She Just Wasnât The One-Night-Stand Kind Of Woman.
Rounding the edge of the old brick building, she looked up and saw Dan Mahoney. Arms folded across his chest, feet crossed at the ankles, he stared at her from across the lot, and even at a distance, Angela felt the power, the hunger, in his gaze.
Parts of her body struggling back to life throbbed and hummed with an electrical pulse. As she started toward him, her heels tapped loudly against the asphalt and kept time with the pounding of her heart.
He leaned toward her. âSo, Angela,â he said softly, his voice whispering along her spine. âDo we still have a date?â
One last chance to back out, she told herself. To forget about the craziness of what sheâd been planning and go home alone. But she knew that he was exactly what she needed. What she wanted.
There would be no backing out.
Not tonightâ¦
Dear Reader,
As we celebrate Silhouetteâs 20>th anniversary year as a romance publisher, we invite you to welcome in the fall season with our latest six powerful, passionate, provocative love stories from Silhouette Desire!
In Septemberâs MAN OF THE MONTH, fabulous Peggy Moreland offers a Slow Waltz Across Texas. In order to win his wife back, a rugged Texas cowboy must learn to let love into his heart. Popular author Jennifer Greene delivers a special treat for you with Rock Solid, which is part of the highly sensual Desire promotion, BODY & SOUL.
Maureen Childâs exciting miniseries, BACHELOR BATTALION, continues with The Next Santini Bride, a responsible single mom who cuts loose with a handsome Marine. The next installment of the provocative Desire miniseries FORTUNEâS CHILDREN: THE GROOMS is Mail-Order Cinderella by Kathryn Jensen, in which a plain-Jane librarian seeks a husband through a matchmaking service and winds up with a Fortune! Ryanne Corey returns to Desire with a Lady with a Past, whose true love woos her with a chocolate picnic. And a nurse loses her virginity to a doctor in a night of passion, only to find out the next day that her lover is her new boss, in Doctor for Keeps by Kristi Gold.
Be sure to indulge yourself this autumn by reading all six of these tantalizing titles from Silhouette Desire!
Enjoy!
Joan Marlow Golan
Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire
To my cousins, Jimmy and Doris Semon, who showed us
just how beautiful Louisiana really is. Thank you for everything, you guys. We love you.
was born and raised in Southern California and is the only person she knows who longs for an occasional change of season. She is delighted to be writing for Silhouette Books and is especially excited to be a part of the Desire line.
An avid reader, Maureen looks forward to those rare rainy California days when she can curl up and sink into a good book. Or two. When she isnât busy writing, she and her husband of twenty-five years like to travel, leaving their two grown children in charge of the neurotic golden retriever who is the real head of the household. Maureen is also an award-winning historical writer under the names Kathleen Kane and Ann Carberry.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Epilogue
âNo man has a right to be that good-looking,â Angela Santini Jackson said, nodding toward a man standing on the opposite side of the room.
Her sister Marie Garvey leaned in close and whispered, âHe is a hunk, isnât he?â
Hunk barely covered it. The man had to be six feet four inches of solid muscle. His cheekbones were sharp enough to draw blood, and his eyes were a pale, brilliant green that seemed to glitter in his deeply tanned face.
He looked, Angela thought, like the poster boy for a donât-let-your-daughter-near-this-man campaign. She smiled to herself. He looked her way, and their gazes locked. Embarrassed to be caught staring, Angela quickly realized she had two choices hereâglance away quickly and pretend to be obliviousâ¦or meet his gaze squarely and refuse to back down.
She went with the latter. After all, it was a free world. A woman should have the right to look at anyone she wanted to. Right?
A long minute or two passed in silent observation. All around them people wandered about the private dining room of the Bayside Crab Shack. Her youngest sisterâs rehearsal dinner was almost over, and now the wedding party and their guests had time to chat. She heard snatches of conversations without really registering them. She knew her sister Marie was talking to her, but her voice sounded more like an annoying background buzz than anything else.
All she saw, all she focused on, was him. His eyes. The way he stood in the middle of everything and yet separate and apart from the crowd. It was as if he was off in his own world and was drawing her in there with him.
She shifted slightly in her seat, fought down the rush of warmth that slammed through her, and still couldnât look away.