His Only Wife – Cathy McDavid

His father, enjoying a second straight week free from gout, had come along. Too proud to admit he’d overextended himself, he was paying the price in the form of sore muscles and aching joints. Gage’s mother, evidently weary of trying to jump-start family mealtime conversation, settled for seeing that everyone got enough to eat. Gage’s excuse wasn’t as much fatigue as his inability to keep Aubrey and the searing kiss they’d shared last night off his mind. He still didn’t know if he should be mad at his sister for interrupting them, or thank her for doing so.

Chances were good if she hadn’t called his cell phone when she did, Gage and Aubrey would have yielded to their impulses and given new meaning to the word reacquaint. He need only close his eyes to recall the feel of her as she came into his arms, warm and lush and, for a few heart-jarring moments, willing. If Gage didn’t know better, he’d think he was seventeen all over again. “Peach pie anyone?” his mom asked, getting up from her chair and reaching for her husband’s empty plate.

“It’s homemade.” “You sit, Mom,” Hannah said. “Gage and I will get the dishes and serve dessert. Won’t we, big brother?” “Absolutely.” Anything to stop thinking of Aubrey. Gage snatched the platter of leftover roasted chicken from the center of the table. Outside, Biscuit barked, announcing the arrival of a vehicle in the Raintree driveway.

“Who could that be?” his dad demanded and hobbled toward the door. “Bring some extra pie,” his mom called to Hannah in the kitchen. “We have company.” Gage’s cousin, Chase, entered the great room behind Joseph, cradling his seven-year-old daughter, Mandy, in his arms. One of her feet was bare, and she was whimpering. “Sorry to barge in on your dinner,” Chase said, visibly distressed. He turned in a half circle as if he didn’t know quite what to do with his daughter. “What’s wrong?”

Gage asked and went toward them. Chase wasn’t one to fluster easily, or hadn’t been until he’d become a single dad six months earlier when his wife—make that his ex-wife— walked out. The change in family structure had turned him into a chronic worrier where Mandy was concerned. “She was playing out behind the shop and cut her foot on a piece of sharp metal.

Genuine admiration tinged Aubrey’s voice, and his chest swelled. “Like being a nurse? “Firefighting is nothing like being a nurse. You put your life on the line for others. That takes courage and daring.” She tilted her head and stared him square in the face. “I have to say, Gage, you really impress me. Not that I wasn’t—” She didn’t have a chance to finish, because he hauled her into his arms, lifted her onto her toes and brought her mouth to within a tiny fraction of his.

Her green eyes went wide. “If you’re thinking of kissing me, think again.” “Oh, I’m going to kiss you, all right.” OceanofPDF.com Dear Reader, Some years ago when my family was visiting Young, Arizona, I had the opportunity to meet the Payson Hotshots. The crew, fresh from the front line of the fire, strode into the Antler Café where we were having dinner, turning every head in the place. In speaking to them, we learned the citizens of Young were helping out by hosting the wilderness firefighters—feeding them and putting them up for the night at the local community center.

That weekend while I stood on our cabin porch watching the fire blaze in the nearby mountains, I wondered about the Hotshots and the amazing individuals who chose to work in such a dangerous profession. I also wondered about the people who loved them and made up their families. From that experience, Gage and Aubrey’s story was born. His Only Wife is my first Harlequin American Romance, a line that I’m thrilled to be writing for.

I hope you enjoy reading about Gage and Aubrey as much as I enjoyed writing about them. Warmest wishes, Cathy McDavid P.S. I love hearing from readers. Visit my Web site at www.cathymcdavid.com to drop me a line. OceanofPDF.com His Only Wife CATHY MCDAVID OceanofPDF.com ABOUT THE AUTHOR For the past eleven years Cathy McDavid has been juggling a family, a job, and writing and doing pretty well at it except for the cooking and housecleaning part.

Mother of boy and girl teenage twins, she manages the near impossible by working every day with her husband of twenty years at their commercial construction company. They survive by not bringing work home and not bringing home to the office. A mutual love of all things Western also helps.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: a37591bf582e7525
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 1,347,681 bytes (1.285 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 183
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 301.58 minutes
• Total Words: 60,316
• Total Characters: 344,233
• Average Words per Page: 329.6
• Average Characters per Page: 1881.05

Most Frequent Words

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