Dare to Love by user (read dune TXT) 📗

Dissolving into tears out here on a public street wouldn’t be a good idea. But Jake was making her resolve difficult saying things like that. “You’re nothing like my father.

And I’m sorry for not standing with you against him. I know him better than anyone,

know the level of deviousness he’s capable of, and still I wanted to believe that he wouldn’t have done something as horrible as shut your company down. But he did, and

I’ll never forgive him for that.”

Jake put his arm around her and pulled her close to him, then moved them toward the

trailer. “Oh, I don’t know about that. Maybe that’s how he wanted to show you he cared

about you.”

“Quit making excuses for him. He did it because he wants to control me.”

“You’re right. He’s a bastard and he doesn’t deserve to have you for a daughter.” She laughed. “I don’t want to talk about my father anymore.”

“Okay. Let’s talk about us instead.”

Jake opened the trailer door for her and she stepped inside. When he closed the door

and flipped on the lights, she smiled at the bouquet of roses sitting amidst the chaos of

paperwork on his desk. She turned to him and smiled.

“I was going to come up to your office, but then I saw you walking by.”

“They’re beautiful. Thank you.”

He pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her. “I love you, Lucy Fairchild. Come live with me.”

Her eyes widened. “You want me to live with you?” www.samhainpublishing.com

“I want a lot more than that. I want a future with you. I want forever with you.

But

let’s start there. We’ll take things slow and step by step.” She grinned, sniffed. “I’d like that.”

“I have to warn you, though, it’ll be a big change in lifestyle for you. I’m just a plain

guy. I don’t have a lot of money, I can’t offer you much, but I have a heart rich with love

for you.”

Lucy let the tears fall now, unashamed of letting Jake see the emotion she could no

longer hold in. She pressed her lips to his, kissing him with all the love she had.

She felt

like she was going to burst.

“I love you, Jake Dalton. And I’m no longer rich, either. I’m going to reassign all my cases, and then I’m quitting the firm and I’m going to go back to school.” He pulled up a chair and pulled Lucy onto his lap. “Is that right?”

“Yes. It’s time I start living my dream.”

He nibbled her neck and she shivered with delight.

“And what would that dream be, Miss Fairchild?”

“I want a house out in the suburbs with the man I love. And I want to be a kindergarten teacher.”

He leaned back and smiled at her. “I think that sounds like a perfect life. I dare you

to make it work.”

She held out her hand. “I’ll take that dare. You’re on.” They shook hands, and this time she knew they were both going to win.

About the Author

Jaci Burton is a National Bestselling author, published in multiple genres. Her life is

spent juggling deadlines and trying to keep the characters straight in all her books. Jaci is

an award winning author, and has won the Romantic Times Bookclub Magazine’s Reviewer’s Choice Award. Jaci makes her home in northeast Oklahoma with her husband

and more dogs than she can wrangle.

Look for these titles by Jaci Burton

Now Available:

Nothing Personal

Rescue Me

Show Me

Unwrapped

Coming Soon:

Crimson Ties

Unraveled

He’s the protector she never wanted—and the love she can’t let go.

Lessons in Trust

© 2008 Kate Davies

Princess Lucia du Charbonneaux loves her life. Afforded a level of autonomy rarely

enjoyed by royalty, she lives on her own and chooses staff members who give her the

space she needs. But her new bodyguard refuses to play by the rules. His insistence on

shadowing her 24/7 is cramping her style—and the sparks flying between them are on the

verge of melting her carefully constructed Ice Princess façade. He needs to go before

those sparks get too hot.

Eric Delmonico would be happy to leave. The infuriating, challenging, whip-smart princess is a royal pain. Not to mention her sinfully sexy body keeps him up at night in

more ways than one. But her brother gave Eric the job, and he is determined to stay until

the threat against her is neutralized.

An attempt is made on her life, and Eric spirits her away to a safe house in the country where passion ignites, leaving them both shaken. Together they must work to

find the assassin before Lucia’s safety—and the connection between them—are lost

forever.

Warning: This book contains hot lovin’ and frank language.

Enjoy the following excerpt for Lessons in Trust: It was well past one a.m. when Eric finished his debrief session with palace security.

He’d placed two guards outside Lucia’s suite and another patrolling the grounds outside

the living quarters while he was gone, but he still felt better coming back to guard her

himself.

It was his job, after all. It had nothing to do with anything personal.

She should have been long asleep. But as he let himself into the suite, she stood up

from the couch and took a step forward. “Well?”

He shook his head. “They drove away before gate security could get a read on the license plate.”

“It’s like a bad dream.” She wrapped her arms around her stomach, pacing a little.

“I

mean, it didn’t really seem real until now.”

He nodded. There wasn’t much he could say.

“I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to get to sleep tonight,” she said with a self-conscious laugh. “I keep remembering that race through the alley. You really did take our

lives in your hands.”

He shrugged. “I’ve been teaching evasive driving for five years. That was a piece of

cake.”

“Still…” She sighed and dropped down on the couch. She’d changed after he brought her back to the suite, he noticed. Her outfit was probably called a lounge set, but

it looked like a pair of sweats and a T-shirt to him. It was probably a testament to how

messed up he was that he found her more attractive in that than the designer dress she’d

worn to the premiere. “It’s a bit