Once A Ranger

Once A Ranger
Carrie Weaver

Tony Perez has never fancied redheads. But this one's got his attention.In fact, Kat Monroe is attracting a lot of attention. The worst kind. With her recent lottery win and softness for hard-luck stories, she's the ideal target for the con man Tony is tracking. His old Texas Ranger instincts scream at him to warn her. But now that he's a private investigator, he has to stay under cover–even if it means putting her at risk.Kat has to believe he's just a flirtatious vacationer at the Phoenix Rising Resort. But the closer they grow, the tougher it is to pretend. Now he's facing an impossible choice. Keep up the charade and get his man. Or tell her everything, risk his case…and get the girl!

“So what made you think I’m an adrenaline junkie?”

Kat angled her head to indicate his feet. “The biker boots. And I saw you in the lobby carrying a helmet. I figure you’re a weekend warrior with a Harley. That, and you never seem totally relaxed even when you’re just making conversation. You’re always scanning the room, and there’s this undercurrent to you, as if you’re spring-loaded.”

Nick shook his head, wondering if he’d chosen the right woman to pursue. She was too observant for his comfort. “You’re good.”

“Not really. I have a talent for finding the one bad boy in a room full of good guys. You might even call it a curse.”

Dear Reader,

I have wanted to write Kat’s story since she emerged as Annie’s wisecracking best friend in Welcome Home, Daddy. To be honest, I felt sorry for her because she had a total loser boyfriend, the latest in a long line of bad boys.

Kat is smart, beautiful and successful. Couldn’t she see she deserved better? And if picking losers was a pattern for her, why didn’t she simply change it?

Many of you are probably nodding and thinking, “That’s just like my friend________.” Yes, we all have a friend like Kat. Heck, some of us are Kat. So why do intelligent, attractive, charming women seem to be drawn to men who are no good?

As Kat’s story unfolds, I think you’ll see why she needs to be needed so badly (although she covers her vulnerability with a smart-ass attitude). And I hope you’ll cheer her on as she fights to let go of the past. Even as dark, intense Tony Perez will challenge her newfound courage to choose differently every step of the way.

As always, I love to hear from readers, by e-mail at carrieauthor@aol.com, or snail mail forwarded through Harlequin Books.

Yours in reading,

Carrie Weaver

www.carrieweaver.com

Once a Ranger

Carrie Weaver

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

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carrie Weaver is vastly relieved that she no longer shares Kat’s penchant for bad boys…or more accurately, bad men. As the mother of two young men, Carrie hopes her sons are the good guys Kat would have avoided during her loser-chasing days. When not molding the husbands of tomorrow, Carrie loves to write award-winning novels reflecting real life and real love.

This book is dedicated to my friend and fellow reader Carol Cancik, and her amazing daughter, Mary.

CONTENTS

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

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

EPILOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

EUNICE TREADWAY DESERVED justice and Tony Perez intended to see that she got it.

Not only because Eunice’s son had hired him, but also because of the there-but-for-the-grace-of-God factor. Tony would want to exact a whole lot more than justice if Will Sterling destroyed his widowed mother.

Tony opened his laptop and placed it on the mission-style table in the breakfast nook of his suite. Booting up, he ran through his notes; there were precious few. It wasn’t that he didn’t have contacts in law enforcement. As a former Texas Ranger, he had plenty. There simply hadn’t been an investigation. Treadway’s death had been declared a suicide, no foul play involved.