Good Night, Gracie

A note from the editor…

Well, this is it—the last month of Harlequin Temptation. We’ve had a good run, but everybody knows that all good things have to end sometime. And you have to admit, Temptation is very, very good….

When we celebrated our twentieth anniversary last year, we personified the series as a twenty-year-old woman. She was young, legal (well, almost) and old enough to get into trouble. Well, now that she’s twenty-one and officially legal, she’s leaving home. And she’s going to be missed.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the countless number of authors who have given me, and other Harlequin Temptation editors past and present, so many hours of enjoyable reading. They made working at Harlequin an absolute pleasure.

I’d also like to thank our loyal readers for all their support over the past twenty-one years. Never forget—you are the reason we all do what we do. (Check out the back autograph section if you don’t believe me.)

But this doesn’t have to be the end….

Next month Harlequin Blaze increases to six books, and will be bringing the best of Harlequin Temptation along with it. Look for more books in THE WRONG BED, 24 HOURS and THE MIGHTY QUINNS miniseries. And don’t miss Blazing new stories by your favorite Temptation authors. Drop in at tryblaze.com for details.

It’s going to be a lot of fun. I hope you can join us.

Brenda Chin

Associate Senior Editor

Temptation/Blaze

Zack’s self-control was crumbling fast

“I think it’s time to say good-night, Gracie.”

She leaned toward him and whispered, “Not yet.”

He knew he’d lost the battle the moment her lips met his. His conscience tugged at him to stop, but Zack couldn’t pull back now. Not yet. Not when she tasted so good. Not when his hands on her breasts evoked those soft, needy whimpers in the back of her throat.

Somewhere in a corner of his lust-fogged brain he knew this wasn’t right, that making love to Gracie while impersonating Gilbert wasn’t fair to her. But when he broke the kiss to tell her, she pushed him back on the bed, then slid one hand down to his waist and placed it over the bulge in his pants.

Zack groaned aloud. He was lost now. And he didn’t care if he ever found his way back.

Good Night, Gracie

Kristin Gabriel

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dear Reader,

One of my favorite quotes is “A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline.” (Harvey Mackay) We all have dreams, and my heroine, Gracie Dawson, is no different. But it’s not until she turns her dream of seducing her best friend into a goal—with a plan and a deadline—that her life suddenly takes a turn in a new and exciting direction.

My goal in writing this latest installment of the fabulous WRONG BED miniseries was to make it both exciting and entertaining for my readers. I hope I succeeded.

I’d love to hear what you think about Good Night, Gracie. Please write to me at P.O. Box 5162, Grand Island, NE 68802-5162.

Happy reading—and may all your dreams come true!

Kristin Gabriel

Books by Kristin Gabriel

HARLEQUIN TEMPTATION

834—DANGEROUSLY IRRESISTIBLE

868—SEDUCED IN SEATTLE

896—SHEERLY IRRESISTIBLE

909—PROPOSITIONED?

932—ENGAGING ALEX

966—STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT

996—NIGHT AFTER NIGHT…

To all the wonderful authors of Harlequin Temptation—thanks for the memories.

The Temptation Years

1984–2005

Autographs

Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Prologue

“IT’S OVER.”

The words she’d been dreading to hear rang in Gracie Dawson’s ears. It’s over. Her dreams of attending law school—of finally embarking on a life of her own—were over. Goliath had won again.

“I knew those biddies at the historical society would reject us.” Cat Sheehan mixed drinks behind the mahogany bar while Cat’s sister Laine sat shell-shocked on a bar stool between Gracie and waitress Tess Applegate.

As usual, the bar was empty of customers. Temptation was owned by the Sheehan sisters and housed in the same old brick building as Between the Covers, the bookstore Gracie had inherited from her aunt. Recent road construction had caused business to dwindle at both establishments, but that didn’t make accepting their loss any easier.

This time Goliath had come in the form of city hall, with plans to demolish the building in order to widen the street. Appealing to the Kendall Historical Society to have the building declared a landmark had been their last hope.

Temptation was like a second home to Gracie and these women like a second family. She’d let them down. Just as she’d let down her aunt Fran, unable to challenge the insurance company that had refused to cover all the medical expenses incurred during her decade-long fight against kidney disease. They’d gone to lawyers for help, but none of them had been willing to take on the sprawling legal department of a huge corporation.

That made them gutless wonders in Gracie’s estimation. She’d heard too many stories of people like her aunt at the mercy of bureaucrats and pencil-pushers. Gracie was ready to do some pushing herself—or shoving, as the case may be. But she needed a law degree first and that took time and money. Both would be in short supply now that she’d be forced to relocate the bookstore.

