Her Road Home

Her Road Home
Laura Drake

It’s not in Samantha Crozier’s DNA to ignore the call of the open road. The wind in her hair and the pavement beneath her bike are all Sam needs.Until she crashes into Widow’s Grove and the arms of Nick Pinelli, that is. Nick’s gorgeous and pure temptation – one Sam is determined to avoid. But with her motorcycle totalled, she's here for a while. So she comes up with a plan to renovate an abandoned house. Once that’s done, she’s gone.But the plan quickly backfires. She can’t find any resistance to Nick’s charm. Worse, for the first time, the house she’s working on is beginning to feel like a home.Her home.And she knows that’s all because of Nick.

No white picket fences for her!

It’s not in Samantha Crozier’s DNA to ignore the call of the open road. The wind in her hair and the pavement beneath her bike are all Sam needs. Until she crashes into Widow’s Grove and the arms of Nick Pinelli, that is. Nick is gorgeous, and pure temptation—temptation Sam is determined to avoid. But with her motorcycle totaled, she’s here for a while. So she comes up with a plan to renovate an abandoned house. Once that’s done, she’s gone.

However, the plan quickly backfires. She can’t find any resistance to Nick’s charm. Worse, for the first time, the house she’s working on is beginning to feel like a home. Her home. And she knows that’s all because of Nick.

“What are you afraid of, Sam?”

Nick looked at her closely then asked softly, “Me?”

“Not you.” She felt her lips twist, but it probably wasn’t a smile. “We’ve both got things to do, Nick, and my things aren’t in Widow’s Grove. Better to just let it go.”

“Better how? Look, Sam. I know you’re going back to the road as soon as the house is done, and I have no intention of leaving Widow’s Grove, ever again.” He lifted his hand from the passenger seat, turning it palm up. “Doesn’t that make me safe?”

“Safe?” She stepped away from the car, away from him. “I don’t know that word.” She turned to trudge up the drive, hearing the throb of the car’s engine, and feeling the familiar throb of separateness in her chest.

Dear Reader,

I can’t tell you how thrilled I am. This is not only the first book I ever wrote, but my first Harlequin Superromance novel! I’m happy that a story so close to my heart found such a wonderful home.

My husband and I have ridden more than 200,000 miles together on motorcycles, and have had lots of wonderful adventures. Back when I was still riding pillion behind him, one day a dog ran in front of our bike. After a gut-clenching scare, he trotted back the way he had come, and we rode on.

But I started thinking. What if a girl, riding a motorcycle, was in an inescapable accident? Then, what if…

The idea grew into Her Road Home.

California’s central coast—the setting for my fictional town of Widow’s Grove—is one of my favorite places on the planet. I hope that the story gives you the yen to see it. If you do travel there, be sure to drop in and meet Jesse, at the Farm House Café. Then follow the road out of town. Turn in at the beautiful Victorian, sitting perched on a hill like a grande dame, holding dignified court over the tan hills.

Tell Sam and Nick I said, “Hey.”

Laura Drake

P.S. I enjoy hearing from readers. Contact me through my website, www.LauraDrakeBooks.com (http://www.LauraDrakeBooks.com).

Her Road Home

Laura Drake

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

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Laura Drake is a city girl who never grew out of her tomboy ways, or a serious cowboy crush. She writes both women’s fiction and romance stories. She rode a hundred thousand miles on the back of her husband’s motorcycle, propping a book against him and reading on the boring stretches. Then she learned to ride her own motorcycle, and now owns two—Elvis, a 1985 BMW Mystic, and Sting, a 1999 BMW R1100. She’s put a hundred thousand miles of her own on them, riding the back roads, getting to know the small Western towns that are the settings for her books. Laura resides in Southern California, though she aspires to retirement in Texas. She gave up the corporate CFO gig to write full-time. In the remaining waking hours, she’s a wife, grandmother and motorcycle chick.

To Mom and Nancy—the unceasing wind beneath.

Anything I’m proud of I do in your name—the blame for the rest is on me.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

For Al, who pulled me out of the ditch, dusted me off and set me back on the road…and who’s been standing by cheering ever since.

I love you.

For Gary, who taught me what forever love is—and it isn’t what I thought….

For his family, who taught me what one can look like when it’s done right.

Contents

Chapter One (#ueee3d570-0e41-51b5-8280-0d904899acf6)

Chapter Two (#u89d0ac2f-1dd5-5c68-bdaa-016ab6274eb3)

Chapter Three (#uaa065fcd-0b27-5237-a20d-fe4fdd6f22c3)

Chapter Four (#ue94b2b8a-8e3a-518a-ba8d-476427573f0c)

Chapter Five (#uea179c9f-290c-5e17-9c06-e0e189a126be)

Chapter Six (#ud8bc2321-3ecc-5c66-bc81-8b8f8a14aaee)

Chapter Seven (#u711005df-05da-56b5-bb52-fd944a282cde)

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)

Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)