The Sheriff's Second Chance (Harlequin Special Edition),Used

About the Author USA Today Bestseller Michelle Celmer is the author of more than 40 books for Harlequin and Silhouette. You can usually find her in her office with her laptop loving the fact that she gets to work in her pajamas.Michelle loves to hear from her readers! Visit Michelle on Facebook at Michelle Celmer Author, or email at michelle@michellecelmer.com Product Description USA TODAY bestselling author Michelle Celmer takes us to Paradise, Colorado, where you can go home againIt's bad enough when Caitlyn Cavanaugh crawls back to Paradise with her tail between her legs after her life in the big city goes bust. But to run right into her ex, Deputy Sheriff Nathan Jeffriesand still be attracted to the manis too much! True, she'd left him to pursue her dream after high school, but he'd wasted no timewell, maybe a monthbefore marrying her best friend and having a child.Now that Caitie's back, it's Nate's job to rescue this damsel in distress from a series of minor mishaps. Sure, the single dad's strategy is keep up a cold, professional facade with the irritating beautybut tell that to his heart! Excerpt. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. The instant Deputy Sheriff Nathan Jefferies pulled his cruiser into the diner lot and saw his dad, P.J., standing out front instead of waiting inside like he always did, he knew something was up. He grabbed the phone he'd lobbed onto the dash when he'd walked Cody into day care, and, sure enough, there were two missed calls from his dad and two more from his mom.By the time he killed the engine and climbed out of the car, his dad was standing at the driver's side doordefinitely not their usual routine. "Something wrong?"The old man shrugged. "I just thought maybe we could try someplace different for a change."Someplace different? Was his dad forgetting where they lived? With a population of 1,633, Paradise, Colorado, didn't exactly have a huge selection when it came to dining establishments. There was Joe's Place, but that didn't open until lunch, and there was Lou's Diner. Aside from those, and the Howard Johnson's on the highway several miles east of town, there wasn't anywhere else within twenty miles to get a decent breakfast. Or any breakfast for that matter.Something was definitely up. "What's going on, Dad?"His dad sighed and rubbed a hand across a jawline beginning to sag with age. "Son, she's back."Nate wasn't sure what was more pathetic: that he knew exactly who "she" was, or that he still gave a damn after all these years.He steeled himself against the residual sting of rejection, the burn of betrayal that still seared his heart like acid."Was bound to happen eventually, I s'pose," his dad said. "She couldn't stay away forever."Not forever. Just seven years.Seven years with no explanation of why, after two years together, she'd packed her bags and left town. Nothing but that pathetic excuse for an apology she'd sent him weeks later.Dear Nate, I'm so, so sorryNate shook away the memory."We could skip breakfast today, son. We don't have to go in there."Nate blinked. "She's here, at the diner?"His dad nodded.Everyone in the restaurant had seen him pull up. He had no choice but to go in. And it wasn't just a matter of his pride, although that was part of it. As a deputy sheriff, he had a reputation to uphold. If people began to see him as a coward, his credibility as peacekeeper in town would be compromised. And what could be more cowardly than turning tail and running from an estranged girlfriend seven years after the breakup?"Let's go." He marched up the walk and shouldered his way through the door. The second his shoe hit the blackandwhitechecked linoleum floor, twenty or so pairs of eyes snapped in his direction and bore into him like an auger biting through steel. In a town the size of Paradise, where everyone's nose was in everyone else's business, good news traveled fast.And bad news traveled even faster.This reunion would be