Undercover Fiance

Undercover Fiance
Sheryl Lynn

AN EXCEPTIONAL DETECTIVE…AN EXPERT LOVERDaniel Tucker was all man and a threat to the sinister stalker closing in on Janine Duke. Daniel insisted on posing as Janine's fiancé to draw out the madman. A role he relished with Janine as his woman.Daniel was the only one willing to help her, though his methods left Janine trembling with desire. He never left her side and wouln't keep his hands–or mouth–off her. He made her feel liberated, like a real woman, while safe and protected.Something only a lover could do. Which only incited the stalker.Elk River, ColoradoWhere men still stand tall–and know how to treat a woman.

“About your fee—” (#ubbb42dd6-51f7-5fbf-9cf2-a7212ec804ee)Letter to Reader (#u6f8166c0-40bc-59c5-a6d2-726f0ea6fe2c)Title Page (#ucb041720-f7e6-5267-9da0-c0e4e5104f6b)Dedication (#uba375c4b-5b1d-535b-8185-aed38df79740)CAST OF CHARACTERS (#u074af6ce-456c-5c6e-8835-dc0375dfb2dc)Chapter One (#u38eb0c7f-bc1c-55ea-a14d-5dfd2e19474c)Chapter Two (#u6f2c09e1-02ad-5861-991b-1f2710af66fc)Chapter Three (#ua7c9d144-bc8c-56a9-8a21-e352fc2dafcb)Chapter Four (#u850e5c85-cfef-5f08-8c07-d71b1c500779)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)Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

“About your fee—”

“I don’t have a fee.”

“I pay for whatever services I receive.”

“I don’t take cash from stalking victims.” Awareness of her alluring body heated his blood. He’d like to have her in his debt. He’d really like to have her in his bed. Thaw the ice, rev her engine, but now would definitely be a bad time to let her know what he was thinking. Especially since the frigid glare she gave him said she suspected exactly what he was thinking.

“How about a trade?”

She tilted her head to one side. “A trade?”

“I get rid of your stalker, you give me a honeymoon.”

“Pardon?” Her voice had risen slightly, and the corners of her mouth twitched.

Seeing her fight a smile convinced him that heat pulsed beneath her icy veneer “You’ve got the Honeymoon Hideaway at Elk River, right? Fancy cabins, room service, moonlight and romance. I could really go for that. Can you set up a honeymoon for me?”

“I could....” She relaxed—Daniel nearly melted into a puddle beneath his desk. “Are you engaged to be married?”

I’m going to marry you. “Not yet. We’ll just keep it open-ended.”

Dear Reader,

Sexy and sweet, tough and tender. These are the men of ELK RIVER, COLORADO. The men who still stand tall and know how to treat a woman. The men whom Sheryl Lynn writes about with emotion and passion in her new duet.

You may remember the legendary Duke family of Colorado, whom Sheryl first introduced in a duet called HONEYMOON HIDEAWAY a few years back. These titles—#424 The Case of the Vanished Groom and #425 The Case of the Bad Luck Fiancé as well as last month’s #514 The Bodyguard—are still available. Send $3.75 ($4.25 CAN.) each for the first two titles, $3.99 ($4.50 CAN.) for The Bodyguard, plus $.75 shipping and handling ($1.00 CAN.), to Harlequin Reader Service: 3010 Walden Ave., Buffalo, NY 14269, or P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ontario L2A 5X3.

Happy Reading!

Debra Matteucci

Senior Editor & Editorial Coordinator

Harlequin Books

300 East 42nd Street

New York, NY 10017

Undercover Fiance

Sheryl Lynn

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

For my favorite future superstars: Jennifer, Emily and Mikey Campbell; Abby and Tristan Manus; and Justin Murphy. Don’t grow up too fast, but when you do, get out there and dazzle the world.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Janine Duke—The general manager of Elk River Resort is the perfect businesswoman, with a secret admirer who’s potentially deadly.

Daniel Tucker—His life mission is making sure that no one else has to suffer the way his stalker made him suffer.

Colonel Horace Duke—The owner of Elk River, who expects his staff and family to live up to his exacting standards.

Elise Duke—A gracious matriarch whose family is her life.

Kara Duke—Janine’s baby sister thinks Daniel is gorgeous, but is he really serious about pursuing Janine or could he get serious about Kara?

Pinky—He loves Janine and to prove it he’ll get rid of the colonel so they can live happily ever after.

Chapter One

Concentrate, focus. Daniel Tucker envisioned concentric circles of red, yellow and black surrounding a bright red bull’s-eye. Easy now, picture the dart sailing in a perfect arc. Two thoughts intruded: This is stupid. He was bored.

Scowling, he fingered the dart, testing the point against the ball of his thumb. A potential client should be arriving in a few minutes—his only client in more than a month. Antistalking laws were growing teeth. He felt like a soldier in the final days of a war—bored. The more battles his side won, the more obsolete he became.

He craved a useful purpose—and something else, too. He hadn’t figured out yet what that something else might be, though.

Shaking off the gloomy thoughts, he again conjured the image of the bull’s-eye. He drew back his arm, joints loose, wrist relaxed, the crimson sweet spot glowing like a beacon. And tossed the dart.

A high-pitched squeal shattered the silence. Daniel tore off the blindfold.

There she stood, the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. The yellow fletch on the dart quivered in the doorjamb, scant inches from her face.

The face of an angel with wide blue eyes and a full, soft mouth. Luxurious chestnut curls fell in soft waves to her shoulders. A wine-red jacket hugged her lush bosom and narrow waist and flared over graceful hips. Visions of dart boards shrank and disappeared, replaced by an image of this goddess rising naked from the sea, riding a seashell, while cherubs—

“Are you nuts?” She looked between him and the dart. “You almost put out my eye.”

Her dulcet contralto vibrated within his heart. Daniel snapped his mouth shut. He tossed the blindfold on the desk and straightened the knot of his tie with a jerk. A glance at his watch showed four o’clock on the dot. The goddess must have accepted the “Please Come In” invitation posted on the office door.

“Some people think so,” he said and rose. “You must be Janine.” She was so stunning, he had to keep checking to make sure her perfection wasn’t an illusion.

A small frown formed between her eyebrows. “Yes, I’m Ms. Duke.” She clutched a large paper shopping bag—Neiman Marcus, he noticed—before her like a shield.

He rolled a hand, gesturing for her to enter. Reality seemed to shift. Women who looked like this only existed on a movie screen or on the airbrushed, expertly lit, artfully arranged pages of glamour magazines. He swept his other darts off the desk and into a drawer. The clattering assured him he was awake and she was for real.

“I’m Daniel Tucker.”

She eyed the dart in the woodwork warily.

He moved around the desk and held a chair for her. “Man, J.T. said you were a knockout, but as usual he understated.”