An Heiress on His Doorstep

An Heiress on His Doorstep
Teresa Southwick

SHE'D WISHED TO BE A PRINCESS AND LIVE IN A PALACE. A HUSBAND WASN'T PART OF THE DEAL.And being kidnapped was not on heiress Jordan Bishop's itinerary, either. Especially when the crazy scheme was her father's idea of matchmaking, and the hero was Jonathan Prince Patterson–tall, dark and deceptive. After all, what kind of man needed to kidnap a wife? She'd teach him–by faking amnesia and forcing his confession. But this prince had more charm than she'd bargained for. His slow, sexy smile begged her to succumb to seduction. But surrender would mean baring her heart…and confessing her own deceptions.

Was this her hero?

As he moved toward her, she noticed his confident, sort of predatory walk. His head dipped slightly as he looked down to her shoeless foot. “Did you lose your glass slipper, Cinderella?”

“I think I was kidnapped.” Was it technically a kidnapping when one’s own father was behind it?

“You think? Don’t you remember?”

Remember? What if she couldn’t remember. That would make his life difficult, and she liked the idea of that.

“Who are you?” he asked.

He knew good and well who she was. Okay. That did it. Scaring the stuffing out of a girl then playing dumb was not the way to win a financée and influence people. She plastered a confused expression on her face and rubbed her fingertips over her forehead. “I—I can’t remember.”

He gave her a doubtful look. “You’re not going to faint, are you?”

Why not? she thought. She needed a ride; this guy needed a lesson.

She made herself go limp and dropped like a stone.

An Heiress on His Doorstep

Teresa Southwick

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

TERESA SOUTHWICK

lives in Southern California with her hero husband who is more than happy to share with her the male point of view. An avid fan of romance novels, she is delighted to be living out her dream of writing for Silhouette Books.

The fortune-teller said…

To be a princess and live in a palace—love is the risk, deception the malice.

If the three born on February twenty-ninth rub the magic from the lamp and make a wish—on that day that comes only once every four years—each shall receive her most coveted desire.

But there is peril.

Each of the three must see beyond the evident. Look into the soul of the one her heart has chosen.

Only then will she find the truth that is hers alone.

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

Epilogue

Chapter One

September 15, 2004

Jordan Bishop said goodbye to terror and went straight to furious. Being kidnapped was not the way she’d planned to start her first vacation in two years.

She looked at the guy who’d abducted her. He was hardly more than a kid, an average-looking young man. Average height, average looks and average brown hair. They’d been waiting on this deserted road for what felt like hours, and he’d refused to tell her why. Jordan was fed up.

“I have to go to the bathroom,” she said.

He glanced over at her from the driver’s seat. “Do you see one, sweetheart?” His voice was rife with sarcasm.

That does it, she thought.

She pressed her legs together. “I wonder how this leather seat would hold up in the event of an unfortunate accident.”

That wiped the sarcastic expression off his face. “You gotta go in the bushes.”

“Any port in a storm,” she replied.

She’d been terrified when he’d grabbed her, expecting to be assaulted or murdered any second. But that feeling faded when he kept driving. After stopping, he hadn’t made a single threatening move. It felt like he was waiting for something. And she didn’t intend to be around when the wait was over.

He got out of the car and walked around to her side, opening the door with his keys in his hand. He unlocked the cuff hooked to the passenger handhold above her head. The other cuff was attached to her wrist. When he glanced away to put his keys back in his pocket, she swiveled in her seat and kicked out as hard as she could with both legs, making him stumble backward. If she’d known she would be in this mess, she’d have dressed more appropriately. Now was no time to worry about her tight skirt. At least it was short, giving her some maneuverability.

While the creep was getting his footing, Jordan jumped out of the SUV. She winced when a small rock dug into her bare heel. She’d lost one of her pumps when he’d first grabbed her.