The Stranger and Tessa Jones
Christine Rimmer
“Stop right there. Don’t come one step closer. ”How could Tessa turn away this injured stranger who’d stumbled onto her property in the middle of a blizzard? A man who didn’t know who he was or how he’d ended up in the California Sierras. He couldn’t recall his name, but there was no mystery about his tender passion for the woman who’d saved his life.With no memory of the past – only recurring images of a Texas ranch – what could he offer Tessa? Just a life together, if she was willing to take a risk on the future, no matter where it led…
“I think maybe you’re thinking…of kissing me.”
“You do, huh?”
“Well. Are you?”
He crinkled his brow, as if deep in thought.
“Are you?” she demanded.
He smiled at her. Slowly. “As a matter of fact, I am.”
He touched her chin. He traced the back of a finger down the side of her neck, just beneath the soft fall of her hair.
“I…um…” Tessa’s breathing was agitated. “You shouldn’t. Really.”
“Yeah. I should.”
He took her mouth. Because he had to kiss her. And also to make her stop telling him not to.
Christine Rimmer came to her profession the long way around. Before settling down to write about the magic of romance, she’d been everything from an actress to a salesclerk to a waitress. Now that she’s finally found work that suits her perfectly, she insists she never had a problem keeping a job – she was merely gaining “life experience” for her future as a novelist. Christine is grateful not only for the joy she finds in writing, but for what waits when the day’s work is through: a man she loves, who loves her right back, and the privilege of watching their children grow and change day to day.
She lives with her family in Oklahoma. Visit Christine at www.christinerimmer.com.
The Stranger And Tessa Jones
By
Christine Rimmer
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk/)
For Gail Chasan, my fabulous editor. You are the best!
Table of Contents
Cover Page (#u033d15db-579a-5a95-8477-77f35be23cc1)
Excerpt (#u15683801-f8b0-5e0f-9861-f97652d91cf0)
About The Author (#u0e896393-736b-589f-8c54-b38ee59afd3d)
Title Page (#u203093d9-e8b3-57c3-860d-cf2a963d2936)
Dedication (#uf89a13de-1595-5d5a-bde8-38062e8c782f)
Chapter One (#u1b7f5f79-994a-5717-81e7-60256ef31962)
Chapter Two (#ub62984c5-6cd8-50de-993c-ce0c4e0cfb41)
Chapter Three (#udb119b03-c51f-5095-9681-ea3f604a283b)
Chapter Four (#u598fc403-a19c-510b-8e68-a20140bb2cbf)
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)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Preview (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One
“More snow on the way.” The truck driver, a fifty-something guy in insulated pants and a plaid flannel shirt, fiddled with the radio dial.
The man in the passenger seat made a low sound in his throat, a sound of agreement that discouraged further conversation. He had a killer headache. Talking only made it ache all the harder. And he kept smelling alcohol.
He sniffed the sleeve of his jacket. Definitely. Booze. Was he drunk? He didn’t feel drunk, exactly. He just felt bad. Bad all over.
The two-lane road, dangerously slick in spots, treated with road salt and dotted with slushy ridges of brown snow, twisted and turned down the mountain. Piled snow, hard-packed and dirty, rose in twin walls to either side, so the big rig seemed to roll through a dingy white tunnel, a tunnel rimmed above with evergreens and roofed higher still by a steel-colored sky.
The passenger shut his eyes, tuned out the drone of the radio and leaned his pounding head against the seatback. For a while, he dozed. When he opened his eyes again, the walls of snow on either side had diminished. He spotted a sign that said this road was Scenic Highway 49.
With a hydraulic moan and hiss, the trucker slowed the rig as they came to a sharp turn. Another turn after that and they were slowing even more.