âI want you to know, I donât make a habit of dragging women into my arms like that.â
He ran a hand through his hair, looked around. Out the corner of her eye, she saw him crack a lame smile. âMust be something in the air.â
She closed her eyes and withered. If she could turn back time and wipe out these last few moments, sheâd do it in a blink. That sheâd surrendered so completely was bad enough. Did he need to rub in the fact that he regretted it, too?
âDaniel, please donât worry that Iâll give another momentâs thought to it.â She tilted her head and drawled, âI have been kissed before.â
He didnât reply, didnât move. Only his eyes glittered in the moonlight as time stretched out and, growing increasingly edgy, she wondered whether he would ever take his leave or call her bluff and announce she might have been kissed, but never like that.
Dear Reader,
Home is where the heart is. Itâs a great saying. One I believe in.
Unfortunately, sometimes choices arenât that simple.
Welcome back to Royal, a town set to erupt! In Millionaire Playboy, Maverick Heiress, the bid to claim the clubâs presidency is heating up, gossip involving blue-blood and babies is rife, and outsiders, like star-architect Daniel Warren, have been called in to shake up some stodgy foundations.
Daniel is happy to help his friend and presidential hopeful, Abigail Langley, develop a winning design for the new clubhouse ⦠even if painful memories of growing up around these parts has Daniel eager to jet back to New York as soon as business is done. He didnât bank on meeting Elizabeth Milton, a woman who holds his fascination as effortlessly as she combines a wardrobe of blue jeans and cowboy boots with furs and priceless jewels. A brief steamy affair seems inevitable. The subsequent choice between his heart and her home is far less cut and dried.
Hope you enjoy Daniel and Elizabethâs story!
With best wishes,
Robyn
ROBYN GRADY was first published in 2007. Her books have since featured regularly on bestseller lists and at award ceremonies, including The National Readers Choice Award, The Booksellersâ Best Award, Cataromance Reviewers Choice Award and Australiaâs prestigious Romantic Book of the Year Award.
Robyn lives on Queenslandâs beautiful Sunshine Coast with her real-life hero husband and three daughters. When she can be dragged away from tapping out her next story, Robyn visits the theatre, the beach and the mall (a lot!). To keep fit she jogs (and shops) and dances with her youngest to Hannah Montana.
Robyn believes writing romance is the best job on the planet and she loves to hear from her readers. So drop by www.robyngrady.com and pass on your thoughts!
This story is dedicated to the talented authors who also contributed to this series.
Itâs a huge honor. Thanks for having me along.
And to the series editor Charles Griemsman who is as fabulous as everyone says!
Just what was so funny?
Daniel Warrenâs focus dropped from the hot blonde sending over a half amused, half pitying look to the architectural model he and three of his design team were struggling to carry. Admittedly, the mock-up was large in more ways than one, but Texas was a big state. The new headquarters for the renowned Texas Cattlemanâs Club needed to make a big statement. Aesthetics like giant steer horns adorning a twenty-foot-high cowhide double entrance wasnât over the top.
Was it?
His second in charge, Rand Marks, spoke in his ear.
âBoss, this weighs a ton. Want to keep moving?â
From their expressions, the other assistants were also curious about the holdup. There wasnât one. Or shouldnât be.
Daniel was known in the business not only for talent but also decisiveness. He couldnât remember the last time heâd second-guessed himself. When heâd been invited to submit for this project, heâd put his fifteen odd years of successful industry know-how behind developing a design that would blow the committee members awayâold-school as well as avant-garde. And yet now, that bombshellâs one dubious look burned like a smoking brand in his mind.
Who was she anyway?
âIâm sorry to intrude, but you must be Abigail Langleyâs friend?â
At the sound of a sultry, Southern, very female voice, Danielâs heartbeat skipped and his attention shifted again. The blonde, and her ambivalent expression, now stood an armâs length away. Close up, she wasnât merely hot. Lord above, she was stunning. Wrapped up in a silver-fur jacket and jeans that hugged hips and thighs just right, she looked as if sheâd just stepped off the Aspen slopes. Set in a fine oval face, large, well-lashed green eyes sparkled like a pair of priceless jewels. But her long bouncy mane struck him most. It was the kind of hair that made a manâs fingertips itch to reach out and touch.
Setting his jaw, Daniel straightened his spine.
None of that altered the fact he was less than thrilled by her reaction to his work. Heâd satisfied countless clients and had become filthy rich in the process. He didnât need to field subtle insults at the eleventh hour from âMiss Texas and Loving Itâ here.