Daniel's Desire

Daniel's Desire
Sherryl Woods

THIS TIME WE'RE AIMING FOR FOREVER….When a runaway teen surfaced at Molly Creighton's tavern, Daniel Devaney's job as a child advocate forced him to investigate…and to confront his tumultuous past with Molly. Though a tragic loss had shattered their relationship four years ago, Daniel was now ready to accept responsibility for their breakup and make a fresh start.Their overwhelming attraction was undulled by time, but Molly feared risking her heart again. Yet Daniel vowed to banish the shadows from her eyes and prove he was the man she needed him to be. And with his brothers and parents at last reconciled, Daniel's deepest longing–for family–was almost fulfilled….

“Sherryl Woods…is tops in the class when it comes to characterization.”

—The Word on Romance

“Retta knows we’re going to the inn to sleep together?”

“She does,” Molly confirmed.

“Then I’m surprised she didn’t come charging into the parking lot with a meat cleaver.”

“Apparently she doesn’t disapprove,” Molly said.

“Then can I stop worrying about the meat cleaver?” Daniel asked.

She grinned. “Unless you hurt me again.”

“I will definitely try not to do that. Retta’s approval aside, are you okay with this? We don’t have to go to the inn. We could just go somewhere and talk. We haven’t had much time to catch up.”

She laughed. “I’m a modern woman. I can multitask. I can talk and have sex at the same time.”

“Good to know. In fact, that’s excellent.”

Molly’s expression suddenly sobered. “Daniel?”

“What?”

“Do you really think we can get it right this time?”

“We’re going to try like hell. Because this time, losing you is not an option I can live with.”

Daniel’s Desire

Sherryl Woods

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

SHERRYL WOODS

has written more than seventy-five novels. She also operates her own bookstore, Potomac Sunrise, in Colonial Beach, Virginia. If you can’t visit Sherryl at her store, then be sure to drop her a note at P.O. Box 490326, Key Biscayne, FL 33149 or check out her Web site at www.sherrylwoods.com.

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 Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Epilogue

Chapter One

It was just past midnight on the longest day of the year for Molly Creighton. Each time this particular anniversary rolled around, it stole another piece of her. Her heart ached, and her soul…well, there were times like this when she thought she no longer had one.

Over the years she’d come to accept the fact that life was unpredictable and sometimes cruel. She’d lost her parents at a very early age, but she’d survived thanks to the love of her grandfather. Jess had been a hard man, but he’d had a soft spot for her, and he’d raised her to believe in herself and to handle just about anything life tossed her way. There had been only one thing that had been too much for her, one loss that she hadn’t been able to push aside so that she could get on with the business of living.

Oh, she went through the motions just fine. She ran Jess’s, the waterfront bar in Widow’s Cove, Maine, that had been her grandfather’s. She had a huge circle of acquaintances and a tighter circle of friends, but she didn’t have the one thing that really mattered. She didn’t have her baby.

She blamed Daniel Devaney for that. Daniel had been the love of her life, though they were about as opposite in personality as any two people could be. Molly had always been—at least until a few years ago—a free spirit. She’d embraced life, because she knew all too well how short it could be. Daniel was an uptight stickler for the rules. He was logical and methodical. Maybe that was even what had drawn her to him. She’d enjoyed messing with his head, keeping him thoroughly off-kilter, almost as much as she’d thrilled to his slow, deliberate caresses.

They’d known each other practically forever, though his family lived in a small town a half hour away from Widow’s Cove. They’d gone to high school together, where Daniel had been the star football player and she’d been the ultimate party girl, dating a dozen different guys before she’d finally gone out with Daniel. One date had put an end to her days of playing the field. One kiss had sealed their fate.

Even though Daniel had gone away to college and Molly hadn’t, they’d been a couple, spending every free moment together. She thought she’d known his heart and his secrets, but she hadn’t known the big one, the one that would tear them apart.

Finding herself pregnant four years ago, Molly had been ecstatic and had expected Daniel to be accepting, if not equally enthusiastic. Barely out of college and already established in a career he loved, he had been a do-the-right-thing kind of a guy, and he’d told her a thousand times how much he loved her. While they’d never discussed marriage, she’d believed that’s where they were heading. If this pushed things along a little faster, what was the big deal?

But instead of reacting as she’d expected, Daniel had been appalled, not because he didn’t love her, not even because they were too young, he’d claimed, but because fatherhood had been the very last thing he’d ever contemplated.

That was when he’d told her about the Devaney secret, the one that had ripped him and his twin brother, Patrick, apart, the one that had caused a rift so deep, Patrick hadn’t spoken to their parents in years now.