The Bachelor
“Your staying is not a good idea.”
“Then why does it feel like one?”
Waves of sensation rushed through her. “It feels good because there’s nothing rational about sex. But I’m being rational now.
You can’t stay because you came over here to say good-bye.”
“And then I kissed you and realized there’s no way in hell I can walk away.”
“What? What are you saying?”
“There’s always been something between us. Something that won’t go away.” His blue eyes stared into hers. “If you’ve got the
guts to take the risk and see where it leads, then so do I.”
“Ms. Phillips gives her fans something extra in her scrumptious tales that makes them keeper status.”
—Rendezvous
“Carly Phillips writes the best in hot, sexy romance today. … It’s impossible to put her books down.”
—AOL Writers Club Romance Group
WARNER BOOKS EDITION
Copyright © 2002 by Karen Drogin
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including
information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may
quote brief passages in a review.
Warner Books, Inc.
Hachette Book Group
237 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Visit our website at
www.HachetteBookGroup.com
.
First eBook Edition: August 2003
ISBN: 978-0-7595-2819-2
To Mom and Dad for making me believe I could do anything.
To Phil, who loves and supports me through everything.
And to Jackie and Jen, who make it all worthwhile.
Contents
Special eBook Feature: Insights and Excerpts of Carly Phillips
A Preview of "The infinite appeal of small towns"
A Preview of "A step in the right direction"
A Preview of "THE HEARTBREAKER"
To the people who made this book possible: Maureen Walters, agent extraordinaire, who believed in me from day one.
Beth De Guzman, for welcoming me with open arms; and Karen Kosztolnyik, for making the experience the best I could hope for!
Thanks to the people who contributed their knowledge and answered endless questions: Lynda Sue Cooper, the cop expert, and
Terri Hall, journalism expert. Any errors or fabrications are mine alone.
And last but by no means least, to the best critique partners a girl could have. To Kathy Attalla for your plotting brilliance
and Janelle Denison for your panty thief expertise—without your endless patience and willingness to reread, I’d have lost
it a long time ago!
Y
ou’re fit, Mrs. Chandler. The cardiogram is normal and so is your blood pressure. Nothing more than a bad case of indigestion.
An antacid, some rest, and you should be fine.” The doctor slipped her stethoscope around her neck and made another notation
in the chart.
Relief flowed through Raina Chandler as strong as the pain had ripped through her earlier. The fiery sensation in her chest
and arm had caught her off guard. Ever since losing her husband to a heart attack at age thirty-seven, Raina had never taken
unexpected pain lightly. She’d become health-conscious, watched her weight, and started an exercise routine of brisk walking
she’d kept up through this very day.
At the first twinge of pain, she’d picked up the phone and called her oldest son. Not even the bad memories of sterile, antiseptic
hospital smells or the depressing graying walls could deter her from taking care of her health. She had a mission to accomplish
before she left this earth.
She glanced at the attractive young doctor who had met her at the Emergency Room. Any woman who looked good in drab hospital
green had potential. “You’re new to this town, aren’t you?” But Raina already knew the answer before the other woman nodded.
She knew everyone in Yorkshire Falls, population 1,723, soon to be 1,724, when the editor of the local section of the
Yorkshire Falls Gazette
and his wife had their baby. Her general practitioner had been Dr. Eric Fallon, a close friend for years. Widowed like herself,
Eric only recently had succumbed to the desire to enjoy life more and work less. As Eric’s new partner, Dr. Leslie Gaines
was his answer to less stress.
She was new to town, and from Raina’s perspective that made her not just interesting, but fresh, potential wife material for
her jaded sons. “Are you married?” Raina asked. “I hope you don’t mind my prying, but I’ve got three single sons, and—”
The doctor chuckled. “I’ve only been here a few weeks and already your sons’ reputations precede them, Mrs. Chandler.”
Raina’s chest swelled with pride. They were good men, her boys. They were her greatest joy and recently the source of continued
frustration. Chase, her oldest, Rick, the town’s favorite cop, and Roman, her foreign correspondent and the baby brother,
who was currently in London covering an economic summit.
“Now, Mrs. Chandler—”
“Raina,” she corrected and studied the good doctor. Nice laugh, sense of humor, and a protective nature. Raina immediately
discounted the woman physician as a mate for Roman or Rick.
Her no-nonsense demeanor would bore Roman and a doctor’s hours would clash with Officer Rick’s. But she could be just the
right woman for her oldest son, Chase. Since taking over as publisher of the
Yorkshire Falls Gazette
for his father almost twenty years earlier, he’d become much too serious, bossy, and overprotective. Thank God he had his
father’s handsome, chiseled face to make a decent first impression before he opened his mouth and started taking control.
Good thing women loved a protective man and most single women in this town would marry Chase in a heartbeat. He was handsome,
as were Rick and Roman.
Her goal was to marry off all three of her boys, and she would. But first they had to desire more from a woman than sex. Not
that there was anything wrong with sex; in fact, it could be more than pleasant, she thought, remembering. But it was her
sons’ mind-set that presented her with a problem. They were
men
.
And having raised them, Raina knew exactly how they thought. They rarely wanted any female for more than one night. The lucky
women lasted a month, no longer. Finding willing women wasn’t the issue. With the Chandler good looks and appeal, women fell
at their feet. But men, her sons included, wanted what they couldn’t have, and her boys had too much, too easily.
