Fiancé In Name Only

Fiancé In Name Only
Maureen Child

Make-believe romance has never felt so real!Bestselling writer Micah Hunter lives a nomadic life. Temporarily settling in a small town for research is outside his comfort zone. Only his tantalizing landlady can lure him from the isolation of his rented mansion. Because Kelly Flynn stirs him as no woman ever has.And she needs his help. To placate her grandmother, Kelly asks Micah to pretend they're engaged. He relishes the chance to be with Kelly…until acting like they're in love begins to feel like more than an act!

Make-believe romance has never felt so real! From USA TODAY bestselling author Maureen Child.

Bestselling writer Micah Hunter lives a nomadic life. Temporarily settling in a small town for research is outside his comfort zone. Only his tantalizing landlady can lure him from the isolation of his rented mansion. Because Kelly Flynn stirs him as no woman ever has.

And she needs his help. To placate her grandmother, Kelly asks Micah to pretend they’re engaged. He relishes the chance to be with Kelly...until acting like they’re in love begins to feel like more than an act!

His voice came from right behind her.

At the open doorway, she turned and almost bumped into his chest.

“Oh, sorry.” Wow, was his chest really that broad, or was she just so close it looked like he was taking up the whole world? Heat poured from his body, reaching for her, tingling her nerve endings. And he smelled so good, too.

Kelly shook her head and ignored the flutter of expectation awakening in the pit of her stomach. Deliberately, she fought for lighthearted, then tipped her head back and smiled up at him. “You know, I think I should get another point.”

“For what?”

“For surprising you by not asking questions.”

He studied her as if he were trying to figure out a puzzle. But after a second or two, he nodded. “You want to keep score? Then add this into the mix.”

He pulled her in close and kissed her.

Fiancé in Name Only

Maureen Child

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

MAUREEN CHILD writes for the Mills & Boon Desire line and can’t imagine a better job. A seven-time finalist for a prestigious Romance Writers of America RITA® Award, Maureen is an author of more than one hundred romance novels. Her books regularly appear on bestseller lists and have won several awards, including a Prism Award, a National Readers’ Choice Award, a Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence and a Golden Quill Award. She is a native Californian but has recently moved to the mountains of Utah.

To my mom, Sallye Carberry, and my aunt, Margie Fontenot, for too many reasons to list. They are the original Matriarchs. Love you.

Contents

Cover (#u8fc8d984-5fc7-5065-97e6-3dde173f0fc1)

Back Cover Text (#ua8f3acfc-bfa6-57b6-b035-2a0d5252ca3b)

Introduction (#u2d15c527-d55a-54bd-83c2-ed5c0111e9e8)

Title Page (#u28fdc9f8-92f5-51c2-a58f-079cd9a2b24c)

About the Author (#u5592c97e-8054-5526-8fb5-cb0b3696247c)

Dedication (#u791ce40c-92e3-56e5-9978-3a444a0da44d)

One (#u9d987946-31f2-56bc-89b9-4e82ff41db6a)

Two (#u36a52159-341f-594c-98fb-503e4f6b4fd8)

Three (#ub47e3bfb-a734-57b6-a015-0fe67b3bf85a)

Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Five (#litres_trial_promo)

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Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Extract (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

One (#u8f4e1428-6768-512e-98fe-456fb719e4eb)

“Sorry about this,” Micah Hunter said. “I really liked you a lot, but you had to die.”

Leaning back in his desk chair, Micah’s gaze scanned the last few lines of the scene he’d just finished writing. He gave a small sigh of satisfaction at the death of one of his more memorable characters, then closed the lid of the laptop.

He’d already been working for four hours and it was past time for a break. “Problem is,” he muttered, standing up and walking to the window overlooking the front of the house, “there’s nowhere to go.”

Idly he pulled out his cell phone, hit speed dial, then listened to the phone ring for a second or two. Finally a man came on the other line.

“How did I let you talk me into coming here for six months?”

Sam Hellman laughed. “Good to talk to you, too, man.”

“Yeah.” Of course his best friend was amused. Hell, if Micah wasn’t the one stranded here in small-town America, he might be amused, too. As it was, though, he didn’t see a damn thing funny about it. Micah pushed one hand through his hair and stared out at the so-called view. The house he was currently renting was an actual Victorian mansion set back from a wide street that was lined by gigantic, probably ancient, trees, now gold and red as their leaves changed and died. The sky was a brilliant blue, the autumn sun peeking out from behind thick white clouds. It was quiet, he thought. So quiet it was damn near creepy.

And since the suspense/horror novels Micah was known for routinely hit number one on the New York Times bestseller list, he knew a thing or two about creepy.

“Seriously, Sam, I’m stuck here for another four months because you talked me into signing the lease.”

Sam laughed. “You’re stuck there because you never could turn down a challenge.”

Harsh but true. Nobody knew that about Micah better than Sam. They’d met when they were both kids, serving on the same US Navy ship. Sam had run away from his wealthy family’s expectations, and Micah had been running from a past filled with foster homes, lies and broken promises. The two of them had connected and then stayed in touch when their enlistments were up.

Sam had returned to New York and the literary agency his grandfather had founded—discovering, after being away for a while, that he actually wanted to be a part of the family business. Micah had taken any construction job he could find while he spent every other waking moment working on a novel.