Lakeside Peril by Lenora Worth

Author:Lenora Worth
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2016-10-15T07:00:00+00:00

FOURTEEN

Chloe hurried into the hallway. “Mom?”

Justine Conrad glanced up from her stacks of designer luggage and looked into Chloe’s eyes. She wore a dark pantsuit and lots of pearls and diamonds. Confident in her own career as a buyer for a large department store, Justine Conrad always looked like a million dollars, as Chloe’s dad used to say.

“Darling, you looked exhausted. Have they fed you? Is your room ready? What in the world is going on with you?”

“Slow down, Mother,” Chloe said as she walked into her mother’s arms. The smell of Justine’s classic perfume engulfed Chloe. “I’m okay. Food is being prepared for all of us and my room is ready. So is yours.”

She backed away and gave her mother a quizzical stare. “Words I never thought I’d speak in this house.”

Mom actually looked sheepish, something Chloe rarely saw in her beautiful, glamorous mother. “It’s a long story, but...well...the holidays are coming and you’re in crisis and—”

“I’m not in crisis,” Chloe retorted, drawing back more. “I’m okay, Mom.”

Justine’s big brown eyes searched her face. “I’d say getting shot at and chased and dragged across the country is some kind of crisis. I’m so glad your father convinced you to come here.”

“I’m okay,” Chloe said, although hearing everything she’d been through from her mother made it sound too real. “I’m in good hands.”

Justine looked past her with an appreciative stare. “I should say so.”

Chloe turned to find Hunter standing near the doors to the den, his hands in the pockets of his jeans, his expression full of distrust and bemusement. He looked mysterious and dangerous, his features etched in sharp angles and dark shadows. He held all the traits of every bad boy her mother had ever warned her away from. But his saving grace was in the quiet strength that surrounded him like a shield.

“Mother, this is Hunter Lawson. I believe you’re familiar with him even if you’ve never met him.”

Justine moved toward Hunter, her hand held out, her diamond rings glittering. “Oh, yes, I know all about this one.” She reached out a hand and waited while Hunter reluctantly shook it.

“And I know you’ve hired him to help you with this mission of yours. I just don’t understand why he’s here in your father’s home of all places.”

“None of us do.”

Chloe turned to find her father exiting out of his office at the back of the first floor.

“I hope someone will explain,” her mother said, her head moving back and forth as she took in the scene. Chloe knew that look. Her mother was summing up the situation and probably thinking one of these people looked entirely out of place here. And certainly thinking that even though Hunter’s being here was confusing on so many levels, he cut a nice figure standing in the doorway and, well...he was single.

Justine wasn’t one to push the “getting married” issue, because she believed a woman had to love herself before she could love anyone else, but she’d always wanted both of her girls to experience “true love.

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