Megâs jaw dropped. âAre you saying you have people posted about the place to ward off anyone turning up here to take a photo of me?â
âWe both know itâs not you I am trying to protect.â
Zachâs gaze was steady. Not a hint of humour. Not a hint of a smile. While Megâs cheeks grew so flushed even her teeth began to feel hot.
Ruby.
Of course. Thisâall this: the thoughtful blanket, the helpful hat, the beautiful scenery, the long brooding looksâwas all about his daughter.
He wasnât thinking of her at all.
Dear Reader
This here is my twentieth book. Twenty. Phew! Iâm shaking my head in disbelief even as I write those words.
I can still remember the moment I wrote the very first words of my first book, THE WEDDING WISH, and the magical moment I realised what the final line would be. My memories of feeling tumbly in the stomach and as if I was about to pass out as I sent my book to Mills & Boon in London are, as Iâm sure you can imagine, less fond.
I remember so clearly the night I answered my phone and heard a gorgeous English accent. Crazy as it seemed, I just knew it was Mills & Boon calling. I remember the loooong chat with my editor before she put me out of my misery and let me know that she wanted to buy my book. Champagne flowed at my place; therefore fewer memories remain of the rest of that night ;).
I remember learning of my first title. Being told of my first release date. And, boy, do I remember finding my first box of books with my name on them at the front door. I was so excited I tore the thing open with my bare hands!
Now Iâm up to number twenty. And you know what? As I sit here letting the news sink in itâs truly just as exciting as the first. On that note I hand Meg and Zach over to you, and wish you as much fun getting to know them as I had.
Happy reading!
Ally
www.allyblake.com
Having once been a professional cheerleader, Ally Blakeâs motto is âSmile and the world smiles with youâ. One way to make Ally smile is by sending her on holidays, especially to locations which inspire her writing. New York and Italy are by far her favourite destinations. Other things that make her smile are the gracious city of Melbourne, the gritty Collingwood football team, and her gorgeous husband Mark.
Reading romance novels was a smile-worthy pursuit from long back, so, with such valuable preparation already behind her, she wrote and sold her first book. Her career as a writer also gives her a perfectly reasonable excuse to indulge in her stationery addiction. That alone is enough to keep her grinning every day!
Ally would love you to visit her at her website www.allyblake.com
Ally also writes for Mills & Boon® Modern Heatâ¢!
This oneâs for Veronica, my constant companion through the writing of this bookâfrom bump, to blinking into the light, to becoming my beautiful smiley girl.
WWW.CHIC-ONLINE.COM.AU
News just inâ¦
The cameras were out, the paparazzi waiting, seamstresses across the city ready to copy whichever designer frock they were about to be dazzled by, yet all were sorely disappointed when so-fabulous-it-hurts, thinking manâs It-Girl Meg Kellyâthe youngest, and we think most adorable, offspring of one-time uber-financier, some-time squillionaire, KInG of the corporate jungle Quinn Kellyâfailed to show at the opening of hot new nightclub Bliss.
But wait, thereâs more!
Sources close to the family say she hasnât slept at her apartment or her folksâ pad, the stunning Kelly Manor, the past two nights. And her familiar classic red convertible, often seen parked out front of Kelly Towerâthe home of titanic family biz the Kelly Investment Groupâis nowhere to be seen.
Where has Brisbaneâs favourite daughter disappeared to?
Could she beâgasp!âin hiding, nursing a new nose job? Has the nicest girl in town finally shown a kink in her squeaky clean armour byâeek!âblowing off her host? Is her vanishing act a sign that her Herculean father is not as recovered from recent heart problems as the family would have us believe?
Orâbless her little heartâhas she run off with the studly Texan oil baron seen visiting the family manor last week? Oh, please, let that be it! Can we possibly hope this means the last of the Kelly kids has finally found true love at last?
Take our online poll for a chance to win a copy of bestseller Long Live the King: An unauthorised biography of Quinn Kelly!
âOF ALL the resorts in all the world, why did she have to walk into mine?â
Zach Jones stood in the shadows of a lush potted palm in a dark corner of the Waratah House lobby, narrowed eyes locked on the figure skipping down the wide stone steps leading away from the main building of the Juniper Falls Rainforest Retreat.
There werenât many reasons why his resort staff would contact him directly, ever, his reputation being that he was akin to a bear with a sore tooth at the best of times. That was as kind a character reference he could have hoped for, considering his years of unequivocal lack of co-operation with the press.