âA great storyline, interesting characters and a fast pace
help immerse readers in this tender tale.â âRT Book Reviews on Inconveniently Wed!
âQuite humorous at times, with beautifully written
characters, this is a terrific read.â âRT Book Reviews on A Dinner, A Date, A Desert Sheikh
âSolidly plotted, with an edgy, slightly abrasive heroine
and an equally unforgettable hero, this story is a great read. Donât miss it.â âRT Book Reviews on Confidential: Expecting!
â⦠reading her books [is] a delightful experience that
carries you from laughter to tears and back again.â âPink Heart Society on Boardroom Baby Surprise
JACKIE BRAUN is a three-time RITA>® Award finalist, a four-time National Readersâ Choice Awards finalist and the winner of the Rising Star Award for traditional romantic fiction. She can be reached through her website at www.jackiebraun.com
ââYou canât judge a book by its cover.â Itâs an old saying that remains all too trueâas Thomas Waverly learns while getting to know Elizabeth Morris.â
âJackie Braun
Also by Jackie Braun
Confessions of a Girl-Next-Door
Mr Right There All Along The Road Not Taken The Princess Next Door The Daddy Diaries Inconveniently Wed! A Dinner, A Date, A Desert Sheikh Confidential: Expecting! Boardroom Baby Surprise
Did you know these are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk
THOMAS Waverly needed a bride.
Time was of the essence, so he couldnât afford to be too picky. Even so, as he mentally thumbed through his little black book, he knew that none of the women heâd dated in the past would do. They would read way too much into the situation. They would expect it to be real. But the heirloom diamond engagement ring and all talk of a future wedding would be only for his grandmotherâs benefit.
Nana Jo was dying.
At least she claimed to be.
Her physician assured Thomas that Josephine OâKeefe was in good health for a woman whoâd had a hip replacement the previous year, a brush with breast cancer two decades prior and was now closing in on eighty-one. Her heartbeat could be a bit irregular at times, but medication had been prescribed to take care of that and, according to the doctor, it was. Nana Jo, however, was of another opinion.
She was dying.
It was the dreams, she told Thomas. For the past year, each night as she slumbered, sheâd dreamed of her late husband and daughterâThomasâs mother. Nana Jo was sure the dreams were an omen of her own impending death, and nothing Thomas said could convince her otherwise. It was downright unnerving.
The previous Christmas, when heâd made the drive to upstate Michigan to spend the holiday with Nana Jo in her small condo in Charlevoix, sheâd told him that the only gift she wanted was to see her only grandchild happily settled before she passed on.
The woman had raised him after a car accident claimed his mother, after which his father had fallen into an alcoholic tailspin. Thomas had been eight, and heâd essentially lost both of his parents. Without hesitation, and despite her own grief, Nana Jo had stepped into the huge void. Instead of enjoying her retirement, sheâd taken on full-time parenting. And sheâd done an incredible job.
How could he deny her wish? How could he indulge it? It was a no-win situation. So, yes, heâd lied.
He wasnât proud of that. Thomas wasnât one to bend the truth, whether in personal dealings or professional ones, but he would do anything to erase the worry he saw in her eyes. Anything short of actual marriage, that was.
So, even though he was between relationships, heâd said, âIâve been seeing someone ⦠special. For several months now, in fact.â
The distinction had buoyed Nana Joâs spirits considerably. And no wonder. Heâd never dated a woman longer than three months. By that point they were usually expecting things, like an exchange of house keys, a toothbrush in his bathroom and maybe even a drawer of their own in the bureau in his bedroom.
By three months, they were getting clingy, needy. The L word, he knew, wouldnât be far behind.
Love. No thank you.
Heâd seen firsthand what that four-letter word had done to his father. It had been twenty-seven years since Thomasâs motherâs death, but Hoyt Waverly still couldnât face life as a widower without a fifth of whiskey handy. Over the years, the brands had become cheaper as Hoytâs finances had deteriorated right along with his health. Today, he was a shell of a man, who only turned up occasionally on Thomasâs doorstep and then only because heâd run out of money.
Thomas had no desire to end up like his old man. So, he made a point of ending relationships before three months passed, sometimes before then if the woman started to fall for him a little too hard or too fast.