“I need some time to think.” Letter to Reader Title Page Dedication About the Author Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Copyright

“I need some time to think.”

Andie sighed. “I need to get away, that’s all.”

“There has to be somewhere else you could think besides my truck,” Troy said. “Let me take you somewhere—”

“No!” Andie knew good and well there wasn’t one single place she could go where her parents wouldn’t find her and turn on the pressure. “Look, if you won’t take me with you—”

“What? What are you going to do if I don’t take you with me?”

“I’ll get someone else to help me. I’m sure somebody else will pick me up.”

Troy’s gut tightened. He imagined pretty Andie standing on the side of the road in her wedding dress with her thumb out.

And some stranger stopping and taking her in. She could end up attacked, or worse.

He pulled the truck back into gear and headed for the highway, cursing under his breath all the way. He was behind schedule already. He was irritated. And he was stuck with a sexpot in a bridal gown who wouldn’t even tell him her last name, for Pete’s sake.

It was going to be a long trip.

Dear Reader,

To ring in 1998—Romance-styte!—we’ve got some new voices and some exciting new love stories from the authors you love.

Valerie Parv is best known for her Harlequin Romance and Presents novels, but The Billionaire’s Baby Chase, this month’s compelling FABULOUS FATHERS title, marks her commanding return to Silhouette! This billionaire daddy is pure alpha male...and no one—not even the heroine!—will keep him from his long-lost daughter....

Doreen Roberts’s sparkling new title, In Love with the Boss, features the classic boss/secretary theme. Discover how a no-nonsense temp catches the eye—and heart—of her wealthy brooding boss. If you want to laugh out loud, don’t miss Terry Essig’s What the Nursery Needs... In this charming story, what the heroine needs is the right man to make a baby! Hmm...

A disillusioned rancher finds himself thinking, Say You’ll Stay and Marry Me, when he falls for the beautiful wanderer who is stranded on his ranch in this emotional tale by Patti Standard. And, believe me, if you think The Bride, the Trucker and the Great Escape sounds fun, just wait till you read this engaging romantic adventure by Suzanne McMinn. And in The Sheriff with the Wyoming-Size Heart by Kathy Jacobson, emotions run high as a small-town lawman and a woman with secrets try to give romance a chance....

And there’s much more to come in 1998! I hope you enjoy our selections this month—and every month.

Happy New Year!

Joan Marlow Golan

Senior Editor

Silhouette Books

Please address questions and book requests to:

Silhouette Reader Service

U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269

Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

The Bride, The Trucker And The Great Escape
Suzanne McMinn

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To my parents,

Ross and Norma Dye,

who passed on to me their creativity

and their love of books.

I love you.

SUZANNE McMINN lives in a small town in Texas. She always dreamed of being a writer, so she feels like she’s living in a fantasy these days. And with a real life including a husband, three young children and a scary mountain of laundry that seems to grow all by itself, she needs an active fantasy life to keep her going! She hopes her readers enjoy coming along for the ride.

Between loads of laundry, Suzanne loves to hear from readers and can be reached at: P.O. Box 12, Granbury, TX 76048.

Chapter One

She had to escape!

Andrea Conroy hitched up the cathedral-length train of her satin wedding gown to her hips and peered out through the narrowly opened dressing room door. The hallway outside stood blessedly empty.

Ears straining, Andie caught the sound of hushed voices from the church vestibule. She had to hurry.

They’d be back—soon—to check on her again. To make sure nothing went wrong with what had been called, by at least one Washington, D.C., society columnist, the wedding of the year.

Her pulse pounding, Andie blinked back the tears that threatened. The wedding of the year was a sham. A horrible, painful sham.

But she didn’t have time to cry now. She swallowed over the thick lump in her throat and swiped at her eyes with a trembling hand.

There was no way on God’s green earth she could go through with the marriage her domineering father had maneuvered her into with Phillip Masterson, an up-and-coming, power hungry capital city lawyer. She’d end up just like her mother—nothing more than a decorative ornament at her husband’s high-powered dinner parties.

A sound from the end of the hall sent Andie ducking backward, pulling the door shut again. She leaned with her ear pressed against the wood, listening.

The click-click of high-heeled shoes came toward her. The footsteps stopped outside her door and a light tap followed.

“Andrea, dear? May I come in?”

Her mother’s expensive perfume filtered into the dressing room. It was only the finest for Lillian Conroy—in cosmetics, fashions, automobiles. She was chic and refined and perfect at all times, a flawless complement to her husband, the esteemed Maryland senator William Conroy IV.

It was a cruel trick of fate that unconventional Andie had been born to such parents. She straightened, and her nervous thoughts found verification in the gilt-framed mirror covering one entire wall of the plush dressing room. Her dark, defiant, curly locks were already breaking free of the restraining lace headband with its attached tulle veil. No amount of makeup could hide her pixie freckles.

The gown felt like a straitjacket, the expensive high-heeled shoes like torture devices. She’d already snagged the delicate hosiery when she’d broken one of her fingernails.

She couldn’t go through with this.

“No, Mother!” Andie cried. Then she realized how she must have sounded, and she hastened to repair the damage. “I mean, not right now. I—I just need a few moments to myself.”

Enough time to run.

“Are you all right, Andrea?”

“I’m fine, Mother. Really.” Andie said what her mother wanted to hear. Her mother liked things to go as planned. Meaning, as William Conroy planned.

Andie looked at her slim gold watch. She was to be wed in ten minutes! “Please, just give me five minutes,” she begged. Her voice cracked. Nerves jitterbugged in her stomach.

Why had she let things go this far?

She knew the answer to her own question. Nobody said no to William Conroy. Who knew that better than Andie? She’d been saying no to her father for twenty-five years, and he never listened. She might as well have been mute her entire life for all the attention he’d ever paid to her wants, her desires, her needs.