The lure of the forbidden and the fun of the chase was gone. Why should a man consider
until death do us part
when he had women willing to give it up without commitment? It wasn’t that Raina didn’t understand today’s generation. She
did. But she’d also loved the trappings of a family life—and was smart enough to hold out for the whole package.
But in today’s world, a woman had to offer a man a challenge. Excitement. And even then, Raina sensed her boys would balk.
Chandler men needed a special woman to pique their interest and keep it. Raina sighed. How ironic that she, a woman who held
marriage and children as her ideal, raised three sons who thought the word
bachelor
was sacred. With their attitudes she’d never have the grandchildren she desired. They’d never have the happiness they deserved.
“Some instructions, Raina.” The doctor snapped her chart closed and glanced up. “I’d suggest keeping a bottle of antacid in
the house, in case of emergencies. Often a cup of tea is the best remedy.”
“No more late-night pizza deliveries, then?” She met the younger woman’s amused gaze.
“I’m afraid not. You’ll have to find another way of entertaining yourself.”
Raina pursed her lips. The things she endured for her future. For her boys. Speaking of whom, Chase and Rick would be back
any second and the doctor hadn’t answered the most pressing question. Raina let her gaze slide up the doctor’s slender physique.
“I don’t mean to push, but …”
Dr. Gaines grinned, obviously still amused. “I’m married. And even if I weren’t, I’m sure your sons would appreciate finding
their own women.”
Raina tamped down her disappointment, then waved her hand in the air in response. “As if my boys would ever find their own
women. Or should I say
wives.
Nothing short of a life-or-death emergency would force them to pick one woman and settle down. …” Raina’s voice trailed off
as the import of her own words sank in.
Life-or-death emergency. The only thing that would convince her sons of the necessity to get married.
Her
life-or-death emergency.
As the plan began to form, Raina’s conscience begged her to dismiss the idea. It was cruel to lead her sons to believe she
was ill. On the other hand, it was for their own good. They couldn’t deny her anything, not when she truly needed them, and
by playing on their good natures, she’d ultimately be leading them to happily ever after. Not that they’d know or appreciate
it at first.
She gnawed on her lip. It was a risk. But without grandchildren, loneliness loomed large in her future, just as, without a
wife or family, it loomed large for her sons. She wanted more for them than empty homes and emptier lives—the kind of life
she’d had since her husband died.
“Doctor, my diagnosis here … it’s confidential?”
The younger woman shot her a slanted glance. No doubt she was used to that question with only the most dire of cases. Raina
checked her watch. She was running out of time before the boys returned. Her newly formulated plan as well as her family’s
future depended upon the woman’s answer, and Raina waited, tapping her foot impatiently.
“Yes, it’s confidential,” Dr. Gaines said with a good-natured laugh.
Raina relaxed a bit more. She hugged her cotton hospital gown closer. “Good. I’m sure you don’t want to have to evade my sons’
questions, so, thank you for everything.” She extended her hand for a polite shake, when she really wanted to shove the other
woman through the curtain before the cavalry arrived with pointed questions.
“It was a pleasure and an experience meeting you. Dr. Fallon will be back in the office tomorrow. If you have any problems
before then, don’t hesitate to call.”
“Oh, I won’t,” Raina said.
“So what’s the story?” Rick, the middle child no one had ever been able to ignore, barreled through the drawn curtain with
Chase on his heels. Rick’s brash nature echoed his mother’s personality. His dark brown hair and hazel eyes resembled Raina’s
before her hairdresser had gotten hold and changed her to a honey-blond to obliterate the gray.
In contrast, Roman and Chase were the bookends with jet-black hair and blazing blue eyes. Both her oldest and youngest were
the spitting image of their father. Their imposing builds and dark hair never failed to remind her of John. Only their personalities
were uniquely their own.
Chase stood in front of his agitated sibling and faced the doctor head-on. “What’s going on?”
“I think your mother’s condition is something she’d like to explain herself,” the doctor said, then slipped beyond the awful
multicolored curtain.
Ignoring the tug of guilt in favor of the greater good, and assuring herself they’d thank her in the end, Raina blinked back
tears and placed a shaky hand over her heart. Then she explained her frail health and long-standing desire to her sons.
R
oman Chandler glared at his oldest brother, or more accurately he glared at the quarter in Chase’s right hand. After getting
the phone call about his mother’s heart problem, Roman had grabbed the first flight out of London. He’d flown into JFK Airport,
taken a connecting flight to Albany, and then rented a car so he could drive an hour to his hometown of Yorkshire Falls, just
outside of Saratoga Springs, New York. He was so tired even his bones ached from sheer exhaustion.
And now he could add stress to his problems. Thanks to his mother’s heart condition, one of the Chandler brothers would have
to sacrifice his freedom in order to provide Raina with a grandchild. A coin toss would decide which brother would shoulder
the burden, but only Rick and Roman would be involved. Having already done his family duty by giving up college to run the
paper and help his mother raise his younger brothers, Chase wouldn’t take part in the toss—despite his argument to the contrary.
He’d wanted things equal. Rick and Roman had insisted he opt out.