Bride Candidate #9. Susan Crosby

      “I’m Asking You To Marry Me, Ariel.” Letter to Reader Title Page About the Author Dedication 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 Chapter Fourteen Teaser chapter Copyright

      “I’m Asking You To Marry Me, Ariel.”

      “Why?”

      

      “What do you mean, why? Why does any man ask a woman to marry him?”

      

      “We hardly know each other, Luke. Why are you putting me on the spot like this?” She stood abruptly, needing to get away from the ring Luke had taken out of the box and held now between his thumb and forefinger, as if he could just slide it right on her hand, branding her as his. “Tell me why, after six days, you’ve come to the decision that we could spend the rest of our lives together.”

      

      “We’re sexually compatible, we like each other and I don’t think you’d object to having a large family. I know all I need to know.”

      

      It was easier to argue with him than to dissect her feelings right then—and the fact that he wasn’t mentioning love....

      Dear Reader,

      

      Where do you read Silhouette Desire? Sitting in your favorite chair? How about standing in line at the market or swinging in the sunporch hammock? Or do you hold out the entire day, waiting for all your distractions to dissolve around you, only to open a Desire novel once you’re in a relaxing bath or resting against your softest pillow...? Wherever you indulge in Silhouette Desire, we know you do so with anticipation, and that’s why we bring you the absolute best in romance fiction.

      

      This month, look forward to talented Jennifer Greene’s A Baby in His In-Box, where a sexy tutor gives March’s MAN OF THE MONTH private lessons on sudden fatherhood. And in the second adorable tale of Elizabeth Bevarty’s BLAME IT ON BOB series, Beauty and the Brain, a lady discovers she’s still starry-eyed over her secret high school crush. Next, Susan Crosby takes readers on The Great Wife Search in Bride Candidate #9.

      

      And don’t miss a single kiss delivered by these delectable men: a roguish rancher in Amy J. Fetzer’s The Unlikely Bodyguard; the strong, silent corporate hunk in the latest book m the RIGHT BRIDE, WRONG GROOM series, Switched at the Altar, by Metsy Hingle; and Eileen Wilks’s mouthwatering honorable Texas hero in Just a Little Bit Pregnant.

      

      So, no matter where you read, I know what you’ll be reading—all six of March’s irresistible Silhouette Desire love stories!

      

      Regards,

      Melissa Senate

       Senior Editor Silhouette Desire

      Please address questions and book requests to:

      Silhouette Reader Service U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269 Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

      Bride Candidate #9

      Susan Crosby

      

      

www.millsandboon.co.uk

      SUSAN CROSBY

      

      is fascinated by the special and complex communication of courtship, and so she burrows m her office to dream up warm, strong heroes and good-hearted, self-reliant heroines to satisfy her own love of happy endings.

      

      She and her husband have two grown sons and live in the central valley of California. She spent a mere 7½ years getting through college, and finally earned a B.A. in English a few years ago. She has worked as a synchronized swimming instructor, a personnel interviewer at a toy factory, and a trucking company manager. Involved for many years behind the scenes in a local community theater, she has made only one stage appearance—as the rear end of a camel! Variety, she says, makes for more interesting novels.

      

      Readers are welcome to write to her at P.O. Box 1836, Loch, CA 95241.

      For Charlotte Brewer, an extraordinary bookseller and a treasured friend, with love and thanks. You’ve made such a difference in my life.

      One

      It was a short list, considering he was thirty-four years old, financially secure, reasonably good-looking and practically a household name. Luke Walker leaned back in his office chair and held a piece of paper aloft, contemplating the list he’d typed a few days ago while experimenting with his new computer. A nice, neat list of names. Eight potential candidates for the permanent job of Mrs Lucas Walker.

      Luke flipped the paper onto his desktop, then spun his chair to face the window behind him and the view of the mountains, frosted with fresh January snow, looking as stark and daunting as his life.

      Too many changes at once. He acknowledged that. After a lifetime of knowing who and what he was, he no longer had a clue. But an offhanded question from a reporter recently had planted an idea—now was as good a time as any to settle down and start a family. After all, the more new roles he could assume, the quicker he could find out where he would settle for the rest of his life.

      He heard his office door open and close.

      “Luke, your two-o’clock appointment is here.”

      He searched his memory, drawing a blank, before he turned around. “I have an appointment?”

      The assistant he’d inherited strode to his computer, punched a few keys and brought up his date book. “There. Two o’clock. Ariel Minx.”

      “Ariel Minx?” He leaned forward to look at the monitor himself. “Hell must’ve frozen over.”

      Silence hovered between them for a few