On Temporary Terms Read online

  When keeping things strictly business isn’t an option

  Keeping secrets is the only one!

  There’s a new bachelor in town, knocking lawyer Abby Hartman off her game. Scotsman Duncan Stewart, her client’s sexy grandson, should be off-limits—but certainly a brief, mind-blowing affair wouldn’t be too terrible. Things heat up...way too fast. And when a family crisis reveals Abby’s true identity, they must choose between keeping their fling temporary or making a permanent merger!

  Abby forgot to breathe.

  Her entire body went liquid with pleasure. When she cried out, he ripped at her sweater, dragging it and her bra over her head in short order, tangling her hair and leaving her naked from the waist up.

  Abby knew they were careening down a dangerous slope. “Duncan, please.”

  He froze, his chest heaving. He reared up on one elbow. His free hand was at her waistband, struggling with the fastening on her pants.

  His eyes were open. In the faint illumination from the bathroom light, they glittered with intent. “Are ye asking me to stop, lass?”

  It was up to her. She could stand up and walk away, and nothing would happen. The hushed silence after his question seemed to last forever, though probably only seconds passed.

  She was defeated by his raw need and her own yearning.

  Everything inside her wanted to give him peace and release. She wanted that and more for herself.

  She wasn’t going to have Duncan Stewart for any kind of happily-ever-after. But she could have tonight.

  She would have it.

  “No.” She swallowed hard, trying to find her breath, her courage. “Don’t stop.”

  * * *

  On Temporary Terms is part of the

  Highland Heroes duet from

  USA TODAY bestselling author Janice Maynard!

  Dear Reader,

  I was lucky growing up. My childhood wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty darn good. I lost my dad too soon (he was forty-two), but I had my mom, and I had her mother, my grandmother. That relationship with my grandmother was one I treasure even now, many years after her death.

  My hero, Duncan Stewart, adores his grandmother and is willing to do almost anything for her, but he feels guilty for not being able to be 100 percent on board with the whole self-sacrifice thing. When he meets Abby, he has no idea that she is dealing with some pretty difficult situations of her own.

  Sometimes love comes like a summer rain, gentle and beautiful. But sometimes love is borne out of hardship and shared emotion. Duncan and Abby are thrown together in the midst of a whirlwind that neither of them expects.

  This book is very special to me because the themes come from deep in the heart of our shared human emotion. I hope it speaks to you as it did to me.

  If you have a moment, please connect with me on Facebook and/or Goodreads and let me know what you think about Duncan and Abby’s story.

  Thanks so much for your interest in my books. I treasure each one of you!

  Fondly,

  Janice Maynard

  Janice Maynard

  On Temporary Terms

  USA TODAY bestselling author Janice Maynard loved books and writing even as a child. But it took multiple rejections before she sold her first manuscript. Since 2002, she has written over forty-five books and novellas. Janice lives in east Tennessee with her husband, Charles. They love hiking, traveling and spending time with family.

  You can connect with Janice at janicemaynard.com, Twitter.com/janicemaynard, Facebook.com/janicemaynardreaderpage and Instagram.com/janicemaynard.

  Books by Janice Maynard

  Harlequin Desire

  The Kavanaghs of Silver Glen

  A Not-So-Innocent Seduction

  Baby for Keeps

  Christmas in the Billionaire’s Bed

  Twins on the Way

  Second Chance with the Billionaire

  How to Sleep with the Boss

  For Baby’s Sake

  Highland Heroes

  His Heir, Her Secret

  On Temporary Terms

  Visit her Author Profile page at Harlequin.com, or janicemaynard.com, for more titles.

  Join Harlequin My Rewards today and earn a FREE ebook!

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  For everyone whose childhood

  was not storybook perfect.

  For everyone whose parents were

  embarrassing or hurtful or not present at all.

  May you find love and acceptance in other

  relationships and know that you are not

  defined by the difficulties and struggles

  of the past. God bless…

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from Untamed Cowboy by Maisey Yates

  Excerpt from Secret Twins for the Texan by Karen Booth

  One

  Abby Hartmann liked her job most days. Being a small-town lawyer included more good weeks than bad. But on this particular Saturday morning—the dreaded once-a-month half day—things were definitely looking up. With her palms damp and her heartbeat fluttering, she smoothed her skirt and waved a hand toward the wingbacked chair opposite her large cherry desk. “Have a seat, Mr. Stewart.”

  She straightened a few papers and folders, and took a deep breath. The man whose sheer presence shrank the square footage of her office was a commanding figure. Close-cropped dark brown hair. Deep chocolate eyes. A lean, athletic body. And a stillness about him. An intensity. As if at any moment he could leap across the small space separating them, grab her up and kiss her witless. He seemed almost dangerous, which made no sense at all. Maybe it was the quivering physical awareness making her restless.

