LITMIR.BIZ

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      1

      “OKAY, SO YOU’RE, ah, married, huh? Ah, let me see now…Oh, man! Would you look at the time? I have an important meeting in, ah, in less than, ah, I’m sure it’s in less than an hour….”

      Rainey Miller laughed aloud. She couldn’t hold it in any longer. Never had she seen a man blush so deeply—or backpeddle so swiftly. The guy was too funny. He obviously wasn’t too bright, though.

      Why would he assume that just because a woman was seated alone that she must be single? Everybody from around here knew that, aside from a few young chambermaids and reservations clerks, there were no single, available women at the Honeymoon Haven. Only couples in love, celebrating their honeymoon, or a major anniversary. This guy had to be a tourist.

      When her spontaneous eruption drew curious stares from the other guests in the Haven’s quaint dining room, Rainey quickly withdrew into the shadow of the huge potted fern beside her table. The last thing she wanted was to attract the attention of the brain-damaged Lothario who had made her laugh in the first place.

      For twenty minutes she had eavesdropped—unintentionally, of course—while the guy did his darndest to entice the stunning blonde seated at the next table. The plant enabled Rainey to watch the show, undetected.

      And what a show it was! Hovering over the woman’s table, oozing testosterone, he had tried every dumb line in the book, right down to, “You remind me of somebody I used to know.” He had tried flattery, complimenting her on her beautiful blue eyes and sweet smile. He had offered her a “free” massage, whatever that meant. After telling him twice to get lost, the poor woman had finally been reduced to muttering, “Look, buster, I’m married. I’m on my honeymoon, and my husband will be here any minute!”

      Romeo’s immediate and lightning-fast retreat was just about the funniest thing Rainey had ever seen. He might not be a Rhodes Scholar, but she would give him points for cheesy charm.

      When he backed away from the table, she got a better look at the guy. My, but he was gorgeous. Tall and athletically built, with a mop of shoulder-length dark-blond hair fingered back from a classically handsome face. He had high cheekbones and full, sensuous lips that promised unspeakable pleasures. Rainey found herself staring at those lips and wondering how the blonde could resist them—married or not.

      On second glance, Romeo didn’t look like a tourist. Rainey had spent all her childhood summers in this sleepy little town just west of Calgary. She could easily distinguish the locals from the imports. Everything about Romeo screamed local. The faded jeans, the unbuttoned flannel shirt over a dark-blue T-shirt, the scuffed hiking boots. Plus he had the wind-whipped complexion of an outdoorsman. The tourists usually had delicate city skin and were turned out in stiff new duds straight from the L.L. Bean catalogue.

      Rainey sighed. Ever since her breakup with Trevor last month, she had hardly glanced at a man, much less noticed a finely sculptured mouth. One thing was for sure, if she ever got involved with another man, it definitely wouldn’t be someone like superstud here. She could tell just by looking at him that he was a flake. No sooner would you fall head over heels for the guy than he’d start mumbling that he just couldn’t make a commitment “at this time.” Meaning, of course, that he just couldn’t make one with you.

      Or worse, he’d win your heart, then make a play for your best friend, the way Trevor had for Rainey’s friend, Dana.

      Besides, Rainey wasn’t here to get caught up in another messy romance. She was here to take her rightful place as owner and general manager of the Honeymoon Haven, Canada’s most famous getaway for lovers, in the beautiful town of Bragg Creek, Alberta. She had worked hard for it and she was ready. Well, almost ready.

      Learn everything there is to know about running a hotel, and when I pass on I’ll leave the Haven to you. That’s what Rainey’s childless great-aunt Lilly had told her when she was just a kid. Rainey took the offer seriously. She grew weary just thinking about the ten long years she toiled nights and weekends at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto while dozing through business courses during the day. It was a grueling life. No fun whatsoever. But she had done it. Lilly had passed away peacefully last week, and Rainey’s time had come. Now if only she could get over her terror.

      She was wrestling with that emotion when Romeo finally spotted her. Oh, no. He was coming her way, mischief plastered all over his stubbled mug.

      “Well, well, what do we have here?” he murmured, placing his hands flat on Rainey’s table and locking eyes with her. “A beautiful woman, all alone.” He gave her what he undoubtedly thought was an irresistible smile.

      How charming. And what a waste. He had about as much chance of scoring with Rainey as he had of being abducted by aliens. Less, actually.

      She glanced at her watch. It was nearly one o’clock. After a sleepless night followed by a turbulent, early-morning flight from Toronto to Calgary, she was exhausted. She had just enough time to catch a nap and freshen up before her three o’clock meeting with Lilly’s attorney. On the telephone this morning he had advised her of last-minute changes to Lilly’s will, changes he couldn’t discuss over the phone. She would shake Romeo off quickly. In the meantime, why not have a little fun?

      She ventured a coy smile and nodded in the direction of the blonde. “Surely you must be exhausted from trying to pick up beautiful women.”

      Romeo’s grin quickly dissolved into a pout. “Ouch! That wasn’t very nice, was it?” Recovering quickly, he added, “Besides, I never get tired of picking up beautiful women, especially women as gorgeous as you.”

      While Rainey laughed, his amber eyes took in her dark, shoulder-length hair, her heart-shaped face, her slender neck and the cleavage showing just above the top of her scooped-neck blouse. Rainey knew she should have thrown the blouse away. She was a little too well endowed for it.

      She shook her head. “You’re some piece of work, aren’t you?” It was a lame retort, but it was the best she could do. Rainey wasn’t intimidated by them, but neither was she used to guys like Romeo here. Sexual predators on the prowl. Trevor may have been a wolf, but he came across as a lamb.

      Superstud cocked his head sideways and gave her a playful look. “I could be the man of your dreams, if you’d just give me the chance.”

      A crazy thought popped into Rainey’s head: Honey, you are the man of my dreams; you just aren’t the man of my reality.

      “Really, how so?” Feigning deep interest, she let her green eyes slide over him just as seductively as his had slid over her. What was the harm? He was about to strike out anyway.

      He sighed wearily. “Well, first of all, let’s get one thing out of the way. Are you on your honeymoon?”

      “Nope.”

      His dark-blond eyebrows shot up. “Married?”

      “Nope.”

      He took a deep breath and made a big show of expelling it. “Whew, it must be my lucky day. Okay, then, here’s what would happen…” Before Rainey could object, he dropped into the chair next to hers. “We’d start the evening with a nice meal at the Bragg Creek Steak Pit. Ever heard of it?”

      Rainey nodded. She and her parents had dined there at least once a week, all those summers ago. The food was fabulous.

      “Terrific. Then we’d take a stroll through town, just so the locals could see what a good score you made.” He actually kept a straight face while awaiting her reaction.

      Good score? Good grief! If this guy wasn’t the most arrogant, conceited jerk who had ever lived, Rainey sure would like to meet his competition. “Of course,” she purred. “That’s a given. Then what would we do?”

      “Then we’d retire to my cottage out on Bear Road. Did I tell you that I own a beautiful cottage?”

      “Nope. We hadn’t got that far. We were still in town, showing off my good score.”

      He nodded earnestly.

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