âI think youâre wildly attracted to me and donât know what to do about it?â
âWildly attracted?â Liz raised one eyebrow. âAt one time, I might have been very attracted to you, Mitch McCoyâ¦.â She paused and looked him in the eye. âBut now I wouldnât even considerâ¦â
âSleeping with me?â
âYou already missed your opportunity there. From here on out, something like that will only happen in your dreams.â
Mitch nodded. âYep, there too.â He shook his head. âOnly, I know for sure Iâm not dreaming now. Because if I were, the diner would be empty. And you wouldnât be standing there wearing that uniform, no matter how cute you look in it.â
âOh, and where would I be?â she countered.
He gave her a sexy grin. âFor starters, youâd be stretched across this counter, with those long legs of yoursâ¦â
Liz took a step back, her pulse leaping. âThatâs enough. I think I get the picture.â
âBut darlinâ, you didnât even let me get to the part about what I was doingâ¦.â
Dear Reader,
Ask and you shall receive. When we wrote License To Thrill, the first book in THE MAGNIFICENT MCCOY MEN miniseries, we were overwhelmed with requests for more stories about Marc and his sexy-as-sin brothers. So how could we resist?
In The P.I. Who Loved Her, restless Mitch McCoy comes face-to-face with his former fiancée, Liz Braden, on the side of a dark country road. Not only did Liz leave him at the altar seven years ago, but the wedding dress sheâs wearing tells him sheâs just left another poor fool in the same situation. Mitchâs dilemma: keeping his hands off the only woman heâs ever wantedâlong enough to figure out what, or who, sheâs running from.
We hope you enjoy watching Liz lead Mitch on a merry little dance that ends up where it should have seven years agoâin the bedroom! Weâd love to hear what you think. Write to us at P.O. Box 12271, Toledo, OH 43612, or visit us at the web site we share with other Temptation authors at Temptationauthors.com. And be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the next MAGNIFICENT MCCOY coming your wayâ¦.
Hereâs wishing you many happy endings,
Lori and Tony Karayianni
aka Tori Carrington
We lovingly dedicate this book to the memory of our fathers, Carl J. Schlachter and Vagelis Karayianni, two men who showed us what being a true hero is all about.
And to Kostoula Karayianni, a woman who would make any heroine envious.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Epilogue
âYOU KNOW, Mitch McCoy, you really need to get a life.â
Mitch downshifted as he neared the outskirts of Manchester County, Virginia, then tugged at his tie. Only the pickupâs headlights broke the inky darkness, his own voice broke the all-consuming silence. Still, he wouldnât be surprised if Sheriff Mathison waited on the other side of the next cornfield, ready to nab him for speeding. Next to him, Goliath stared at the closed passenger window, a patch of coffee-colored fur disturbed by the air conditioner blower. The dogâa mammoth, butt-ugly husky and shepherd mixâwhined and turned mournful eyes on him.
âI know what you mean, sport. I know what you mean.â
And he did know. In the past few months heâd come to know exactly what wanting an unnamed something meant. Waking up in the morning in a cold sweat, reaching for somethingâor someoneâthat wasnât there. Speaking thoughts and ideas aloud only to discover there was no one around to hear. Living with an intangible hole in the vicinity of his chestâa hole that wasnât going to be filled tonight by going home to an empty house.
The entire McCoy clan was still in Bedford, Maryland, celebrating his brother Marcâs marriage to Melanie Weber, even though the miserably happy couple had already left for their honeymoon cruise to the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Virgin Islands. Marc had said something about it being romantic. Maybe it was Marc and Melâs idea of romance. A ship would be the last place heâd find romantic. All thatâ¦water. Garish tropical-print shirts. Food-laden buffet tables. Sunshine. Sexâ
Mitchâs foot slipped from the gas pedal. Where had that thought come from?
It wasnât that he begrudged his brother his happiness. It was a miracle Marc and Mel had finally sorted everything out, despite the drastic way in which they had. It was just that, of the five McCoy siblings, clueless Marc seemed like the last person who would stand at an altar, much less be the first.
Well, he hadnât exactly been the first. But he had been the first to actually make it to the nuptials part.
That was itâthe reason he was so agitated. All this talk of weddingsâ¦of the L wordâ¦of making promises and sticking to them. It should have occurred to him when heâd had to squirm in that uncomfortable pew for an hour, forced to watch Marc and Melanie complete what he had never had. Forced to remember the day heâd been left at the altar as if it were yesterday.