Barbie & The Beast (28 page)

A giggle filled her body with warmth, and caused Darin to tilt his head quizzically. Well, it was the Darin-wolf’s head, actually,
since Darin was once again in the process of shifting his shape.

“It seems,” Barbie told him, grinning widely, smiling brightly, “that Barbie Bradley has finally one-upped Mattel.”

Darin nodded, growled, slurped her neck once (very sexily), and then pulled her to her feet. For a minute more they gazed
into each other’s eyes. Then, legs and minds in sync, they took off at a run. Together.

Was this a match made in heaven? Maybe. Perhaps even definitely. It sure looked that way to Barbie after such a promising
second date. So maybe the third date wouldn’t be to a movie. Maybe it wouldn’t be to Home Depot for a start on that white
picket fence, or even an entire evening spent in bed, undisturbed. Nope. She had a feeling the third date might be at the
altar.

For surely Barbie Bradley, named after the doll, and Darin Russell, named after the singer, were the flesh-and-bone equivalent
of Oreos and milk, only better.

Much better, Barbie decided as she ran with her true love. . .

Through the cemetery. . .

Totally naked. . .

Laughing.

A whole lot of thanks for getting this book into the hands of readers are due to the following people, to whom I will be eternally
grateful. My wonderful editor, Chris Keeslar, for making this particular dream come true. My super agent, Jennifer Schober,
for helping to see that he did. The Mattel toy company, for creating the Barbie doll in the first place. And my family, those
here and those gone, who have always supported my creative endeavors. There just couldn’t have been a better group of people
on the planet.

Copyright

LOVE SPELL®

April 2009

Published by

Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc.

200 Madison Avenue

New York, NY 10016

Copyright © 2009 by Linda Thomas-Sundstrom

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

E-ISBN: 978-1-4285-0658-9

The name “Love Spell” and its logo are trademarks of Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc.

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