Loving Our Heroes
Jessica Hart
India Grey
Amy Andrews
They risked their lives for their country… Now their hearts are on the line! In a competition for charity, curvy cake-baker Tilly is paired with ex-military chief executive Campbell Sanderson and they get off to rather a sticky start… For the rugged tycoon it’s the winning that counts, but bright, bubbly Tilly coaxes a show-stopping kiss!Tanrami Island is the last place midwife Holly expected to see old flame Sergeant Richard Hollingsworth again. Two years ago, the army medic had ended their affair despite their amazing chemistry, but when they are kidnapped by rebels, Holly’s sure he’s the only man she’ll ever want.Fast cars and glamorous socialites were just part of handsome billionaire Orlando Winterton’s lifestyle…until suddenly the ex-RAF pilot withdrew from the world. Then Rachel Campion arrives at his country estate desperate and in need, and Orlando cannot deny the fragile beauty a bed for the night…£1 from the price of each Book will be contributed by Harlequin (UK) Limited to Help for Heroes Trading Limited which Gift Aids all its taxable profits to Help for Heroes (Registered Charity Number 1120920).
Three extraordinary men, who risked their lives for their country, who each deserve our respect and a special woman’s love
Loving Our
HEROES
We are thrilled to bring you these award-winning writers and proud to be working with Help for Heroes.
One pound from the sale of each book is going towards this important cause.
Thank you for buying this collection—please enjoy it!
Loving Our Heroes
Last–Minute Proposal
Jessica Hart
Mission: Mountain Rescue
Amy Andrews
Mistress: Hired for the Billionaire’s Pleasure
India Grey
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Last–Minute Proposal
JESSICA HART
Dear Reader,
I once spent five months on expedition in West Africa, living in close quarters with four ex-Army men. That’s when I learnt how to radio (Papa Bravo Tango, roger, over and out) and the importance of getting rank right (never my strong suit). I also learnt that soldiers are neat, practical, and resourceful—although not great cooks in my experience! And they are usually very, very fit.
Above all, the servicemen and women I’ve met have all been wonderfully, reassuringly competent. You always feel safe with a soldier, whether you’re hanging off a cliff like Tilly, at the beginning of Last-Minute Proposal, or broken down in the middle of the rainforest, miles away from the nearest garage. That’s why men with military backgrounds, like Campbell Sanderson, make such great romantic heroes.
But they don’t just make fictional heroes. Every day, soldiers put their lives on the line for us all. In their courage, their dedication, their steadfastness and their ability to get the job done, they are the real heroes.
Jessica
About the Author
JESSICA HART was born in West Africa, and has suffered from itchy feet ever since, travelling and working around the world in a wide variety of interesting but very lowly jobs, all of which have provided inspiration on which to draw when it comes to the settings and plots of her stories. Now she lives a rather more settled existence in York, where she has been able to pursue her interest in history, although she still yearns sometimes for wider horizons. If you’d like to know more about Jessica, visit her website, www.jessicahart.co.uk
“RITA
award-winning author Jessica Hart never disappoints her readers with her spellbinding and sophisticated stories, brimming with warmth, wit, drama and romance.” —CataRomance
“Jessica Hart is a marvel.”
—RT Book Reviews
“Jessica Hart is ‘smart, sassy and sophisticated’.”
—CataRomance
For all those readers whose support over the last
fifty books has meant so much.
This one is for you, with thanks.
CHAPTER ONE
‘DON’T let me go!’
Tilly’s voice rose to a shrill whisper as she grabbed Campbell Sanderson’s neck and hung on for dear life. He was rock-solid and smelt reassuringly clean and masculine. And he was the only thing standing between her and the bottom of a cliff.
Typical. The closest she had been to a bloke for ages and she was too terrified to enjoy it.
Campbell reached up to prise her hands away. ‘I’ve no intention of letting you go,’ he said irritably. ‘I’m going to hold the rope while you lower yourself down. It’s perfectly simple. All you have to do is lean back and trust me.’
‘And how many women over the centuries have heard that line?’ snapped Tilly, clamping her arms determinedly back in place the moment he released them. ‘It’s all very well for you to talk about trust, but you’re not the one being asked to dangle over an abyss with only a thin rope between you and certain death!’
One thing was sure—certain death was awaiting her twin brothers, who were responsible for getting her into this mess. She was going to kill them the moment she got off this sodding hillside.
If she ever got off this hillside.
Tilly risked a glance at Campbell. It was odd to be so close to a perfect stranger at all, let alone clasping him quite so fervently, and she examined him with a strange, detached part of her mind that was prepared to do anything other than think about abseiling down the sheer cliff face.
He had glacier-green eyes that were the coldest and most implacable she had ever seen, close-cropped hair and an expression of profound impatience. Of course, that might just be inspired by her, Tilly had to acknowledge, but she had a feeling it was habitual. He seemed the impatient type. Tilly was the last person to deny that appearances could be deceptive, but there was something about the austere angles of his face and the ruthless set of his mouth that made her think that here was a prime example of ‘what you see is what you get’.
And what you got in the case of Campbell Sanderson was a very tough customer indeed.
‘How can I trust you?’ she demanded, without releasing her limpet-like grip. ‘I don’t know anything about you.’
Campbell sucked in an exasperated breath. ‘I don’t know you either,’ he pointed out crisply. ‘So why would I want to drop you down a cliff, especially with a television camera trained on me? Or hadn’t you noticed they’re filming you right now?’
‘Of course I’ve noticed! Why do you think I’m whispering?’