Let it Ride. Katherine Garbera

ction>

      

      “Mind If I Join You?” Deacon Prescott Sank Down Next To Her On The Brocade Love Seat Without Waiting For An Answer.

      “I guess not,” Kylie said wryly.

      “I knew you wouldn’t.”

      “Really? Why is that?” she asked.

      “Because of fate,” Deacon said.

      “Fate?” To Kylie, the man who’d boldly taken the seat beside her didn’t look like he left much to destiny. There was a will of pure steel under his five-hundred-dollar suit.

      “Angel, I’m all about chance and luck,” he answered.

      She couldn’t help but smile. Deacon Prescott was very charming, but his manner had an air of ritual to it. She might be unsophisticated, but she had the feeling she wasn’t the first woman to hear these lines from him. Knowing this, Kylie tried her best not to be interested in him, but she knew she was holding a losing hand….

      Dear Reader,

      Welcome to another compelling month of powerful, passionate and provocative love stories from Silhouette Desire. You asked for it…you got it…more Dynasties! Our newest continuity, DYNASTIES: THE DANFORTHS, launches this month with Barbara McCauley’s The Cinderella Scandal. Set in Savannah, Georgia, and filled with plenty of family drama and sensuality, this new twelve-book series will thrill you for the entire year.

      There is one sexy air force pilot to be found between the pages of the incomparable Merline Lovelace’s Full Throttle, part of her TO PROTECT AND DEFEND series. And the fabulous Justine Davis is back in Silhouette Desire with Midnight Seduction, a fiery tale in her REDSTONE, INCORPORATED series.

      If it’s a whirlwind Vegas wedding you’re looking for (and who isn’t?) then be sure to pick up the third title in Katherine Garbera’s KING OF HEARTS miniseries, Let It Ride. The fabulous TEXAS CATTLEMAN’S CLUB: THE STOLEN BABY series continues this month with Kathie DeNosky’s tale of unforgettable passion, Remembering One Wild Night. And finally, welcome new author Amy Jo Cousins to the Desire lineup with her superhot contribution, At Your Service.

      I hope all of the Silhouette Desire titles this month will fulfill your every fantasy.

      Melissa Jeglinski

      Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

      Let It Ride

      Katherine Garbera

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      KATHERINE GARBERA

      has had fun working as a production page, lifeguard, secretary and VIP tour guide, but those occupations pale when compared to creating worlds where true love conquers all and wounded hearts are healed. Writing romance novels is the perfect job for her. She’s always had a vivid imagination and believes strongly in happily-ever-after. She’s married to the man she met in Walt Disney World’s Fantasyland. They live in Central Florida with their two children. Readers can visit her on the Web at katherinegarbera.com.

      To my parents, David and Charlotte Smith, who never say no when it’s in their power to say yes, and who always support me with their love.

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

      Thanks to Mary Louise Wells who took time out of her busy schedule to help me. Thanks also to Allie Pleiter who was my partner in adventure in Vegas. I think we’re the only two people to visit Sin City and not gamble a cent! Also thanks to Blossom and Bubbles—it’d be no fun fighting crime (or writing romance) without you two!—Buttercup

      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

      Epilogue

      Prologue

      “Did you discover anything being a woman?” Didi asked me when I appeared in front of her.

      The body-disappearing thing still made me crazy. Twenty-five years as a mob capo ordering hits and living large had not prepared me for life after death. I’d cut a deal with God, or rather with Didi, God’s emissary at the Pearly Gates. And now I was a freakin’ matchmaker to the lovelorn. It wasn’t as bad as I made out to Didi, but the skinny-angel broad got on my nerves and I didn’t want her to know that I actually liked doing these good deeds.

      However, I didn’t like the surprise she’d left me with last time, sending me to Earth in a woman’s body. No man should ever have that experience. “I didn’t,” I answered her. “This time I want an assignment where I get to be a guy. Not an old fart, either.”

      “Was it a hard adjustment?” she asked. I didn’t like her tone. But then, I didn’t have to like her. Staying up here, instead of going to hell, was a heck of a deal.

      “Let’s skip to the good part. Just give me one where I can be a guy.”

      A large pile of file folders materialized on the desk. I took pride in the fact that though the stack still was big, it was lighter by two.

      She smiled at me, which I didn’t trust. Despite being an angel, this one had a mean streak in her.

      “How about one in Vegas?” she asked.

      Now I really didn’t trust her when she was being nice to me. “Am I going to be a showgirl?”

      She laughed. She wasn’t half-bad-looking when she smiled. “Not this time.”

      She was trying to scare me again. It wasn’t going to work. I’d faced a man with a loaded Glock and hadn’t quivered.

      “This one is special.”

      Special. The word echoed in my head and I shuddered. Merda, I didn’t know if getting to heaven was worth all of this. “How special?”

      “You’ll see,” was all she said.

      I opened the file and scanned it. The chick, Kylie Smith, was a secretary from Los Angeles. The guy, Deacon Prescott—he was my kind of guy. He’d grown up on the streets and worked as an enforcer for the Vegas mob.

      “This one doesn’t look so tough,” I said to Didi.

      “Good. Then you won’t have any problems.”

      My body dissolved before I could retaliate. Didi liked having the last word. But that was okay. I was on the Vegas strip, standing in front of one of the newer casinos, and for the first time since I’d died, I felt like my fate wasn’t so bad.

      One

      Deacon Prescott leaned closer to the ten-inch security monitor and found the woman of his dreams. Her features were indistinguishable. But every other detail was perfect.

      Her brown hair was caught at the back of her neck; her clothing was understated—elegant. He zoomed the camera in for a closer look.

      “Perfect,” he muttered. She was everything he’d been searching for. She had classic bone structure and a sedate hairstyle, everything he’d been hoping to find in a wife and never expected to see in the lobby of