Expecting A Lone Star Heir

A Texas affair leads to a little surprise! Only from USA TODAY bestselling author Sara Orwig.

Former army ranger Mike Moretti is finding it hard to remember that Vivian Warner is forbidden. She’s his late buddy’s widow and his new boss. Mike hired on at the Warner ranch to help Vivian, not to seduce her.

But playing the role of pretend suitor leads to irresistible temptation...and an unexpected pregnancy. This cowboy’s code of honor demands he do the right thing, but Vivian won’t say, “I do,” for anything less than love.

Expecting a Lone Star Heir is part of the Texas Promises trilogy.

“Vivian, you’re just asking for trouble.”

“That means I don’t scare you,” she said in a sultry voice.

“You scare the hell out of me because I shouldn’t like dancing with you. I shouldn’t like flirting with you. I shouldn’t want to kiss you. I shouldn’t feel anything when our fingers touch, and neither should you.”

“For a US Army Ranger, you’re a little stuffy.”

He caught her around the waist and took long steps, dancing in circles through the terrace doors and outside, where it was darker and cooler.

“Try this for stuffy, darlin’.” He pulled her tightly against him and his mouth covered hers as he kissed her. He knew he shouldn’t, but he was having more fun with her than he could recall having had anywhere, anytime in the past three years.

* * *

Expecting a Lone Star Heir

is part of the Texas Promises trilogy:

When three military men return to Texas

to fulfill their promises to a fallen comrade,

they find redemption...and love.

Dear Reader,

An honorable man keeps his promises, and this series is about three friends keeping promises made to their dying US Army Ranger buddy. The surviving rangers eventually go home to do the honorable thing, and each promise they fulfill involves a life-changing event.

The first to keep his promise is former US Army Ranger Mike Moretti. Mike takes over running his deceased friend’s ranch, a situation he doesn’t like, but he gave his word. The widow, Vivian Warner, a stunning blonde, knows nothing about ranching—Mike has to work for her, run her spread and try to fight the instant mutual attraction that flares when they meet.

Mike is a cowboy, a rugged alpha male who has definite ideas about relationships, and he sees no place in his life for Vivian. Her father is a billionaire and she has just inherited her deceased husband’s multimillionaire fortune. To Mike, Vivian is off-limits.

Vivian fights the attraction because she loved her husband and isn’t over the loss. In addition, she knows how Mike feels about her fortune. Mike never imagined he would fall in love with an heiress. Vivian thought her heart was torn away when she lost her husband. This is a story of two people divided by their deep feelings and life views as they fight falling in love.

Thank you for your interest in this book and best wishes to you. Please find me at saraorwig.com or on Facebook as Sara Orwig, Romance Writer.

Sara Orwig

Expecting a Lone Star Heir

Sara Orwig

www.millsandboon.co.uk

SARA ORWIG, from Oklahoma, loves family, friends, dogs, books, long walks, sunny beaches and palm trees. She is married to and in love with the guy she met in college. They have three children and six grandchildren. Sara’s 100th published novel was a July 2016 release. With a master’s degree in English, Sara has written historical romance, mainstream fiction and contemporary romance. Sara welcomes readers on Facebook or at www.saraorwig.com.

To senior editor Stacy Boyd

with many, many thanks.

To Maureen Walters,

as always, with thanks.

To my family,

who are all-important to me.

To my friends,

who have given me laughter and memories.

To hope, to love and to peace.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Extract

Extract

Copyright

Prologue

Afghanistan, November

What else could go wrong?

In the dark, under a starless sky, they had driven their Humvee straight into an ambush, and now they were barely holding on, pinned down in a firefight with nothing but a crumbling rock wall between them and the enemy. Help couldn’t arrive too soon.

Mike Moretti was one of the lucky ones—he only had cuts and bruises. His two close friends, Noah Grant and Jake Ralston, also had non-life-threatening injuries. The other member on this US Army Rangers mission, Captain Thane Warner, wasn’t so lucky. Mike didn’t need a doctor to tell him that Thane was hurt badly with wounds to his chest and head, an injured leg and deep gashes all over his body from flying shrapnel. Mike was trying to apply pressure to the two most serious wounds, hoping his captain and friend would hang on until help arrived. Their last communication had been cut off, but before it was he’d been told a chopper was on the way.

Thane gripped his arm and Mike leaned closer to hear him over the gunfire. His voice was raspy, his breathing shallow as he spoke through the pain that was no doubt seizing his body. “Mike, promise me you’ll take the ranch job for three months at least. Promise me you’ll work for Vivian. I want to know she’s taken care of when I’m gone.” Coughs racked his body and he grimaced. “Promise me.”