time? Would he let her help take Andre down, or was he simply putting her off again?

  Ty grew serious. “Stay with me, Rayna, and we’ll get this guy. He won’t know what hit him.”

  His soft words and the sincerity in his eyes melted her heart and filled her with sadness at the same time. It sounded like he was asking her to stay with him forever, but he’d already made it clear that he wasn’t returning to Montana. So where did that leave them? The smart thing to do would be to ask, but her courage failed in the face of what his answer could be. For right now, she wanted to believe he meant forever, but the truth was she wanted him for however long he would have her, and she’d convince him later that he couldn’t live without her. Did that make her desperate? So what if it did? She grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him closer as she shook her head slowly. “Try getting rid of me.”

  A genuine smile lit his eyes, and his head lowered slowly. His lips touched hers in a lingering kiss, warm and promising more. His arms slid around her waist, pulled her in tightly, and he rested his chin on top of her head. She inhaled a deep breath, and her wild heartbeat began to slow. The safety and comfort of his embrace was exactly what she needed, and it was surprisingly easy to surrender herself to his care. Of course, there were still things to do. They had to get Ribs back and his wounds treated, but for now—­for just a moment . . .

  A shrill siren screeched in the distance, disturbing the peace of Nate’s uncle’s property. Ty tensed and raised his head, listening, then pulled his gun from its shoulder holster.

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  An Excerpt from Love With a Perfect Cowboy. Copyright © 2014 by Laurie Vanzura.

  An Excerpt from The Last Wicked Scoundrel. Copyright © 2014 by Jan Nowasky

  An Excerpt from Blitzing Emily. Copyright © 2014 by Julie Brannagh

  An Excerpt from Savor. Copyright © 2014 by Monica Murphy

  An Excerpt from If You Only Knew. Copyright © 2014 by Dixie Lee Brown

  THE VALENTINE’S DAY DISASTER. Copyright © 2014 by Laurie Vanzura. All rights reserved under International and Pan-­American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-­book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-­engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Harper­Collins e-­books.

  EPub Edition FEBRUARY 2014 ISBN: 9780062311511

  Print Edition ISBN: 9780062311528

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