A Not-So-Perfect Past

A Not-So-Perfect Past
Beth Andrews

The golden girl and the bad boy!Nina Carlson knows all about Dillon Ward’s rebellious past – the whole town does! But his reputation doesn’t stop her from renting him a place to live. And when someone crashes into her bakery, he’s just the man to fix the damage. And Nina isn’t the only one who thinks Dillon’s the perfect man for the job: her two kids have taken a shine to him.Still, she can’t afford to get close to Dillon. Because it’s not that she doesn’t trust him. It’s that she doesn’t trust herself

“I really am the most dangerous guy you’ll ever know.”

Nina’s mouth was dry. Her head was light; she couldn’t catch her breath.

If Dillon let go of his hold on her, she’d probably fall at his feet.

She tried to step back, to break the contact between them. But his large hands, placed so intimately, didn’t budge.

His gaze fell to her mouth and he bent his head.

“Stop me,” he murmured.

Her lips parted, but no sound came out. How could she stop him when he looked at her with such…intensity? Such hunger. How could she stop him when he made her remember how it felt to be held by a man? Touched by a man.

Wanted by a man.

A Not-So-Perfect Past

by

Beth Andrews

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

Award-winning author BETH ANDREWS is living her dream – writing romance for Mills & Boon while looking after her real-life hero and their three children. A self-professed small-town girl, Beth still lives in the Pennsylvania town where she grew up. She has been honoured by her kids as The Only Mum in Town Who Makes Her Children Do Chores and The Meanest Mum in the World – as if there’s something wrong with counting down the remaining days of summer vacation until school starts again. For more information about Beth or her upcoming books, please visit her website at www.bethandrews.net.

Available in September 2010

from Mills & Boon®

Special Moments™

The Texas Billionaire’s Bride

by Crystal Green

&

The Texas Bodyguard’s Proposal

by Karen Rose Smith

Kids on the Doorstep

by Kimberly Van Meter

&

Cop on Loan

by Jeannie Watt

The Texan’s Tennessee Romance

by Gina Wilkins

&

The Rancher & the Reluctant Princess

by Christine Flynn

Loving the Right Brother

by Marie Ferrarella

A Weaver Baby

by Allison Leigh

A Small-Town Temptation

by Terry McLaughlin

A Not-So-Perfect Past

by Beth Andrews

For the talented, supportive and just plain awesome women of Writers At Play and Romance Bandits.

Thank you all for being such great friends!

And as always, for Andy.

You give me hope.

Chapter One

AW, HELL. Not “Jingle Bells.”

Dillon Ward grit his teeth as he entered the brightly lit bakery. Red and green decorations and twinkling colored lights took up every inch of the large room. The effect was cheerful, bright and filled with so much Christmas spirit, it hurt his head.

He stomped his boots harder than necessary and brushed snow off his jacket. Luckily, the smells of yeasty bread and sweet pastries and chocolate helped ease the shock of the faux Christmas wonderland.

He scanned the room as he crossed to the front counter. Only two of the dozen or so small tables had customers, but Dillon figured that had more to do with it being twenty minutes before closing time on a Sunday afternoon, and less to do with the snow falling steadily outside.