  Her reaction was disconcerting. Just because the guy had a sexy Scottish accent and a seriously hot body was no reason to lose her composure. Besides, no matter how attractive, the Scotsman embodied the rich, entitled male arrogance that set her teeth on edge. She’d met dozens like him, albeit not Scottish. Men who took what they wanted and didn’t mind who they left behind in the dust.

  Duncan Stewart seemed uncomfortable as well, but perhaps for a different reason. “I’m not sure why I’m here,” he said. “My grandmother likes to be mysterious at times.”

  Abby managed a smile, though she was entirely off her game. “Isobel Stewart is an original, that’s for sure. It’s no big secret. She’s updated her will and wanted me to go over it with you. Do you mind my asking why you’ve decided to relocate from Scotland to North Carolina?”

  He raised an eyebrow. “I’d have thought that was obvious. Granny is well past ninety. Grandda has been gone almost a year now. You know my brother, Brody, has a new wife and baby, and they’ve moved back to Skye.”

  “I had heard that. Your sister-in-law owned the bookstore down the street, Dog-Eared Pages—right?”

  “Aye. Since none of us have been successful in persuading Granny to sell out and leave Candlewick, somebody has to be here to look
after her.”

  “That’s astonishingly generous on your part, Mr. Stewart. Not many men I know, young or old, would put their lives on hold for their grandmothers.”

  * * *

  Duncan couldn’t decide if the odd note in the lawyer’s voice was admiration or sarcasm. “I didn’t really have a choice,” he said. His reluctance to play a part in this drama shamed him. Still, he was going to do the right thing. It didn’t mean he was comfortable with the lawyer’s praise. The woman sitting across the desk from him seemed harmless, but he would be in no rush to trust her. He didn’t have a very high opinion of solicitors in general, or of the entire legal profession for that matter. He’d seen too much nastiness during his parents’ divorce.

  Abby Hartmann stared at him. “Everyone has choices, Mr. Stewart. In some instances, I might think you were in it for the money, but your grandmother has told me more than I ever needed to know about you and your brother. I’m aware that you’re extremely comfortable financially with or without your share in Stewart Properties.”

  Duncan winced. “I’m guessing she also told you our father isn’t getting a dime, and she made it sound like a big deal.”

  Abby gave him a small smile and nodded. “She might have mentioned it in passing. I Googled him. Your dad has a dozen thriving art galleries all over Great Britain, right? I doubt he cares about his mother’s money.”

  “He and Granny have a complicated relationship. It works best when they both live on different continents.”

  The lawyer grimaced, her face shadowed for a moment. “I can certainly understand that.”

  Though Duncan had not wanted to come here today, he found himself willing to prolong the conversation for no other reason than to enjoy the lawyer’s company. He’d been expecting a middle-aged woman in a gray suit and glasses with precise opinions and tightly controlled behaviors. What he’d found instead was a barely five-foot-three curvy bombshell.

  Maybe he had formed too many opinions of female solicitors from television and movies, but Abby Hartmann broke the mold. According to the diplomas on the wall behind her head, she appeared to be in her late twenties. She was warm and appealing, and nothing about her was rigid. Her hair was chin length and wildly curly, neither red nor blond, but an appealing amalgam of both.

  She wore a black knee-length pencil skirt that showcased a rounded ass and beautiful legs that were now hidden beneath her desk. The buttons on her red shirt struggled to contain her stellar breasts. In fact, Duncan had a difficult time keeping his eyes off that tantalizing sight.

  He wasn’t a Neanderthal. He respected women. Still, holy hell. Abby Hartmann was stacked. Her attire was not provocative. She had left only the first two buttons of her top undone. A tiny gold cross dangled at the upper slopes of her breasts. But that cleavage...

  Moving restlessly, he cleared his throat and wished he hadn’t declined the bottle of water she had offered him earlier. “I love my grandmother, Ms. Hartmann. She and my grandfather built Stewart Properties from the ground up. In her eyes, it keeps him alive.”

  “Call me Abby, please. She told me your grandfather chose to change his surname to her maiden name in order to keep the Stewart clan name going. That’s pretty extraordinary, don’t you think? Particularly for a man of his generation?”

  Duncan shrugged. “They had a grand love affair, one of those you read about in books. He adored her and vice versa. From his point of view, she gave up everything for him—her family, her homeland. I suppose it was his way of saying he wanted her to have something in return.”

  “I think it’s lovely.”

  “But?”

  “I didn’t say but...”

  Duncan grinned. “I’m pretty sure I heard a but coming.”

  Abby flushed. “I don’t mean to discount your grandparents’ devotion, but I doubt things like that happen anymore. The passionate love affairs. The epic gestures. The decades-long marriages.”

  “You’re awfully young for such pessimism, aren’t you?”

  “And you don’t know me well enough to make that judgment,” she snapped.

  He blinked. The lawyer had a temper. “My apologies. We should get on with the will. I don’t want to take up too much of your time.”

  Abby groaned audibly. “Sorry. Hot-button issue. Perhaps we could back up a step or two. And yes, we’ll go over the will, but first, one more question. If your grandmother left Scotland to settle here with your grandfather, how did you wind up a Scotsman?”

