Nick's Long-Awaited Honeymoon

Nick's Long-Awaited Honeymoon
Sandra Steffen

Bachelor GulchThe (almost) Bachelor: Lawman Nick Colter. He wasn't in Jasper Gulch to find a wife–he already had one…and intended to keep her!The Bride: Pretty mother of one, Brittany Matthews. Equally determined to maintain her newfound independence…and her heart.Maybe they had married too young and never had a proper honeymoon. But Nick was not leaving his soon-to-be ex-wife in nowhere, South Dakota–surrounded by a bunch of overeager, unattached cowboys. So Nick formed a plan to woo back his wife, hoping Brittany would grant him a second chance…and a long-awaited honeymoon.Sandra SteffenBRINGS US THE BEST BACHELORS YET!

“How long are you going to make me wait?” Nick whispered. (#u6fd4fd43-0b18-5deb-affb-f670c1341985)Letter to Reader (#uae241743-7be1-5b24-bcd3-e60b1043a720)Title Page (#u76ce84ae-014d-5953-8b50-f5fe82f73121)Dedication (#u5773365c-ced5-57df-b61b-354d34e1fd51)SANDRA STEFFEN (#ua5c5baac-21d4-5874-8244-a975338cb8ad)Chapter One (#ue02918fb-30fc-5329-996c-0ba84b93d723)Chapter Two (#u22a47ab5-5a9f-561a-9eb2-6ed392dc0739)Chapter Three (#u59a9e77d-31bf-5e7a-973f-7a03f5bbb6f8)Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

“How long are you going to make me wait?” Nick whispered.

He heard her breath catch in her throat, saw her eyelashes flutter down. “As long as it takes.”

Nick had no idea what she meant. As far as he was concerned, making love to Brittany had always felt right. He knew she wanted him. She’d always wanted him. It was there in her eyes.

“As long as what takes?” he asked.

Brittany felt a smile coming on. And then, everything inside her went perfectly still. Her thoughts, her breathing, even her heart seemed to stop for one brief moment. She wasn’t certain that staying out of Nick’s bed was luring him any closer to love, but she was falling a little farther, a little harder, every day.

Dear Reader,

This month, Romance is chock-full of excitement. First, VIRGIN BRIDES continues with The Bride’s Second Thought, an emotionally compelling story by bestselling author Elizabeth August. When a virginal bride-to-be finds her fiancé with another woman, she flees to the mountains for refuge...only to be stranded with a gorgeous stranger who gives her second thoughts about a lot of things....

Next, Natalie Patrick offers up a delightful BUNDLES OF JOY with Boot Scootin’ Secret Baby. Bull rider Jacob “Cub” Goodacre returns to South Dakota for his rodeo hurrah, only to learn he’s still a married man...and father to a two-year-old heart tugger. BACHELOR GULCH, Sandra Steffen’s wonderful Western series, resumes with the story of an estranged couple who had wed for the sake of their child...but wonder if they can rekindle their love in Nick’s Long-Awaited Honeymoon.

Rising star Kristin Morgan delivers a tender, sexy tale about a woman whose biological clock is booming and the best friend who consents to being her Shotgun Groom. If you want a humorous—red-hot!—read. try Vivian Leiber’s The 6’2”, 200 lb. Challenge. The battle of the sexes doesn’t get any better! Finally, Lisa Kaye Laurel’s fairy-tale series, ROYAL WEDDINGS, draws to a close with The Irresistible Prince, where the woman hired to find the royal a wife realizes she is the perfect candidate!

In May, VIRGIN BRIDES resumes with Annette Broadrick, and future months feature titles by Suzanne Carey and Judy Christenberry, among others. So keep coming back to Romance, where you’re sure to find the classic tales you love, told in fresh, exciting ways.

Enjoy!

Joan Marlow Golan

Senior Editor, Silhouette Romance

Please address questions and book requests to:

Silhouette Reader Service

U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269

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Nick’s Long-Awaited Honeymoon

Sandra Steffen

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

For my five “grown” nieces and nephew—

Karen, Kathie, Laurie, Jerry and Pattie. I married into this

family, and you were born into it. Was it fate or luck? It’s

hard to say. I only know that you’re all so easy to love,

and I’m proud to be your aunt.

SANDRA STEFFEN

Creating memorable characters is one of Sandra’s favorite aspects of writing. She’s always been a romantic and is thrilled to be able to spend her days doing what she loves—bringing her characters to life on her computer screen.

