Christmas Eve Gathering

By Fawn Lowery

When Lori Collins accepts an invitation to join a few old college friends for a Christmas Eve reunion, she doesn't think her former lover will be joining the group.

Chance Murdock is not only handsome, he's wealthy, reckless, and has no regard for authority--and he answers to no one--especially a woman who wants to change him.

Three years have passed since Lori broke up with Chance, but seeing him again quickly stirs her emotions and ignites her passions. Can she stifle her feelings and make it through the reunion? Or will she give in to the barrage of rising desires and let Chance coax her back into his arms?

• Language: English
• Publisher: eXtasy Books Inc
• Release date: Dec 16, 2012
• ISBN: 9781554877294

Book preview

When Lori Collins accepts an invitation to join a few old college friends for a Christmas Eve reunion, she doesn’t think her former lover will be joining the group.

Chance Murdock is not only handsome, he’s wealthy, reckless, and has no regard for authority—and he answers to no one—especially a woman who wants to change him.

Three years have passed since Lori broke up with Chance, but seeing him again quickly stirs her emotions and ignites her passions. Can she stifle her feelings and make it through the reunion? Or will she give in to the barrage of rising desires and let Chance coax her back into his arms?

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Christmas Eve Gathering

Copyright © 2010 Fawn Lowery

ISBN: 978-1-55487-729-4

Cover art by Martine Jardin

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, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

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Smashwords Edition

Christmas Eve Gathering

By

Fawn Lowery

Dedication

To Tina and Jay

Chapter 1

Lori Collins pulled her car into the driveway and stared at the house decked out in seasonal glitter. Her memory of Anita James mirrored the garish decorations winking and blinking from the front of the house. It doesn’t look as though she has changed much since college. She sighed. Her own life had changed however since she moved away from Glasco Mills and earned a degree in business management, opened her own dress shop and almost gotten married.

Snow began to blanket the windshield since she shut off the car motor. A note of uncertainty threaded through her insides. When Anita called and invited her to join the gathering for a drink and a few hours of reminiscing, she thought it might be a good idea. She had since changed her mind. Moron. Why did I tell her I’d come then spend the next two days? Wish I hadn’t!

The close knit friends she accumulated in college were scattered to the four corners of the country. Mickey Farmer was a physician in Seattle. Marissa Weatherby taught English in Florida. Sunny Harper owned her own landscaping business and florist shop in California. Gil Sullivan owned his own engineering company in New York. Anita just opened her psychology practice there in Colorado. She bit her lip. And then there’s Chance Murdock.

She shook her head, dislodging the thoughts that crowded her mind. For three years she had been trying to forget Chance. And without much success. She groaned and closed her eyes. She had almost married Chance, thought she was in love with him. Then suddenly one day, she took a good long look at him, herself, and what the future might hold if she gave in to her emotions.

Born and raised on a farm in Idaho, Lori had a strong sense of family and responsibility. Her father farmed the land and her mother was the perfect sidekick, the cook that always had a hot meal on the table and clean clothes in the closet. She grew up with values and morals that Chance compromised at every opportunity.

Chance Murdock grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth. He came from old money and flaunted the fact in every aspect of his life. Despite his wealth, he was reckless. He rode a motorcycle, drank beer, and didn’t have any respect for authority. Lori and he were exact opposites. She was the good girl and he was the bad boy. Almost too late, she realized his bad boy nature was what attracted her to him. Her brows drew together. Was she a rebel at heart?

A noise brought her eyes flashing open. "Damn! I’m here. I might as well get out of the car before someone sees me parked here and comes out