Lauren Canan – Redeeming The Billionaire Seal (страница 1)
How she wanted to kiss him. Right here. Right now. Right or wrong.
She couldn’t think of a better place for something she’d waited a lifetime to do. Moving closer to him, her focus dropped to his mouth.
“Holly.” He shook his head.
“What?”
“This is not a good idea.” His voice was rough.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But her focus remained on his lips, which had haunted her for over a decade, now a mere breath away.
“Yeah. You do.” But despite his hesitation, he reached up and smoothed some strands of her hair back from her face. He caught her hair in his fist and gently pulled her toward him. His mouth touched hers, gently, tentatively … But then he drew back, making her heart cry out. He watched her, carefully, intently.
“It’s just a kiss,” she whispered. She could hear the pleading in her own voice.
“We both know it’s a hell of a lot more than that.”
* * *
Redeeming the Billionaire SEAL is part of Mills & Boon Desire’s No 1 bestselling series, Billionaires and Babies: Powerful men … wrapped around their babies’ little fingers
Redeeming the Billionaire SEAL
Lauren Canan
LAUREN CANAN has always been in love with love. When she began writing, stories of romance and unbridled passion flowed through her fingers onto the page. Today she is a multi-award-winning author, including the prestigious Romance Writers of America Golden Heart® Award. She lives in Texas with her own real-life hero, four dogs and a mouthy parrot named Bird.
She loves to hear from readers. Find her on Facebook or go to her website, www.laurencanan.com.
This book is dedicated to Laurel Hamrick for the endless support and the many hours she gave so willingly. And to Kathleen for her patience and determination to make this story the best it can be. And to my closest friends (you know who you are!) who provided so much support when it was needed the most.
Contents
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Epilogue
Watching a newborn foal rise to its feet for the first time was a sight Holly Anderson would never tire of seeing. With a few staggered steps and some encouragement from its mother, the foal located its dinner bucket and didn’t have to be shown how to latch on to her first meal. The fluffy little tail flipped and turned as the warm nourishment filled her tummy.
“I thought we were going to lose this one,” said Don Jefferies, owner of the mare that had just given birth with considerable help from Holly. “I’ve been raising quarter horses most of my life and I guess I’ve been lucky. I’ve never had to deal with a breech birth.”
“They don’t happen that often,” Holly agreed. “Thank goodness.”
“I can’t say how much I appreciate you, Doc.”
“Glad I could help.” Holly took one last glimpse at the foal before stepping out into the hallway as Don closed the stall door behind her. She began gathering her implements, then walked to the truck and dumped them into a white bucket filled with a special cleaning solution. “I should come back out and check them both in two or three days. I’ll need someone here to contain Mother. She’s probably not going to like having her baby kidnapped for a few minutes.”
“No worries. I’ll call your office tomorrow, schedule a time and make sure someone is around to help if I can’t be here myself.”
With a final handshake, Holly tossed the last of her gear in the holding compartment in the back of her truck, climbed in behind the wheel and headed back to the clinic. The sun had set and twilight was quickly folding into night.
She’d finished scouring the equipment and was rinsing her hands when the little bell over the front door chimed. Someone had entered the building. She must have forgotten to put up the closed sign again. It had been a twelve-hour day with an emergency wake-up call at seven thirty this morning, and her body was screaming for a long hot soak in the old claw-foot tub.
Drying her hands on a paper towel, she made her way through the back of the clinic, rounded the corner and stopped at the edge of the front counter. She had already turned off the overhead lights but the glow from the lab area provided some illumination. Two men stood just inside the door of the small waiting room. She immediately recognized Cole Masters, one of the three owners of the ninety-two-thousand-acre beef operation across the road. She’d grown up with the three Masters sons; her aunt’s small house, where she lived now, was just across the road from their mansion on the hill. Although they were several years older, that hadn’t stopped any of them from forming a lifelong bond of friendship that was more like extended family.
As to the identity of the man who stood next to Cole, she had no clue. He must be a business associate out for the weekend. Cole and his brother Wade randomly brought people to the Circle M for a leisurely weekend in the country with horseback rides and cookouts over a campfire—by an accredited chef. Why anyone would need a professional chef to cook a hot dog over a grill was beyond her realm of understanding. To each his own, she supposed.
She didn’t sense any type of tension indicating an emergency. Cole just stood there with a stupid grin on his face. It was late. She was tired. And she needed to get home to the baby so Amanda, her friend and temporary babysitter, could go home. Whatever he was up to, she needed him to pull the prank and be done with it.
“Hey, Cole,” she said. He nodded. “Did you forget your way home again?”
“Ha. Ha.”
“How can I help you?”
“I wanted to pick up the antibiotics for the sorrel mare that cut her foot. Caleb intended to get them but something else came up. I told him I would stop by if you were still open.”
“Right. I’d forgotten. They’re in the fridge. Be right back.”
She slipped into the main room of the clinic, grabbed the drugs out of the refrigerator along with a few syringes, dropped them all in a plastic ziplock and returned to the front. “Here you go. Caleb knows what to do but if he has any questions, tell him to call.”
“Sure thing.”
Cole stood in the same place, making no effort to move.
“Was there something else?”
Cole glanced over to the other man next to him, then back to Holly.
Holly bent slightly forward and held out her hands, palms up, a silent way of asking, What do you want? “It’s a little late for charades. I’m sorry, but I’ve had a really long day. How about you skip the theatrics and just tell me what you need?” She glanced at the other man. “I apologize. He gets this way sometimes.”
The man shrugged, pursing his lips as though finding the situation funny. Cole’s grin grew wider. “Ah, man...this is too good,” Cole muttered to his friend. “We should have brought Wade.”
Holly didn’t know what to make of that statement. What was too good?
“Okay.” She patted the counter. “You both have a good evening. If you don’t mind, lock the door on your way out.” She turned to leave, headed for the rear entrance and made it all of three steps.