Undone (Silver Creek Romance) - Softcover

Yates, Maisey

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0593952960 ISBN 13: 9780593952962

Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group, 2025

Inhaltsangabe

From New York Times bestselling author Maisy Yates comes a collection of three novellas in the Silver Creek Romance series—together in print for the first time.

UNBUTTONED

When Carly and Lucas must work together on a charity project, Lucas is shocked to find their bickering melt into some serious mutual attraction. He’s determined to show Carly that he’s the man for her, if only she’d learn to let loose. But her brother’s best friend is the last man on earth Carly should give in to. The freedom she finds in his arms has her feeling happier than ever, but is it enough to make her realize that the greatest risk isn’t losing your heart, but losing the chance at happiness?

REKINDLED

Mac Denton can’t believe the mean girl who once tormented him in high school is now his housekeeper, but Lucy Ryan has changed. After leaving a loveless marriage, she’s starting over and is ready to go after what she really wants in life. And what she wants more than anything is Mac. But is Mac ready to truly forget the past and embrace the future?

UNWRAPPED

Sarah Larson and Walker Callahan are both in it for one night with no strings attached, but when Sarah discovers that Walker is the father of her new student, what was once just a naughty Christmas wish turns into to something so much more....

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Maisey Yates is a New York Times bestselling author of over one hundred romance novels. Whether she’s writing about strong, hardworking cowboys, dissolute princes, or multigenerational family stories, she loves getting lost in fictional worlds. An avid knitter with a dangerous yarn addiction and an aversion to housework, Maisey lives with her husband and three kids in rural Oregon.

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Chapter

One

Lucas sometimes wondered if Carly Denton reserved that facial expression particularly for him. He'd never seen her make it at another person. She smiled at most people, even complete strangers. But not at him. With him, those normally lush, pink lips were pulled into a tight line, blue eyes glittering with a kind of cool disdain that warned him to keep his distance.

In her defense, he'd just walked into her office unannounced and late in the day. He hadn't even given her a chance to fake being okay with his presence, which she did a decent job of sometimes.

Not today, but sometimes.

"I was just about to leave, Lucas. You don't have an appointment, do you?" She straightened, shoulders back, fine brows arched. She looked like a strict headmistress. Which, he had to admit, a part of him kind of liked.

The office was just as severe as the woman. A showcase for just how neat and orderly she was, and lacking in any personality. Pictures on the wall of places he knew she'd never been to. A bookshelf filled with books that were probably just there because the leather bindings and gilded lettering looked nice, not because there was anything interesting in them. Because for Carly, it was all about image.

Given the image her family had presented to the community during her childhood, he couldn't really blame her. But it didn't mean she couldn't stand to be loosened up, either.

He took his hat off and set it on her desk, palms flat on the glossy surface. He knew invading her space like that would annoy her. Knew that cluttering up that pristine surface would get her back up. But he considered attempting to loosen Carly up a bit of a hobby. Though she always resisted.

"Nope. But I had some important things to talk to you about concerning the Ride for Hope."

"What does that have to do with you?"

"I'm representing the Rodeo Association for this project."

"What? No. You aren't. I mean, it seems like someone would have told me."

"Warned you?"

She spoke in a monotone, overly calm voice. "It's just, you don't normally do charity things, do you? I mean, unless it's a bikini car wash."

"I didn't organize that. I did get my truck washed though, but in my defense, my truck was dirty."

She arched one brow. "Was it?"

"Your brother went too, so unless you raked him over the coals for his attendance, I think you need to let it go."

"I absolutely did rake him over the coals for it. That is simply not the kind of image we want Silver Creek to have. This town is about family." She cleared her throat and sat back in the chair, her hands folded in front of her. She was so damn prissy.

She hadn't always been. He could remember her, thirteen, barefoot, with mud up to her knees and her hair a tangled mess behind her. She'd had freckles then. She might still, but it was hard to tell with that coat of makeup spread over her face. It made her too perfect. Too clean.

