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The Debutante Is Mine Page 23

She blinked a few times, trying to see if maybe she was imagining that the man she’d run from five years ago was suddenly only feet away and talking with her friends as if he knew them. Which was impossible, right?

  Her heart galloped a wild beat and the sounds of the crowd disappeared under the roar of her pulse.

  She wanted to run from him.

  She wanted to run to him.

  All the sorrow and regret she’d buried deep down inside came rushing back with a force that nearly bowled her over. And when the ghost from her past stood right in front of her and looked at her like a stranger, the glass of red wine slipped from her shaking hand onto the green grass, the liquid pooling beneath her heels.

  Seemingly oblivious to her shock, Rachel smiled, a twinkle of mischief in her eyes. “I’d like to introduce you to Logan’s friend, Sawyer Hayes. Sawyer, this is Lisa Smith.”

  “Hello,” Sawyer said cordially, standing so close she could feel his body heat radiating off him and smell a scent that reminded her of the best days of her life. “It’s nice to see you again, Annaliese.”

  Her mind was a jumbled mess.

  Like she was prey caught in the sights of a hunter, she became entrapped in his eyes.

  She couldn’t breathe.

  Couldn’t speak.

  Couldn’t move.

  “You know each other,” Rachel said, her brows wrinkled in confusion.

  “You could say that,” Sawyer said slowly, still holding Lisa captive with his eyes. “She’s my wife.”

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  COPYRIGHT

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Excerpt from “The Duke’s Christmas Wish” in All I Want for Christmas Is a Duke copyright © 2015 by Vivienne Lorret.

  Excerpt from Serving Trouble copyright © 2016 by Sara Jane Stone.

  Excerpt from Ignite copyright © 2016 by Karen Erickson.

  Excerpt from Black Listed copyright © 2016 by Shelly Bell.

  THE DEBUTANTE IS MINE. Copyright © 2016 by Vivienne Lorret. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books. For information, address HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007.

  EPub Edition APRIL 2016 ISBN: 9780062446275

  Print Edition ISBN: 9780062446299

  Avon, Avon Impulse, and the Avon Impulse logo are trademarks of HarperCollins Publishers.

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