A Whole Lot of Love. Justine Davis

      “You Are Beautiful,” Ethan Said.

      She stared at him. He’d sounded utterly sincere.

      “And I don’t mean all the usual stuff, that you’re smart, and kind, and compassionate, and that that makes you beautiful. Although it’s all true. I mean beautiful in the literal sense.”

      Layla was having trouble breathing. She could only continue to stare at him. It wasn’t that she hadn’t been told all this before. But never like this, or by a man like Ethan.

      “I mean it,” he said. “I just realized I’ve been looking at women I would have found attractive once, and all I can think of is how skinny they are.”

      He focused on her suddenly. She felt a bit dizzy, then realized she was holding her breath. She let it out, slowly.

      “Come to dinner with me,” he said suddenly.

      “I’ll go change,” she said softly.

      Move over, Cinderella.

      Dear Reader,

      Spring is in the air…and so is romance. Especially at Silhouette, where we’re celebrating our 20^th anniversary throughout 2000! And Silhouette Desire promises you six powerful, passionate, provocative love stories every month.

      Fabulous Anne McAllister offers an irresistible MAN OF THE MONTH with A Cowboy’s Secret. A rugged cowboy fears his darkest secret will separate him from the beauty he loves.

      Bestselling author Leanne Banks continues her exciting miniseries LONE STAR FAMILIES: THE LOGANS with a sexy bachelor doctor in The Doctor Wore Spurs. In A Whole Lot of Love, Justine Davis tells the emotional story of a full-figured woman feeling worthy of love for the first time.

      Kathryn Jensen returns to Desire with another wonderful fairy-tale romance, The Earl Takes a Bride. THE BABY BANK, a brand-new theme promotion in Desire in which love is found through sperm bank babies, debuts with The Pregnant Virgin by Anne Eames. And be sure to enjoy another BRIDAL BID story, which continues with Carol Devine’s Marriage for Sale, in which the hero “buys” the heroine at auction.

      We hope you plan to usher in the spring season with all six of these supersensual romances, only from Silhouette Desire!

      Enjoy!

      Joan Marlow Golan

      Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

      A Whole Lot of Love

      Justine Davis

      

www.millsandboon.co.uk

      This is for all the big girls

       who have felt the sting of careless cruelty.

      JUSTINE DAVIS

      lives in San Clemente, California. Her interests outside of writing are sailing, doing needlework, horseback riding and driving her restored 1967 Corvette roadster—top down, of course.

      A policewoman, Justine says that years ago, a young man she worked with encouraged her to try for a promotion to a position that was, at that time, occupied only by men. “I succeeded, became wrapped up in my new job, and that man moved away, never, I thought, to be heard from again. Ten years later he appeared out of the woods of Washington State, saying he’d never forgotten me and would I please marry him. With that history, how could I write anything but romance?”

      Contents

      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

      Chapter Fifteen

      Epilogue

      Author’s Note

      One

      “You wouldn’t be averse to selling your body for a good cause, would you?”

      Ethan Winslow’s first thought was that this woman had the sexiest voice he’d ever heard. His second was that if he didn’t pay attention, he would end up following that low, husky, seductive, downright erotic voice into who knew what kind of mess.

      “Look, Ms….”

      “Laraway.”

      “Ms. Laraway, I appreciate your effort, but I’d just as soon write a check.”

      She laughed. Damn, the laugh was even sexier, deep and sensual. “We’ll gladly take that, too. But we’d really like something more…corporeal, as well.”

      “My backside on the block?” he asked wryly.

      “I’ve heard it’s a fine backside.”

      She said it so cheerfully that he found himself grinning in spite of himself. He was sitting here casually discussing his backside, and the auctioning off of same, with a woman he’d never met but who had the kind of voice that gave men X-rated dreams.

      “And who told you that?”

      “Oh, you have many fans in town, Mr. Winslow.”

      Are you one of them? he wondered almost hopefully. If she looked anything like her voice, he might reconsider doing something about his dismal social life.

      “Surely you wouldn’t want to disappoint them?” the voice said. “You could bring in the largest donation of the night, from what I’ve been told.”

      “You’ve been told,” he said, “way too much.”

      “It’s a character flaw,” she said with a dramatic sigh. “People talk to me.”

      Ethan laughed. It felt odd, and he wondered if his baby sister was right and he really had become too darn serious. He leaned back in his chair, turning his head slightly to avoid being toasted by the southern California sun pouring through his office window.

      “I can see why,” he said.

      “They also find it very hard to say no to me.”

      He didn’t doubt it; he wondered if there was a man on earth who could listen to this voice for long and still say no. To whatever she asked. He wondered idly if she’d found her way into this work because she knew the effect it had, that voice. Maybe she’d learned somewhere along the way that she could use it to loosen the wallet of any male.

      At least she’d chosen to use it in a good way, if that were the case, he thought.

      “You see,” she went on, “I’m very…persistent.”

      “So are bill collectors.”

      She laughed, that wonderful laugh again. “Some people see it that way, I know. But I prefer to think of it more like a puppy begging at the table, with big sad eyes that you try to ignore but can’t. Then you end up feeling guilty and give them what they want.”

      He chuckled. “So, you admit you use guilt?”

      “Absolutely,” she answered blithely. “It’s one of my best tools. Besides, once people give, they feel so much better.”

      His