Michael's Temptation. Eileen Wilks

      The Ground Was Hard.

      The Woman He Held Was Soft.

      Michael didn’t hold out much hope of sleep.

      But Alyssa was asleep. Soundly, peacefully asleep. That baffled him. Oh, the exertions of the past day and night had been enough to make stone feel as comfortable as a feather bed…but she’d curled into him so trustingly. That’s what didn’t make sense.

      He’d made it clear he wanted her. She’d made it clear she didn’t want him. Oh, on a physical level she did. Michael wished he could take some satisfaction from that truth, but he couldn’t. Not when it was him she rejected—his actions, his choices, his career. His life.

      Yet she was snuggled up as warm and cozy as if they’d slept together for years. As if she trusted him completely. What was a man supposed to make of that?

      Dear Reader,

      Welcome to Silhouette Desire! We’re delighted to offer you again this month six passionate, powerful and provocative romances sure to please you.

      Start with December’s fabulous MAN OF THE MONTH, A Cowboy’s Promise. This latest title in Anne McAllister’s popular CODE OF THE WEST miniseries features a rugged Native American determined to win back the woman he left three years before. Then discover The Secret Life of Connor Monahan in Elizabeth Bevarly’s tale of a vice cop who mistakenly surmises that a prim and proper restaurateur is operating a call-girl ring.

      The sizzling miniseries 20 AMBER COURT concludes with Anne Marie Winston’s Risqué Business, in which a loyal employee tries to prevent a powerful CEO with revenge on his mind from taking over the company she thinks of as her family. Reader favorite Maureen Child delivers the next installment of another exciting miniseries, THE FORTUNES OF TEXAS: THE LOST HEIRS. In Did You Say Twins?! a marine sergeant inherits twin daughters and is forced to turn for help to the woman who refused his marriage proposal ten years before.

      The sexy hero of Michael’s Temptation, the last book in Eileen Wilks’s TALL, DARK & ELIGIBLE miniseries, goes to Central America to rescue a lovely lady who’s been captured by guerrillas. And sparks fly when a smooth charmer and a sassy tomboy are brought together by their shared inheritance of an Australian horse farm in Brownyn Jameson’s Addicted to Nick.

      Take time out from the holiday rush and treat yourself to all six of these not-to-be-missed romances.

      Enjoy,

      Joan Marlow Golan

      Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

      Michael’s Temptation

      Eileen Wilks

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

       EILEEN WILKS

      is a fifth-generation Texan. Her great-great-grandmother came to Texas in a covered wagon shortly after the end of the Civil War—excuse us, the War Between the States. But she’s not a full-blooded Texan. Right after another war, her Texan father fell for a Yankee woman. This obviously mismatched pair proceeded to travel to nine cities in three countries in the first twenty years of their marriage, raising two kids and innumerable dogs and cats along the way. For the next twenty years they stayed put, back home in Texas again—and still together.

      Eileen figures her professional career matches her nomadic upbringing, since she’s tried everything from drafting to a brief stint as a ranch hand—raising two children and any number of cats and dogs along the way. Not until she started writing did she “stay put,” because that’s when she knew she’d come home. Readers can write to her at P.O. Box 4612, Midland, TX 79704-4612.

      This one’s for Glenda,

      who wanted to read about a woman minister

      who didn’t fit the stereotypes,

      with special thanks to my editor, Mary-Theresa Hussey,

      and

      to Desire Senior Editor Joan Marlow Golan,

      for making it possible.

      Contents

       Prologue

       Chapter One

       Chapter Two

       Chapter Three

       Chapter Four

       Chapter Five

       Chapter Six

       Chapter Seven

       Chapter Eight

       Chapter Nine

       Chapter Ten

       Chapter Eleven

       Chapter Twelve

       Chapter Thirteen

       Epilogue

      Prologue

      The sky growled. Lightning shattered the darkness, flashing an image of heavy wood and wet stone. The gargoyle flanking the door leered at him in the brief burst of light as he fitted his key to the lock.

      Rain and darkness suited the old house, Michael thought as he swung the door open. Suited his mood, too.

      The only light in the foyer came from a Christmas tree winking at him merrily from one corner. The wide stairwell was dark, and no light came from the hall that led to his brother’s office.

      Jacob wouldn’t be in bed yet. The playroom, maybe. Michael’s boots squeaked on the marble floor, reminding him that he was dripping wet.

      Ada wouldn’t thank him for tracking water all over. He stopped by a high-backed wooden chair that resembled a throne and pulled off his boots and leather jacket. Before tossing the jacket on the chair, he pulled a thick envelope from an inner pocket.

      His steps were soundless now as he made his way to the back of the house. He paused in the doorway to the playroom.

      The lights were off. A fire burned in the fireplace, hot and bright, tossing shadows along the walls. The windows were bare to the night, rain-washed, and the limb of one young elm tapped against the glass like fretful fingers. Jacob sat in the wing chair beside the fireplace, his legs outstretched, his face turned to the fire. He held a brandy snifter in one hand.

      Michael smiled. “Snob. That expensive French stuff doesn’t taste any better than what I can get at the grocery store for 12.95 a bottle.”

      If he’d