Billionaire Bridegroom

Letter to ReaderTitle PageDedicationAcknowledgmentsAbout the Author“What’s Happening in Royal?”PrologueChapter OneChapter TwoChapter ThreeChapter FourChapter FiveChapter SixChapter SevenChapter EightChapter NineEpilogueTeaser chapterCopyright

This month, in

BILLIONAIRE BRIDEGROOM

by Peggy Moreland,

meet Forrest Cunningham— cattle baron of The Golden Steer. When deciding to settle down, Forrest gets more than he bargained for with Becky Sullivan— a tomboy all grown up who wants more than a duty-bound marriage pact!

SILHOUETTE DESIRE

IS PROUD TO PRESENT THE

Five wealthy Texas bachelors—all members

of the state’s most exclusive club—set out on a mission to rescue a princess...and find true love.

And don’t miss SECRET AGENT DAD by

Metsy Hingie, next month’s installment of the Texas Cattleman’s Club, available in Silhouette Desire!

Dear Reader,

Welcome to Silhouette Desire—where you’re guaranteed powerful, passionate and provocative love stones that feature rugged heroes and spirited heroines who expenence the full emotional intensity of falling in love!

This October you’ll love our new MAN OF THE MONTH title by Barbara Boswell, Forever Flint. Opposites attract when a city girl becomes the pregnant bride of a millionaire outdoorsman.

Be sure to “rope in” the next installment of the exciting Desire minisenes TEXAS CATTLEMAN’S CLUB with Billionaire Bridegroom by Peggy Moreland. When cattle baron Forrest Cunningham wants to wed childhood friend Becky Sullivan, she puts his love to an unexpected test.

The always-wonderful Jennifer Greene returns to Desire with her magical series HAPPILY EVER AFTER. Kiss Your Prince Charying is a modern fairy tale starring an unforgettable “frog prince.” In a sexy battle-of-the-sexes tale, Lass Small offers you The Catch of Texas. Anne Eames continues her popular minisenes MONTANA MALONES with The Unknown Malone. And Sheri WhiteFeather makes her explosive Desire debut with Warrior’s Baby, a story of surrogate motherhood with a twist.

Next month, you’ll really feel the power of the passion when you see our new provocative cover design. Underneath our new covers, you will still find six exhilarating journeys into the seductive world of romance, with a guaranteed happy ending‘

Enjoy!

Joan Marlow Golan

Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

Please address questions and book requests to:

Silhouette Reader Service U.S. 3010 Walden Ave, PO Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269 Canadian: P.O Box 609, Fort Ene, Ont. L2A 5X3

Billionaire Bridegroom

Peggy Moreland

a

To Dixie, Jen, Metsy and Cindy, who share with me the distinction of being

the only females to gam entrance to the exclusive Texas Cattleman’s Club— other than Miss Manie, of course It’s been fun, ladies Let’s do this again‘

Special thanks to Mr and Mrs Larry Hunt of the H & B Cattle Company

in Monahans, Texas, for giving me a tour of their ranch and for so generously sharing their knowledge of ranch life with me And thanks, too, to Jackie Youngblood, for her assistance in researching West Texas and Wade County

Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to

Peggy Moreland for her contribution to the Texas Cattleman’s Club miniseries

PEGGY MORELAND

published her first romance with Silhouette in 1989. She’s a natural storyteller with a sense of humor that will tickle your fancy, and Peggy’s goal is to write a story that readers will remember long after the last page is turned. Winner of the 1992 National Readers’ Choice Award and a 1994 RITA finalist, Peggy frequently appears on bestseller lists around the country. A native Texan, she and her family live in Round Rock, Texas.

“What’s Happening in Royal?”

NEWS FLASH, October 1999—

Forrest Cunningham, owner of the prestigious cattle ranch. The Golden Steer, is apparently trying to fulfill the marriage pact he made with next-door neighbor Becky Sullivan twelve years ago. Problem is, Ms. Sullivan seems to already have a fiancé, and a mystery one at that....

And a strange, rather aristocratic gentleman has been sighted walking about the town of Royal. Who could he be, and what does he want?

Our Texas Cattleman’s Club members seem more secretive than ever.... What could be brewing?

Prologue

Royal, Texas, 1987

Sweat poured down Forrest Cunningham’s face, plastered his shirt to his chest and back, and ran in rivulets down his spine, soaking the waist of his faded jeans a darker blue. After chasing steers through the scrub brush all afternoon under a hot West Texas sun, his boots—and his butt—were dragging as he led his horse to the rails of the corral.

Feeling as parched as the land he walked on, he dragged the back of his hand across his mouth and winced when grit scraped across his lips like coarse sandpaper. Thank goodness his partner on the roundup was an experienced wrangler, otherwise he was sure he’d have spewed cotton—and no words—if he’d been required to offer up any instruction. He was that dry.

With his thoughts focused on the beer iced down and waiting for him in a cooler propped on the tailgate, he tied his horse to the corral’s top rail, then cut a quick path to the rear of the truck. He fished a cold brew from the cooler, popped the top, then, with a sigh of purest pleasure, lifted the beer.