Their Little Cowgirl

Their Little Cowgirl
Myrna Mackenzie

Dearest Godmother,You said all I must do to regain my youth is play matchmaker for twenty-one couples. Well, it's harder than you made it sound! Luckily, I've only got six more to go.Take my latest attempt: ex-ugly-duckling Jackie Hammond and sexy rancher Steven Rollins. There's sizzle between these two strangers–even I can see it–but Jackie just found out that Steven's one-year-old cutie is biologically hers. (How? You'd have to ask the fertility clinic.) I can't blame her for wanting two weeks with a child she has to give up, but how can I make Jackie see that she should fight for the little girl–and the one man who makes her feel beautiful?Merry

How come she had to be so…fascinating?

Steven reluctantly admitted what he had refused to allow himself to think thus far. In another lifetime, he would have wanted to pursue her and take a good long taste of those lips. As it was…

He wanted her out of his life completely, to hell with those vulnerable blue eyes. He had thought Jackie was most likely a woman who wasn’t interested in children. But the way she’d looked when she’d said the word baby…

How could he have thought anything would be easy with a woman like that?

But what he wanted right now was to get himself out of this tangled mess. He needed to stop thinking about how she looked and start thinking about how to get her to sign away any rights she had to him and his child.

Their Little Cowgirl

Myrna Mackenzie

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

To my mother, a living example of what a strong heroine

should be. Thanks for always being there for me, Mom.

MYRNA MACKENZIE,

is the winner of the Holt Medallion honoring outstanding fiction, and was a finalist for numerous other awards, including the Orange Rose, the National Reader’s Choice, the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice and WisRWA’s Write Touch. She believes that humor, love and hope are three of the best medicines in the world and tries to make sure that her books reflect that belief. Born in a small town in southern Missouri, Myrna grew up in the Chicago area, married her high school sweetheart and has two teenage sons. Her hobbies include dreaming of warmer climes during the cold northern winters, pretending the dust in her house doesn’t exist, taking long walks and traveling. Readers can write to Myrna at P.O. Box 225, LaGrange, IL 60525, or they may visit her online at www.myrnamackenzie.com.

The Tale of The Ugly Duckling

When Mother Duck saw the sixth egg in her nest was oddly shaped, she knew one of her children would be different from the rest. Sure enough, that summer, when the ducklings hatched, one was bigger and uglier than the others.

After being kicked aside by his siblings, the ugly one ran away from the pond. But after not much time away, he missed the water and yearned for his true home. As autumn covered the countryside, he headed out into the wide world.

One day, on his journey back to the water, he heard the sound of great flapping wings. In the air, he saw a flock of birds flying high. They were as bright as snow and their long necks were stretched southward. He dreamed of going with them, though he knew he was no fit companion for such beautiful birds.

After a hard, cold winter and plenty of adventures the duckling again saw the flock of beautiful creatures. With his heart in his throat, he decided to follow them. He would risk rejection rather than pass up the chance to take flight with the heavenly beings.

To his surprise, they welcomed him! And when he looked for his dull, awkward reflection in the water, he saw a beautiful swan instead.

Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Epilogue

Prologue

Merry Montrose, known in another life as Princess Meredith Bessart of Silestia, put her hand on the small of her back and rubbed. She was the manager of La Torchére, an island resort in southwestern Florida, and in early May the island should have been paradise. Many people would have deemed themselves lucky to be here, and she knew that, but Merry just felt rather used up and slightly panicky. She frowned at her companion, Lissa Bessart Piers, the resort’s concierge.

“If you had to put a curse on me,” Merry told Lissa, “did you have to make me a crone? I think I’m starting to creak.”

Lissa smiled slightly. “As your godmother, I have a duty to make sure you either turn out to be a good princess for the people back in your homeland, or that you end up being no princess at all. There was a reason for the curse, as well you know, and there’s a way out, as you also know.”

Merry wrinkled her nose. “I didn’t even do that much. I don’t deserve to look and feel so old.”

Lissa didn’t react.

“All right, maybe I did insult Prince Alec a little.”

“He was your betrothed and you did more than insult him a little. And that wasn’t the only thing you did, either.”

Merry shrugged. “I suppose you mean that teensy little incident where I tried to break up my father’s engagement. It wasn’t that big a deal.”

“It was a very big deal. He’s a king.”

“She was older than my father.”

“She was his choice, and you not only tried to sabotage the engagement, you took it a step further when that didn’t work and did your best to interfere with the wedding itself. You were out of control. Those were hardly the acts of a princess.”

“I’m not sorry.”

“Even though you’re getting older and grayer every day?”