  “My grandparents had only one child, my father. Dad was always fascinated with his Scottish roots. As soon as he was an adult, he moved to the Highlands and never looked back. Scotland is the only home Brody and I have ever known, except for the occasional visits here to Candlewick.”

  “I know about your brother’s boating business in Skye. What did you do there?”

  “I was his CFO.” He stopped and sighed. “Still am, I guess. We don’t know how long this hiatus will be. I’ve urged him to replace me permanently. It’s not fair for the business to limp along indefinitely.”

  “I’m sorry. This must be a very challenging time for you.”

  The genuine kindness in her soft gray eyes warmed him. For the first time in days, he believed he might survive this sea change in his life. “Not as hard as losing Grandda. That shook all of us. He was an amazing man.”

  “Yes, he was. I didn’t know him well, but his reputation in Candlewick is impressive. People around here would do most anything for your grandmother. She is beloved, you know.”

  “I do know. That’s one reason none of us had the heart to insist she leave. That and the fact that we would have had to pick her up bodily and carry her onto a plane kicking and screaming.”

  “Boggles the mind, doesn’t it?”

  “You don’t know the half of it. When a cantankerous old Scotswoman sets her mind to something, there’s no choice but to get out of her way.”

  “I don’t envy you the task of keeping her in line.” Abby smiled, her eyes alight with humor.

  Duncan tried not to notice the way her breasts moved when she shifted in her chair. “Would you have dinner with me one evening?” he asked impulsively.

  The lawyer stilled. The air in the room hushed. Even Duncan was momentarily abashed. He was not at all an impulsive kind of man.

  Abby gnawed her lip. “I’m not sure that would be ethical.”

  Duncan seized on the weakness in her argument and the fact that she hadn’t given him an unequivocal no. “You’re not my lawyer,” he said.

  “Perhaps I should have been more clear from the beginning,” she replied, looking rattled and mildly alarmed. “My colleague, Mr. Chester, has been your grandparents’ lawyer for a very long time. But he’s on medical leave at the moment following serious heart surgery. I’ve been charged with handling your grandmother’s affairs in the short term. We have a client who is very interested in purchasing Stewart Properties. It’s a cash offer.”

  Duncan’s cynicism kicked in, laced with a big dose of disappointment. Lawyers were snakes, every single one of them. “Not interested.”

  Abby’s gaze narrowed. “It’s a very fair offer.”

  “I don’t care. I don’t want to hear about it. Granny doesn’t want to sell.”

  “I thought you were looking out for her best interests,” the lawyer said, a bite in her voice.

  “I definitely am. So it raises a big red flag for me when her lawyers try to force her to sell a company she loves.”

  “Mr. Chester cares about your grandmother’s well-being. We all do.”

  “How touching.”

  “Are you being intentionally rude and cynical, or does it come naturally to you? I resent having my professional ethics called into question.”

  “And I resent people who try to take advantage of an old woman.”

  “How does making her e
xtremely wealthy take advantage of her?”

  “Granny doesn’t need more money. She has plenty.”

  “No one ever has enough money, Mr. Stewart. Trust me.”

  Duncan heard something in that remark...something wounded and weary. But he chose not to pursue it at the moment. Despite his entirely logical antipathy toward lawyers and the inescapable notion that he should stay far away from this woman, he circled back to his original proposal. “Have dinner with me,” he said.

  “No.”

  Duncan frowned. “Think of it as community service. I’m lonely. I don’t know a single person in town other than my ancient grandmother and you. Have pity on me, Abby Hartmann. And call me Duncan. I feel as if we know each other already.”

  “Don’t lay it on too thick, Duncan. I’ll think about it. But don’t push me. Besides, why would you want to have dinner with a snake-in-the-grass lawyer? I’m getting very mixed signals from you.”

  Duncan held up his hands. “I’ll no’ mention it again. At least not for a few days. And you have a fair point. Now how about that will?”

  Abby seemed relieved at the change of subject. Duncan entertained himself by watching her shift back into lawyer mode. She clicked a button on her computer, consulted a notepad, and opened a legal-size folder, muttering to herself charmingly as she did so.

  He’d always been attracted to smart women. Something about their unwillingness to put up with crap from men challenged his masculinity and brought out his fighting instincts. Abby was no pushover. Though he was well aware that his arousal was not one-sided, he was not foolish enough to assume that meant an easy conquest.

  If he wanted the lushly rounded lawyer in his bed, she would make him work for it. He liked that. A lot...

  At last, she slid a second folder across the desk to him and opened it. “Here you go. You’ve seen an earlier version of this. One significant addition is an escape clause, if you will. After twenty-four months, if you’re unhappy and still want to go home, your grandmother has agreed to sell Stewart Properties and accompany you back to Scotland. I’ve flagged the changes and the spots where you’ll add your name. Your brother and grandmother have already signed.”