She’d tried to conform. She’d even tried going to law school, when teaching art to kids was all she’d ever wanted to do.

She’d tried to be the dutiful, model daughter her father wanted. She’d tried—

Andie squeezed her eyelids tight, emotion stinging them. She’d tried to make him love her.

She swallowed thickly, and her eyes flashed open. She shook her head.

She’d tried—and she was through trying. She’d been censured and scolded and pushed for the last time. This was too much. She couldn’t marry Phillip Masterson! Here, in the church, in her dress, the stark reality of what she was about to do had hit her.

Every inch of her slender five-foot-five body recoiled from this marriage. She didn’t love Phillip. Not in the least. And he didn’t love her. He loved her father’s power and position. Not her.

“Are you sure, dear?” Her mother sounded worried.

Andie almost broke down and started bawling. She imagined her mother sitting in the front row of the church sanctuary with hundreds of attendees behind her, waiting for her little girl to walk down the aisle—

“You know how many of your father’s friends and colleagues are here,” Lillian went on. “These are important people. You don’t want to keep them waiting.”

Andie blew out a disgusted breath. Of course. Her mother wasn’t worried about her. Her mother was concerned that she might inconvenience her father’s stuffy society connections.

“I’m fine, Mother,” Andie repeated. Familiar hurt swallowed her whole.

“All right, dear. I’m going to sit down now. Your father will be here to get you in five minutes. Next time I see you, you’ll be Mrs. Phillip Masterson!” she said, making the title sound like a privilege beyond compare. Then she clicked away in her high-heeled shoes, leaving her heavy, luxurious scent behind her.

Silence. With shaking hands, Andie ripped off the ostentatious engagement ring with which Phillip had presented her, and set it on the dressing table.

She cracked the door. The hallway was empty again. Nervous fear all but closed up her throat. She could barely breathe.

She ran a dry tongue over her lips.

Now!

Quickly, she took the first small step out of the dressing room. Reaching around, she turned the lock in the door and pulled it shut behind her. Hopefully, it would take them a few minutes to get in and figure out she’d disappeared.

She heard her father’s deep voice boom out from the vestibule. Five minutes! He was supposed to give her five minutes!

No surprise that he wasn’t going to pay attention to her request.

Andie scooped up the gown’s long train and dashed down the hall, in the opposite direction from her father’s voice. At the end of the hall was an exterior side door. She pushed through, looking over her shoulder. No one was in the hall.

No one saw her leave!

With her heart lurching and her breaths coming in quick hitches of panic, Andie ran from the huge, downtown church into the June heat. Into freedom.

Tall oaks dotted the grounds. Parked cars filled the lot to the side of the building. Unfortunately, Andie didn’t have the key to a single one. She and her parents had arrived at the majestic Washington, D.C., church by limo.

How could she possibly get away? What had she been thinking?

In another minute, they were going to discover she was missing. They’d come looking for her...and find her. Her father would be furious.

Another of Andie’s silly scrapes!

Andie’s gaze darted all around, searching for hope. The light Saturday afternoon traffic—shoppers and tourists—flew up and down the broad avenue. As she watched, a mammoth, midnight-blue tractor-trailer rig pulled over to the curb in front of several parked cars.

A man, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, emerged from the cab, a black dog at his heels. The man strolled onto the manicured grass while the dog ambled over to a tree to do its business.

Andie’s gaze continued its hungry scan. Beyond the eighteen-wheeler, in the distance, she saw a taxi heading in her direction. It was like a gift from God.

She sped over the grass toward the street. Her veil flew out behind her. Her dress flapped wildly. She ignored the confused glance the man shot her.

The dog barked and started to follow her. She heard the man call him back.

The taxi approached in the middle lane. Andie sprinted through two parked cars and into the street.

“Taxi!” She extended her arm as she shouted, desperately willing it to pull over.

She had no idea where she was going. And she didn’t care. She just wanted to get as far away from Phillip Masterson and William Conroy as she possibly could.

The taxi zoomed past.

Andie stopped dead in her tracks, immediate, desperate tears clogging her vision. Despair washed over her.

A low-slung black sports car suddenly rose before her eyes, coming out of nowhere at a high rate of speed, in the very lane in which she stood. Andie stayed rooted to the spot, frozen, shocked, as the car bore down on her.

She screamed.

Troy Armstrong took in the woman as she shrieked in terror, the car racing too fast toward her. Adrenaline bulleted through him.

He rushed at her. Throwing his arms around her tiny waist, he swept her out of danger. She felt light, like a flower. He stumbled backward and they crashed together onto the hard pavement between two parked cars, the woman collapsing atop him.

The black sports car whizzed past.

His dog, named Dog—part Lab, part mystery—barked excitedly.

Troy lay still for a few seconds, dazed by the impact, feeling more than a little off balance. Usually, he wasn’t out driving his own trucks. His time was consumed with the day-to-day operations of the fledgling Armstrong Independent Trucking business he’d started in partnership with his brother only the year before. But with one of their drivers out because of a family crisis—and Troy’s brother’s wife near the due date for their first baby—Troy had had no choice but to take the trip himself.

He was on the first day of a tough ten-day haul, first to L.A., then down to San Diego and back to the East Coast. Not two miles into their trip, Dog had begun scratching and clawing at the door of the truck’s roomy sleeper cab, a sure sign he wanted to attend to nature’s call. Then the woman, in full bridal regalia, had appeared out of nowhere, running headlong into traffic—

The young woman scrambled off him then and knelt by his side, seemingly heedless of the fancy gown she wore. Beautiful, heavily lashed dark eyes, shocked and worried, met his.

