A Perfect Pair

A Perfect Pair
Jen Safrey

THE PERFECT MAN WAS RIGHT UNDER HER NOSE!The sexy and sprightly Josey St. John had always preferred innocent dating to "I do." But after a sudden change of heart, she realized that all she wanted was to be a mother and wife. Who better to help her than her handsome best friend and downstairs neighbor, Nate Bennington?Nate had been ready to turn down Josey's proposition when he realized all she was asking for was his help in finding Mr. Right. So why was he so hot and bothered about her search for the perfect man? After all, because of his dark past, Nate had long ago decided he wasn't father material, so he could never be the man she was looking for.Or could he?

“I want the whole thing, Nate. I want a family. I want kids—and a husband. The whole package.”

Nate leaned in, so that they were nearly nose to nose. “Since when, Josey? You love being single. How many times have you waxed philosophical about how impossible it must be to find the right man and so you weren’t going to bend over backwards to do it?”

“So what?” Her voice turned stubborn. “I can’t change my mind?”

“You can change your mind, but this is a complete about-face. It’s weird.”

“Oh, I’m so glad you think I’m weird.”

“Josey, I’m sorry,” he said, grabbing her hand. “It’s just surprising. But I think it’s wonderful. I wish you luck. I really do.”

“You do?” she asked, her voice tripping with excitement.

Nate wondered why she was getting so emotional. “You know I do. You’re my friend and I’ll do anything to make sure you’re happy.”

A huge grin spread across her face. “I’m so glad you said that, you have no idea. Now I can get to what I really wanted to ask you tonight. I need your help….”

Dear Reader,

Well, the new year is upon us—and if you’ve resolved to read some wonderful books in 2004, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll begin with Expecting! by Susan Mallery, the first in our five-book MERLYN COUNTY MIDWIVES miniseries, in which residents of a small Kentucky town find love—and scandal—amidst the backdrop of a midwifery clinic. In the opening book, a woman returning to her hometown, pregnant and alone, finds herself falling for her high school crush—now all grown up and married to his career! Or so he thinks….

Annette Broadrick concludes her SECRET SISTERS trilogy with MacGowan Meets His Match. When a woman comes to Scotland looking for a job and the key to unlock the mystery surrounding her family, she finds both—with the love of a lifetime thrown in!—in the Scottish lord who hires her. In The Black Sheep Heir, Crystal Green wraps up her KANE’S CROSSING miniseries with the story of the town outcast who finds in the big, brooding stranger hiding out in her cabin the soul mate she’d been searching for.

Karen Rose Smith offers the story of an about-to-be single mom and the handsome hometown hero who makes her wonder if she doesn’t have room for just one more male in her life, in Their Baby Bond. THE RICHEST GALS IN TEXAS, a new miniseries by Arlene James, in which three blue-collar friends inherit a million dollars—each!—opens with Beautician Gets Million-Dollar Tip! A hairstylist inherits that wad just in time to bring her salon up to code, at the insistence of the infuriatingly handsome, if annoying, local fire marshal. And in Jen Safrey’s A Perfect Pair, a woman who enlists her best (male) friend to help her find her Mr. Right suddenly realizes he’s right there in front of her face—i.e., said friend! Now all she has to do is convince him of this….

So bundle up, and happy reading. And come back next month for six new wonderful stories, all from Silhouette Special Edition.

Sincerely,

Gail Chasan

Senior Editor

A Perfect Pair

Jen Safrey

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

To Bobbi Lerman,

a fantastic writer and friend, who coaxed this story

out of me even when it felt impossible. We did it!

JEN SAFREY

grew up in Valley Stream, New York, and graduated Boston University in 1993. She is a nearly ten-year veteran of the news copy desk at the Boston Herald. Past and present, she has been a champion baton twirler, an accomplished flutist, an equestrienne, a student of ashtanga yoga and a belly dancer. Jen would love to hear from readers at jen02106@lycos.com.

Contents

Prologue

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

Prologue

Nate heard a woman shout in the apartment above, but he couldn’t make out the words.