But she believed in loyalty—and keeping promises. Before her aunt had died, she’d told Gracie that as long as Between the Covers existed, a part of her would live, too. Gracie had vowed to keep her legacy alive.

She owed Aunt Fran that much.

Anger flared inside of her at the unfairness of it all. Her aunt had died eleven months ago, worn-out from the struggle of battling both the disease and the bill collectors whom she just managed to satisfy. She’d left everything to Gracie. The house. The bookstore. Her prized collection of Harlequin romance novels. Though she’d never married, Fran Dawson had been a romantic at heart.

Gracie had come to live with her in Kendall, Texas, when she was fifteen years old, after her parents had answered a call to become missionaries. Adjusting to life in Kendall had been difficult at first, made even more so by the tight cliques at her new high school. Losing herself in all those romance books had helped ease the transition.

So had Gilbert Holloway, the high school’s resident computer geek, who had become her best friend. They’d spent most of their free time together watching vintage comedy shows on television and making big plans to attend the same college somewhere on the East Coast after graduation.

Then her aunt had been diagnosed with kidney disease and Gracie’s plans had drastically changed. Chronically ill, Fran had depended on her for care and to help run Between the Covers. Gracie had never told anyone how much she’d missed going off to college like the rest of her classmates.

Just like she’d never told anyone how much she hated the bookstore.

Except for Gilbert.

He’d left for Boston after graduation and never looked back. For the past ten years, they’d corresponded almost daily by e-mail, his messages like a lifeline to her as her aunt’s condition had worsened. He let her whine and rant and worry without judging her. Gilbert was the only man who understood her. The only man who knew how much her dreams meant to her.

Perhaps that’s why she had so much trouble meeting men in Texas. Even while taking night classes over the past ten years to obtain her bachelor’s degree, dates had been few and far between. None of the men she met ever lived up to Gilbert.

Maybe he was just safe. A man she could dream about without ever having to follow through. And dream she did, though Gilbert would never know about those fantasies. That was the one thing about her life that she didn’t share with him.

Though she’d done plenty of looking, Gracie had never found a local version of Gilbert. She hadn’t seen him in over a decade, but he was still the example she measured other men by.

Not that she’d done a lot of measuring lately. Running the bookstore didn’t leave much time for a social life. This latest news meant putting everything in her life on hold indefinitely.

So be it. She wasn’t about to surrender to the Goliaths of this world. Gracie Dawson would find a way to survive. She always did.

Laine visibly deflated beside her, making Gracie realize she’d only been thinking about herself. Temptation had been in the Sheehan family for over twenty years, handed down to the sisters by their mother, Brenda. Cat ran the bar while Laine worked full-time as a magazine photographer. They loved Temptation as much as she hated the bookstore.

“The city wants a new road, so we’re out,” Cat said, breaching the silence. She looked over at Gracie. “Did you really think we’d change anything tonight?”

Despite knowing it was a long shot, Gracie had counted on it. Which was ridiculous, since nothing in her life ever turned out as she planned. At twenty-eight, she was certainly old enough to know that by now. It was time to start coping with reality.

“Where am I going to store all those books if I can’t find a new place in thirty days?” she wondered aloud.

Nobody had any answers for her. Gracie knew she’d have to use every cent of her savings to make this move once she found a new location. A place that would undoubtedly charge higher rent for the bookstore than she was paying now. Add to that the advertising dollars needed to retain their old customers, as well as garnering new ones, and the task seemed overwhelming.

“How will I find another job as good as this one?” Tess asked. She’d hired on as a waitress a year ago, forming a fast friendship with Gracie, Cat and Laine.

Gracie wished she could offer Tess a position at the bookstore, but she’d be lucky to retain her assistant manager, Trina Powers, once they moved the store. Her budget had already been sliced and diced to the bare bones.

Laine looked up at her sister. “How are we going to explain this to Mom?”

Tess reached over and patted her hand. “Brenda will understand. She’ll be pissed but she’ll deal with it.”

Angry tears gleamed in Laine’s eyes. “I just can’t believe it.”

Cat pushed a cosmopolitan toward each of them. “Had faith in the system, Lainey dear?”

“Yes, I did,” Laine replied, crushing the letter in her hand. “This isn’t right. How can they just take away everything we’ve worked for?”

“Because they can.” Gracie took a sip of her drink, knowing this news had them all reeling—even Cat. She was just better at hiding it than the rest of them. They were at the mercy of the people in charge, powerless to change anything now.

She hated that feeling. That’s why becoming a lawyer had been her dream for so long. She wanted to make a difference in peoples’ lives.

