By Peggy P. Parsons
Contemporary Romance, 401 pages
Cover art by Pat Evans
Blurb:
Chandler’s eagle gaze checked Analyn's compact living room. “Is your
whole apartment decorated in red, white and blue?”
“What if it is?” He’d broken her
heart. Would he insult her taste, too?
“At least you didn’t decorate in
pink and lavender.”
“Why should you care what colors I
use?”
A smug grin covered his handsome
face. “Because I’m moving in.”
Excerpt:
“Look Chandler,” she said, trying to force a smile.
“I appreciate your offer to marry me, but it isn’t necessary.”
“Yes it is.”
“No. I know you don’t love me and—”
“Who said anything about love?”
She squinted while he stared back, his expression calm, yet
unreadable. “Isn’t that what marriage is all about?” she asked.
“Not every marriage. Not ours.”
Exasperated, she blurted, “You’ve always said you’ll never get
married, so what’s going on?”
He caught her hands, pulled them to his chest. Then he spoke
in the low, husky voice that still haunted her dreams. “It won’t be a real
marriage.”
Another shock hurtled through her, but she managed to mumble,
“I don’t understand.”
Chandler
released her hands and shoved the stray lock of hair off his forehead again.
“Our marriage will be in name only, although everyone except you and I will
believe it’s the real thing. And it won’t last forever. When the time is right,
we’ll get a quiet divorce or an annulment.”
“What makes you think I’m dumb enough to go along with such a
stupid idea?”
To keep from touching her again, he stuck his fists in his
pockets. “It’s not stupid and you’re not dumb.”
“I must be. I’ve been thinking about marrying Ron.”
Her bewildered rebuttal made Chandler’s heart sting. “I wouldn’t have let
you,” he said, his voice as quiet as hers.
She laughed, a shrill bitter sound that made him feel like a
rat. “That’s rich. You’re the one who told me I should find a husband and start
a family.”
“That was before you met Ron,
before I discovered he and Coral have been sneaking around behind our backs for
weeks, maybe months. Probably the entire time you were in California with your sick girlfriend.”
Analyn shook her head, apparently still unwilling to believe Ron and Coral were capable of that kind of deception.
“I’ve never lied to you, have I?” Chandler demanded, then suffered an inward
flinch. He had lied, and more than once. Every time she said she loved him,
he’d claimed he didn’t love her. Tonight he had lied, too. But he couldn’t let
her continue to date Ron or get
engaged. She was too good for the two-timing, two-faced bastard.
Without giving Analyn time to reply, he added, “In your heart
you know I’m not lying now.” He gentled his voice, regretting his callous
outburst, but determined to have his way. “I may have severed our closeness and
damaged our friendship, but I still care about you and want to help you.”
Analyn looked confused, not grateful, and he knew he had some
convincing to do. But he’d never been more sure of himself. “You need
protecting and I’m the best candidate, the only candidate, for the job.”
Taking her arm, he marched her into her bedroom where he
hefted her monogrammed suitcase off the top closet shelf, and set it on her red
bed cover.
“Start packing.”
Instead of refusing as he half expected, she obeyed his
brusque order. Sliding a pair of black slacks off a hanger, she folded them
neatly.
While he watched, a whiff of her fragrant scent attacked his
senses. Her perfume was new and contained a hint of ginger. Why did he have to
notice the change? Or be so physically aware of her?
Every time he saw her he wished things could be different. But
they couldn’t. Before his twelfth birthday he had discovered that he had
inherited the genes for Huntington’s Disease, and the debilitating illness
would likely result in early death. He wouldn’t bog her down with his health
problems, but he would do his best to steer her away from Ron,
and men like him.
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