“Are you all right?” she gasped. Her voice was soft, musical, lilting. Like an angel’s. Only, the thoughts she inspired weren’t exactly pious. In fact, they were just the opposite.

Troy blinked, swallowed, blinked again. Curly dark tendrils escaped the lacy headdress she wore, framing an oval-shaped face with a rosebud mouth and a pert little nose scattered with light freckles. Diamonds decorated the lobes of her small ears, and her slender neck led his eyes down to smooth skin and a tempting display of cleavage above her lace and satin bodice.

Speechless for a second, Troy realized he couldn’t be too badly hurt. The quickening in his groin told him that much.

“You saved my life!” The woman leaned over him. She smelled as sweet and wholesome as blueberries and cream. All he could think was how he wanted to taste her lips right there and then—

“Are you hurt?” she cried when he didn’t respond.

“No, no, I’m fine. Just a little stunned, that’s all.” Troy pulled himself together and sat up, finding everything apparently worked—except his common sense. He didn’t remember hitting his head, but he must have. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be having these irrational thoughts.

He was putting his new business first these days, not his personal life. He didn’t need any unnecessary distractions. And the woman in front of him was def-initely a distraction.

More than that, with those big eyes of hers, she could be a heartbreaker. And Troy had been down that road, all too recently.

“What about you?” he demanded more abruptly than he meant to. “You almost got yourself run down! Why didn’t you get out of the way?”

Dog kept circling and barking.

Andie stared at the man. Now he sounded as if he was about to start chastising her. That’s what her father would do.

“I wanted to get run down,” she snapped sarcastically. She jerked to a stand, bristling.

The man’s eyes widened, then narrowed. He drew himself up, one hand shooting to his back. She wondered if he’d injured himself rescuing her.

“Pardon me for getting in the way,” Troy grumbled.

Andie immediately felt guilty for lashing out at him. He’d just saved her life, for pity’s sake.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized quickly. “You didn’t deserve that.” She chewed her lip. “Thank you for pulling me out of the way. I guess I just froze when I saw that car coming. Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

The man was of average height, compactly built, and in her high heels, Andie didn’t have to look too far up to meet his gaze. With a quick, sweeping study, she noted the plain white T-shirt stretched over a broad chest, the slim waist, the lean legs encased in worn jeans. But what captured her, what sucked her in and wouldn’t let her go, were his eyes. They were light, hazel, perfectly complementing his dark blond hair, and her stomach pitched in a seesaw reaction that confused her and left her feeling oddly vulnerable.

“I’m just a bit sore, that’s all.” Troy frowned. “What about you? You’re the one running around in traffic in a wedding dress. Are you in some kind of trouble?”

“No.” Andie suddenly remembered what the near accident had temporarily knocked from her mind.

Phillip. Her father. The wedding. Her troubled gaze flicked to the church.

“So you always run around in the street in a wedding dress?”

“Huh?” Andie licked her lips, trying to focus on what the man was saying and casting about for some means of escape at the same time.

She still had the same problem she’d had five minutes ago—only now she’d lost valuable time.

A movement from the front of the church caught her attention.

It was her father! And Phillip!

“Oh, no!” Andie ducked back down between the cars.

She crept forward, hiding behind the parked vehicle.

Ahead lay the truck. Making a split-second decision, she dashed for it, leaping into the cab, dragging along the heavy train of her dress. Keeping low, she dived across the driver’s seat to the passenger side, sweeping a neatly stacked newspaper and a clipboard off the seat she intended to occupy. The newspaper and clipboard whooshed to the floor as she scrunched into the corner by the window.

The trucker followed her into the cab, his dog jumping in behind him and scrambling onto the floorboard between the seats. The animal stared at her and barked. The trucker brought the cab door shut with a bang.

“You want to tell me what’s going on?” He picked up his clipboard and slapped it onto the dash. He left the newspaper where it was.

Andie sank lower, watching her father and Phillip. More guests spilled out from the church, and they began fanning over the church grounds. The search was on!

She looked at the dog. He growled.

She had to think for a minute to decide who she was more scared of—Phillip and her father, or the dog.

“Drive,” she begged in a tiny, desperate voice, making up her mind.

“What?”

“Drive.”

“Not until you tell me what’s going on here. Are you running from somebody?” Troy watched her. She’d gone pale beneath her light makeup. Her eyes were huge, darting restlessly toward the church. He saw people spreading out, shouting.

“Yes,” she answered.

It wasn’t a big leap to figure they were looking for her, that she was fleeing her own wedding—no doubt breaking some poor slob’s heart. A dull thud echoed inside him.

“Who? And why?” He peppered the questions at her abruptly.

“Are you going to ask questions or are you going to drive?”

Troy arched an eyebrow. The dog growled again.

“I’m sorry. That was rude. I’m desperate.” Her voice cracked. “Please, I have to get away from here. Before they find me!”

Her plea arrowed straight to his heart. He was suddenly torn, and that made him angry. She’d just stomped all over some guy. He didn’t want to feel sorry for her, didn’t want to help her.

But he’d saved her life, and that made him feel responsible for her, whether he liked it or not. And he didn’t like it. Not one bit.

Irritated with the position he was in—and with her for putting him in it—he glanced out his rearview mirror, then whipped into traffic. The huge vehicle barreled down the avenue ten miles over the speed limit.

Neither one of them spoke for several minutes, then she rose and twisted around to peer at the church vanishing into the distance. Then she turned back around and smoothed her dress.

He didn’t know anything about fashion, but he’d bet the dress was a designer original. Something about it just dripped money.

“What’s your name?” he demanded. If he was going to figure out what to do with her, he had to start somewhere. A name seemed a good place.

Andie fastened her gaze on the man beside her.

“What’s yours?” She replayed his question.

