AUTHOR: Joan Elliott Pickart

Bliss Barton woke up with her first hangover --- and a half-naked hunk in her bed! Giving her a smile that would melt icebergs, Dutton McHugh found Bliss enchanting, a sleep-rumpled beauty with a halo of auburn curls --- and a feisty temper only he could ignite!

Was Dutton a bad dream or an early Christmas present, Bliss wondered, until she recognized her brother's rowdy buddy ... and vowed he wasn't her type. She was the careful, cautious one in a clan of free spirits, a late bloomer who'd never sown wild oats --- but Dutton taught her ecstasy with his lips and inflamed her desire, while she tempted him to taste her forbidden fruit.

When they were suspected of being lovers, Dutton suggested a clever charade --- but Bliss secretly yearned for their affair to be real. In his arms she couldn't hide her dreams any longer --- and in hers he knew he'd come home.

Could Dutton shatter the wall around her heart and convince his angel in velvet they'd be together forever?