From the Publisher

She had to tell him he was a father. . .before it was too late

A new novel by USA Today bestselling author Susan Kearney
When The Bough Breaks

Lisa Madison arrived at Brody Adams's ranch, claiming he'd fathered the newborn boy she ad with her. Brody had no idea who she was, but it was clear Lisa and the child were in danger. They needed his protection. . .and keeping them safe was the only way to find out the truth.

Joanna Wayne
Jodie's Little Secrets

One night of passion with lawyer Ray Kostner had left Jodie Gahagen pregnant with twins. She never told Ray. Now, several years later Jodie was running for her life, and Ray was the only man she could turn to. But that meant telling Ray he was a father. . .and that the killer was after him too.

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Under Wraps

Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd.

Chapter One

There was no mistaking the signs. Jodie Gahagen had run away from him.

Hands trembling, the man reached down and picked up a pillow from her bed. He hugged it to his chest, burying his nose
in the folds of cotton and goose down. The smell of her hit him in the gut, heightening his anger.

He dropped to his knees and rested his head on the pale pink sheets, sucking in the intoxicating fragrance. Two nights
ago, the thought of Jodie Gahagen had woke him in the middle of the night. So strong, he hadn't been able to fight his
need for her. He'd crawled from his bed and driven through the night to come to her.

Luckily, he'd found her that night, here in her bed. Alone. Her cotton gown had skimmed her flesh, waves of red hair
spilling over her pillow, haloing her beautiful face and fanning her creamy shoulders.

The images crawled through his brain, like a video in slow motion. He knotted his hands in the bedsheet. That night he
had watched while she slept, her breasts rising and falling, maybe against this very sheet. He could have taken her
then, but he was a gentleman.

He could wait until she wanted him the way he wanted her.

The only sign he had left of his presence was the note, carefully tucked inside the crib of one of the twins. A
reminder that he had been there again and that he would return.

After all, he was in love with Jodie Gahagen. She would love him, too, once she got to know him, the way she had loved
the others.

And there had been others. So many men. No. The memories were running together. His mother, his unfaithful wife, the
waitress who'd flirted and then laughed in his face when he'd asked her for a date. They had used men. They were not
ladies, not sweet and honest the way Jodie was.

Familiar feelings washed over him, clawing at his insides, burning in his chest. Later, he would be strong enough to
fight them into submission. Then his brain could take over, his cunning, logical brain that let him outsmart everyone,
especially the stupid New York City cops. But for now, he pressed his head deeper in the pillow and longed for the day
Jodie would be his.

A few minutes later he slipped out the door and into the darkness, a faceless blur in the maddening masses that was
Manhattan.

* * *

Jodie Gahagen completed her hamstring stretches as the first sounds of a southern morning began their wake-up chorus. A
bird's call, the splash as a turtle slipped from the bank into the Cane River. The sound of her own feet as they
crunched into a pile of dry leaves. She and her sons had invaded a world that had been isolated from human contact.

Her nerves grew shaky at the thought. She'd never expected to be the only jogger on the trail this morning. But she
shouldn't be surprised. After all, it was also six o'clock on Sunday morning, and the majority of the town's
inhabitants were still snuggled in their beds.

Jodie yawned widely at the thought and stretched to touch her toes. Obviously, the sleepers hadn't been blessed with
the dual alarm system she possessed. At thirteen months, her twin dynamos showed neither religious nor humane
considerations for Sunday as a day of rest.

She tugged at her shorts and walked to the front of the stroller to check on them. Blair offered a smile, but Blake
just stared at her over the plump thumb that was stuck in his mouth. "Are you early birds ready to roll?" she asked,
brushing a wisp of red hair from Blair's forehead and dabbing at a spot of drool that dribbled down Blake's cute little
chin.

Blair cooed a response and waved his hand like a frustrated traffic cop.

"Then let's get this show on the road," she said, giving the safety buckles of the double jogging stroller a final
check. Movement behind her jerked her to attention and she spun around. A gray kitten stared up at her.

"A cat, just a cat," she whispered, steadying her breath and reaching down to run long fingers through his thick coat.
Nothing to worry about, not here in the haven of hometown familiarity. Natchitoches, Louisiana, was a world away from
New York.

Squaring her shoulders, she wrapped her hands around the handle of the stroller and started off at a brisk pace. In
seconds, the world seemed to slide into order. The morning exercise ritual rejuvenated her, got her blood pumping and
forced her mind into gear. The boys liked it, too, although the exercise for them consisted of swinging their pudgy
arms and craning their necks to see any and every bit of action along the river route.

Trees, birds, tail-wagging dogs. They liked everything about their new hometown. Why not? Their unemployed mom was now
home all day instead of only for rushed breakfasts in the morning and hurried dinners, baths and hugs at night.
Besides, on the rare occasions she strayed from sight now, they had a doting great-grandmother jumping to supply their
every want or need.

She was glad for this time with Grams. That was the one good thing that had come from the bizarre web that entangled
her. Still, running away from trouble was not her style. If she'd had only herself to think about, she would have never
given up, not as long as she'd had a heartbeat. But the night the lunatic had laid his murdering hands on her sons, the
stakes had soared.

Now she and her boys were safe, but the man who'd turned her life into a house of horrors still walked the streets of
New York City, and sooner or later his sick games would entrap another innocent victim.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Under Wraps
by Joanna Wayne Susan Kerney
Copyright © 2003 by Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd.
Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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