He couldn’t believe she had the gall to be difficult when he was right in the middle of rescuing her. She was still smoothing her dress, and he saw that her hands trembled.

Was she scared of him? The thought bothered him.

He wasn’t going to harm her. He just wanted to get her out of his truck.

He decided not to waste time quibbling. “Troy Armstrong.” He stopped the truck at a red light. “And yours?” he asked again, impatient.

Andie chewed her lip, waffling over whether or not it was safe to share even as little as her name with the man beside her. She worked not to flinch under his stare.

She noticed the green-brown of his eyes, eyes that were hard—yet not cruel. He was a total stranger, but she sensed somehow that she had nothing to fear. Not physically, at least.

He sparked alarm on a different level, in a place more visceral, mysterious, hidden. A place Andie didn’t altogether understand, and didn’t want to go.

She was tired of being hurt. She was tired of nobody ever loving her for her. From now on, she was keeping her distance. If she didn’t expect love, or ask for love, she wouldn’t be disappointed when she didn’t get it.

But there was something she was asking for right now—a ride. And all he was asking for in return, so far, was her name. She could give him that.

“Andie. My name is Andie.”

He kept right on staring at her, relentless.

“For Andrea,” she elaborated.

Troy wondered if his roomy truck cab had shrunk while he’d been out of it. Andie’s big, frightened eyes seemed to fill it up.

He really had to get hold of himself. He was going to take her wherever she wanted to go, and that would be it. Had to be it. It didn’t make a lick of sense, but there was a part of him that was attracted to this rebellious bride, and nothing good could come of that.

Whatever her troubles were, he wasn’t going to get involved.

He had a business to run, a load to haul.

“Andie what?” he asked.

Andie wrapped her arms over her chest.

“Just Andie.”

She was tired of watching people get impressed when they found out who her father was.

The light turned green, and Troy flicked his attention back to the road.

“Well, Just Andie,” he said, manuevering through traffic, “where am I taking you?”

Andie considered her options. Where could she go that her family wouldn’t swoop down to pressure and reproach her within hours?

She didn’t want to see them. Or Phillip. Or anybody. She needed to think, away from all of them.

She needed time to gather her courage. Time to figure out what she was going to do with the rest of her life.

She looked at Troy, an idea bursting onto her consciousness, taking shape, growing. It was crazy. Completely crazy. She didn’t need to spend any more time with Troy Armstrong—and she was almost positive he didn’t want to spend any more time with her.

But still, in spite of that, she knew one place no one would find her...

“Where are you headed?” she asked him.

“California.”

Taking a leap from the frying pan to the fire, Andie said, “I want to go with you.”

Chapter Two

Troy did a double take at the woman sitting next to him as they approached another red light. “What?” He ground the big rig to a stop, then returned his shocked attention to Andie. “What did you say?”

“I want to go with you,” Andie repeated, feeling timid now. Troy didn’t exactly look excited about her idea. She was probably crazy, hitching a ride out of town with a stranger—

Then she thought about marrying Phillip, and decided that was even crazier. And if her family got hold of her, she was afraid she might do just that, for no other reason than that they wanted her to.

She needed this time away from them. And Troy Armstrong could give it to her.

And he wasn’t just any stranger, she consoled herself. He’d saved her life, hadn’t he?

“I won’t get in the way,” she said. He was still looking at her as if she’d just beamed down from Mars.

“Of course you’ll get in the way,” Troy contradicted. “You’re already in the way.” He practically had an accident every time he glanced at her. She was definitely in the way! She was sexy as all get out, packing who knew what sort of trouble. “You can’t go with me,” he insisted.

“Why not?” She turned those huge soulful eyes on him, and he felt a part of him melting again.

“Because I’m working.” Troy soldiered on determinedly. He had to stay focused. He couldn’t let some gorgeous woman pop out of the blue and throw his whole life off track. “This is business.”

His personal life had been less than enjoyable the last time Troy had paid any attention to it, and with his brother concentrating on his growing family, it seemed a good idea for Troy to put business first for a while.

“I don’t have time for passengers,” he went on.

“I won’t be any trouble. I’ll, uh, I’ll keep you company.” Andie smiled encouragingly.

“I don’t need company.”

“It must be lonely out on the road all those days by yourself,” she went on, undeterred. “The light is green, by the way.”

Troy hit the accelerator. The truck groaned and hummed as it pulled through its gears. “I have company already,” he said, jerking his head at his canine companion. “I have Dog.”

Dog woofed in response to his name.

“A dog?”

“That’s right. I don’t need anyone else.” At least Troy always knew where he stood with Dog. Dog was faithful and loyal. Unlike some women. “Now tell me where I can drop you off,” he went on firmly. “I need to get on the road. I’ve got a schedule.”

With that last light, they had left the congestion of the city and were nearing the cutoff to the highway. Something had to be settled. Soon.

Andie worried her bottom lip. What now? The man was practically ready to shove her out.

Where would she go? What would she do?

Her mind on her problem, she reached out one hand casually to pat the dog’s head and yanked it back when the animal reared around as if he might bite her. Her whole body trembled. All she needed was to top off her day by getting chewed up by a dog.

“Dog!” Troy thundered. The animal settled back, growling low in his throat. Troy looked at Andie and said flatly, “He doesn’t like women.”

And neither did he. Particularly not the jilting kind. He’d had plenty of experience with that sort of woman already. He didn’t need any more.

He kept thinking about Andie’s fiancé back at that church with a broken heart. Troy knew how that felt.

“Thanks for filling me in after he almost bit my head off,” Andie was grumbling from her now-huddled position in the corner of the truck cab.

Troy glanced sharply at her, then jerked the truck over toward the side of the road. He brought the huge vehicle to a stop on the shoulder and turned his full attention to his unwanted guest. He wasn’t about to be apologetic about anything.

