LITMIR.BIZ

      BEVERLY BARTON

      has been in love with romance since her grandfather gave her an illustrated book of Beauty and the Beast. An avid reader since childhood, Beverly wrote her first book at the age of nine. After marriage to her own “hero” and the births of her daughter and son, Beverly chose to be a full-time homemaker, aka wife, mother, friend and volunteer. The author of over thirty-five books, Beverly is a member of Romance Writers of America and helped found the Heart of Dixie chapter in Alabama. She has won numerous awards and made the Waldenbooks and USA Today bestseller lists.

      To my fellow Heart of Dixie RWA chapter members,

       past and present, for the camaraderie, encouragement and support, but especially for all the good times we’ve shared over the years.

      Contents

      Prologue

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Chapter 7

      Chapter 8

      Chapter 9

      Chapter 10

      Chapter 11

      Chapter 12

      Chapter 13

      Chapter 14

      Chapter 15

      Chapter 16

      Epilogue

      Prologue

      M anda Munroe inspected her curves in the mirror. The woman she saw reflected there was one others referred to as beautiful. She supposed she was pretty, just as she was rich and pampered. At least that was what everyone told her. Her father, older brother and grandmother doted on her. And she loved them, too, which was why she would never tell them that all their smothering attention could never fill the void, never replace the gigantic hole created in her life by her mother’s absence. Most of the time she didn’t feel sorry for herself for being the only kid in her circle of friends who didn’t have a mother. But for crying out loud, she had just turned sixteen and what she needed most was someone no one in her life could truly replace. A mother. Someone she could turn to for advice on being a woman. Grams was wonderful, but she was sixty and hardly up-to-date on the things today’s teenage girls needed to know.

      Manda pivoted slowly in front of the cherry cheval mirror in her bedroom. Grams wouldn’t approve of the bikini she was wearing, even though some of her friends wore skimpier ones. But if she was ever going to make Hunter Whitelaw notice that she was no longer a little girl, she had to do something drastic. She’d decided letting him see her in next to nothing would open his eyes to the fact that she was all grown up. Now, maybe he’d stop thinking of her as nothing more than Perry’s little sister. She’d had a crush on Hunter for as long as she could remember, since the first time Perry brought him to the house, about six years ago when the guys played high school football together. Of course, back then, she really had been just a kid. But even at ten, she’d somehow known that Hunter was the one and only boy on earth for her. And since that time, with each passing year, she had become more and more certain that he was destined to be the love of her life.

      Now, all she had to do was convince him of that fact. And parading around in front of him in her bikini was a great way to start. She didn’t have much time to accomplish her goal. Hunter was home in Dearborn for only two weeks, then he’d go back to the army.

      Manda grabbed her waist-length hair, pulled it through a rubber band and secured it in a ponytail. She opened her bedroom door, peeked out into the hall for any sign of Grams, then rushed toward the back stairs. As she passed through the laundry room, she grabbed a huge white towel, then flew out the door and onto the patio. Seeing Hunter lying on one of the chaise longues by the pool, she skidded to a halt. He was all alone. Manda squared her shoulders, took a deep breath and sauntered in his direction. She probably had less than twenty minutes to make an impression on Hunter. Daddy was at work, Grams should be taking her afternoon nap and their housekeeper, Bobbie Rue, was enjoying her day off at her sister’s house across town.

      Manda had timed her arrival at the pool to coincide with Perry’s trip to the store to pick up a couple of six-packs. He’d huffed about in the pantry, complaining that he couldn’t understand where the hell the four six-packs he’d put in there this past weekend had gone. She’d hidden the beer under the sink in the kitchen, knowing her brother wouldn’t spend a lazy summer afternoon without his favorite drink. Yuck. Manda had tried the nasty stuff and couldn’t imagine anyone drinking such foul-tasting poison.

      Hunter was stretched out to his full six-four height, his big, muscular arms thrown back and his hands resting above his head. He wore only a pair of loose black swim trunks, leaving most of his body bare. As she approached, she took inventory, scanning him from head to toe. Thick, dark brown hair, neatly trimmed. Sunglasses hooded his eyes, which she knew were a light blue-gray. Broad shoulders and wide chest, trim waist and hips. And long, long legs. Big hands. Big feet. And every inch of his flesh was tanned a golden brown. Curly dark hair covered his chest, as well as dusted his arms and legs.

      Now, that’s a man!

      Manda paraded around in front of Hunter, who didn’t seem to notice

Скачать книгу