Change of Life

Change of Life
Leigh Riker

She didn't need any more surprises…Not when Nora Pride's life was changing at a pace faster than the Indy 500. With her birthday a whisper away, she was prematurely becoming a grandmother. She'd just had her first hot flash (to her archrival's undisguised glee). And Nora had gone from primo designer to prime suspect in one day when a priceless vase disappeared from a house she'd designed.The topper–sexy detective Calvin Caine was nipping at her heels. His rough-around-the-edges authority was causing her whole world to heat up. And making her feel as empowered as a modern-day Scarlett O'Hara. As Nora set out to crack the case of the missing vase, she found an even more welcome surprise. Older didn't mean wiser. It just meant feeling more free to be yourself.

“You’re an incredible kisser.”

Caine grunted. “Out of practice.”

“Well, keep working at it. It’s coming back to you.” Nora meant herself, too. “I saw you today not only as a man,” she said, “but as a real…human being. A lonely human being, not a member of law enforcement.”

“I am a member of law enforcement.”

Nora leaned back in his embrace, enough to see his face in the moonlight. She felt entirely intent for once on not caring about others but focusing on herself, and she didn’t care. The notion was somehow freeing—for these few moments not to feel responsible for every person in her life, for everyone she loved. The day’s cooking, cleaning, entertaining, caring had drained her, leaving her vulnerable.

So had Caine’s kisses. Nora decided to indulge her notion. And herself. Not even stopping to question her actions, she whispered against his parted lips.

“And I can be a very bad girl.”

Leigh Riker

Leigh Riker is an award-winning author of thirteen novels—some, it seems, written from the back of a moving van. An Ohio native with an English degree from Kent State University, she has lived east, west, north and south, from New York to Kansas, and various points in between. In the process she “raised” one husband, two sons, four cats, several dogs, numerous guinea pigs, gerbils, birds and a horse. Always, of course, with a sense of humor.

Oddly enough, she still likes to travel, and firmly believes that change and new experiences, make life interesting.

A member of Romance Writers of America, the Authors Guild and Novelists, Inc., she is a sometime contest judge and former creative writing instructor. Always ready for a new challenge, she is now at home (for good!) in the mountains of Tennessee or in Cabo San Lucas, where she keeps trying, like her heroine in Change of Life, to become ever more and more…herself.

Please visit Leigh at her Web site, LeighRiker.com.

Change of Life

Leigh Riker

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

From the Author

Dear Reader,

Change—good, or sometimes not so good—is a part of life. Big surprise. But lucky for me, I’m a Gemini and we thrive on change.

It’s a good thing, too.

After leaving my original home base in Ohio, I spent a few years in New York City, then married and began a series of long-distance relocations that may not have suited someone born under a different astrological sign. The Gemini Twins, however, don’t like to be bored!

Like my heroine, Nora Pride, I’m always happiest at home…wherever that may be. The births of children, or grandchildren (by the time you read this, my new little granddaughter will be here), the loss of parents or beloved pets, the triumphs and challenges of career, even the progress of a marriage, are all a part of the fabric—the changes—of our lives.

Above all, these changes are essential, necessary, often exciting. They make life interesting and provide us with ever new opportunities to grow. With Nora Pride, I wanted to explore the changes we face and how we not only learn to survive them but, in the end, thrive.

And now for my next challenge…the start of a new book.

Leigh

For Aidan…

An old Irish blessing

May the wind (of change) be always at your back.

CONTENTS

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

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 1

N ora Pride was having a heart attack.