“Look, you’re the one who left some poor slob at the altar—”

“Some poor slob?”

“—and jumped in here—”

“Some poor slob!”

“—without so much as a by-your-leave—”

“Some poor slob?”

“Yes, some poor slob. You just ran out on the guy, didn’t you? Left him standing in the church?”

“You don’t understand the situation. I can’t believe you feel sorry for him. I’m the one who—” She stopped abruptly.

“You’re the one who what?” Troy demanded. He refrained from throwing at her that he understood all too well what it was like to be jilted.

“Nothing. Never mind.” Andie crossed her arms and stared straight ahead, her lips set in a mutinous line.

“All right.” Troy blew out a frustrated breath and tried to sound calm as he proceeded. “Let’s try starting over. You can begin with just what the heck is going on here, and I’ll see what I can do to help.” By help, he really meant how best to get rid of her, but he bit that part back.

He hoped he wasn’t asking for trouble by exploring the situation further, but maybe if he knew what her problem was, he’d be able to figure out what to do with her.

His gaze fastened on her pink rosebud mouth, and that little, traitorous, instinctive part of him that kept rearing up thought of at least one thing he could do with her....

He crushed the thought. Correction, he reminded himself staunchly. That was one thing he absolutely was not going to do with her.

He was going to have to get better control of his thought patterns. Now would be a good time.

“I—I can’t explain,” Andie said, still staring out the window, avoiding his gaze.

“Well, if you want to come to California with me, you’d better start trying,” Troy said tightly.

He should be miles away. Instead, here he was, parked on the side of the road, trying to figure out what to do with a beautiful, errant bride. It was ludicrous, unbelievable...but it was real.

Andie finally returned her gaze to the man beside her.

“I was supposed to get married today,” she offered briefly.

“No kidding.” Troy arched an eyebrow and glanced pointedly at her attire. “What happened?”

Andie twisted her hair. “I changed my mind.”

“Really?” Troy couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

“Yes, really,” Andie said defensively.

“So you came to this momentous conclusion while you were standing at the altar, I take it?”

“No, of course not! It hadn’t gone that far!”

Troy gave a harsh laugh. “Oh, well, thank goodness, it hadn’t gone that far. I’m sure that must be a source of comfort to the groom.”

Andie had had it with the grilling. The whole reason she was running away was so she wouldn’t have to answer all these questions.

“It’s very complicated,” she said briefly, hoping he’d be satisfied. Again, she stared off determinedly in the direction of the highway, trying to convince him by her body language that the conversation was over.

Apparently, he didn’t understand body language.

“Okay, so it’s complicated. I’m listening,” he prodded.

Andie gave up and swiveled her gaze back to him. He had incredible eyes, she admitted to herself. Large, intense, with darts of green-gold heat in their brown depths. He’d said he’d try to help her. But did he mean it?

She was tempted to tell him everything. She chewed her lip, wavering.

In the end, she settled for only part of everything.

“I need some time to think.” She sighed. “I need to get away, that’s all.”

“There has to be somewhere else you could think besides my truck,” Troy said. “Let me take you somewhere—”

“No!” Andie knew good and well there wasn’t one single place she could go where her parents wouldn’t find her and turn on the pressure. “Look, I need to get away.” She had to convince him she meant business. “If you won’t take me with you—”

“What? What are you going to do if I don’t take you with me?” Troy waited.

Andie looked out toward the highway, her thoughts tumbling atop one another, desperately searching for an answer. Trucks and cars zoomed along in the distance.

“I’ll get someone else to help me,” she bluffed. She lifted her chin. “I’m sure somebody will pick me up.”

The idea of hitchhiking terrified her. She knew she’d never be able to do it.

The question was, would the man beside her—the man who looked as if he’d gladly throw her under the wheels—believe that she might do it?

Troy’s gut tightened. He imagined pretty Andie standing on the side of the road in her wedding dress with her thumb out.

And some stranger stopping and taking her in. She could end up attacked, or worse.

He pulled the truck back into gear and headed for the highway, cursing under his breath all the way. Dog growled, sensing his mood. Glancing at Andie, Troy saw she was scrunched up in the corner, as if uncertain of either man or beast in that moment.

Troy hit the highway at full speed, blending into the weekend traffic heading west. He pulled the truck’s huge visor down against the bright, late-afternoon sun. The highway lay like a ribbon of black heat in front of them, surrounded by green, grassy shoulders and low, rolling, wooded hills.

He was behind schedule already. He was irritated. His dog was irritated. And he was stuck with a sexpot in a bridal gown who wouldn’t even tell him her last name, for Pete’s sake.

It was going to be a long trip.

“Tell me this,” Troy demanded after a few minutes. “Have you done something wrong, committed some kind of crime?”

Every possibility lay open for why she would be fleeing a wedding. She could have been involved in some sort of scam for all he knew.

He didn’t need that kind of trouble.

“No!” Andie said immediately. “I haven’t broken the law, I promise.”

Troy’s mind chugged along to other options. “No one’s going to be looking for you? I’m not going to be arrested for kidnapping you or anything, right?”

What if her family panicked over her disappearance? All Troy needed was for a posse of private eyes to come hunt her down. What kind of mess had he stepped into the middle of?

“No—well, I don’t know what they might do.” How were her parents going to react to her absence? Andie wondered suddenly. It hadn’t occurred to her that anyone might think she’d been the victim of foul play.

She hadn’t thought about a lot of things. It struck her abruptly that she hadn’t even brought her purse with her from the dressing room. She wouldn’t have been able to pay that taxi if it had stopped. And she had no way of supporting herself on this cross-country trip.

