Second Chances

· Boruma Publishing
Ebook
98
Pages
Eligible

About this ebook

It will be the cruise of a lifetime for those rich enough to indulge their wildest fantasies!

The famed ?Lucky Twelve? contest has garnered more interest than the last five presidential scandals combined, because twelve lucky people will win an incredible round-the-world vacation aboard the newly-commissioned Fairy Princess cruise ship.

But ex-Marine Mitch O?Neill doesn?t believe he was randomly selected to hobnob with the world?s obscenely rich and shameless?especially when he discovers his beautiful, treacherous ex-lover, Lady Guinevere Thurmond, is also aboard the gigantic cruise ship.

He?s spent the last seven years hating her for callously breaking his heart, but he can?t combat the sizzling passion that flares between them again.

If his presence on board really isn?t a huge cosmic coincidence, then who is trying to reunite Gwen and him?and why?

~~~~~ Excerpt ~~~~~

Mitch couldn?t quite remember when he?d left the boisterous party. The crisp sea air was bracing against his flushed skin. Overhead, stars were winking in a plush velvety sky. He tried to calculate how far they?d already traveled from shore, but too many stiff drinks were making his brain feel like mush.

Too bad he couldn?t remember his suite number; but he didn?t want to go there yet anyway. Empty room, empty bed. He should be used to that by now. Seven long years since he?d let a woman get close enough to matter.

But she was here, damn it all, just when he?d finally started to believe he could forget! She?d passed right by him with her goddamned lumberjack, and laughed so sweetly at something he?d said. And she?d never even known he was standing only a few short feet away.

Was she kissing her burly lumberjack right now?

Forget about her! Find some horny rock star who needs a quick lay!

If only it was that easy. No other woman had ever moved him the way Guinevere Langford-Goddamned-Thurmond did. No other woman had ever made his blood boil, or touched his heart in so many unexpected ways.

Damn her to hell and back again.

What the hell had gone wrong? He still didn?t know. One minute they?d been blissfully in love, making reckless plans for the future. Gonna get married and have ten kids, for God?s sake. Buy a pretty little white picket fence along some sandy beach out in the middle of nowhere.

Then out of the blue, everyone was gossiping about how she?d managed to rope in a stinking-rich British nobleman. And his entire world had crashed and burned like a flaming rocket.

It just went to prove you couldn?t trust women. No way, no how.

Soft light beckoned on his right, and he headed in that direction. She was probably in there, making time with her new friend the lumberjack. He should turn away, make his unsteady way back downstairs without intruding. Hell, he wasn?t sure he could stand to see her in some other man?s embrace, even now!

But his willful feet took another step, then another.

Well, he?d been half right. She was there, all right. But she was thankfully alone?unless you counted all those cutesy little animals dozing at her feet.

God, she looked adorable in that skintight butter-yellow swimsuit and those tight white shorts! Hadn?t gained an ounce in the past seven years, either. Lush curves in all the right places, long legs like a dancer?s, creamy ivory skin with just a hint of amber freckles across her nose and shoulder blades. His mouth watered.

And her hair?satiny rippling waves as tawny as a lioness. Just the thought of burying his hands in all that rich silky hair made his muscles tighten with savage need.

?Don?t you make a charming picture!?

Gwen was languidly brushing a long-haired pup when his bitter words rang out of the darkness. She knew that low, husky voice! And it was so achingly familiar that every nerve in her body went on instant alert, and her heart began to pound wildly. The brush fell from her numb fingers as she whipped around, hardly daring to breathe.

?Mitch?? His name emerged as a hoarse, disbelieving whisper.

?Don?t act so surprised.? Sneering, he emerged from the shadows. ?You know very well that your loving husband arranged for me to keep you company on this delightful little pleasure cruise!

?Or was it you?? His eyes narrowed suddenly as stunned heat flushed her pale cheeks. ?By God, it was, wasn?t it? You arranged to have me here! He doesn?t have a clue what you did!?

About the author

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C.J. Darling was raised on a remote farm in rural Indiana. Since she was an only child and neighbors were few, she developed a rich and colorful imagination that became her closest loyal friend. Together they roamed the hills of her home, 'finding tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in every thing.'

ÿ

Her literary tastes have been shaped by the inspired works of Anne McCaffrey, Robert Heinlein, and Nora Roberts?all of whom she hopes to become when she grows up.

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She has been publishing since 1994, and has written nearly 200 books and short stories under various pen names.

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Her love of animals has led to rescuing a wide variety of handicapped animals, including birds, ferrets, reptiles, and a semi-paralyzed cat named Phantom.

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She has been blessed with two sons who actually acknowledge her existence, and an incredibly tolerant husband who indulges her whimsical flights of fancy without calling for the guys with butterfly nets.

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Recently she was lucky enough to find her long-sought birth family, and was reunited with her older brother who was adopted out separately as a baby. Now they're making up for a lot of lost time, and every day is a joy of new discoveries.

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Though she has traveled extensively and seen many beautiful and wondrous things, the home of her heart will always be lovely Ireland. She dreams of emigrating to that glorious land of magic and mystery?and once there, shall nevermore stray.

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