All A Man Can Do

All A Man Can Do
Virginia Kantra

Words to live by for Jarek Denko, a man looking to forget his past and find his future in Eden. He had a department to run, a daughter to raise and an investigation to solve. A relationship with any woman would be a distraction, but one with reporter Tess DeLucca - the sister of one of his prime suspects - could be his undoing. Getting up close and personal with Eden's new chief of police was part of her job.So was remaining dispassionate, objective and in control - three things that might be possible if she trusted cops. And if she weren't so damn attracted to this one.

“Virginia Kantra whips up a perfect blend of sexy romance and spine-tingling mystery. Now that I’ve read this book, I want to move to Eden. Better yet, I want Jarek Denko!”

—New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner

Just out of her age range and way out of her league.

“You’re not married now, but you were once. Maybe more than once. You’re straight. You don’t smoke, you drink beer, you vote Democrat and think Republican. How am I doing?” Tess challenged the new police chief, her instincts on alert.

“Pretty good…Sherlock.”

Maybe Jarek had a sense of humor after all. Maybe she had a shot at a story. Maybe there was a real, live, warm human being buried inside the Ice Cop.

Tess smiled engagingly. “Your turn.”

“A good detective doesn’t theorize ahead of his facts.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I’d have to spend more time with you before I developed any theories.” And then Jarek gave her a long, slow smile.

Dear Reader,

Once again, Silhouette Intimate Moments starts its month off with a bang, thanks to Beverly Barton’s The Princess’s Bodyguard, another in this author’s enormously popular miniseries THE PROTECTORS. A princess used to royal suitors has to “settle” for an in-name-only marriage to her commoner bodyguard. Or maybe she isn’t settling at all? Look for more Protectors in On Her Guard, Beverly Barton’s Single Title, coming next month.

ROMANCING THE CROWN continues with Sarah’s Knight by Mary McBride. An arrogant palace doctor finds he needs help himself when his little boy stops speaking. To the rescue: a beautiful nanny sent to work with the child—but who winds up falling for the good doctor himself. And in Candace Irvin’s Crossing the Line, an army pilot crash-lands, and she and her surviving passenger—a handsome captain—deal simultaneously with their attraction to each other and the ongoing crash investigation. Virginia Kantra begins her TROUBLE IN EDEN miniseries with All a Man Can Do, in which a police chief finds himself drawn to the reporter who is the sister of a prime murder suspect. In The Cop Next Door by Jenna Mills, a woman back in town to unlock the secrets of her past runs smack into the stubborn town sheriff. And Melissa James makes her debut with Her Galahad, in which a woman who thought her first husband was dead finds herself on the run from her abusive second husband. And who should come to her rescue but Husband Number One—not so dead after all!

Enjoy, and be sure to come back next month for more of the excitement and passion, right here in Intimate Moments.

Leslie J. Wainger

Executive Senior Editor

All a Man Can Do

Virginia Kantra

VIRGINIA KANTRA

credits her enthusiasm for strong heroes and courageous heroines to a childhood spent devouring fairy tales. A three-time Romance Writers of America RITA

Award finalist, she has won numerous writing awards, including the Golden Heart, Maggie Award, Holt Medallion and Romantic Times W.I.S.H. Hero Award.

Virginia is married to her college sweetheart, a musician disguised as the owner of a coffeehouse. They live in Raleigh, North Carolina, with three teenagers, two cats, a dog and various blue-tailed lizards that live under the siding of their home. Her favorite thing to make for dinner? Reservations.

She loves to hear from readers. You can reach her at VirginiaKantra@aol.com or c/o Silhouette Books, 300 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017.

To Damaris Rowland, who thought a series would be a really good idea.

Special thanks to Lt. Joseph T. FitzSimmons for his patience with my questions, to Nora Armstrong for introducing me to her brother in the Chicago PD, to Pamela Baustian and Judith Stanton for the usual reasons and to Michael, who has always done all a man can do. I couldn’t have written this book without you.

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 1

The only thing worse than dying on the job was living long enough to retire.

Jarek Denko steered his aging police cruiser with one hand along Eden’s main drag. He eyed the empty steps of St. Raphael’s Catholic Church, checked out the sidewalk action in front of the Rose Farms Café.

Unless the senior citizens were carrying concealed, the street was quiet.

Jarek had never wanted to spend his retirement on a bar stool at the Joint, nursing a beer and his memories while all around him the active cops talked the job and women. But he sure hadn’t figured on giving up the street to become police chief in some backwater town.