Gracie watched Laine get up and turn away, making her wish she could have done something to make this situation turn out differently. It had been her idea to approach the Kendall Historical Society, hoping her exhaustive research into the history of the old building would sway them enough to name it a landmark. She’d handed it all over to Laine to make the presentation, but Gracie obviously hadn’t given her enough ammunition.

Gracie slipped off the barstool and walked over to Laine, then put her arm around her shoulder. “This isn’t your fault.”

A bitter smile flickered on Laine’s mouth. “Sure it is. If I’d talked to the right person, made the right argument…”

“It wouldn’t have mattered. The city would still be steamrolling over our businesses.”

“Maybe.”

Gracie knew all too well how futile it was to imagine what might have been. You had to face life head-on and find a way to survive.

Her parents hadn’t made it, succumbing to a jungle fever only six months after moving to South America. Neither had Aunt Fran. Gracie had survived through a lot of loss. But she was tired of just surviving. Tired of existing in limbo.

Now she wanted to live—really live.

“What are you going to do now?” Laine asked her.

“Find someplace cheap to lease for Between the Covers.” Gracie looked around the bar at the oak paneling on the walls and the unique architectural detail on the high ceiling that matched that of the bookstore. “Whatever I find, it will never live up to this place.”

“I’ve got money from my new job, if you need anything—”

“I’ll be fine.” Gracie knew she’d be able to handle the expenses by using her savings for law school. She’d been accepted at the University of Texas for the upcoming fall semester, but now that would never happen.

Maybe it was time to find a new dream.

Laine was watching Gracie, a mix of worry and self-recrimination in her eyes.

“You shouldn’t take so much on yourself,” Gracie told her, searching for some way to comfort her. “There’s nothing more you can do here. Why don’t you go away for a few days? Take some time for yourself.”

Laine shook her head. “I can’t. I just turned in my first assignment. I don’t want it to be my last. Not to mention Aunt Jen is making me crazy. Those wildfires in California are threatening…” her voice trailed off, then she looked up at Gracie. “June 30, right?”

“That’s D-day apparently. Less than a month away.”

Gracie’s mind whirled with everything that needed to be done in that time. But she simply couldn’t deal with it at the moment. Maybe she should take her own advice and get away from the bookstore for a few days. Her ten-year high school reunion was coming up this weekend in Kendall. That would be a perfect excuse to make a temporary escape from her responsibilities.

And a perfect excuse to fulfill the one dream she’d never dared to pursue.

1

ZACH MADDOX SAT illuminated in the blue glow of the computer screen. He’d been there for hours, cross-coding files and making another security sweep of the hard drive. At least, that was the excuse he was using to stay on the job. The reality was that he’d been waiting to hear from Gracie. He knew this was the day the decision was due from the Kendall Historical Society. He hoped her silence meant that she was out celebrating.

Yawning, he stretched his arms over his head, trying to ease the stiffness in his shoulders. He’d spent more time in this chair the past few months than he had in his own bed. Despite his efforts, they weren’t any closer to discovering where Gilbert Holloway was hiding. The man had disappeared three months ago.

Holloway, a key witness in a conspiracy case involving credit card theft, had demanded police protection in return for his testimony. Closing his eyes, Zach wondered for the thousandth time why he’d let his partner stay alone with Holloway that night. The rookie had been determined to prove himself, but Zach should have followed his instincts and pulled the duty himself.

That mistake had gotten Ray shot and cost him the use of his legs.

Some thug had broken in shortly before dawn, apparently to scare Holloway into silence. Ray had fallen asleep on the living room sofa. When he’d heard a window break, he’d panicked and pulled his gun before taking cover.

According to Ray’s story, the thug had wrestled him for it while Gilbert escaped out the back door. The gun went off, wounding Ray and scaring the thug away. Zach still remembered coming in that morning to find his partner unconscious on the floor in a pool of blood.

The kid had taken a bullet in the back and it had been touch-and-go for a while. Long enough for Zach to feel out of control, a sensation he always did his best to avoid. So he turned his attention to something he could control—bringing the shooter in. He was certain Holloway could identify him—now he just had to find the guy.

Footprints in the dew-laden grass had led them to a neighbor’s garage, where Holloway had apparently hot-wired a Jeep Cherokee before taking off to parts unknown. Three days later the Jeep had been found abandoned on a back road in southern Ohio, but there was no sign of Gilbert Holloway anywhere.

His best guess was that their star witness had staged a disappearing act for his own safety, not trusting the police to protect him anymore. Zach supposed he couldn’t really blame the guy—though he thought Holloway was a bit of a wimp. One of those computer jockeys who lived, ate, and slept in front of a keyboard and monitor.

Like Zach was doing now.

