âDo You Propose Marriage To Every Woman You Have Sex With?â
He stared at her as though sheâd slapped him.
âWhat kind of question is that?â
âOne you might want to take a look at. You say you canât control your reactions to me and this is your way of having sex without guilt. Well, thank you for the offer,â she said, her heart crumbling into aching pieces. âBut I believe Iâll pass.â
He looked shocked. Guess heâd never been turned down before. She fought the tears that threatened. The last thing she wanted was for him to know how devastated she was by his reasons for proposing. The irony didnât escape her. Her youth had been filled with dreams of the time when heâd propose to her.
And now that he had, sheâd refused himâ¦.
Dear Reader,
Welcome to another fabulous month at Silhouette Desire, where we offer you the best in passionate, powerful and provocative love stories. Youâll want to delve right in to our latest DYNASTIES: THE DANFORTHS title with Anne Marie Winstonâs highly dramatic The Enemyâs Daughterâyouâll never guess who the latest Danforth bachelor has gotten involved with! And the steam continues to rise when Annette Broadrick returns to the Desire line with a brand-new series, THE CRENSHAWS OF TEXAS. These four handsome brothers will leave you breathless, right from the first title, Branded.
Read a Silhouette Desire novel from his point of view in our new promotion MANTALK. Eileen Wilks continues this series with her highly innovative and intensely emotional story Meeting at Midnight. Kristi Gold continues her series THE ROYAL WAGER with another confirmed bachelor about to meet his match in Unmasking the Maverick Prince. How comfortable can A Bed of Sand be? Well, honey, if youâre lying on it with the hero of Laura Wrightâs latest novelâ¦who cares! And the always enjoyable Roxanne St. Claire, whom Publishers Weekly calls âan author whoâs on the fast track to making her name a household one,â is scorching up the pages with The Fire Still Burns.
Happy reading,
Melissa Jeglinski
Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire
The Crenshaws were having a barbecue and everyone for miles around had been invited. Strings of lights decorated the large live oaks surrounding the hacienda-style homestead and dozens of tiki lamps discouraged mosquitoes. The patio had been cleared for dancing to the music of a local country-western band. Joe finished serving the last of the line of guests barbecued ribs, beef and sausage heâd prepared, pleased to see everyone having fun. He and Gail always enjoyed giving parties.
âFill you a plate and câmon over here and sit down, Joe,â Randy, one of his friends, called. âWeâve been talking about the Crenshaw family and my grandsonâs asking all kinds of questions I canât answer.â
Joe laughed, filled his plate and ambled over to the long picnic table where he sat down with some of the guests. After polishing off some ribs, Joe asked, âWhatâs your questions, Teddy?â
The twelve-year-old blushed. âI was wondering how long the Crenshaws have lived here.â
âSince 1845.â
Teddyâs eyes rounded. âWow!â
âYep, itâs been a long time since Jeremiah Crenshaw rode in to Texas. Back then, it was still a republic. So weâve been here longer than Texas has been a state.â
âWhat made him come to the Hill Country?â
âHeâd heard about the area from people heâd met after he arrived in Texas. When he checked out the place, he knew this was where he wanted to settle. Luckily for him, the Republic was struggling financially and he bought the land at a good price.â
âHow much land?â
Before Joe could answer Teddyâs question, Randy said, âItâs not polite to ask how much land a person has, son. Itâs like asking how much money a manâs got in the bank.â
Joe grinned. âOh, I donât think Jeremiah would have been offended by the question. He was proud of his holdings. I donât have the exact figures in front of me, but I know it was several thousand acres. He tended to keep track of it in miles rather than acres.â
âI betcha he had to hire a bunch of people to work for him, didnât he?â
âThatâs true and once again J.C. lucked out. Once Texas joined the United States the following year, people from back East headed to Texas, where land was plentiful and cheap. Jeremiah sold off small parcels of land to those who wanted to work for him. He built homes and bachelor quarters for those who didnât want to buy.â