Love and Honor — Melody Morgan

When Hallie Summers took over her father's medical practice, she was determined to be the best doctor the rough-and-tumble town of Lampasas, Texas, had ever seen. She had her whole life planned--and a brusque, infuriating, handsome bodyguard didn't fit into her plans at all--at least, not into her original plans.

Without a word Brodie leaned down and brushed his lips against hers, then pulled her to him, wrapping her in his protective embrace. -- "I should have done this before..."

Hallie felt the words as he spoke them against her lips, felt their vibration as their meaning echoed in her head and a welcome warmth spread throughout her body. She held her breath as his mouth closed over hers, searching, unbridled in its intensity, and their bodies melded until she was aware of every inch of him flush against her. When his hands found their way to her hair, tangling, uncoiling, disheveling, she slipped her arms around neck and clung to him . An exhilarating sense of abandon, like nothing she'd ever experienced, swept her along, urging her down a path she had not wanted to travel, but now s=could not leaved. And she sensed through his touch and eagerness that he could not turn back either.