Baby and The Beast. Laura Wright

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      “Fifteen Years Ago You And Your Father Took Me In, Bella—Treated Me Like Family. It’s A Debt I’ve Never Forgotten. And One I Intend To Repay.”

      He graced her with a slash of a smile. “You’re welcome to stay as long as you want.”

      “That’s a very generous thing to say. But you don’t owe me anything. One night’s stay is all I’ll be—”

      “We’ll see about that,” he interrupted. “We’ll see what the doctor says tomorrow.”

      “All right, Michael,” she said, too tired to argue. “But I don’t want to take your room from you. I can move into a guest room or—”

      “That’s not necessary.” His smoky gaze briefly scanned hers. “You look very comfortable right here in my bed.”

      Her eyes widened. One night. Just one night.

      He regarded her for a moment; then he turned to leave.

      “It’s good to see you again,” she called after him.

      He paused in the doorframe but didn’t look back. “It’s good to see you, too, Bella.”

      Dear Reader,

      ’Tis the season to read six passionate, powerful and provocative love stories from Silhouette Desire!

      Savor A Cowboy & a Gentleman (#1477), December’s MAN OF THE MONTH, by beloved author Ann Major. A lonesome cowboy rekindles an old flame in this final title of our MAN OF THE MONTH promotion. MAN OF THE MONTH has had a memorable fourteen-year run and now it’s time to make room for other exciting innovations, such as DYNASTIES: THE BARONES, a Boston-based Romeo-and-Juliet continuity with a happy ending, which launches next month, and—starting in June 2003—Desire’s three-book sequel to Silhouette’s out-of-series continuity THE LONE STAR COUNTRY CLUB. Desire’s popular TEXAS CATTLEMAN’S CLUB continuity also returns in 2003, beginning in November.

      This month DYNASTIES: THE CONNELLYS concludes with Cherokee Marriage Dare (#1478) by Sheri WhiteFeather, a riveting tale featuring a former Green Beret who rescues the youngest Connelly daughter from kidnappers. Award-winning, bestselling romance novelist Rochelle Alers debuts in Desire with A Younger Man (#1479), the compelling story of a widow’s sensual renaissance. Barbara McCauley’s Royally Pregnant (#1480) offers a fabulous finale to Silhouette’s cross-line CROWN AND GLORY series, while a feisty rancher corrals the sexy cowboy-next-door in Her Texas Temptation (#1481) by Shirley Rogers. And a blizzard forces a lone wolf to deliver his hometown sweetheart’s infant in Baby & the Beast (#1482) by Laura Wright.

      Here’s hoping you find all six of these supersensual Silhouette Desire titles in your Christmas stocking.

      Enjoy!

      Joan Marlow Golan

      Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

      Baby & the Beast

      Laura Wright

      MILLS & BOON

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      LAURA WRIGHT

      has spent most of her life immersed in the world of acting, singing and competitive ballroom dancing. But when she started writing romance, she knew she’d found the true desire of her heart! Although born and raised in Minneapolis, Laura has also lived in New York City, Milwaukee and Columbus, Ohio. Currently, she is happy to have set down her bags and made Los Angeles her home. And a blissful home it is—one that she shares with her theatrical production manager husband, Daniel, and three spoiled dogs. During those few hours of downtime from her beloved writing, Laura enjoys going to art galleries and movies, cooking for her hubby, walking in the woods, lazing around lakes, puttering in the kitchen and frolicking with her animals. Laura would love to hear from you. You can write to her at P.O. Box 5811 Sherman Oaks, CA 91413 or e-mail her at [email protected].

      To my wonderful editor, Stephanie Maurer—

      here’s to our beloved “Beasts!”

      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

      Epilogue

      One

      Snow fell relentlessly from a gunmetal-gray sky, coating the naked trees with an icy frosting.

      Isabella Spencer pulled her wool hat down over her ears, trying to ignore the wintry glaze forming on the scarf that covered her neck and mouth. Pushing back a mounting sense of worry, she closed the door on the remaining warmth inside her lifeless car and stepped out onto the deserted road. She was two hours outside Minneapolis—and thirty miles from the small town she wanted so desperately to return to.

      But fate seemed to have other ideas.

      It was barely November, yet the frigid morning wind whipped at her face like tiny knives, batting her from side to side as though she were nothing more than a crumpled ball of newspaper.

      Flares. Go get the flares. Someone will be by soon.

      Her center of gravity newly broadened by several inches, she trudged carefully through a foot of snow to the trunk of her car, cursing the imbeciles at the weather station for their false predictions, cursing her cell phone with its short-lived battery. And as she rooted out several orange flares, lit them and laid them in the snow, she cursed the car that her husband had assured her was in fine working order.

      Of course, that had been more than seven months ago. Before Rick had left her for the freedom divorce provided, before he’d gotten drunk, plowed into a telephone pole and died just a few hours later.

      The shiver that ran through her had nothing to do with the cold this time. Her husband was gone. He hadn’t wanted her and he hadn’t wanted the child growing inside her, and the sooner she put that stinging piece of knowledge behind her the better. She was going home, back to Fielding, to start a new life with the new year. And she’d be damned if she was going to let a snowstorm and ghosts from the past stop her.

      As the now familiar jabs of pain invaded her hips, then shot downward, Isabella slipped back inside her car, being careful of her protruding belly. The car’s interior was only slightly warmer than outside, but at least she was free of the raw wind. Whatever had caused her car to break down had nothing to do with the battery, thank God. She turned the key and switched the heat to high. The delicious warmth that shot from the vents could only last for a