Christmas Hideout

Cowboy lawmen make the best protectors

A McKade Law novel

Fleeing from her dangerous ex-boyfriend, on-the-run single mother Nicole Dyer takes refuge in a cabin—and is discovered by the ranch owner, Deputy Matt McKade. It’s easy to fall for the handsome lawman and his kind family, but staying at the ranch endangers them all. When everything Nicole loves comes under direct fire, can Matt keep her—and her heart—safe?

SUSAN SLEEMAN is a bestselling author of inspirational and clean-read romantic suspense books and mysteries. She received an RT Reviewers’ Choice Best Book Award for Thread of Suspicion. No Way Out and The Christmas Witness were finalists for the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence. She’s had the pleasure of living in nine states and currently lives in Oregon. To learn more about Susan, visit her website at susansleeman.com.

Also By Susan Sleeman

McKade Law

Holiday Secrets

Rodeo Standoff

Christmas Hideout

First Responders

Silent Night Standoff

Explosive Alliance

High-Caliber Holiday

Emergency Response

Silent Sabotage

Christmas Conspiracy

The Justice Agency

Double Exposure

Dead Wrong

No Way Out

Thread of Suspicion

Dark Tide

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Christmas Hideout

Susan Sleeman

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08651-6

CHRISTMAS HIDEOUT

© 2018 Susan Sleeman

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

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“Do you really think we’ll still be at the ranch on Christmas?” Nicole asked, and realized she wished they would be there.

Matt’s eyes narrowed, and she wanted to reach up and press out the wrinkle above his nose, but she refrained from doing so.

“Even when this is all resolved, I don’t want you to leave Lost Creek, but I don’t really have anything to offer you.” He ran a hand over the dark stubble on his jaw. “My life for the next few years is mapped out, and I can’t change that.”

Right. That again. She knew he didn’t want a relationship, so why did hearing him say it cut her to the core?

She held up the key, eager to change the subject. “So...we should get going, right?”

He nodded but didn’t look all that convinced. He gestured for her to precede him, and she took one last look at the Christmas tree before starting for the door.

It was suddenly kicked in.

Nicole screamed and lurched back as two men holding rifles burst inside.

“On the floor now!”

Dear Reader,

Thank you for reading Christmas Hideout. I have loved every moment of writing about the McKade family, and I hope you have enjoyed getting to know them in the first three books of the miniseries. In this story, both Nicole and Matt struggle with trusting God with their futures. They worry about the unseen and need to realize that God can see into the future, that they can take heart, that though their future may not be what they expected or planned for, He always promises to work things for our good. If you struggle with the same thing, I hope reading about how Nicole and Matt overcome their issues helps you cope with your own.

If you’d like to learn more about the McKade Law miniseries or my other books, please stop by my website at www.susansleeman.com. I also love hearing from readers, so please contact me via email, [email protected], on my Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/susansleemanbooks, or write to me c/o Love Inspired, HarperCollins, 24th Floor, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007.