When Twilight Comes
He'd waited for this day–this woman–for forever it seemed. Harry Ballantine had been a prisoner of Fernhaven forest and now he found the key to his salvation in Jenna Dante. But would she surrender to him before she left the hidden hamlet?With an angry ex on her tail and rain pouring, the last thing Jenna Dante needed was car trouble and a cranky child. Her only option was to seek refuge in the desolate hotel on the hill in Fernhaven. But the restored walls seemed to hold more than memories. For Jenna they vibrated with life and an all-male seduction she could only see and feel in her mind. But when danger came to call, she would need flesh-and-blood protection–and maybe something more lethal…like transcending love.
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The dream had felt so real
As Jenna padded to her bedroom, the dream hung around her like a cocoon, images flitting in and out, vague and muddled, but that desperate feeling of wanting, needing made her ache.
The harder she tried to remember the dream, the more it evaded her. But she could almost still feel him. His presence, his touch, his essence.
“Sexual frustration,” she said with a laugh. Her laugh sounded hollow even to her own ears.
The warmth of him, lying in his arms, his touch arousing her in ways—
She stopped, staring down at the bed. Her body turned to ice. Her heart began to pound erratically.
There were two impressions in the down-covered mattress. One on her side where she slept. The other where someone else had lain next to her.
When I decided to become a writer I just wanted to tell stories. I’d never met a writer, knew nothing about the business or the blessings that come with it. One of the greatest gifts I have realized is the friendship of other writers. This book is dedicated to two of the best: Amanda Stevens and Joanna Wayne.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A former award-winning journalist, B.J. Daniels had thirty-six short stories published before her first romantic suspense, Odd Man Out, came out in 1995. Her book Premeditated Marriage won Romantic Times Best Intrigue award for 2002 and she received a Career Achievement Award for Romantic Suspense. B.J. lives in Montana with her husband, Parker, three springer spaniels, Zoey, Scout and Spot, and a temperamental tomcat named Jeff. She is a member of Kiss of Death, the Bozeman Writer’s Group and Romance Writers of America. When she isn’t writing, she snowboards in the winter and camps, water-skis and plays tennis in the summer. To contact her, write: P.O. Box 183, Bozeman, MT 59771 or look for her online at: www.bjdaniels.com.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Jenna Dante—Is it just an accident that she ended up at the isolated hotel at the end of the road while running to protect her daughter?
Lexi Dante—Jenna’s precocious four-year-old.
Harry Ballantine—The con man has one chance to make up for his past. But he didn’t count on that chance involving a woman like Jenna Dante.
Lorenzo Dante—No one took from him and lived to tell about it. Especially his ex-wife, Jenna.
Raymond Valencia—The crime boss broke his cardinal rule—he got involved with the wrong woman.
Rose Garcia—She thought she had her life under control…. That was before Fernhaven.
Charlene Palmer—She knew the value of friendship.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter One
Seattle, Washington
Jenna Dante ran her fingers down the cold steel barrel of the gun in her jacket pocket as she parked in the darkest part of the estate.
Through the trees, she stared at the second floor bedroom window, willing the light to go out.
It took everything in her to wait another twenty minutes after it finally did so. Then she picked up the crowbar from the seat next to her and, making sure the dome light was turned off, slipped from the car.
Because she would be carrying a heavy load when she left, she’d taken the service road, parking at the back entry closest to the house.
The hired help had gone home hours ago. Lorenzo didn’t like anyone staying on the estate at night. That was because he didn’t want any witnesses.
The gun weighed down her pocket as she moved stealthily through the trees and darkness toward the servants’ entry. She’d worn all black, and had picked this entrance because it was the farthest from the main part of the house.
At the door she pulled out the ring of keys, thinking she would have to use the crowbar. But the key she chose fit in the back door lock and turned. She stared down at it, surprised that she could still be shocked by Lorenzo’s arrogance. He’d been so sure she would never use her keys that he hadn’t even bothered to have the locks changed?
Or was he expecting her?
She froze, her pulse drumming in her ears.
With the crowbar in one hand, she turned the knob and pushed open the door. He hadn’t reset the security system when he’d come home, either.
She felt a chill race up her spine as she stood in the rear entryway, fighting to calm her nerves. Desperation had brought her here. Desperation and anger. She drew on the anger now, reminding herself of everything Lorenzo Dante had done to her. He had taken her dignity, her innocence, her confidence. He’d hurt her every way possible. But this time he’d gone too far. This time he’d taken the one thing she couldn’t let him get away with, no matter what happened here tonight.
She stood listening for a moment, then slowly closed the door and put down the crowbar. The arrogance that had kept him from changing the locks and turning on the security system would be his downfall, she told herself. Better to believe that than consider he didn’t even see her as a threat.
