Out of Town Bride

Kara Lennox

Socialite Sonya Patterson's dreams of the perfect wedding turn into a perfect nightmare when her fiancе leaves town with her pride–and her money! If not for her two best friends and her bodyguard, John-Michael McPhee, dispensing you-deserve-better advice, Sonya wouldn't have had the courage to go in search of the no-good con man.Keeping the situation a secret from her ailing mother is certainly a challenge, but it's the road trip with her sexy protector that's the real exercise in restraint. After all, long days and small spaces are bound to give a girl ideas….

“Wow! Kara Lennox’s BLOND JUSTICE series has it all—smart, determined heroines, ya-gotta-love-’em macho heroes, taut suspense and romance that will steam your glasses while it melts your heart. Each book is a winner; together they’re pure magic.”

—USA TODAY bestselling author

Merline Lovelace

Dear Reader,

There’s almost nothing more stressful than a wedding. Sonya Patterson has the added stress of a mom in the hospital, a con-man groom after her millions, a reporter hunting for scandal, and the man she’s loved and hated her whole life suddenly becoming more than her dutiful bodyguard.

I had a lot of fun wrapping up the BLOND JUSTICE series. If you’ve enjoyed watching The Blondes get the best of slippery con man Marvin Carter, you’ll be delighted with their brand of ultimate justice. But I hope you’ll also take pleasure in watching Sonya and John-Michael work through barriers of wealth, social class and a painful history to reach the happy ending they deserve.

Please let me know what you think! I love hearing from readers. Visit me at www.karalennox.com or write me at karalennox@yahoo.com.

All my best,

Out of Town Bride

Kara Lennox

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

For the Thursday Lunch-’n-Starbucks crowd—Victoria Chancellor, Judy Christenberry, Kay Dykes, Tammy Hilz and Rebecca Russell. Y’all keep me sane.

Books by Kara Lennox

MILLS & BOON AMERICAN ROMANCE

934—VIXEN IN DISGUISE* (#litres_trial_promo)

942—PLAIN JANE’S PLAN* (#litres_trial_promo)

951—SASSY CINDERELLA* (#litres_trial_promo)

974—FORTUNE’S TWINS

990—THE MILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR

1052—THE FORGOTTEN COWBOY

1068—HOMETOWN HONEY† (#litres_trial_promo)

1081—DOWNTOWN DEBUTANTE† (#litres_trial_promo)

Contents

Prologue (#uc083d45b-1fe7-5896-b025-e05d2ec95ca2)

Chapter One (#u8ad9e38c-02ce-5fb7-b522-c0f4c182938a)

Chapter Two (#u8a49751a-7d16-5baf-aa41-6bb0f80efa92)

Chapter Three (#ufde1f7ab-bb4a-5185-b39c-9e91ffb5791e)

Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)

Prologue

Airplane seats were way too small and too crowded together. Sonya Patterson had never thought much about it before, since she’d always flown first class in the past. But this was a last-minute ticket on a no-first-class kind of plane.

She’d also never flown on a commercial airline with her bodyguard, which might explain her current claustrophobia. John-Michael McPhee was a broad-shouldered, well-muscled man, and Sonya was squashed between him and a hyperactive seven-year-old whose mother was fast asleep in the row behind them.

She could smell the leather of McPhee’s bomber jacket. He’d had that jacket for years, and every time Sonya saw him in it, her stupid heart gave a little leap. She hated herself for letting him affect her that way. Didn’t most women get over their teenage crushes by the time they were pushing thirty?

“I didn’t know you were a nervous flyer,” McPhee said, brushing his index finger over her left hand. Sonya realized she was clutching her armrests as if the plane were about to crash.

What would he think, she wondered, if she blurted out that it wasn’t the flying that made her nervous, it was bein