Kidnapping His Bride

Kidnapping His Bride
Hayley Gardner

GRIFF LEDOUX HAD ALWAYS SWEPT HER OFF HER FEETAnd he did it again, just as Tessa Blake was getting ready to walk down the aisle. He threw her over his shoulder, wedding gown and all, and carried her right out of the church–and demanded to know why she was marrying someone she couldn't possibly love….The moment he touched her, she felt like a young girl again–the lovesick woman he'd once walked away from without a backward glance. But what could they have between them, after all these years? And what would he do if he knew she was marrying for the sake of a child–a child he'd never known was his…?

For a few long seconds, as Griff kissed her and she kissed him back, Tessa forgot everything.

She felt what she’d always felt around Griff, right down through her body—delightful, sensual desire. And she basked in the feeling of being close to a man she had once loved more than anyone else in the whole world.

Loved. Past tense.

The thought brought her back to reality, and she jerked away from him, stiffening.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” she said, staring at him.

“Why?” he asked quietly. “Because you liked it so much it’s giving you second thoughts about what you’re getting into? Because you’re worried that the yearning you just felt is the way you’re supposed to feel about the man you’re marrying—plus a whole lot more?”

Dear Reader,

Summer’s finally here! Whether you’ll be lounging poolside, at the beach, or simply in your home this season, we have great reads packed with everything you enjoy from Silhouette Romance—tenderness, emotion, fun and, of course, heart-pounding romance—plus some very special surprises.

First, don’t miss the exciting conclusion to the thrilling ROYALLY WED: THE MISSING HEIR miniseries with Cathie Linz’s A Prince at Last! Then be swept off your feet—just like the heroine herself!—in Hayley Gardner’s Kidnapping His Bride.

Romance favorite Raye Morgan is back with A Little Moonlighting, about a tycoon set way off track by his beguiling associate who wants a family to call her own. And in Debrah Morris’s That Maddening Man, can a traffic-stopping smile convince a career woman—and single mom—to slow down…?

Then laugh, cry and fall in love all over again with two incredibly tender love stories. Vivienne Wallington’s Kindergarten Cupids is a very different, highly emotional story about scandal, survival and second chances. Then dive right into Jackie Braun’s True Love, Inc., about a professional matchmaker who’s challenged to find her very sexy, very cynical client his perfect woman. Can she convince him that she already has?

Here’s to a wonderful, relaxing summer filled with happiness and romance. See you next month with more fun-in-the-sun selections.

Happy reading!

Mary-Theresa Hussey

Senior Editor

Kidnapping His Bride

Hayley Gardner

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

And to Tina, Mary-Theresa, Miss Jeri Buckner and Sheriff Kenneth Volentine: my heartfelt thanks for your help and/or expertise.

To all the people in Claiborne Parish who have gone out of their way to accept us, help us and make us feel like family: because of you, living in Athens is like living in Paradise. Thank you.

Books by Hayley Gardner

Silhouette Romance

A Baby in His Stocking #1341

Kidnapping His Bride #1598

Silhouette Yours Truly

Holiday Husband

The One-Week Wife

The One-Week Baby

HAYLEY GARDNER

used to sit in high school history class while the teachers lectured and write romances in her notebook instead of notes. That turned out just fine, because she could always study the textbooks, and the teachers always thought she was their most conscientious student who took down every word they said!

Now, years later, she is thrilled to be following her dream of full-time writing—when she isn’t homeschooling her son, that is. Any free time Hayley has is spent with her husband or researching methods of teaching children with autism or collecting dolls or knitting or taking long, deep breaths…and hoping her readers enjoy her efforts to make them smile and feel good about love.

Contents

Chapter One (#uf17148de-85b6-56a1-bdb5-58eb34745175)

Chapter Two (#uc6fcf28c-00bb-57e8-ab2e-abee75295007)

Chapter Three (#u918eefec-4aa7-57ca-836e-8c78adf87fe5)

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)

Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter One

She was doing the right thing, Tessa Blake reassured herself as she paced in the foyer of one of Claiborne Landing’s only two churches. In her white satin, pearl-studded, wedding dress, she was the bride-to-be she’d dreamed of being for almost all of her twenty-seven years—so what if she was marrying the wrong groom? There was nothing wrong with Clay Ledoux. Nothing at all. Had she been anyone but who she was, with any other past than the one she had, and had he been anyone else but who he was, she might have fallen hard for Clay. Even though she hadn’t, this marriage was what she wanted, and nothing was going to stand in her way.

Through the closed door to the sanctuary, she could hear her grandmother, Sadie, who had taken her in when she’d been more or less orphaned at age twelve, playing the opening notes of the next to the last song before the “Wedding March.” Focus. She needed to focus. So she concentrated on the music, and how happy she would be—

“Was leaving me off the invitation list my brother’s idea—or yours?”

Not having heard the front door to the church brush open over the carpet behind her, Tessa jumped at the voice. Realizing whom it belonged to, she whirled around with a little gasp, her petticoats and satin skirt rustling back into place as she met the gaze of the man who had once played the leading role in all her dreams of being a bride. Griff. Clay’s brother. Her former fiancе. She’d ended their engagement years before when she’d finally figured out that he’d be happier flying planes in the Air Force than stuck here in Claiborne Landing with her. To see him here, now, was totally unexpected, as was the physical attraction that slammed right into her stomach and edged down to her knees, making them weak. Exasperated that she could still feel anything for him, even physically, after having gone on with her life, she mustered up some gumption.