She was totally dependent on the man beside her. The man who was looking at her as if he wanted to wring her neck.

On impulse, she pulled out the diamond studs in her ears and slapped them down on the dash. “Here. I’ll pay you back for my expenses. In the meantime, you can hold on to those for collateral.”

The expensive earrings were worth far more than he would spend on her during the next ten days, she was sure. But she didn’t want to be any more beholden to him than necessary.

The studs bobbed in rhythm to the truck’s purr. Troy guessed they were at least two carats each. “What do you mean, you don’t know what they might do?” He was still stuck on the little matter of whether or not some mad daddy was going to come gunning for him, thinking he’d made off with his daughter.

“I mean, I don’t know.” Andie twisted her hands in her lap. “I guess they might call the police,” she finally admitted.

“Great! Exactly who are they, anyway?” Troy’s knuckles tightened as he gripped the steering wheel.

“My family. My fiancé.” Andie scrunched farther into the corner. “Of course, they might not do anything at all,” she offered.

“They might not do anything at all,” Troy repeated tightly. “Now, how likely is that?”

Andie swallowed. “Um, not very, I guess,” she said finally. Despite all the problems she’d had with her parents, she didn’t really believe they would rest if they thought she’d been abducted. Thinking of them worrying about that scenario washed her with guilt. She’d just wanted to get away. She’d never meant to make anyone think something terrible might have happened to her.

Troy regarded her in irritation. “Wonderful! So, let’s just recap, okay? My truck was parked in full view of the world, smack-dab in front of the church right when you disappeared. And with all the people who came pouring out of the building, what are the chances none of them took note of this?”

Andie paled. He had a point. If her parents did think she’d been kidnapped, if they hired a private investigator or brought in the authorities, there was a slim possibility they might eventually track Troy down—

“Maybe I should, uh, make a phone call,” Andie suggested in a small voice. “I don’t want to make any trouble for you.” Troy’s eyebrows practically lifted right off his face, but Andie ignored his incredulous expression. “And I don’t want to cause my family a lot of unnecessary stress.”

“Sure. Fine. No problem,” Troy grumbled darkly. He nodded toward a billboard advertising a truck stop ahead. “It’ll just be my third stop and I haven’t even gone thirty miles, but don’t worry.”

Andie was afraid to say anything for fear he’d change his mind.

Troy went on. “You’re calling whoever you have to call, and you’re telling them you’ve gone off of your own free will.” He cut out each word precisely. “I don’t want anyone coming after you and getting in the way of my keeping my schedule.”

Andie nodded obediently, relief rolling over her. He was letting her go with him!

There was no sound for the next few miles but the steady hum of the truck. She took in her surroundings. She’d never been in an eighteen-wheeler before, and she was amazed at its comfort.

The roomy cab’s big seats were beige leather, contrasting with the tractor-trailer’s dark blue exterior. Overhead was a tape deck and radio, with a CB. Behind her, she noticed a curtained-off area and guessed it contained some sort of sleeping quarters.

Turning her attention to the truck’s driver, Andie watched Troy’s profile, noticing the way the sun glinted in the golden lights of his hair, the way his eyes crinkled against the glare on the road. She noted the tiny bump that kept his nose from being quite straight, the small scar right above his lip. He was a good-looking man. Not perfect. But more sexy than if he had been perfect.

An odd flutter awoke inside her. She remembered the way he’d pulled her away from that speeding car, the way his arms had closed around her waist, the way his embrace had somehow felt right and safe.

She knew he was frustrated with the way she’d upended his day, but he’d saved her life—and he was letting her go with him to California. He had a tender heart that he couldn’t quite hide, though she got the idea he wanted to for some reason.

Some reason that she’d probably never know, she reminded herself. And she didn’t have any business wondering about it.

She finally chanced a comment. “Thanks for letting me ride with you.” She cast him a smile of genuine appreciation.

Troy shrugged. Her smile made him feel soft inside, and he hated that. Why did she have this effect on him? Besides, he didn’t want her thanks. Both of them were liable to live to regret this little alliance.

In fact, he was regretting it already.

“Don’t thank me yet,” he said with forced coolness. “A long haul’s no picnic.”

He pulled off the highway and into the parking lot of a busy, sprawling truck stop. The diamond earrings rolled off the dash and onto the floor as he made the turn.

Andie bent down and scooped them up. “Here,” she insisted, handing them to Troy after he’d parked. “I want you to take these.”

“I don’t want your jewelry.”

“And I don’t want charity. I want to pay my own way. I’ll repay you for my expenses later, and you can give me back the earrings. Deal?”

Troy rolled his eyes. He stuck out his hand and Andie dropped the earrings into his cupped palm. “Fine,” he said. He stuffed them into his pocket.

He shoved open the cab door and jumped out, grabbing Dog’s leash off the dash as he went. Dog bounded out after him. Attaching the leash onto the animal’s collar, Troy looped it around the cab step and secured it with a snap.

After removing her headband with its attached veil—which was starting to pinch her head—Andie deposited it on the seat and pushed open the door on her side. She noticed for the first time how genuinely high off the ground they rode. She’d been so panicky when she’d jumped into the truck in the first place, she’d practically flown up into it, not realizing how awkward it was.

Troy appeared on the asphalt below. He hesitated just long enough before stretching out his arm that she knew he’d rather not help her but was too much of a gentleman not to.

Andie slipped her fingers into his hold. His hand was big and warm and made her feel tingly all over.

She stepped down, clutching at the long train of her gown with one hand while grasping Troy’s hand in the other. Once she found herself secure on terra firma, he released her instantly, and she felt unaccountably disappointed.

Almost as if some part of her had wished he wouldn’t let go....