Sandra grew up in Michigan, the fourth of ten children, all of whom have taken the old adage “Go forth and multiply” quite literally. Add to this her husband, who is her real-life hero, their four school-age sons who keep their lives in constant motion, their gigantic cat, Percy, and her wonderful friends, in-laws and neighbors, and what do you get? Chaos, of course, but also a wonderful sense of belonging she wouldn’t trade for the world.

Chapter One

He wasn’t lost. Nick Colter had a sixth sense about direction. It came in handy in back alleys and bad situations. No, he wasn’t lost. Custer Street, on the other hand, was lost as hell. Street signs would have been nice. For some strange reason only half the streets in this town had them.

He inched his car to a corner and peered in every direction. Jasper Gulch, South Dakota, wasn’t much different from fifty other towns he’d passed on his way from Chicago. The houses were at least a hundred years old and looked as if they’d seen better days. Porch lights were on, but the dwellings themselves were dark. Nick shook his head. Might as well hang a sign out front for burglars: “House empty. Take your time. The good silver is in the pantry.”

“Careful, Colter,” he muttered under his breath. “One of these days somebody’s gonna accuse you of being cynical.”

His next turn landed him back on Main Street where he’d started. He strummed his fingers on the steering wheel and studied his surroundings. The street was lined with cars and pickup trucks, but not a single person was in sight. Spotting a lit building a block over, he parked his car in the first available space and headed inside.

He gave the room a sweeping glance the instant he set foot inside the door. A wedding reception was taking place, and if the volume of the boot-stomping music coming from the country-western band and the laughter and raised voices of the crowd were an accurate indication, the folks of Jasper Gulch were having a good time. Only a few of the wedding guests noticed his presence—a handful of kids who stopped their game of tag to stare at him, two teenaged girls who whispered behind their hands, and an old man whose thumbs were hooked through his suspenders.

“Can I help you, son?” the old cowboy asked.

Keeping his eyes and ears open, Nick said, “I don’t make a habit of crashing wedding receptions, but I can’t seem to find Custer Street.”

“You visiting,” the other man asked, scratching his craggy chin, “or just passing through?”

“Visiting, I suppose.”

The old man nodded. “Then you must be lookin’ for the boardin’ house. No sense goin’ there right now. The owner’s not home. I’m Cletus McCully. We ain’t much for standing on ceremony around here, so you might as well grab yerself a cup of that there punch and join the party.”

Nick tried to pass on the punch. Cletus would hear nothing of it. With a shake of his head and a snap of one suspender, the old man ambled away to get it himself. Nick put the minute of solitude to good use, systematically giving the town hall a more thorough once-over. White streamers trailed from the ceiling. A half-eaten wedding cake sat on a small table. The three-piece band was set up in one corner, a table piled high with gifts in another. Most of the men wore bolo ties and cowboy boots while the women wore calico dresses or Western skirts. So far he hadn’t seen a man with a sinister leer, a silver ponytail and a jagged scar.

“What’s going on, on the dance floor?” he asked as Cletus shoved a cup of punch into his hand.

“Follow me,” Cletus muttered. “Maybe we can get a better view from the other side.”

It wasn’t difficult to keep up with the old man’s bow-legged gait. Keeping up with his conversation was another matter. The man talked about people Nick couldn’t possibly know, telling him about the weddings that had taken place since the boys had decided to put an ad in the papers luring women to this-here neck of the woods. In a very short amount of time Nick had learned that someone named DoraLee had eloped with a local rancher named Boomer, Cletus’s grandson Wyatt had snagged one of the first gals to come to town, and his granddaughter, Melody, had married the “boy” she’d been in love with most of her life. Today’s bride was a Southern belle named Pamela Sue, the groom a mama’s boy named Grover.

“One by one the new gals who’ve moved to town are bitin’ the bullet,” Cletus declared. “I’m afraid none of the ones who’re left are makin’ it easy on the poor Jasper Gents. Crystal Galloway, the newest gal in town, is a looker, but she’s got a mouth on her that could scare the average sailor clean away.”

Other than nodding now and then when it was expected of him, Nick kept silent. Listening with only one ear, he made a sweeping perusal of every person in the room. The first glimpse of a shaggy, gray ponytail on the other side of the hall had the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. Homing in on a silver-haired man in the shadows, everything inside Nick went perfectly still.

“Then there’s our own Louetta Graham,” Cletus was saying, “but I’m afraid she’s so shy it’s almost hopeless. That only leaves the girls fresh out of school and the new gal who bought the boarding house. She’s a pretty little thing, that’s for sure, but she’s mighty stubborn, too.”

Nick flexed his fingers at his sides, squinting into the shadows across the room. The man was the right height, but the cowboy hat was deceiving. Nick checked the exits, gauging the most direct route to cover, just in case things took an ugly turn.