Defend My Love

By Jill James

Book 3 - The Lake Willowbee Series

Megan Kirby thought all she wanted was her freedom. Freedom to leave prison behind. Freedom to be the wife and mother she had been denied up to now. She was wrong. She wanted someone to pay for her four lost years of being wrongly accused of embezzlement.

Daniel Kirby wanted his sweet, naïve wife back. Four years of prison took all that away. The woman in his home and his bed is not the teenage bride he expected. Instead he is living with a woman with one thing on her mind: payback.

She wants to be the wife and mother she missed being, but most of all she wants her husband to defend the truth, defend her, and defend their love.

Romance heat level - hot

Book 1 is Divorce, Interrupted
Book 2 is Dare To Trust

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jill James
• Release date: Nov 28, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301374304

Jill James

Jill James is a self published author, with books in contemporary, paranormal, and zompoc romance. She didn't start out wanting to be a writer. She wanted to be a doctor, a lawyer, an astronaut, and President of the United States. Along the way, life happened and she realized she could be all those things; between the pages of the books she wrote. She lives in Northern Nevada with her husband, the inspiration for all her romance novel heroes.When she isn't writing, she is reading. She also collects salt and pepper shakers on her vacations.

Book preview

Defend My Love

(The Lake Willowbee Series, #3)

By Jill James

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Jill James Writes

Published by Jill James at Smashwords

Smashwords Original Edition

Copyright © November 2012 by Jill James

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to the retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the author.

All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author and all incidents are pure invention.

Cover Art designed by Elaina Lee of For The Muse Design

This book is dedicated to my children Jennifer and Timothy for letting me be their mom and giving me time to write the stories in my imagination.

Defend My Love

By

Jill James

Blurb:

Megan Kirby thought all she wanted was her freedom. Freedom to leave prison behind. Freedom to be the wife and mother she had been denied up to now. She was wrong. She wanted someone to pay for her four lost years of being wrongly accused of embezzlement.

Daniel Kirby wanted his sweet, naïve wife back. Four years of prison took all that away. The woman in his home and his bed is not the teenage bride he expected. Instead he is living with a woman with one thing on her mind: payback.

She wants to be the wife and mother she missed being, but most of all she wants her husband to defend the truth, defend her, and defend their love.

Contents

Title Table of Contents Prologue Chapters 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Epilogue Dear Reader Letter Divorce, Interrupted blurb Dare To Trust blurb Dangerous Shift blurb Tempting Adam blurb

Prologue

"We the jury, in the case of The State of California v Megan Marie Kirby, on the count of Embezzlement, do find the defendant—guilty."

Megan gasped as tears rolled down her face and pains roiled across her nine-months-pregnant stomach. How could they have found her guilty? She hadn’t taken the money from her job. She was innocent.

All thoughts of guilt or innocence fled her mind as the pain increased to a crescendo of ringing in her ears. Her blood pulsed in her veins in time with the judge’s gravel pounding for order.

Something deep inside ripped, fluid gushed down her legs, and the world went black with echoes of Daniel’s voice. Calling for her.

*****

The drive to the hospital was a nightmare with the EMT trying to calm her down and nothing worked. She wanted her husband, but Daniel had been shoved away when he tried to get into the ambulance with her. She squeezed the EMT’s hand as another contraction rolled over her. Screams erupted from her throat at the pain, at the injustice of it all. Daniel should be at her side

At the hospital the doors to the ambulance ripped open and sun painted the vehicle in brightness. Megan squinted into the light, amazed that such a beautiful day could bring her happiness and sadness at the same time.

The doctors took charge as she writhed on the gurney, the pain surrounding her, dragging her under. She’d spent part of her pregnancy in jail, with no Lamaze classes to help the waves pulling at her. At twenty-two years old she felt like a child, just wanting her mother to come and take away the pain like the time she fell and skinned her knees. The pain in her heart matched the pain in her abdomen. She hadn’t seen her mother alone since she’d been charged.

In the labor room the deputy stepped forward to slap cuffs on her hand and the bedrail. A nurse stepped forward and in a calm voice got him to step back.

I want my husband, Megan cried. He should be here.

The deputy looked at her with the police officer’s stare. Sorry, Mrs. Kirby. Not going to happen.

She glared at him and he stepped forward again with the handcuffs. Another nurse stepped forward and pushed him away.

Don’t be stupid, Tommy Jones. She isn’t going anywhere for hours. The schoolteacher tone of voice stopped him in his tracks.

Fine, but I’m not leaving here.

She might have laughed if it didn’t hurt so much.

Pains ripped across her stomach. She stared as the skin roiled from inside. The doctor moved between her legs.

I think we’ll check your progress.

The nurses moved her feet into the stirrups. Pain pierced her as the doctor checked. He grunted and looked at her. We are moving along nicely.

It didn’t feel nice, not at all. She just wanted to have the baby and go home. Hot tears rolled down her face. She wasn’t going home. Even the agony of childbirth for days was better than the reality of going to prison once this was done.

Time passed in spurts. Pain rolled over her and time stood still. She fell back against the sweat-wet pillow and the second hand on the clock across from her bed flew around the dial.

A nurse moved to her right side and another came to her left. They grasped her hands and helped her to sit forward.

It’s time to push, the nurse instructed.

You can do this, Megan. You can do anything, the nurse urged her on.

Two hours later, drenched in sweat but as happy as she’d ever been, Megan gazed down into her daughter’s tiny, scrunched up