Troy jerked his head toward a phone booth in front of the truck stop’s gas station. “Go make your call,” he said gruffly. Holding her hand had reminded him why he shouldn’t be touching her at all.

He hadn’t wanted to let go, and that was definitely a bad thing. A real bad thing.

Andie just stood there, staring at him.

“Well?” he prodded.

“I, uh, don’t have any money,” she said.

Troy rolled his eyes. He poked his hand in his pocket and came up with a coin. Andie took it, and he followed her past the rows of big rigs, to the phone booth. Her small hips swung in time to her stride.

By the time they reached the pay phone, Troy’s senses were in a sorry state.

Whoever had decreed that white wedding gowns were maidenly and chaste sure hadn’t seen this one. The way Andie’s concoction of lace and satin melded to her slender form sent his pulse off the Richter scale. The off-the-shoulder gown clung to her back and waist, then slid temptingly off slender hips down to the ground in a froth of material. What that material hid was even more erotic, somehow, than what it revealed. He imagined her legs, long and shapely...soft and touchable...

Troy swallowed hard. He leaned against the phone booth and glared out at the road, deciding that ignoring her for the next ten days might be his best option. If he could do it.

Andie jabbed in the numbers to her parents’ home in Silver Spring, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. “Gretchen?” she said when the housekeeper answered.

Gretchen immediately began a high-pitched babble. William and Lillian had already phoned the house, looking for their wayward daughter. They wanted to find her, talk sense to her, get her back to the church. Her father was furious, her mother was humiliated. What about his colleagues, their friends, the society columnists, Phillip!

Andie held the phone a few inches away from her ear while Gretchen rattled on with excitement. She noticed that no one seemed concerned about her. Apparently, it hadn’t even occurred to anyone yet that she might have been abducted.

Tears pricked her eyes. She fought them. Her heart felt all pinched.

“Gretchen! Gretchen!” She struggled to break into the housekeeper’s excited conversation. “I’m not coming home today. And I’m not going back to the church! I need some time away, to think. Tell my parents I’m sorry, and that I’m fine. But I can’t—”

Andie glanced surreptitiously at Troy. He was staring out at the highway in the distance, but she sensed he was listening all the same. She twisted around and presented him her back and spoke in a low tone. Emotion lurched close to the surface. “I can’t marry Phillip. I don’t love him. I’ll be—” She had to stop for a second to steady herself. “I’ll be back in—”

She had to look at Troy for help. His eyes met hers.

“Ten days,” he supplied, revealing he was, indeed, following her conversation.

“I’ll be back in ten days,” she told Gretchen as she turned away from Troy once more.

She hung up, and the hurt broke free, despite all her efforts to contain it. A tear slid down one cheek.

“Andie?”

She didn’t turn around. She couldn’t let him see her. She’d been so much trouble, and now she was crying. Men hated that.

Her father became steely-hard and angry whenever she cried. Dry up! he’d demand.

“Andie?” Troy prodded again:

She was standing very still. He reached out to move her toward him and gently brought her face up to his with the nudge of two fingers beneath her chin. That was when he saw her tears.

Tears that made him want to run, not walk, as fast as possible in the opposite direction. He wasn’t comfortable with so much emotion. Not one bit.

“You’re crying,” he stated the obvious, at a loss for any other comment.

“Thanks for that perceptive commentary,” Andie said tightly, swiping roughly at her eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Nothing’s wrong,” Andie said, beginning to cry again. Her next words came out in ragged hitches between sobs. “I—I’m standing in the middle of a tr-truck stop in my w-wedding dress, that’s all. What c-could possibly be wrong?”

She started crying in earnest.

Troy stared at her. “Aw, geez,” he breathed.

Denying his survival instinct to head straight for the hills, he wrapped his arms around her slender shoulders and held her.

Chapter Three

She smelled so sweet, Troy could have buried his face in her hair forever and been a happy man. He held her as she trembled beneath his touch, her chest heaving with small sobs.

He forgot about everything. His schedule, her mysterious past, their surroundings, everything evaporated for a magic moment. He was supposed to be comforting her but he couldn’t help noticing the way her body felt petal-soft, small and curvaceous and desirable, as it molded to his.

How had he ever thought he might be able to ignore her? He couldn’t look at her without wanting to touch her. He couldn’t touch her without wanting to kiss her.

And if he kissed her, heaven help him for what he’d want to do then.

Andie lifted her head from his shoulder. She raised huge, tear-filled brown eyes, swiping at her cheeks with both hands as she stepped back, placing physical and emotional distance between them.

He saw something flicker in her eyes—hurt, anxiety, embarrassment—then she took a deep breath and it all disappeared, shuttered away somewhere inside.

Somewhere private.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“I’m fine.” Andie worked up a wobbly smile. “Really.”

Troy was still looking at her as if he thought she might break. The tenderness with which he’d held her just then had been so unexpected.

No one had ever held her like that. Not her parents, with whom she’d had a distant relationship all her life. Not Phillip, with whom she’d had practically no relationship at all if one ignored the little matter of their engagement. And as for other men—there hadn’t been any. None with whom she’d had serious relationships, anyway.

The fact that Troy, a total stranger, could make her feel so comforted and supported was as wonderful as it was unexpected.

And a little frightening.

“Are you sure?” Troy asked, then berated himself for pressing the issue. He wasn’t supposed to be getting involved. Well, not any more than he had to be involved, anyway. She just looked so vulnerable.

“No, really,” Andie insisted. “It’s no big deal. Just forget it. It’s my problem.”

She gave him another smile, as if determined to show him she was okay. With hands that barely trembled now, she smoothed her dress at her sides and glanced out at the rows of rigs in the parking lot.

Troy frowned, feeling awkward, uncertain, and completely irritated with himself as a result.

