Met Her Match Read online

  In small towns, no one lets the facts get in the way of juicy gossip...

  Terri Rayburn is a girl with a reputation. She doesn’t deserve it, but having grown up on the outskirts of Summer Hill, Virginia, she knows how small towns work. The only way to deal with vicious gossip is to ignore it. So she keeps to herself as she runs the summer resort on Lake Kissel.

  When she returns home from a short trip to find a handsome stranger living in her house, she smells a rat. Someone is trying to fix her up, and she has to admit that Nate Taggert is just her type. However, Nate is engaged to the daughter of the mayor and strictly off-limits.

  Nate and Terri form an unlikely friendship while he throws himself into life at the lake. As Nate starts to hear rumors about Terri he’s confused. Knowing how smart, beautiful and strong she is, he’s determined to discover the source of the gossip. Terri doesn’t want to revisit the past, but Nate won’t stop until he discovers the truth—even if the truth might be more than either of them can handle.

  Set in the beloved fictional town of Summer Hill, Virginia, Met Her Match examines the tensions between the wealthy townspeople, the summer vacationers and the working-class people who keep the town and resort running. Told with humor and heart, Met Her Match is the perfect summer escape.

  Praise for the novels of Jude Deveraux

  “Deveraux’s charming novel has likable characters and life-affirming second chances galore.”

  —Publishers Weekly on As You Wish

  “With three stories told two ways, this third book in Deveraux’s Summerhouse series (The Girl from Summer Hill, 2016, etc.) is emotional, imaginative, and gloriously silly.”

  —Kirkus Reviews on As You Wish

  “Jude Deveraux’s writing is enchanting and exquisite.”

  —BookPage

  “Deveraux’s touch is gold.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “A steamy and delightfully outlandish retelling of a literary classic.”

  —Kirkus Reviews on The Girl from Summer Hill

  “[A]n irresistibly delicious tale of love, passion, and the unknown.”

  —Booklist on The Girl from Summer Hill

  “[A] sexy, lighthearted romp.”

  —Kirkus Reviews on Ever After

  “Thoroughly enjoyable.”

  —Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Ever After

  Jude Deveraux

  Met Her Match

  Also by Jude Deveraux and MIRA Books

  AS YOU WISH

  Medlar Mysteries

  A WILLING MURDER

  A JUSTIFIED MURDER

  For additional books by New York Times bestselling author Jude Deveraux, visit her website, www.jude-deveraux.com.

  Look for Jude Deveraux’s next novel

  A FORGOTTEN MURDER

  available soon from MIRA Books.

  Jude Deveraux is the author of forty-three New York Times bestsellers, including Sweet Liar, the Nantucket series and A Knight in Shining Armor. She was honored with an RT Book Reviews Pioneer Award in 2013 for her distinguished career. To date, there are more than sixty million copies of her books in print worldwide.

  Jude-Deveraux.com

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 1

  Lake Kissel

  Summer Hill, Virginia

  Terri Rayburn was looking out the glass front of her house at the lake. She liked the early morning calm, the few moments she had alone before she had to... Well, start solving problems. As the daughter of the owner of a resort, it was her job to fix everything. Arguments, leaky roofs, finding things, organizing people and events. Any and all of it was her job.

  Her eyes widened. A man in swim shorts was coming out of the lake. That wasn’t an unusual sight, but this one wasn’t like the usual renter or cabin owner. This man was different.

  The sun was just rising, sending light across his body and making shadows on his muscles. He looked like a well-toned football player. His face was turned to the side so she couldn’t really see it, but she was sure she didn’t know who he was.

  She liked that his shorts were modest. Too many visitors to the lake thought it was fashionable to wear as little as they legally could.

  His was the kind of body she liked. She’d never been attracted to men who were thin. She liked them big and muscular, a man who could pick up a rowboat and move it around. One who looked like he knew what a pickup truck was for. A man who could hold you and—

  She shook her head to quiet her thoughts. It had been too long since she’d had a boyfriend!

  When he walked toward one of her deck chairs and retrieved a towel thrown across the back, she came back to reality. As great as the vision of him was, he should not be there! He was on her property! Using her chair. Why couldn’t the visitors learn to respect private property? And why couldn’t her dad ever remember to tell them the rules? If she hadn’t been away for the last two days, she would have made sure this new visitor understood that he couldn’t go swimming wherever he wanted to. There were other cabin owners and renters to consider.

  So now it was her job to explain to the man that even though the houses surrounded a lake and everyone here wanted to have fun, there were still rules to be followed.

  She took a step toward the glass doors, then paused. The man was drying off now and the sunlight was hitting his back. He was very broad in the shoulders and small at the waist. Muscles moved about under his tanned skin. He looked like he spent a lot of time doing something that made muscles.

  Okay, so no matter how good he looked, she was going to have to bawl him out. He had no right to be on her property. He needed to go back to wherever he was staying.

  But as she watched him, her mind wandered to a different scenario. It was an unspoken rule that she, the manager’s daughter, couldn’t date any of the visitors at the lake, but usually that was easy. Skinny boys in Speedos; lecherous husbands who thought she was fair game; unmarried men who believed every woman wanted them. They were all there and Terri wasn’t interested.

  But this guy... She really liked the look of him! The size, the shape, even his skin color were all her favorites.

  He tossed the towel over his shoulder and turned to face the sun. His face wasn’t beautiful. Not like those high-cheeked models you saw everywhere. His was a man’s face, strong jawed, coated in black whiskers, and he had short dark hair. No nonsense. Nothing pretentious. The only thing soft-looking about him was his lips. They appeared to be very kissable.

  Terri closed her eyes for a moment, telling herself to cut it out. He was a visitor and it was her job to take care of him in a professional way. She was not to fantasize about pouncing on him!

  She put her hand on the door latch. It was time to be the warden and tell him he had to go back to his own cabin and—“What in the world?” she said aloud.

  The man walked across the terrace and slid open the door at the other end. She heard the whoosh of the door as he ent