Like her office, everything about Carly was a bit too something. Too clean, too perfect, too orderly. Her pink lipstick matched her pink nails. Her gray suit jacket was tailored perfectly, as were her gray pants. The pink shirt beneath, of course, matched the nails and lipstick. Blond hair sleek, shiny and not one strand out of place.

She looked pretty disturbed by the mention of the car wash, and he wondered if he'd actually pushed her too far this time. Pushing her too far wasn't his aim. If he did that, she might boot him out of his office, and then he couldn't play with her anymore.

"Ah, yes, sorry, I had a lapse. Well, when you're done playing morality police, maybe we could get back to the business at hand."

"I don't particularly want to do business with a man who considers dress clothes to be a pair of Wranglers that don't have a hole in them."

"And a bigger belt buckle."

"Thank you for reinforcing my point."

"I don't really like having to deal with a woman who probably irons her socks, but this is about the charity. Do you think the other members of the Silver Creek City Council will be happy to know you chased the liaison for the event out the door with your special brand of meanness?"

She frowned, and for a moment, he wondered if he'd actually hurt her feelings. "I'm not mean."

"You aren't sunshine and light where I'm concerned, sugar. Never have been."

"That's because you're . . ." He was sure she was about to spit out a particularly vile insult, but then thought better of it. Her lips puckered in tighter, and she looked like she was chewing on her words. Like she was trying to demolish them before they burst into the room and kneed him in the balls. "You and I don't always see eye to eye."

And he'd never been certain why. Or what had happened. All he knew was that the first time Carly had come home from college, she'd started avoiding him, and when he did see her, there was no more warmth, no more genuine smiles. All he got was frosty reserve and distance. No matter what he did, no matter what he said, he got a sour-apple face and a tart response.

He missed the freckles. And the smile. But he doubted he was going to see either today.

"That's putting it mildly."

"But I'm sure we can get along for a while. It's for charity, after all." She smiled at him, smooth as glass. She really was pretty when she smiled.

"Admirable," he said. "I'm here to drop off donations." He held up the blue bank bag, and she extended a delicate hand and took it from him, careful to make sure her fingers didn't touch his, he noticed.

"Great. How much is in here?"

"Enough to cover the cost of the food," he said. "We still need to get donations of either money or time to get the rest of the events up and running."

"Well, I've got Delia to cook, and the wait staff from the restaurant are coming and serving for free. So that's labor. We still need someone to man the hayride. And . . . you know, provide the wagon and the hay."

"I'll put in a call to the Mitchell ranch and see what we can get. They always give." The Mitchell family was a pillar in the Silver Creek community. If something needed to be done, everyone knew they could count on them.

"Well, that's . . . nice of you."

"I can be pretty nice, Carly, if you'd just give me a chance."

"Does that wounded act usually work on women?"

"Always."

"You're shameless."

"Always have been."

"Always will be?" Her expression tightened again, some of the chill returning. Suddenly, he didn't find it quite as funny.

"Every time you see me, you look at me like you just sucked a lemon." He reached out and put his thumb on her bottom lip. "Relax a little."

He felt her grow completely stiff beneath his touch, her lip tightening. Her shoulders curled in, her eyes like chips of ice. "I can't relax with you touching me like that." She pulled away. "And this is why I don't like to deal with you."

"Why? Because I call you on your attitude?"

"Because you walk around like you're God's gift, and you expect every woman to want to open the package." Color flooded her cheeks. "I didn't . . . That came out . . ."

"Package, huh?"

"Lucas, this is what I'm talking about," she said, her voice turning stiff and formal. It shouldn't turn him on. But it did a little. That, come to think of it, was probably why he liked needling her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot. Business, right? No room for jokes. Not in Carly's world."

Carly almost corrected him. But she didn't. Because in a lot of ways, he was right. She didn't have room for jokes. Not with him. Not with a man who had the power to get under her skin like he did. It was especially bad when he ambushed her with his presence, like today. If she had time to prepare, she could deal. She could even act...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2025
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0593952960
• ISBN 13: 9780593952962
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 337
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: preigu GmbH & Co. KG; mail@preigu.de; ; Lengericher Landstr. 19; Osnabrück; Niedersachsen; 49078; Deutschland