The Prince's Cowboy Double
When the Prince of Belegovia deserted his royal tour of Texas to take an impromptu holiday with a blond waitress, his PR coordinator needed to do some serious damage control. Desperate, prim-and-proper Lady Gwendolyn Reed hired rodeo star Hank McCauley–a dead ringer for the roaming royal–to stand in until the prince's return.But would Lady Gwendolyn be able to tame this willful Texan into the picture of dutiful decorum? Or would Hank seduce the stunning aristocrat into letting down her hair…and more?
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“I have a proposition for you.”
Hank McCauley grinned. “That’s a surprise, darlin’, especially this early in the day.”
“A business proposition,” Gwendolyn clarified. “I represent the royal family of Belegovia on this trip to the United States. Unfortunately, Prince Alexi has disappeared.”
“Oh, yeah. I saw that prince on television. Looks like he could be my twin. I don’t know what I can do for you, Lady Wendy. That prince is sure not hiding out on my ranch.”
She took a deep breath. “No, but for all intents and purposes, he could be here.”
“Whoa!” Hank pulled his attention away from her quality attributes. “Don’t tell me you want me to pretend to be this prince until he shows up?”
“I need your assistance, Mr. McCauley, and I’m prepared to make it worth your while.”
“Lady Wendy, you shouldn’t ever leave an offer like that on the table to a real Texan.”
Dear Reader,
Happy New Year! January is an exciting month here at Mills & Boon American Romance. It marks the beginning of a yearlong celebration of our 20th anniversary. Come indulge with us for twelve months of supersatisfying reads by your favorite authors and exciting newcomers, too!
Throughout 2003, we’ll be bringing you some not-to-miss miniseries. This month, bestselling author Muriel Jensen inaugurates MILLIONAIRE, MONTANA, our newest in-line continuity, with Jackpot Baby. This exciting six-book series is set in a small Montana town whose residents win a forty-million-dollar lottery jackpot. But winning a fortune comes with a price and no one’s life will ever be the same again.
Next, Commander’s Little Surprise, the latest book in Mollie Molay’s GROOMS IN UNIFORM series, is a must-read secret-baby and reunion romance with a strong hero you won’t be able to resist. Victoria Chancellor premieres her new A ROYAL TWIST miniseries in which a runaway prince and his horse-wrangling look-alike switch places. Don’t miss The Prince’s Cowboy Double, the first book in this delightful duo. Finally, when a small Alaskan town desperately needs a doctor, there’s only one man who can do the job, in Under Alaskan Skies by Carol Grace.
So come join in the celebrating and start your year off right—by reading all four Mills & Boon American Romance books!
Melissa Jeglinski
Associate Senior Editor
Mills & Boon American Romance
To my literary agent, Linda Kruger, for her consistent
support in good times and bad. Here’s to the future!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
After twenty-eight years in Texas, VICTORIA CHANCELLOR has almost qualified for “naturalized Texan” status. She lives in a suburb of Dallas with her husband of thirty-one years, next door to her daughter, who is an English teacher. When not writing, she tends to her “zoo” of four cats, a ferret, five tortoises, a wide assortment of wild birds, three visiting chickens and several families of raccoons and opossums. For more information on past and future releases, please visit her Web site at www.victoriachancellor.com.
Books by Victoria Chancellor
MILLS & BOON AMERICAN ROMANCE
844—THE BACHELOR PROJECT
884—THE BEST BLIND DATE IN TEXAS
955—THE PRINCE’S COWBOY DOUBLE*
Contents
Chapter One
Lady Gwendolyn Reed straightened her plum wool suit jacket, squared her shoulders in the best tradition of the British nobility, and watched the so-called cowboy approach the screen door from inside the darkened house. Backlit by a window at the end of the hallway, he appeared tall and broad shouldered. Instead of hurrying, as would be proper in this situation, he sauntered with a rolling gait she’d only seen previously in Western films.
A tiny bead of perspiration traveled down her back, keeping time with the cowboy’s slow, steady pace. Who would have imagined early May would be so dashedly hot, even in Texas?
Gwendolyn resisted the urge to tap her foot on the wide wooden planks. She didn’t want to be here. Looking back briefly to the black Land Rover parked in the gravel drive, she was at least assured she wasn’t alone. A very nervous valet watched her from behind tinted glass. The driver—an Austin resident who had grown up driving on the wrong side of the motor-ways—appeared stoic and unaffected, as usual.
One must have nerves of steel to negotiate the frightening dual carriageways and twisting rural roads of Texas, where everyone drove large vehicles—from huge lorries to caravans on holiday—at an alarming rate of speed.
“Mr. Hank McCauley?” she asked as the man stopped before her.
“That’s me, darlin’,” he drawled, running a hand through his too-long hair. He opened the thin barrier of the screen door and stepped outside. Dressed in low-slung jeans, a white towel draped around his shoulders, he appeared as though he’d recently stepped out of the shower. His long bare feet told her she’d interrupted his morning—his very late morning—grooming. His stubble indicated he hadn’t shaved yet today. He ran a hand through sun-streaked, tousled brown hair.
