LITMIR.BIZ

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      In loving memory of

      the house my mother was born in, a house

      we filled with our family memories,

      the house we always called the

      Old House.

      CHRISTINE RIMMER

      came to her profession the long way around. Before settling down to write about the magic of romance, she’d been an actress, a salesclerk, a janitor, a model, a phone sales representative, a teacher, a waitress, a playwright and an office manager. She insists she never had a problem keeping a job—she was merely gaining “life experience” for her future as a novelist. Christine is grateful not only for the joy she finds in writing, but for what waits when the day’s work is through: a man she loves, who loves her right back, and the privilege of watching their children grow and change day to day. She lives with her family in Oklahoma.

      THE BRAVOS:

      HEROES, HEROINES AND THEIR STORIES

      THE NINE-MONTH MARRIAGE (SSE#1148)

      —Cash Bravo and Abby Heller

      MARRIAGE BY NECESSITY (SSE #1161)

      —Nate Bravo and Megan Kane

      PRACTICALLY MARRIED (SSE #1174)

      —Zach Bravo and Tess DeMarley

      MARRIED BY ACCIDENT (SSE #1250)

      —Melinda Bravo and Cole Yuma

      THE MILLIONAIRE SHE MARRIED (SSE #1322)

      —Jenna Bravo and Mack McGarrity

      THE M.D. SHE HAD TO MARRY (SSE #1345)

      —Lacey Bravo and Logan Severance

      THE MARRIAGE AGREEMENT (SSE #1412)

      —Marsh Bravo and Tory Winningham

      THE BRAVO BILLIONAIRE (single title)

      —Jonas Bravo and Emma Hewitt

      MARRIAGE: OVERBOARD

      —Gwen Bravo McMillan and Rafe McMillan

       (Weekly Serial at www.eHarlequin.com)

      THE MARRIAGE CONSPIRACY (SSE #1423)

      —Dekker (Smith) Bravo and Joleen Tilly

      HIS EXECUTIVE SWEETHEART (SSE #1485)

      —Aaron Bravo and Celia Tuttle

      MERCURY RISING (SSE #1496)

      —Cade Bravo and Jane Elliott

      SCROOGE AND THE SINGLE GIRL (SSE #1509)

      —Will Bravo and Jilly (Jillian) Diamond

      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

      Epilogue

      Chapter One

      Jillian Diamond left Sacramento at a little after two on that cold, clear Sunday afternoon in late December. She was barely out of town before the sky began to darken.

      In the foothills, a light snow was falling. The fluffy flakes blew down, swirling in the gray sky, melting the instant they hit the windshield.

      Jilly cast a quick glance at the seat beside her. “Voilà, Missy. Snow.”

      Miss Demeanor, a small calico cat with one mangled ear and an ordinarily pleasant disposition, glared at her mistress through the screened door of the carrier that held her prisoner. Missy did not enjoy traveling.

      Jilly faced the road again and continued, as if Missy cared, “Snow is good, you know that. Snow is part of the plan.”

      The plan was this: Take one creative, contented single woman, add Christmas in an idyllic setting, mix well and come up with…a column. Or maybe an article, something suitable for the slicks. Options, at this point, were wide open.

      And no, this was not to be your usual desperate, club-hopping singleton’s Christmas, not your ho-hum lonely career girl wandering aimlessly in a coupled-up world, with humor. Not your predictable tale of meaningless sexual encounters with guys who have it all—except for a heart. That was only what Jilly’s editor at the Sacramento Press-Telegram had asked for in the first place.

      Jilly had told him no way. “Listen, Frank. I don’t care if half the time it seems to me that that’s my life, exactly. It’s not going in the Press-Telegram for everyone I know—not to mention two hundred and fifty thousand strangers—to read about.” She’d shot back a counter-proposal: the happy single girl’s Christmas. That is, Jillian and her cat and a Christmas tree, perfectly content all on their own, in some quiet, scenic, isolated place.

      Frank had had the bad taste to stifle a yawn. “On second thought, never mind.”

      So fine. Jilly decided she would do it on spec and sell it next year.

      Which was why she and Missy were all packed up in her 4Runner, heading toward a certain secluded old house high in the Sierras, on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe.

      And the weather was cooperating nicely. Because, of course, for Christmas with the contented single girl, there should be snow, and it should be drifting attractively down outside a big picture window.

      Too bad Jilly got going on this project a little late, thus necessitating settling for a setting a tad less than ideal. Most likely, there wouldn’t be any picture windows in this particular house. But Jilly was okay with that. She’d have mountains and pine trees and lovely, sparkly white snow. For the rest,

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