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      “I’m here for my challenge.”

      Wyatt’s gaze flickered down her as if assessing her once more and wondering if he’d gone crazy asking her back. The distrust was there as clear as day. Determination sprang through her like a runner out of the starting blocks. Amanda hiked a brow when he said nothing, deciding a little challenge of her own was in order.

      “I guess I am, too,” he drawled in a voice she bet jurors found almost hypnotizing in a courtroom.

      She had to give him credit, though; his tone was civil for the first time since she’d met him. They could build on that.

      “I promise you won’t be sorry. I’ll get results.”

      “I’ll make sure you do.”

      His words were meant as a warning, but they made her smile widen. “I think we are going to have some fun, Mr. Turner.”

      DEBRA CLOPTON

      was a 2004 Golden Heart finalist in the inspirational category, a 2006 Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award winner, a 2007 Golden Quill award winner and a finalist for the 2007 American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year Award. She praises the Lord each time someone votes for one of her books, and takes it as an affirmation that she is exactly where God wants her to be.

      Debra is a hopeless romantic and loves to create stories with lively heroines and the strong heroes who fall in love with them. But most important, she loves showing her characters living their faith, seeking God’s will in their lives one day at a time. Her goal is to give her readers an entertaining story that will make them smile, hopefully laugh and always feel God’s goodness as they read her books. She has found the perfect home for her stories writing for the Love Inspired line and still has to pinch herself just to see if she really is awake and living her dream.

      When she isn’t writing, she enjoys taking road trips, reading and spending time with her two sons, Chase and Kris. She loves hearing from readers and can be reached through her Web site, www.debraclopton.com, or by mail at P.O. Box 1125, Madisonville, Texas 77864.

      Cowboy For Keeps

      Debra Clopton

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      MILLS & BOON

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      And Jesus answered and said unto him,

      If a man love me, he will keep my words.

      —John 14:23

      This book is dedicated to Chuck Parks. My life changed the day God sent you to my front door—what a wonderful beginning that blind date turned out to be! I love you, Chuck…you are my very own God-loving, honorable cowboy for keeps :)

      Contents

      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

      Chapter Seventeen

      Chapter Eighteen

      Epilogue

      Questions for Discussion

      Chapter One

      “Are you sure this is what you want to do? I just can’t believe it.”

      Amanda Hathaway met her boss’s sympathetic, if somewhat startled, gaze. It wasn’t what she wanted, it was her only option. “Yes. It is, Joyce. I’ve given it a lot of thought and I want—I need—to move strictly to adult cases.” Adults, not children. Not the kids she’d loved working with—felt called to work with.

      “But you’ve always loved working with children,” Joyce Canton said as if reading her mind. “And you have such a gift. Don’t you want to think this through?”

      Amanda took a deep breath, her chest constricted with the strain she was feeling. “I have, Joyce. This is not easy for me. But I don’t have the heart for it anymore.”

      “I can’t believe that.”

      “Being around…” The words trailed off because she couldn’t voice the words that being around children right now made her feel ill. What good would she do as a physical therapist when she couldn’t look at her patients without crying or feeling hollow? “It’s tearing me up inside” was all she could manage. She had to change her life. And she had to do it now.

      “He was a jerk, Amanda.”

      Joyce’s words emerged in a growl of disgust, one completely the opposite of her normally professional demeanor. Amanda blinked hard as her eyes began to burn. She looked away, willing herself to keep her composure. God had a plan. He did; she just didn’t understand it. And that didn’t make what she was feeling any less heartbreaking.

      “You can’t let what he said and did have this kind of power over you,” Joyce continued. “If I were a man I’d go over there and I’d punch him.”

      Any other time Amanda might have smiled at her boss’s show of affection, but today she just couldn’t summon one. Her fiancé—no, her ex-fiancé’s decision ate at her. “He only expressed his true feelings,” she managed, willing herself to truly understand him. Anger wasn’t going to help her in this situation. Anger very seldom did help, but in this instance it would simply exaggerate her already shot emotions. “He can’t be faulted for being honest.”

      “Honest. Honest! The man knew the facts and asked you to marry him. Then out of the blue he drops this bomb on you. How could he ask you to marry him and then break it off because you can’t—”

      Joyce didn’t finish the sentence as her voice broke. Her eyes welled with tears. She snatched a tissue from the box on the desk and dabbed her eyes. Amanda had experienced the same anger and disbelief when Jonathan had made his revelation three endless weeks ago. But then, reality sank in and she knew that deep down she’d been expecting the breakup all along. And how could she blame him? How could anyone blame a man for realizing he couldn’t marry a woman who was unable to give him children? She couldn’t, and that was where the anger had dispelled. She was twenty-four years old with no hope of ever carrying a child. Her chest constricted again.

      She still wasn’t sure why she’d started dating Jonathan in the first place. She’d told herself she wouldn’t date. Not dating held less risk for her. But then, Jonathan had asked her out for lunch—and when

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