www.millsandboon.co.uk

      For all the romance readers at Paperbacks Plus

       in Port Orchard, Washington, especially Joanne, Nikki, Renate, Sheila and Susan B.

      LOIS FAYE DYER,

      winner of the 1989-1990 Romantic Times Magazine Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best New Series Author, lives on Washington State’s beautiful Puget Sound with her husband and their yellow Lab, Maggie Mae. She ended a career as a paralegal and Superior Court clerk to fulfill a lifelong dream to write. When she’s not involved in writing, she enjoys long walks on the beach with her husband, watching musical and Western movies from the 1940s and 1950s, and, most of all, indulging her passionate addiction to reading. This is her twelfth published novel.

      Contents

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter One

      T he Crossroads Bar and Grill was loud and rowdy when Quinn Bowdrie stepped through the archway, undecided if he wanted to stay or head home to the comfort of his bed. He leaned the point of one broad shoulder against the wall just inside the door, thumbs hooked in his belt, hands hanging idly while he looked over the Saturday night crowd. He didn’t see the blonde he’d noticed entering the bar earlier, but the room was packed with townspeople from Colson and ranchers from surrounding spreads. When he’d first seen her, he’d been tempted to push out of the Grill’s booth and follow her for a closer look, but the mouthwatering aroma of steak and baked potato had reminded him that he hadn’t eaten since noon.

      Although Quinn often ate a meal at the Grill, he rarely socialized with his neighbors at the popular attached bar. Nevertheless, he decided to go next door to look for the blonde after he finished his dinner.

      The throng parted briefly, allowing him a glimpse of a familiar face on the far side of the room. Nikki Peterson’s auburn hair was a blaze of color beneath the bar’s low-wattage lights. She’d been actively pursuing his brother, Cully, for a good two months. But as far as Quinn was aware, his brother considered her strictly a friend. There were times Quinn envied his brother’s ability to enjoy women. Quinn himself had decided long ago that anything more involved than a rare one-night stand wasn’t worth the effort.

      The crowd shifted again, allowing a clear view of the woman who sat across from Nikki. She laughed and shook her head at something Nikki said, and the dim light glittered off the silvery fall of hair that hung just past her shoulders. There was an innate sensuality in her movements, and Quinn’s eyes narrowed as he continued to watch her, his attention riveted as everything male in him responded to the subtle female signals she was sending. She turned slightly to answer Nikki, and light fell over her face.

      Quinn stiffened and pushed away from the wall, his hands loosening their grip and sliding unnoticed from his belt. He couldn’t tell what color her eyes were from this distance and the dim light only gave a hint of a lush mouth and finely molded cheekbones, but it was enough to make him want to see more.

      His gaze slid lower, following the silvery hair where it fell across her shoulders, shimmering like pale silk against the soft peach of her blouse. The edge of the tabletop kept him from seeing all of her, but what he could observe of her aroused an insatiable need to view the rest of her. Unfortunately, his view was blocked when a man paused at the table. A brief moment later, the man held out his hand and the woman rose reluctantly from the booth, walking onto the dance floor, the man turning to follow her.

      Quinn all but snarled. Sam Beckman was a local rancher with a reputation for playing fast and loose with women. The pretty blonde was going to get hit on, hard.

      Hell, he thought with disgust. As pretty as she is, she’s probably used to men coming on to her.

      Common sense told him to go home but the sight of the woman dancing with Beckman made him stay. Quinn leaned against the wall, stuck his hands into his front pockets and watched Sam and the stranger.

      The music was fast and loud. Sam expertly swung the woman through a series of intricate steps, and she followed him with smooth ease. The dim light on the dance floor gleamed off her silvery hair as she spun and shifted, her lush mouth curved in laughter as she ducked beneath Sam’s arm and twirled away again. The song ended; without pausing, the band moved smoothly into a slow, bluesy tune, and Sam pulled his partner into his arms.

      Quinn’s gaze followed the couple as the rancher slow-stepped the blonde across the crowded dance floor toward the darkest corner of the room, the one closest to Quinn. His eyes narrowed, his body tensed as he watched the pretty stranger plant her hand