âWhat Have You Done To Me?â Luke Asked Softly.
He reached out and cupped her cheek with his hand. Her skin was soft and warm, and he lightly stroked it with his fingertips.
Her gray eyes flashed. âWhat are you doing?â
âGood question,â murmured Luke. âBut the only answer I can come up with is that Iâm not doing enough.â
Brenna licked her lips, and he followed the movement with avid eyes. âI wonât hurt you, Brenna. Donât be afraid of me.â
âIâm not!â she exclaimed fiercely.
âIf youâre not afraid, prove it, Brenna.â
âBy doing what?â
He gave a tug, pulling her against him. âIâll think of something.â
âHave you lost your mind?â Brenna gaped at him. âIâm almost nine months pregnant!â
Dear Reader,
The year 2000 has been a special time for Silhouette, as weâve celebrated our 20th anniversary. Readers from all over the world have written to tell us what they love about our books, and weâd like to share with you part of a letter from Carolyn Dann of Grand Bend, Ontario, whoâs a fan of Silhouette Desire. Carolyn wrote, âI like the storylinesâ¦the charactersâ¦the front covers⦠All the characters in the books are the kind of people you like to read about. Theyâre all down-to-earth, everyday people.â And as a grand finale to our anniversary year, Silhouette Desire offers six of your favorite authors for an especially memorable monthâs worth of passionate, powerful, provocative reading!
We begin the lineup with the always wonderful Barbara Boswellâs MAN OF THE MONTH, Irresistible You, in which a single woman nine months pregnant meets her perfect hero while on jury duty. The incomparable Cait London continues her exciting miniseries FREEDOM VALLEY with Slow Fever. Against a beautiful Montana backdrop, the oldest Bennett sister is courted by a man who spurned her in their teenage years. And A Season for Love, in which Sheriff Jericho Rivers regains his lost love, continues the new miniseries MEN OF BELLE TERRE by beloved author BJ James.
Donât miss the thrilling conclusion to the Desire miniseries FORTUNEâS CHILDREN: THE GROOMS in Peggy Morelandâs Groom of Fortune. Elizabeth Bevarly will delight you with Monahanâs Gamble. And Expecting the Bossâs Baby is the launch title of Leanne Banksâs new miniseries, MILLION DOLLAR MEN, which offers wealthy, philanthropic bachelors guaranteed to seduce you.
We hope all readers of Silhouette Desire will treasure the gift of this special month.
Happy holidays!
Joan Marlow Golan
Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire
loves writing about families. âI guess family has been a big influence on my writing,â she says. âI particularly enjoy writing about how my charactersâ family relationships affect them.â
When Barbara isnât writing and reading, sheâs spending time with her own familyâher husband, three daughters and three cats, whom she concedes are the true bosses of their home! She has lived in Europe, but now makes her home in Pennsylvania. She collects miniatures and holiday ornaments, tries to avoid exercise and has somehow found the time to write over twenty category romances.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Epilogue
Jury Duty!
Luke Minteer was still in shock. As of tomorrow morning he was supposed to be a juror in a civil case. And from the few facts the opposing lawyers had revealed about the case during the juror interview, Luke already deemed it a major time waster. Of his valuable time!
This, after heâd been such a good sport about the situation. Despite the major inconvenience of being summoned to join his fellow citizens in the potential jury pool, he had dutifullyâalbeit grudginglyâshown up at the courthouse for the selection. That should have been the end of it, as far as he was concerned.
He expected to be rejected; he was counting on it. For the first time ever, rejection was infinitely appealing, and his past days as a tarnished hotshot political operative seemed to guarantee it. Who would want the likes of him on a jury?
Apparently the judge and the attorneys on both sides wouldâbecause heâd been selected.
Desperately he looked around at the other chosen jurors sitting with him in the box, while a bailiff instructed them on their upcoming obligations. They were now expected to put their lives on hold, to be held captive in a courtroomâand all because two idiots, aided and abetted by their mercenary lawyers, had decided to sue each other.
He was Luke Minteer! He didnât do jury duty!
Eight of the chosen were years older than he was. Decades older! Two young men who appeared to be in their early twenties sported multiple tattoos and piercings on various parts of their bodiesâtheir eyebrows, their noses, their lips and of course their ears, with at least ten earrings per lobe.
Luke glanced at the final juror, the young woman sitting next to him, who was very visibly pregnant. She looked like a teenager, though he knew she couldnât be. In the state of Pennsylvania, jury duty fell only to those whoâd reached the legal age of twenty-one.