A Stetson On Her Pillow
AN ASSIGNMENT FROM HELL…Police officer Laura Carter is willing to expose herself to danger every day. But pose as the wife of fellow cop Clint Marshall for the entire weekend to crack her latest case? No way. It's hard enough resisting his sexy cowboy charm at the station! Then again, since they're supposed to be lovers, she might as well be as convincing as possible….AND JUST AS HOT!Clint has no illusions about melting the ice he is sure runs through Laura's blue-blooded veins. All he wants to do is solve the case and head back to Texas. But the longer he plays the passionate husband of this stunning ice princess, the more he wonders if she'd let him heat things up between them for real!
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âTwo can play at that game,â Laura whispered provocatively
âWhat are you doing?â Clint murmured, aware that their suspects were watching them on the dance floor.
âWhy, playing the part of the loving wife,â Laura purred. She raised herself up on her toes to brush a kiss along the side of Clintâs mouth, pleased to feel his arms tighten around her, to see his dark eyes filled with raw need.
Unaware that the music had stopped, she pulled his head to her and pressed her lips ravenously over his. Clintâs hands curved over her hips in primal exploration, squeezing gently and sending liquid heat through her body. Her heart pounded in her ears until she realized it wasnât rushing blood she was hearing.
Applause from the restaurant patrons jolted them back to reality like a bucket of cold water. Laura quickly turned her shocked expression into a smile. She couldnât let Clint know that her kisses had been anything more than part of their assignment.
âI think weâve made our point,â she said, turning on her heel. âAlthough I must admit, if Iâd known that cowboys kissed so well, Iâd have visited Texas long ago.â
Dear Reader,
Iâm convinced I adore cowboys because watching them on television taught me how to speak English. Although I was born in Toronto, Canada, my parents were from Estonia and I grew up speaking Estonian.
I learned English by playing with all my friends who spoke Greek, Italian and an assortment of other languages (Toronto is very multicultural) and by watching TV with my dadâhence my second passion for television.
My father preferred Westerns, and I spent many an hour watching these shows, falling in love with the rugged, do-the-right-thing, let-nothing-stand-in-his-way cowboy. Whether heâs the strong silent type or a silver-tongued charmer, the cowboy is my perfect romantic hero.
Which made writing about Clint Marshall and Two Mule Junction such fun. Pairing him with his complete opposite, a Boston blue blood with a silly dog, only made the possibilities entertainingly unending. I hope you enjoy A Stetson on Her Pillow as much as I did.
Happy trails!
Molly Liholm
Books by Molly Liholm
HARLEQUIN TEMPTATION
552âTEMPTING JAKE
643âBOARDROOM BABY
672âTHE GETAWAY GROOM
706âTHE ADVENTUROUS BRIDE
745âBABY.COM
For Nancy Hill, superachiever, who is always looking for new challenges and adventures.
Contents
1
âYOU WANT ME to marry the cowboy?â Laura asked. âYou expect me,â she punctuated the word with a tone of disbelief, âto marry him?â
Even as she spoke in her low, cultured voice and brushed a strand of blond hair off her face, securing it back into the neat French braid she favored, Clint Marshall knew their boss had already made up his mind. They had been called into his office to receive their marching ordersânot to debate whether or not they wanted the assignment.
Still, he found it downright amusing to watch patrician Laura Carter try to wiggle her skinny behind out of the assignment. Her cold-blue eyes, a color that reminded Clint of the silver blue of a Texas sky just before a storm, swept over him, quickly dismissed him and returned to Captain Clark.
Clint slouched farther down on the hard wooden chair and crossed one well-worn cowboy boot over the other. He felt Lauraâs gaze fall on the scuffed leather. He swung the foot back and forth as if he were relaxing on a rocking chair on his motherâs porch and wished he had a cowboy hat he could tilt forward and drive little Miss Prim and Proper plum crazy. Not that she showed it, but he knew his good old boy routine had gotten to her as she sat even straighter in her chair. Not for the first time he wondered what a Boston blue blood was doing on the Chicago police force.
Or why in the world their captain would be assigning the two of them to work together.
Undoubtedly the skinny, pale man standing in the corner of the office had something to do with this. From the strangerâs expensive, but ill-fitting, suit and polished shoes Clint knew he wasnât a regular cop. He didnât look like a guy who knew what the inside of a patrol car looked like much less smelled like. He reminded Clint of an accountant.
In fact he reminded Clint of Jason Fairmount, a nervous tweedy fellow who arrived in Two Horse Junction twice a year to offer his accountancy services. Clintâs mother always had Jason over for dinner whenever he was in town, saying she admired him, and that she wished one of her sons could be as responsible and reliable as Jason.
The skinny, pale man wiped his brow and waited for Captain Clark to speak. Clint kept his mouth shut. There was no point in asking why he and the ice princess had been chosen for this confidential assignment. Captain Clark would tell them when he was ready. If there was one thing Clint knew how to do, it was how to wait.
Instead he smiled at Laura and settled back in his chair, still pretending that it was a comfortable rocker and not a bare-boned, hard-assed flimsy excuse for a chair. Why, such a chair wouldnât even last through one fight at the Two Horse Watering Hole back home.
