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      In August 2010 Mills & Boon bring you four classic collections, each featuring three favourite romances by our bestselling authors

       THE SPANIARD’S PLEASURE

       The Spaniard’s Pregnancy Proposal

      by Kim Lawrence

      At the Spaniard’s Convenience by Margaret Mayo

      Taken: the Spaniard’s Virgin by Lucy Monroe

       BOUGHT FOR HIS BED

      Virgin Bought and Paid For by Robyn Donald

      Bought for Her Baby by Melanie Milburne

      Sold to the Highest Bidder! by Kate Hardy

       THE MILLIONAIRE’S CLUB: CONNOR, TOM & GAVIN

      Round-the-Clock Temptation by Michelle Celmer

      Highly Compromised Position by Sara Orwig

      A Most Shocking Revelation by Kristi Gold

       PROTECTOR, LOVER…HUSBAND?

      In the Dark by Heather Graham

      Sure Bet by Maggie Price

      Deadly Exposure by Linda Turner

      Round-the-Clock Temptation

       BY

      MICHELLE CELMER lives in southeastern Michigan with her husband, their three children, two dogs and two cats. When she’s not writing or busy being a mum, you can find her in the garden or curled up with a romance novel. And if you twist her arm really hard, you can usually persuade her into a day of power shopping.

      Michelle loves to hear from readers. Write to her at PO Box 300, Clawson, MI 48017, USA.

       Don’t miss Michelle Celmer’s exciting new novel, The Oilman’s Baby Bargain, available in September 2010 from Mills & Boon® Desire™.

      To Melissa Jeglinski, for taking an eight-year dream and making it a reality. Words can not express my gratitude.

      To Patience Smith, for being the editor I had always dreamed of and then some, and for her unwavering faith in me. It has truly been a joy to work with you.

      To my agent Jessica Faust, for her unconditional support for talking me down from a ledge a time or two and for being a hell of a lot of fun (and of course perky).

      To the exceptional authors I had the privilege of getting to know while working on this project. Cindy, Brenda, Shirley, Sara and Kristi, thanks for making my first continuity such a fun, rewarding experience.

      To Wanda Ottewell for diving into this mid-project and managing to make sense of it all. I’d love to work with you again.

      And finally, to my brother and sister-in-law, Jim and Sue, for their help researching this book. Thanks, guys!

      Prologue

       From the diary of Jessamine Golden

       October 11, 1910

      Dear Diary

      Just when I thought I’d lost my taste for revenge, when I believed Brad’s love for me had lifted the dark shadows that hung over my heart, I’ve been betrayed once again. Edgar Halifax stole my family and my security when he murdered my father. He ruined my life and took away my dreams of being a teacher. Now he’s stolen the only man I could ever love, the only man who has ever loved me, and my thirst for revenge is like a fire burning out of control in my belly.

      I’ve been framed, Diary. I didn’t steal that gold and I told Brad so. I swore to him on my father’s grave that it wasn’t me, that it was Halifax himself who’d done it. That he’d taken the gold and hidden it and made it look like a robbery. But Diary, when I saw the doubt in Brad’s eyes I felt sick deep inside my soul and a sharp pain stole my breath. It was my heart ripping in two. I’ve been betrayed before, but it never hurt like this. I realize now what a fool I’ve been to let myself believe we could beat the odds.

      But, Lord, I still love him. I crave the lips that touched mine so sweetly, the hands that caressed me so tenderly. The pendant rests close to my heart, a reminder of all that could have been. I’ll keep it there, even though I know now our love can never be. In Brad’s heart he will forever be a man of the law and my thirst for revenge will never be quenched. Not until Halifax pays for his sins. And he will pay. I’ll see to that.

      Without Brad’s love, I have nothing left to lose.

      Chapter One

      Nita Windcroft wasn’t the crying sort.

      The last time she ‘d shed a tear had been thirteen years ago, in the fourth grade, when she fell off the monkey bars and dislocated her shoulder. Buck Johnson had laughed and called her a baby and she’d hauled off and given him a black eye with her good arm. As far as she was concerned, most females were way too emotional for their own good. But in light of the recent happenings at their family horse farm—deliberately broken fences, poisoned feed that nearly killed more than a dozen horses and the threatening letter they’d received just last week warning them to get off the land—she was at the end of her emotional rope and clinging for dear life.

      Doc Willard, the town veterinarian, came out of Ulysses’s stall, a grim look painted in the lines of his weathered old face. Nita felt tears prickling the corners of her eyes, but refused to let them flow over.

      “I’m sorry, Nita. The break is too severe, and with his age…we’re going to have to put him down.”

      “Ulysses was just an old workhorse, but he was Daddy’s favorite. He’s going to be crushed by this.”

      “How is your Pa?” Doc Willard asked. “I heard he took quite a spill when the horse went down.”

      “He’s in surgery right now. The doctor’s say he’ll be off his feet for at least six weeks and he’ll probably need physical therapy.” Nita thought of her daddy, lying on the hard, dusty ground, his leg twisted and bloody after being launched from the horse’s back. He’d been out checking the fence in the north corral when his horse stepped in a hole—one too large to be created by a prairie dog or a badger. None of their employees would be foolish enough to dig a hole there, so she knew it had to be another attempt to scare them away.

      She also knew, no matter how vehemently they denied any wrongdoing, the Devlins were responsible for this. And this time they’d gone too far. Her daddy could have been killed.

      A fresh round of tears burned their way up into her throat and she swallowed them back. She’d lost her mother to cancer when she was little, and later lost her older sister Rose to the lure of the big city. Nita didn’t know what she would do if she lost her daddy, too. She would kill any man who tried to hurt him. But this situation was growing too big, too out of hand for even her to deal with.

      She’d heard the Texas Cattleman’s