“Okay, well, if you’re ready, I’m behind schedule as it is,” he said briskly. He needed to get his focus back where it belonged—on taking care of business.

A beefy guy in a black T-shirt, revealing mammoth tattoos on each bicep, strode past them toward the truck-stop restaurant. The man shot Andie and Troy a curious glance, then kept on going.

A bell on the diner door diner as the trucker breezed inside.

Troy saw Andie follow the man with her eyes. He spied the longing in her gaze as she looked toward the diner. Then, he watched as she hitched up the train of her gown and headed for the midnight blue tractor-trailer at the far end of the parking lot.

She wanted to eat, but she wasn’t going to ask. He looked at the truck, then at her with her slender shoulders, held straight with such brittle fragility...

“Wait.”

Andie stopped and turned around.

Troy jerked his head toward the diner, wondering when he’d become such an idiot. “Let’s go ahead and eat. It’s almost dinnertime.”

It was only four-thirty in the afternoon.

“But you just said you’re behind schedule,” Andie argued, looking surprised.

“I am.” Troy wouldn’t deny that. He’d have to drive later into the night than he’d planned, to make up for the lost time. “But we might as well eat now, then we won’t have to stop again.”

Actually, he hadn’t anticipated stopping to eat until he was ready to quit for the night. He had some food in the truck, and throughout the trip he expected to picnic at rest areas or eat as he drove.

But they were just outside the city, and it was obvious that Andie could use a square meal and a chance to catch her breath. A little ray of hope sliced into his thoughts. She might even reconsider this little expedition by the time she was through.

“You’re hungry, aren’t you?” he pressed.

Hungry? Andie figured she could eat two horses. “Yes, but—”

“Then no buts. Come on.”

Andie gave up. For some reason, he was determined they were going to eat, and she was too hungry to question why he was being so nice all of a sudden.

Maybe she’d question it later, after her stomach was full.

She let Troy take her arm and guide her toward the restaurant. He opened the chrome and glass door for her.

“Thank you,” she said, and walked inside.

The place was packed, mostly with men, though a few women dotted the crowd. To say all heads turned at their entrance would have been an understatement. Andie felt a flush surge from the tips of her toes straight up to her forehead as a sea of eyes took in her bridal garb.

Troy shot a look at Andie, seeing her smile evaporate into stunned embarrassment. Then she lifted her chin a notch, resolved, and headed for the one empty booth.

She could have turned tail and run, and he was impressed that she hadn’t. Either she had a lot of guts, or she was starving.

The booth was rounded into the corner and made to fit a good four or five people, so there was plenty of room. Andie slid onto one end of the orange vinyl bench, arranging her gown. Troy seated himself on the opposite side, leaving them separated by several feet of empty, curved bench. The one-sided plastic menus were propped between the napkin holder and the sugar.

Troy pulled out two and handed one to Andie. She immediately bent her head to study it. He noticed that her cheeks remained unnaturally rosy.

He glanced around and saw a number of truckers still staring rudely toward her, and he glowered at them one by one until they looked away. Just because he thought Andie was strange didn’t mean it was okay for anyone else to.

He was starting to feel very protective of her. The realization made him edgy.

“Well, well, if we don’t have some newlyweds!” a bright voice chirped. A middle-aged woman in a pink waitress uniform, filled out rather lumpily by her generous form, approached their booth. “I just love a June bride. And you’re a real pretty one, honey.”

She beamed at Andie over her order pad.

Andie looked up, startled. “I—” Words choked in her throat. “Thank you,” she mumbled.

“We’ll need a few minutes to decide.” Troy tried his best to ignore the waitress’s comments. “Why don’t you just bring us a couple of sodas for now.”

The woman—Marge, according to the name tag pinned to her ample bosom—didn’t budge.

“I think it’s so romantic, traveling on the road together.” Marge displayed a beatific smile. “My Em was a trucker. A long-hauler. I always traveled with him—from the day we married till the day the good Lord took him home.” Her small blue eyes, set back in her puffy face, went dewy for a minute. “It’s a great life, honey.”

“Really?” Andie’s desperate gaze clung to Troy. He merely arched an eyebrow at her. Andie poked her nose back into the menu.

“You just love your man, that’s all it takes,” Marge went on, undeterred by the lack of encouragement she was getting. “Now, how come you two are sitting so far apart, hmm?” Andie looked up to see Marge’s eyebrows knit together. “You lovebirds haven’t had a little quarrel already, have you?”

She gave a disapproving tsk-tsk.

Lovebirds? Andie seemed to have had enough. “You don’t understand. We’re not—I’m not—” She stopped. Troy could almost see her thoughts spinning. How could she explain she’d run away from her wedding, and that she and Troy were total strangers?

He noticed several patrons from nearby tables were listening. Andie’s mouth snapped shut in defeat. Her cheeks pinkened.

Troy could see that ignoring Marge wasn’t helping, and he wasn’t any more interested in explaining the truth to the nosy waitress than Andie apparently was.

“We’re just a little tired,” he said. He stabbed his menu back in between the napkins and the sugar, his mind working double time as he came up with the fastest way to get rid of the woman. “And we’ve got a long way to go tonight, so we’d better get started.” He settled on the path of least resistance and looked at Andie. “I think I’m ready to order now, after all. How about you, sweetheart?”

Andie’s eyes widened. She looked at Marge, then back at Troy.

She felt her cheeks grow hotter.

“Uh, sure, dumpling,” she said tightly, annoyed.

Marge pursed her lips. “Come on, you two,” she chided. She made little coaxing motions with her hands, waving Troy and Andie toward each other. “You can’t fool me. Kiss and make up before I take your order.”

Andie’s blood began a stampede in her chest. She was as eager to get Marge off their backs as anyone, but she wasn’t ready for this.

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