At least he had a good reason. All of their leads had turned out to be dead ends. The only hope of finding Holloway now was connecting with one of his friends in cyberspace. Someone who might drop a clue as to where the man would hide.

It wasn’t much to go on, but Zach didn’t have any alternatives.

A ding resounded from the computer, signaling an incoming e-mail. Zach sat up straight in the chair, his pulse picking up speed.

Gracie.

His reaction had nothing to do with the case and everything to do with the woman on the other side of that e-mail. A friend of Holloway’s from high school, the two of them had corresponded daily for the past ten years. After Holloway had disappeared, Zach had taken up the slack, pretending to be Gilbert. At first, he’d hoped to catch a break in the case, thinking Gracie Dawson might reveal something useful. After all, it seemed she knew the guy better than anybody.

But he soon discovered she knew nothing of Gilbert’s foray into the criminal world. Zach should have stopped corresponding with her when he realized she couldn’t help him locate Gilbert, but something kept drawing him to her e-mails. Something he couldn’t quite pinpoint. Her witty, irreverent style? The way she made him laugh? Or maybe the loneliness he glimpsed between the lines. The same loneliness that engulfed him when he stopped working long enough to notice it.

He soon found himself caught up in the details of her life and in the woman herself. Zach knew how much she’d loved her aunt. How much she hated working at the bookstore. How long she’d dreamed of going to law school so she could become a plaintiff’s attorney and fight all the injustices in the world.

A noble ambition. One that made him admire her all the more. Zach had tracked down an old high school yearbook in Gilbert’s house to find her picture. He knew people changed over ten years, but she’d still have those same wide blue eyes. That same enticing smile.

He knew it was crazy to lust after a woman he’d never even met—one who lived over a thousand miles away. But maybe that’s why she appealed to him.

Zach wasn’t looking for a close relationship with a woman. He had seen too many fellow officers leave a wife and family behind to risk inflicting that kind of heartache on anyone. That’s why he kept his relationships short-term, preferring to devote himself to his work. Everybody had to make choices in life.

Zach chose to go it alone.

He reached for the mouse, clicking on the e-mail. The subject line read Plan B. That wasn’t a good sign.

Hi Gilbert,

I guess I’m not cut out to chase ambulances. Besides, who wants to graduate from law school when they’re thirty-four years old? If you haven’t guessed by now, the Kendall Historical Society turned down our application. So that means I’ll have to find a new place for Between the Covers in the next twenty days and work there for approximately the next twenty years to pay off all the bills.

But no more whining. I promise.

Did you get your invitation to our high school reunion? Are you coming? It’s been ten years since we’ve seen each other. That’s much too long. I miss you, Gil, and I really need to see you.

Please say you’ll be there.

Love, Gracie.

Zach read her e-mail again, feeling the pain behind her words. Giving up law school was killing her, no matter how she tried to brush it aside. Just last month she’d sent him an e-mail telling about her acceptance at the University of Texas. Her excitement had jumped off the computer screen.

Now she was in pain, though he knew she’d never reveal it to anyone else. Zach just wished there was some way to make her feel better. The same helplessness that had come over him in the hospital gnawed at him now.

Please say you’ll be there.

Zach was so tempted. But how could he fly off to Texas when he had a job to do? Besides, she wanted to see Gilbert Holloway, not him. She didn’t even know Zach existed.

He hit the reply button, then poised his fingers over the keyboard, hating the thought of causing her more disappointment. For a moment, he considered putting off a reply until tomorrow, but he didn’t think he should give himself that time to mull over his response. His strong desire to see Gracie might overcome his better judgment.

Staring at the blank screen, he searched for the perfect words to let her down easy. At least she could commiserate with Cat, Laine, Tess and Trina. He’d read enough stories about them in her e-mails to make him feel as if he knew them all personally.

But Gracie was the one he saw when he closed his eyes at night. The one he made love to in his dreams.

“Just do it,” Zach muttered to himself, hating any kind of procrastination. He believed in taking action, no matter what the consequences. That philosophy had saved his life on more than one occasion.

But as he started to type Gracie’s name, a pop sounded from the computer and the screen went black, leaving him in total darkness. He rose from the chair and flipped up the light switch on the wall. Nothing. The electricity was off. What he didn’t know yet was the reason why. A simple power failure or something more sinister?

Pulling his gun from his shoulder holster, Zach moved into the hallway. He didn’t have a flashlight on him, but he knew the house well enough to navigate his way through the darkness and into the living room. Once there, light from the street lamps shone through the large picture window, illuminating his path. He could see the shadow of the bloodstain on the carpet where Ray had fallen—a daily reminder of how much was at stake in this investigation.