Luke's Promise. Eileen Wilks

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      It Was Going To Be A Seduction, After All.

      Maggie pulled the brush through her hair and brooded over the sheer contrariness of the man she was more or less married to. After kissing her silly that first night, then teasing and tantalizing her the next day, Luke had either lost interest or suffered a pang of conscience. He hadn’t touched her since.

      How could a woman let a man know she wanted him when he treated the very idea of sex between them as a joke? Maggie tossed the brush on the bed. Hard.

      Today they were driving to Dallas. She would sneak off to Victoria’s Secret and buy a couple of sexy nightgowns. And just what did she do then? she asked herself as she left her room. Parade around the house in a few scraps of satin and lace and hope he’d be swept away by lust?

      Maybe she should level with him. By the way, Luke, I was hoping you could train me in something other than riding. Mind if we go to bed so you can make a woman out of me?

      Dear Reader,

      Welcome to Silhouette Desire, where every month you can count on finding six passionate, powerful and provocative romances.

      The fabulous Dixie Browning brings us November’s MAN OF THE MONTH, Rocky and the Senator’s Daughter, in which a heroine on the verge of scandal arouses the protective and sensual instincts of a man who knew her as a teenager. Then Leanne Banks launches her exciting Desire miniseries, THE ROYAL DUMONTS, with Royal Dad, the timeless story of a prince who falls in love with his son’s American tutor.

      The Bachelorette, Kate Little’s lively contribution to our 20 AMBER COURT miniseries, features a wealthy businessman who buys a date with a “plain Jane” at a charity auction. The intriguing miniseries SECRETS! continues with Sinclair’s Surprise Baby, Barbara McCauley’s tale of a rugged bachelor with amnesia who’s stunned to learn he’s the father of a love child.

      In Luke’s Promise by Eileen Wilks, we meet the second TALL, DARK & ELIGIBLE brother, a gorgeous rancher who tries to respect his wife-of-convenience’s virtue, while she looks to him for lessons in lovemaking! And, finally, in Gail Dayton’s delightful Hide-and-Sheikh, a lovely security specialist and a sexy sheikh play a game in which both lose their hearts…and win a future together.

      So treat yourself to all six of these not-to-be-missed stories. You deserve the pleasure!

      Enjoy,

      Joan Marlow Golan

      Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

      Luke’s Promise

      Eileen Wilks

      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. 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.

      My heartfelt thanks to Mary Casper

       for her invaluable assistance about the stabling and

       training of horses for three-day eventing. Chances are,

       whatever I got right is due to her input. Thanks, Mary.

      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

      One

      Monday, November 26th

       11:52 a.m.

      Damned if he was going to let his brother get away with this.

      Luke slammed the door to his Dodge Ram hard enough to loosen the hinges and sprinted up the steps of the big old house. He didn’t press the doorbell tucked inside the gargoyle’s mouth. Jacob always insisted this was still his brothers’ house as much as it was his, though Luke and Michael didn’t live there anymore.

      After today, Luke’s big brother just might reconsider his open-door policy. He jammed his key into the lock and swung the door open.

      It was noon, lunchtime for most people. But Luke headed for Jacob’s office, not the kitchen or dining room, betting that’s where he’d find his quarry. Jacob would be doing what he did best—making deals, making money.

      Luke shoved the door open so hard it bounced off the wall. “Good. You’re alone.”

      His brother’s only reaction was to look up from the papers stacked in tidy piles on his desk, his expression remote. “Yes. Sonia’s in Georgia, cooing over her new grandbaby. And my new assistant doesn’t start until tomorrow.”

      “I just bought Fine Dandy.”

      Jacob’s left eyebrow lifted. “Maggie’s horse?”

      “You know damned well it is.” Luke paced over to the desk, planted his hands on it, and leaned forward. “I thought you’d be good for her. All this time you’ve been seeing her, I thought—but you let her sonofabitching father put her horse up for sale!”

      “Wait a minute. If you’re talking about Maggie Stewart—”

      “Of course I’m talking about Maggie Stewart!” Luke turned and paced the length of the office in several quick steps. “Are you telling me you didn’t know about Fine Dandy? Maggie didn’t tell you what her father was doing?”

      Jacob shook his head.

      Luke’s breath gusted out. It looked like he’d built up a good head of steam over nothing. It wasn’t the first time. He jammed his hands into his back pockets. “You can buy him off me, then, I guess. My head groom should be picking him up right about now…you can board him with me until Maggie decides what she wants to do.” When Jacob’s eyebrow lifted, he added irritably. “Quit with the Mr. Spock look.”

      “You know my situation. Cash is tight right now with the Steller deal still up in the air, and it will be months before we’re able to dissolve the trust. If Fine Dandy’s purchase puts you in a bind I’ll help as much as I can, but—”

      “I don’t need your help,” Luke snapped. “Dandy should come from you, that’s all. Since you’re her fiancé.” Luke hadn’t said it out loud until that second. The words tasted even more foul than he’d expected.

      “No.”

      “What do you mean, no? Don’t you care what that horse means to her? Or are you more like her father than I thought—determined to mold her in some image of your own?”

      “Luke.”