www.millsandboon.co.uk

      To my brothers—Jim, Mike, Dan, and Chris Boyle.

      I love you guys. Merry Christmas!

       Chapter One

      When he’d come to Thunder Canyon five months ago looking for his biological parents, Shane Roarke never expected to find out that his father was in jail for stealing from the town. So far his mother’s identity was still a mystery, but maybe that was for the best. Did he really want to meet the woman who’d shown the bad judgment to hook up with a criminal? And what did that say about his own DNA?

      He’d arrived a city-slicker chef with a list of questions about who he was. Now he had half the answers and a lot to lose if anyone else found out. The information and what to do about it weighed heavy on his mind.

      In June he’d taken the executive chef position at The Gallatin Room, the fine-dining restaurant at Thunder Canyon Resort. With successful restaurants in L.A., New York and Seattle it had been a career step-down, but necessary for personal reasons. Now he was the definition of a man in conflict—part of him wished he’d never come, while the other part really liked this town.

      “Oh, you’re still here—”

      Shane looked up from the glass of wine in front of him to the redhead who’d just walked into his kitchen. Gianna Garrison was a waitress and part-time bartender on his staff. In the big cities where he’d worked his name had been linked to models, actresses and celebrities, but he’d never seen a more beautiful woman than the one in front of him now, looking like a deer caught in headlights.

      “I’m still here,” he agreed.

      “Like the captain of a ship.”

      “The last to leave.” He smiled.

      Gianna was wearing the black slacks and long-sleeved white shirt all the waitresses wore but it looked better on her. The tucked-in blouse accentuated breasts, not too big or too small, which only left just right. Her waist was trim, her legs slim and that curly, shoulder-length red hair always got his attention even from across a crowded room. Close-up was even better.

      “Sorry to bother you.” She started to back out of the room. “I’ll just be going.”

      She wasn’t bothering him. In fact she’d done him a favor. Shane realized the last thing he wanted was to be alone with his dark thoughts.

      “Wait. We were a waitress short tonight.” Pretty lame stating the obvious, but he’d just switched mental gears and it was the best he could come up with to stop her from leaving.

      “Yeah, Bonnie has a bad cold. Coughing, sneezing and breathing germs on that party of ski executives from Switzerland seemed counterproductive to the goal.”

      Shane nodded. “Convincing them that Thunder Canyon has the snow, slopes and service to make it a winter vacation destination for Europeans.”

      “Right. And have you seen any of those movies on the flu pandemic and how disease spreads? We wouldn’t want Thunder Canyon identified as ground zero by the Centers for Disease Control. The Swiss would probably hear about it.”

      “That wouldn’t be good. Bonnie was wise to call herself off.”

      The humor sparkling in her eyes made them almost turquoise. He hadn’t noticed that before, which wasn’t surprising. Between work, looking for his birth parents and feeling guilty about it on account of his real parents who loved him unconditionally, he’d been a little preoccupied. Now she was only a couple of feet away and he noticed that her eyes were wide and beautiful, like the Caribbean Ocean. If he wasn’t careful, he could drown in them.

      “So one waitress less means you worked twice as hard,” he said.

      She lifted one shoulder in a no-big-deal gesture. “I just moved faster, smiled more and dazzled them with the Garrison wit, hoping they had no idea it was taking just a little longer to get their orders delivered. The complimentary bottle of wine you sent over to the table didn’t hurt, either. By the way, they raved about the food and seemed surprised. You’d think the invention of Swiss cheese entitled them to culinary domination of the universe.”

      “I’m guessing you didn’t say that to them.”

      “No.” She grinned.

      “The head of the delegation complimented me on the food and service before they left. He promised me maximum stars, diamonds, happy faces, thumbs-up, however they designate their rating. Without you I couldn’t have pulled that off, Gianna.”

      Her wit wasn’t the only thing about her that dazzled. When she smiled, her face lit up like the town square decorated for Christmas. “I’m flattered you noticed.”

      “I make it my business to notice. It crossed my mind to come out to help serve, but I couldn’t get away.”

      “Cooking is what you do. Delivering what you cook is my job.”

      “There’s more to it than that.