The Time of Her Life. Jeanie London
No time like now!
Susanna Adams is too young to be a widow. She’s still in her thirties! There will be no sitting around trying to fill empty days for her. Instead, she’s accepted a big promotion, moved states and is embracing her own dreams again. She might even be open to a little romance.
The new plan doesn’t unfold quite as smoothly as she expected. The job is a lot tougher thanks to Jay Canady, the man she’ll eventually replace. Working with him and his high standards definitely tests her resolve. Not to mention all the sparks igniting between them. Office affairs have never factored on her radar, but Jay is so…hot, she might make an exception. After all, this time it’s all about her.
Susanna intended to thank Jay
She intended to right their relationship, to get back to something far more comfortable than this crazy intimacy.
A simple thanks would restore balance, distract her from the awareness making every nerve ending tingle, making her remember what she wasn’t wearing beneath the soaking wet sweatshirt.
Then she met Jay’s gaze, saw his face. The awareness she saw in his expression mirrored hers, and it was torture.
For one wild moment, time stopped.
Not a breath passed between them.
Not a sound.
Only the awareness of the pent-up restraint they’d both held in check and the certainty that restraint was about to end.
Dear Reader,
I’m delighted to announce exciting news: beginning in January 2013, Harlequin Superromance books will be longer! That means more romance with more of the characters you love and expect from Harlequin Superromance.
We’ll also be unveiling a brand-new look for our covers. These fresh, beautiful covers will showcase the six wonderful contemporary stories we publish each month.
So don’t miss out on your favorite series—Harlequin Superromance. Look for longer stories and exciting new covers starting December 18, 2012, wherever you buy books.
In the meantime, check out this month’s reads:
The Time of Her Life
Jeanie London
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jeanie London writes romance because she believes in happily-ever-afters. Not the “love conquers all” kind, but the “we love each other so we can conquer anything” kind. It’s precisely why she loves Harlequin Superromance—stories about real women tackling life to find love. The kind of love she understands, because she’s a real woman tackling life in sunny Florida with her own romance-hero husband, their two beautiful and talented daughters, a loving and slightly crazy extended family and a menagerie of sweet strays.
To all the caregivers.
May you be blessed.
With appreciation to all the staff at University Village.
Your loving service and generosity of spirit continually inspire me to set stories in the caring world of senior living.
You touch more lives than you know ;-)
Contents
CHAPTER ONE
THE OLD PROVERB “change is the only constant” seemed to echo inside the empty house as Susanna Adams stood in the doorway of her home for the last time. And she kept standing there, somehow not ready to leave even though she’d done nothing for weeks but prepare. Apparently all the activity of packing and storing twenty years of memories in a portable storage container had been nothing but a diversion.
Once she left, she’d need to lock the door then drop off the key with the real estate agent. She wouldn’t be able to get inside her home ever again. What if this move was a huge mistake? Suddenly, taking that one last step symbolized everything she was leaving behind.
Glancing into the quiet darkness, Susanna took a steadying breath and tried to capture the moment in memory. She knew every square inch of this house by heart. The wall separating this foyer from the living area, a wall she’d often bumped into with her arms full of groceries. How many bruises had she sported through the years because some brainy architect thought the wall should extend beyond a clear passage to the living room?
Susanna had no clue. She only knew that without the kids’ photos marking their stepping stones through school years or Skip’s stuffed fish showcased front and center, the wall looked foreign. Only a wall surrounded by unfamiliar shadows.
Without her family, this house was just a house, the way it had been when a real estate agent had unlocked the door for the first time twenty years ago. Before she and Skip had filled every room with expectations and dreams.
They had been such big dreamers.
The thought grabbed Susanna around the throat, made her swallow hard. They’d bought this house while still in college, ignoring every bit of advice from their parents and friends.
“You’re too young to get married.”
“Finish college and start careers before settling down.”
“Live a little before saddling yourselves with a mortgage.”
She and Skip had filled