Under The Western Sky

Under The Western Sky
Laurie Paige

HE HAD THE KIND OF SMILE THAT DID THINGS TO A WOMAN…until he arrested her. Julianne Martin had come to New Mexico' s canyon country on a mission of deliverance. But now Special Agent Anthony Aquilon had just accused the compassionate nurse-midwife of making off with priceless Native American artifacts!Tony' s alluring thief-at-large was no common criminal but an uncommon woman born to warm the cold places inside a man. A modernday warrior who' d defend those he loved to his last breath, Tony longed to place his trust in Julianne…and more. Could a simple case of mistaken identity lead to the perfect match?

“Kiss me,”

Julianne demanded. “Kiss me and don’t stop until…until…”

“We turn blue?” Tony said, feeling laughter and being surprised by it. Inside, he was serious, very serious.

“Until there’s no more hunger,” she whispered.

“If the hunger is satisfied, then we’ll be lovers in every sense of the word,” he warned her. “I’d kiss you until we both went crazy. If we were lovers.”

“Yes,” she cried softly. “Yes.”

“Would you melt in my arms? Would you yield to me? Give me anything I want?”

She forced her weighted eyelids to open, to meet his challenging stare. “What we both want,” she reminded him.

“If we were lovers,” he said roughly.

“If we were lovers,” she echoed in agreement.

Dear Reader,

I found out how effective a coyote fence was the hard way—I backed into one while trying to get the best picture of an impressive rock formation. The fence was made from cactus canes nailed side by side on a wooden structure. My hostess, who had a lovely flower and vegetable garden, said it also kept rabbits and other critters from sneaking in and eating the plants. I asked how she got the cactus nailed up without getting stickers. Her answer: “Very carefully.” I’m not saying this incident was the sole inspiration for Tony and Julianne’s story, but it certainly seemed to fit into their investigative efforts!

Best,

Laurie Paige

Under the Western Sky

Laurie Paige

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

LAURIE PAIGE

“One of the nicest things about writing romances is researching locales, careers and ideas. In the interest of authenticity, most writers will try anything…once.” Along with her writing adventures, Laurie has been a NASA engineer, a past president of the Romance Writers of America, a mother and a grandmother. She was twice a Romance Writers of America RITA

Award finalist for Best Traditional Romance and has won awards from Romantic Times BOOKclub for Best Silhouette Special Edition and Best Silhouette in addition to appearing on the USA TODAY bestseller list. Recently resettled in Northern California, Laurie is looking forward to whatever experiences her next novel will send her on.

This story is for Ali, Becka, Susan, Kris and Merry, who

wanted to know what happened to the three orphans.

Contents

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 One

Julianne Martin matched the address on the store-front to the label printed in block letters on the box of pottery she was to deliver. Yes, this was the place.

Something about the building—probably its rundown state—induced a definite sense of caution in her.

This wasn’t the most practical part of town to try to sell tourist goods. The Chaco Trading Company out on I-40 was a better location, with plenty of travelers heading west to the Grand Canyon and other national parks, and West Coast residents heading east for family reunions or a tour of the Four Corners and Mesa Verde areas.

Well, it was none of her business. She was just the delivery service…in more ways than one.

She smiled at the thought. As a midwife-nurse-practitioner, she’d been delivering babies on her own for three years. Happy years, she mused in satisfaction, filled with work that she loved.

Two days ago, out near Hosta Butte, she’d helped deliver a darling little boy to a Native American couple. The delighted father had asked her to bring his pottery into town and leave it at this store, which was located on a side street of Gallup, New Mexico. Since she lived only a couple of miles from town, she’d readily agreed.

In this part of the country, with its vast distances people helped each other when they could. Today was Saturday, the first day of October, and the earliest moment she’d had enough free time to keep her promise. She peered in through the open door of the shop.

“Hello?” she called, going inside and pausing while her eyes adjusted to the dim light.

The place was crammed with Indian blankets, baskets and carvings depicting Western themes, all in a helter-skelter fashion. A good dusting and some organization would help sales, in her opinion.

She grinned to herself. Her bossy ways were showing themselves, her brothers would have said. True, she admitted. She liked things to be in good order.

“Whew,” she said when she had the heavy box safely on the floor. “Anyone here?”