âAll I Ever Dreamed Of Was Having A Home.
âStability. Roots. But you didnât want those same things, Pete. Thatâs why I had to end it.â
He took a step toward Carol, then stopped, thinning his lips. âDo you want me to tell you that Iâve changed?â he growled. âThat I want a wife and a family? Well, I havenât changed. Iâm still Pete Dugan,â he said, and thumped an angry fist against his chest.
Carol lifted her chin in defiance. âLooks like youâll never be anything more than a good-time man, chasing from one rodeo to the next, whooping it up and turning every day into a cowboy Saturday night.â
Scowling, Pete flung an impatient hand at her and turned away. âGo home, Carol. Back to your house and the roots you want so badly. Iâm not the man for you. I never was.â
So why did he have to tamp down his instincts to block her exit, to take her into his arms, when she headed for the door�
Dear Reader,
This Fourth of July, join in the fireworks of Silhouetteâs 20>th anniversary year by reading all six powerful, passionate, provocative love stories from Silhouette Desire!
Julyâs MAN OF THE MONTH is a Bachelor Doctor by Barbara Boswell. Sparks ignite when a dedicated doctor discovers his passion for his loyal nurse!
With Midnight Fantasy, beloved author Ann Major launches an exciting new promotion in Desire called BODY & SOUL. Our BODY & SOUL books are among the most sensuous and emotionally intense youâll ever read. Every woman wants to be lovedâ¦BODY & SOUL, and in these books youâll find a heady combination of breathtaking love and tumultuous desire.
Amy J. Fetzer continues her popular WIFE, INC. miniseries with Wife for Hire. Enjoy Ride a Wild Heart, the first sexy installment of Peggy Morelandâs miniseries TEXAS GROOMS. This month, Desire offers you a terrific two-books-in-one valueâBlood Brothers by Anne McAllister and Lucy Gordon. A British lord and an American cowboy are look-alike cousins who switch lives temporarilyâ¦and lose their hearts for good in this romance equivalent of a doubleheader. And donât miss the debut of Kristi Gold, with her moving love story Cowboy for Keepsâitâs a keeper!
So make your summer sizzleâtreat yourself to all six of these sultry Desire romances!
Happy Reading!
Joan Marlow Golan
Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire
In memory of Tommy Wilson McCarley,
January 27, 1952âFebruary 7, 1971. A true cowboy and a gentlemanâ¦and my first true love.
A special thanks to bronc rider Travis Ring
for answering a zillion questions about rodeos and bronc riding. Your willingness to share information is a testament to the Cowboy Code.
published her first romance with Silhouette in 1989. Sheâs a natural storyteller with a sense of humor that will tickle your fancy, and Peggyâs goal is to write a story that readers will remember long after the last page is turned. Winner of the 1992 National Readersâ 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.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
There were times in a cowboyâs life when eight seconds seemed like a lifetime.
For Pete Dugan those times were few and far between.
Not that he considered himself any more talented than the other bronc riders he competed against, nor did he feel he had more nerve. He just loved rodeoing. The lights, the crowds, the sleepless nights on the road chasing from one town to the next, the people, the camaraderie. The thrill of climbing onto the back of a mean-tempered bronc.
And this rodeo was no different from any other. Country music pulsed from a state-of-the-art sound system, while cowboys milled behind the chutes, shooting the breeze and joking around, passing the time until it was their turn to compete. The air all but crackled with the energy created by wired nerves and was thick with dueling scentsâsome enticing and drifting from the concession area, others earthy and familiar and associated with the roughstock penned behind the chutes.
Feeling the rush of adrenaline that every ride drew, Pete hitched a boot high on a rail of the chute and pulled himself up to look out over the rodeo arena. Dust thickened the air around the chutes, churned by the livestock, but through it Pete had a fair view of the filled stands.
A full house, he thought, and began to smile. And a noisy one. He liked that. Crowds made some cowboys nervous, but not Pete. He liked playing to a full house. And he liked his broncs full, tooâ¦electric, even a little rank.
The blue roan heâd drawn for the Mesquite Championship Rodeo was just such an animal, a high roller who shot straight up in the air right out of the chute and continued that sky-high bucking throughout the eight-second ride. Though Pete knew the horse heâd drawn, Diablo, would score high with the judges, he also knew the remainder of the points were his to earn.