LITMIR.BIZ

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took to you.”

      Her mother grinned. “I took to him, too.”

      “There’s just one thing…” Gabby began, wondering how much to tell her mother.

      “He’ll settle one day, just like J.D. did,” came the quiet reply, and her mother gave her a knowing smile. “Some men take longer. Meanwhile, I write a sweet letter.” She winked. “Come and visit.”

      “We will,” J.D. promised, coming up to join them. He hugged his new mother-in-law and watched as she walked away with a wave.

      Gabby slid her hand into the crook of his arm, and they walked back toward the parking lot.

      “You’ve been very quiet since we left the church,” he said softly. “Were you afraid I’d want to go with them?”

      She was startled by his perception. “Yes, I think so. A little,” she admitted.

      He stopped beside the car and turned her to him, looking down into her troubled face. “I’ll be honest with you, because anything less would cheat us both. I did feel a sense of loss when the others left without me, because in Guatemala I had a taste of the old, wild life and it brought back memories of days when I had more freedom than I have now. But I’m a realist, Gabby. Matthew said he told you, before we left Guatemala, that I’d gone too far to come back to them, to their way of life.” She nodded and he touched her mouth softly with his fingers. “He was right. I’ve built a future for myself, for you. I’ve invested too much of my life in building it to throw it away for a little excitement. Besides,” he murmured, lifting her slender hand to his chest and pressing it hard, “there are different levels of excitement.”

      His eyes studied hers with an intensity that made her knees go weak. He slid her fingers inside his vest, against his white shirt, letting her feel the warmth of his skin and the thunder of his pulse.

      “You have the same effect on me that being caught under fire does,” he whispered huskily, moving her fingers across one hard male nipple. “Except that you’re a little less dangerous than a bullet.”

      “Only a little?” she whispered back, moving close, so that she could feel the length of his body touching hers.

      His dark head bent and his mouth hovered just above hers. His hand moved between them to stroke one soft, high breast. It immediately went taut; his nostrils flared and his eyes burned with undisguised hunger.

      “Are you afraid to have sex with me?” he whispered.

      Her face flushed, but she didn’t drop her eyes. “No. I love you,” she whispered. “And it won’t be sex. It will be…loving.”

      His mouth parted hers softly, sensuously. “In broad daylight, Gabby,” he breathed.

      “Yes, I know,” she murmured, meeting his lips hungrily. “We can watch each other.”

      He looked into her eyes and saw the wildest kind of jungle there. He bent and caught her against him, kissing her hungrily and hard, feeling her response. He could hardly catch his breath when he finally lifted his head. “I don’t need to go looking for adventure anymore. Not while I have you,” he said gruffly. “A woman with an adventurous heart is excitement enough for me.”

      “Take me home, Jacob,” she whispered. “Teach me.”

      He looked into her misty eyes and reluctantly let her go. “What an utterly delicious thought.” He laughed unsteadily, and the lessons were already in his eyes.

      She looked at him and saw them as they would be, mouth to mouth, his body over hers, hard and warm and ardent, her eyes looking into his as they came together on crisp, cool sheets with his dark body overwhelming her soft, pink one with the same pleasure she felt when he stroked her bare flesh, only much more intimate, more intense….

      She trembled softly in anticipation, wanting to be alone with him, wanting his hands, his mouth, his absolute possession. “I can hardly wait,” she said, her voice trembling.

      He put her into the car and paused for an instant, glancing toward the sky where a military plane was passing over. His face hardened for an instant as he stood quietly watching it until it was out of sight. But when he climbed in beside Gabby and looked at her glowing face, her bright, loving eyes, the hardness drained away. His dark eyes narrowed with the first stirrings of possession. And he smiled.

      * * * * *

       The Tender Stranger

      Diana Palmer

      To J.A. with thanks.

      Dear Reader,

      I really can’t express how flattered I am and also how grateful I am to Mills & Boon Books for releasing this collection of my published works. It came as a great surprise. I never think of myself as writing books that are collectible. In fact, there are days when I forget that writing is work at all. What I do for a living is so much fun that it never seems like a job. And since I reside in a small community, and my daily life is confined to such mundane things as feeding the wild birds and looking after my herb patch in the backyard, I feel rather unconnected from what many would think of as a glamorous profession.

      But when I read my email, or when I get letters from readers, or when I go on signing trips to bookstores to meet all of you, I feel truly blessed. Over the past thirty years, I have made lasting friendships with many of you. And quite frankly, most of you are like part of my family. You can’t imagine how much you enrich my life. Thank you so much.

      I also need to extend thanks to my family (my husband, James, son, Blayne, daughter-in-law, Christina, and granddaughter, Selena Marie), to my best friend, Ann, to my readers, booksellers and the wonderful people at Mills & Boon Books—from my editor of many years, Tara, to all the other fine and talented people who make up our publishing house. Thanks to all of you for making this job and my private life so worth living.

      Thank you for this tribute, Mills & Boon, and for putting up with me for thirty long years! Love to all of you.

      Diana Palmer

       Chapter One

      The seat was much too low for his tall frame; he had barely enough room without the paraphernalia his companion was shifting in her own seat. He gave her a short glare through deep brown eyes. She flushed, her gaze dropping to her lap as she tucked her huge purse on the other side of her and struggled with her seat belt.

      He sighed, watching her. A spinster, he thought unkindly. From her flyaway brown hair to the eyes under those wire-rimmed glasses, from her bulky white sweater down to her long gray skirt and sensible gray shoes, she was definitely someone’s unclaimed treasure. He turned his eyes back to the too-narrow aisle. Damn budget airlines, he thought furiously. If he hadn’t missed the flight he’d booked, he wouldn’t be trying to fit into this sardine can of a seat. Next to Miss Frump here.

      He didn’t like women. Never less than now, when he was forced to endure this particular woman’s company for several hundred miles from San Antonio down to Veracruz, Mexico. He glanced sideways again irritably. She was shifting books now. Books, for God’s sake! Didn’t she know what the baggage hold was for?

      “You should have reserved a seat for them,” he muttered, glaring at a stack of what was obviously romance novels.

      She swallowed, a little intimidated as her eyes swept over a muscular physique, blond hair and a face that looked positively hostile. He had nice hands, though. Very lean and tanned and strong-looking. Scars on the back of one of them…

      “I’m sorry,” she murmured, avoiding his eyes.

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