Me Without You
From that first look to this first kiss… All Alex could see was her long, thick, gorgeous hair. Pale smooth skin. Lips that were naturally tinted pink. Eyes that were green like sea grass. He stopped himself. His best friend Reese might be dead. But in Alex’s mind, Cassandra was still very much the man’s wife. She was out of bounds.Cassandra. The forbidden woman Alex had yearned for from the first moment he’d laid eyes on her. But she’d been married to his best friend. Now she was rebuilding his family’s bed-and-breakfast…and just might, in the process, be rebuilding his anguished heart.
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Praise for the Novels of J.R. Ward Writing as Jessica Bird
âJessica Bird gives us a romance of rare depth, humour and sensualityâ¦â
âRT Book Reviews on Beauty and the Black Sheep
âDramatic, edgy and intense, this story has a largerthan- life, dark hero who takes the sweet heroine (and the reader) to some exciting places.â
âRT Book Reviews on His Comfort and Joy
âJessica Birdâs A Man in a Million features a largerthan- life, irresistible hero and an equally complex, intriguing heroine. Top-notch.â
âRT Book Reviews
Praise for No.1 New York Times bestselling author J.R. Ward
âTerrificâ¦explosiveâ¦exciting⦠Ward has outdone herself.â
âPublishers Weekly
âWard wields a commanding voice perfect for the genre⦠Hold on tight for an intriguing, adrenaline-pumping ride.â
âBooklist
âJ.R. Ward has a great style of writing and she shines⦠You will lose yourself in this world.â
âAll About Romance on Dark Lover
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WHEN YOU WALKED IN
UNTIL YOUâRE MINE THE PERFECT DISTRACTION
J.R. Ward is a No.1 New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author of erotic paranormal romance. She lives in the outh with her incredibly supportive husband and her beloved golden retriever. After graduating from law school, she began orking in healthcare in Boston and spent many years as Chief of Staff of one of the premier academic medical centres in the nation. Writing has always been her passion and her idea of heaven is a whole day of nothing but her computer, her dog and her coffee pot.
Visit the J.R. Ward Message Boards or e-mail her at [email protected].
To Stacy Boyd, with so many thanks
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 Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Epilogue
Chapter One
Alex Moorehouse had no intention of answering the knock on the bedroom door. Flat on his back and halfway through a Harry Potter hardcover, he wasnât in the mood for company.
Not that he ever was, but at this moment he really didnât want to deal with anybody. Heâd actually managed to find a position for the cast on his lower leg that relieved the pain. Or at least dulled it so he could concentrate on something else. Having a measure of peace in his body was so rare he didnât want it frayed by an intruder.
It had been almost three months since heâd felt strong, able. Himself. Three months, four surgeries, and a post-op infection that had nearly killed him. Enough hell to wipe clean most, but not all, of his transgressions.
There were at least two sins he would have to repay in the real Hades.
The knocking came again. He kept silent.
The way he figured it, the fire department wouldnât bother with formalities, so nothing was up in flames. If it was an EMT, he was pretty sure they were looking for someone else because he was breathing, so he wasnât dead. And if it was one of his sisters, they would be back.
God knew, they always came back. Those two women were in and out of the room constantly. Trying to feed him. Coaxing him to come downstairs. Riding him about going to a grief counselor.
He loved them. And he wished theyâd leave him the hell alone.
The door opened a crack. Joy, the younger one, stuck her head in.
He watched her eyes go to the liquor bottle on the floor next to the bed. It was a reflex with them both. Open the door. Check the scotch level. Door open. Scotch check.
He thought about dropping a pillow to hide the single malt, but figured that little defensive maneuver would only draw more attention to the damn thing.
So he just stared at her, waiting.
This was going to be good. Joy looked like she was about to jump out of her skin.
âYou, ah, you have someone who wants to see you.â
He had to clear his throat before he could speak.
âNo, I donât.â God, he sounded hoarse. That scotch was doing a number on his vocal cords, and he wondered how his liver was faring.
âYes, youââ
âAnd I know this because I havenât invited anyone here.â
The way he saw it, one of the advantages to staying in someone elseâs house was that nobody could find you. Friends, colleagues. Reporters. Hell, if you kept your yap shut, you could practically fall off the side of the earth.
Which was a trip he was dying to make.
All things considered, he should be thanking the fire that had made his familyâs bed-and-breakfast, White Caps, uninhabitable. In the aftermath, Joyâs fiancé, Gray, had taken all the Moorehouses in, and although Alex hated being a mooch, he was grateful for the anonymity heâd been granted.
Besides, this particular hideout was a classy one.
Gray Bennettâs place in the Adirondacks was a fricking palace and the guest room Alex had been crashing in for the past six weeks was as tricked up as the rest of the mansion. Top-tier everything, from the antiques to the rugs, not that Alex could name the particulars. He was about as far away from the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy types as a man could get. Wouldnât know an Aubusson from an Audubon.
