by Judy Duarte
“Doing things for everyone else.”
She turned fully to face him, and he was struck by how effortlessly beautiful she was. Even with her tightly coiffed hair, purple dress and perfect makeup...there was a naturalness about her that affected him on a kind of primal level. He tried to ignore it, tried to deny it—but there was no denying the truth. He was hot for Connie Bedford. Raging hot. And he didn’t know what the hell to do about it. He’d never been at the mercy of his libido before.
“I’ve always considered it a privilege to do things for others.”
He laughed humorlessly. “God, you’re naive.”
“Because I like to help people?”
“Because you let people walk all over you.”
She moved, taking a couple of long strides. “Like who?”
“Liam,” he said pointedly.
“He’s my employer,” she shot back.
“Didn’t you look after his kid last night?” Jonah reminded her. “Is babysitting in your job description, too?”
“They had trouble finding a replacement sitter on short notice and the whole family was at the rehearsal dinner.”
“I know,” he said and moved to stand behind the couch, watching her, fascinated as her cheeks scorched with color. “I was there.”
“So, you know the whole story.”
“I know my brother takes advantage of you. I know you pick up J.D.’s dry cleaning. I know you do errands for Gwen O’Sullivan.”
She moved closer, until there was only the sofa between them, her chest heaving. Jonah tried his best not to stare, but she was damned impossible to ignore. He’d had his fair share of relationships and lovers, but he couldn’t ever remember wanting a woman the way he wanted Connie.
“Obviously you’ve never done an unselfish thing in your life.”
“It’s not unselfish to refuse to become someone’s doormat,” he offered.
Her hands jerked to her hips in dramatic fashion. “I think that’s the most insulting thing anyone has ever said to me.”
“Then you’ve lived a sheltered life.”
“I’d rather that than be mean-spirited and unpleasant. I can’t believe you’re actually related to the O’Sullivans.”
Jonah rocked back a little on his heels. “You’re not the only one.”
“You’re not fit to wipe their boots.”
Irritation kerneled in his chest and Jonah was suddenly all out of patience. Her blind faith in the O’Sullivans was astounding. “No need to...not when you’re at their beck and call day and night.”
She glared at him. “I don’t know how I ever...ever...”
Her words trailed off. “How you what?” he shot back. “Ended up in my hotel room with your tongue in my mouth and—”
“You’re such a jerk,” she said, cutting him off. “How do you sleep at night?”
He raised a brow. “If you’d stayed in my bed that night, you would have found out.”
Copyright © 2018 by Helen Lacey
ISBN-13: 9781488093722
The Soldier’s Twin Surprise
Copyright © 2018 by Judy Duarte
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 22 Adelaide St. West, 40th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5H 4E3, Canada.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com
