September Morning

September Morning
Diana Palmer

At thirty-four, Blake Hamilton was an arrogant lady-killer determined to keep his heart free. But to Kathryn Mary Kilpatrick he was a guardian stricter than the father she'd lost. She tried to rebel in the arms of another man…until a furious Blake promised to teach her a lesson she'd never forget, plunging them both into a fiery passion that was dangerously close to love!

At thirty-four, Blake Hamilton was an arrogant lady-killer determined to keep his heart free. But to Kathryn Mary Kilpatrick he was a guardian stricter than the father she'd lost. She tried to rebel in the arms of another man…until a furious Blake promised to teach her a lesson she'd never forget, plunging them both into a fiery passion that was dangerously close to love!

September Morning

New York Times and USA TODAY Bestselling Author

Diana Palmer

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

Dear Reader,

I really can't express how flattered I am and also how grateful I am to Mills & Boon Books for releasing this collection of my published works. It came as a great surprise. I never think of myself as writing books that are collectible. In fact, there are days when I forget that writing is work at all. What I do for a living is so much fun that it never seems like a job. And since I reside in a small community, and my daily life is confined to such mundane things as feeding the wild birds and looking after my herb patch in the backyard, I feel rather unconnected from what many would think of as a glamorous profession.

But when I read my email, or when I get letters from readers, or when I go on signing trips to bookstores to meet all of you, I feel truly blessed. Over the past thirty years, I have made lasting friendships with many of you. And quite frankly, most of you are like part of my family. You can't imagine how much you enrich my life. Thank you so much.

I also need to extend thanks to my family (my husband, James, son, Blayne, daughter-in-law, Christina, and granddaughter, Selena Marie), to my best friend, Ann, to my readers, booksellers and the wonderful people at Mills & Boon Books—from my editor of many years, Tara, to all the other fine and talented people who make up our publishing house. Thanks to all of you for making this job and my private life so worth living.

Thank you for this tribute, Mills & Boon, and for putting up with me for thirty long years! Love to all of you.

Diana Palmer

New York Times and USA TODAY Bestselling Author

Diana Palmer

The Essential Collection

Long, Tall Texans…and More!

AVAILABLE FEBRUARY 2011

CalhounTylerEthanConnalHardenEvan

AVAILABLE MARCH 2011

DonavanEmmettRegan's PrideThat Burke ManCircle of GoldCattleman's Pride

AVAILABLE APRIL 2011

The Princess BrideColtrain's ProposalA Man of MeansLionheartedMaggie's DadRage of Passion

AVAILABLE MAY 2011

LacyBelovedLove with a Long, Tall Texan (containing “Guy,” “Luke” and “Christopher”) Heart of IceNoelleFit for a KingThe Rawhide Man

AVAILABLE JUNE 2011

A Long, Tall Texan Summer (containing “Tom,” “Drew” and “Jobe”) NoraDream's EndChampagne GirlFriends and LoversThe Wedding in White

AVAILABLE JULY 2011

Heather's SongSnow KissesTo Love and CherishLong, Tall and Tempted(containing “Redbird,” “Paper Husband” and “Christmas Cowboy”)The AustralianDarling EnemyTrilby

AVAILABLE AUGUST 2011

Sweet EnemySoldier of FortuneThe Tender StrangerEnamoredAfter the MusicThe Patient Nurse

AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 2011

The Case of the Mesmerizing BossThe Case of the Confirmed BachelorThe Case of the Missing SecretarySeptember MorningDiamond GirlEye of the Tiger

Table of Contents

Chapter One (#ua994eabe-42ce-50e9-98f1-8d3f5c58c6a0)

Chapter Two (#u88e1a4a2-a55f-5dbb-aea6-92579e9e209e)

Chapter Three (#u211e69c8-8f70-53f9-a54f-a42d4cf9bfc0)

Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)

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 One

The meadow was dew-misted, and the morning had the nip of a September breeze to give it life. Kathryn Mary Kilpatrick tossed her long black hair and laughed with the sheer joy of being alive. The sound startled the chestnut gelding she was riding, making it dance nervously over the damp ground.

“Easy, boy,” she said soothingly, her gloved hand reaching out to touch his mane gently.

He calmed, reacting to the familiar caress. Sundance had been hers since he was a colt, a present from Blake on her sixteenth birthday. Sundance was a mature five-year-old now, but some of his coltish uncertainties lingered. He was easily startled and high-strung. Like Kathryn Mary.

Her dark green eyes shimmered with excitement as she studied the long horizon under the pink and amber swirls of the dawn sky. It was so good to be home again. The exclusive girls’ school had polished her manners and given her the poise of a model, but it had done nothing to cool her ardor for life or to dampen the passion she felt for Greyoaks. Despite the fact that the Hamiltons’ South Carolina farm was her home by adoption, not by birth, she loved every green, rolling hill and pine forest of it, just as though she were a Hamilton herself.

A flash of color caught her attention, and she wheeled Sundance as Phillip Hamilton came tearing across the meadow toward her on a thoroughbred Arabian with a coat like polished black leather. She smiled, watching him. If Blake ever caught him riding one of his prize breeding stallions like that, it would mean disaster. What luck for Phillip that Blake was in Europe on business. Maude might indulge her youngest, but Blake indulged no one.