In All That His Brother Had Told Her About Jackson, He’d Never Mentioned That He Was So Damn Good-looking.
Not the smooth good looks of a catalog model. But the rough-around-the-edges kind that made Annie’s breath catch in her throat and set her pulse racing. His rain-soaked thick black hair was smoothed back from his forehead, emphasizing the strong lines of his face, lean cheeks, a square jaw and a blunt chin.
He badly needed a shave, Annie noticed, and his thin white shirt was soaked through, clinging to the lines of his muscular chest and broad shoulders. And yes, damp, bedraggled and mud splattered, he was still the most attractive man who had crossed her path in ages. But she pulled her gaze away with conscious effort.
Get a grip, girl, she coached herself. This guy’s the enemy.
Dear Reader,
Welcome to Silhouette Desire, the ultimate treat for Valentine’s Day—we promise you will find six passionate, powerful and provocative romances every month! And here’s what you can indulge yourself with this February….
The fabulous Peggy Moreland brings you February’s MAN OF THE MONTH, The Way to a Rancher’s Heart. You’ll be enticed by this gruff widowed rancher who must let down his guard for the sake of a younger woman.
The exciting Desire miniseries TEXAS CATTLEMAN’S CLUB: LONE STAR JEWELS continues with World’s Most Eligible Texan by Sara Orwig. A world-weary diplomat finds love—and fatherhood—after making a Plain Jane schoolteacher pregnant with his child.
Kathryn Jensen’s The American Earl is an office romance featuring the son of a British earl who falls for his American employee. In Overnight Cinderella by Katherine Garbera, an ugly-duckling heroine transforms herself into a swan to win the love of an alpha male. Kate Little tells the story of a wealthy bachelor captivated by the woman he was trying to protect his younger brother from in The Millionaire Takes a Bride. And Kristi Gold offers His Sheltering Arms, in which a macho ex-cop finds love with the woman he protects.
Make this Valentine’s Day extra-special by spoiling yourself with all six of these alluring Desire titles!
Enjoy!
Joan Marlow Golan
Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire
The Millionaire Takes a Bride
Kate Little
KATE LITTLE
claims to have lots of experience with romance—“the fictional kind, that is,” she is quick to clarify. She has been both an author and an editor of romance fiction for over fifteen years. She believes that a good romance will make the reader experience all the tension, thrills and agony of falling madly, deeply and wildly in love. She enjoys watching the characters in her books go crazy for each other, but hates to see the blissful couple disappear when it’s time for them to live happily ever after. In addition to writing romance novels, Kate also writes fiction and nonfiction for young adults. She lives on Long Island, New York, with her husband and daughter.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
One
Someone was banging on the door. Banging hard enough to rattle the hinges. The fact registered dimly on Georgia Price’s sleep-fogged brain.
As if this place needs any help falling apart at the seams, thank you very much, was her first waking thought. Then she sat up, swung her legs to the floor and brushed a careless hand through her sleep-tousled hair.
The banging persisted. “All right, all right. Keep your shirt on, pal,” Georgia muttered. She pulled on a sapphire-blue silk robe and clicked on the lamp near the landing before descending the stairs.
No hurry, she thought. She was certain of the identity of her caller, though they had never before met.
The flash of light within had obviously given her visitor encouragement, and he immediately called out on the other side of the door. “I know you’re in there, Will. Open up, blast you. I’m not leaving here until you open this door, do you hear me…?”
The tone was deep, booming—and belligerent. Just what Georgia had expected, although she hadn’t counted on Jackson Bradshaw arriving in the pitch-black middle of the night. Her sister’s fiancé, Will Bradshaw, had described his older brother, Jackson, as an extremely stubborn man, and Georgia fully expected a difficult encounter. But to descend upon her at this hour in the middle of a rainstorm, Georgia found positively…berserk.
While Will had warned her about Jackson, Georgia had believed he’d been exaggerating. Well, he wasn’t, she decided as the door banging and off-color expletives hit new heights.
She vaguely wondered if he would get violent—especially if he learned how he’d been tricked by the three of them—her, Faith and Will. The little scheme had been Will’s plan. With Faith’s help, the young lovers had persuaded Georgia to help them escape the wrath of Will’s overbearing, overprotective brother.
Maybe she was foolish to answer the door at all, she thought. Most folks she knew in the small town of Sweetwater, Texas, would greet a stranger at this hour with a handy household shotgun.
But Georgia was not the type to own a gun. She wouldn’t even allow her son, Noah, to play with water pistols. Besides, she was betting Jackson Bradshaw’s bark was far worse than his bite. Okay, so he was a high-powered, corporate attorney from New York City, no less. The man would naturally be on the argumentative side, she reasoned. But hadn’t Will promised that Jackson wasn’t so bad…once you got to know him?
Right now, shouting himself hoarse on the other side of her door, he sounded like her worst nightmare.
“And I’ll stay out here all night if I have to…” the angry voice continued.
It was a miracle that the noise hadn’t disturbed Noah, she realized. But her son had always been such a good sleeper, a trait Georgia had been especially thankful for as a single parent.
“Well, I guess it’s show time,” she murmured to herself at the bottom of the steps. She took a deep breath, then tightened the sash on her robe before she swung open the door.
His face veiled in shadows, Jackson Bradshaw met her carefully composed expression with a dark, searing stare.
“You sure took your time answering the damn door, lady. Is this a taste of the Texas hospitality I’ve heard so much about?”
“Speaking of time—do you have any idea of the hour, Mr—?”
“Don’t you dare pretend you don’t know who I am, Georgia Price,” he cut in. His eyes narrowed to dark slits. “If there’s one thing that gets under my skin, its pretense—especially when it’s dished out by a woman.”
“I’m sure that any number of things get under your skin, Mr. Bradshaw,” Georgia replied with a small smile.
“And I’m sure my brother’s told you all about me by now, Ms. Price.”
“Only the low points,” she replied with a grin.
“Cute. I’ll have to remember that.”
He