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For His Little Girl
Lucy Gordon
A KNIGHT IN SHINING…STETSONFrom the moment the rugged rancher swept Lisa Hampton into his arms and out of a raging blizzard, she'd never felt safer in her life. Pregnant, alone and without a memory, what woman couldn't use a knight right about now…Wary Jack Wilder was no knight; he did what any man would have done in his boots. But Jack couldn't deny that the feisty beauty and her unborn child had pierced right through his armored heart. Funny thing–for a man who'd sworn off women, he found himself wanting to protect Lisa and her baby…today, tomorrow…WILDERS OF WYATT COUNTY: Their hearts are as big as the wide-open Wyoming sky.
“Remove your hand this instant!”
Pippa commanded.
“Nah, they’d suspect something. It’s more convincing if I just tighten it around your shoulder,” Luke replied.
“I’m warning you—”
“And then draw you closer to me—like this….”
“You let me go this instant—Luke!”
He mustn’t kiss her, because if he did, her heart would melt and she would forget why she was mad at him. And she wanted to stay mad. That was always safest with Luke.
“You can’t kiss me in the middle of an amusement park.”
“Why not?” Luke asked plaintively.
She gave up arguing. The feeling that was spreading through her was taking over, silencing her. It was sheer happiness, of a kind she’d almost forgotten: the happiness of being with this one man, in his arms, with nothing else to worry about.
At least for a brief time.
Dear Reader,
Fall is upon us, and there’s no better way to treat yourself to hours of autumn pleasure than by reading your way through these riveting romances in September’s Special Edition books!
The lives and loves of the Bravo family continue with The M.D. She Had To Marry, in Christine Rimmer’s popular CONVENIENTLY YOURS miniseries. In the page-turner Father Most Wanted, beloved writer Marie Ferrarella combines a witness protection program, a single dad with three daughters and an unsuspecting heroine to tell a love story you won’t be able to put down. Bestselling author Peggy Webb deals with family matters of a different kind with yet another compelling Native American hero story. In Gray Wolf’s Woman a loner finds the hearth and home he’d never realized he’d yearned for.
Lucy Gordon’s poignant reunion romance, For His Little Girl, will sweep you away as an unexpected turn of events promises to reunite a family that was always meant to be. Janis Reams Hudson continues her Western family saga miniseries, WILDERS OF WYATT COUNTY, with A Child on the Way, a compelling amnesia story about a pregnant woman who ends up in the arms of another irresistible Wilder man. And Patricia McLinn’s Wyoming miniseries, A PLACE CALLED HOME, continues with At the Heart’s Command, a tale of a military hero who finally marches to the beat of his own heart as he woos his secret love.
We hope this month brings you many treasured moments of promise, hope and happy endings as Special Edition continues to celebrate Silhouette’s yearlong 20th Anniversary!
All the best,
Karen Taylor Richman
Senior Editor
For His Little Girl
Lucy Gordon
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Books by Lucy Gordon
Silhouette Special Edition
Legacy of Fire #148
Enchantment in Venice #185
Bought Woman #547
Outcast Woman #749
Seduced by Innocence #902
Forgotten Fiancée #1112
Anything, Any Time, Any Place #1227
For His Little Girl #1348
Silhouette Romance
The Carrister Pride #306
Island of Dreams #353
Virtue and Vice #390
Once Upon a Time #420
A Pearl Beyond Price #503
Golden Boy #524
A Night of Passion #596
A Woman of Spirit #611
A True Marriage #639
Song of the Lorelei #754
Heaven and Earth #904
Instant Father #952
This Man and This Woman #1079
Silhouette Desire
Take All Myself #164
The Judgement of Paris #179
A Coldhearted Man #245
My Only Love, My Only Hate #317
A Fragile Beauty #333
Just Good Friends #363
Eagle’s Prey #380
For Love Alone #416
Vengeance Is Mine #493
Convicted of Love #544
The Sicilian #627
On His Honor #669
Married in Haste #777
Uncaged #864
Two Faced Woman #953
This Is My Child #982
Blood Brothers #1307
LUCY GORDON
met her husband-to-be in Venice, fell in love the first evening and got engaged two days later. They’re still happily married and now live in England with their three dogs. For twelve years Lucy was a writer for an English women’s magazine. She interviewed many of the world’s most interesting men, including Warren Beatty, Richard Chamberlain, Sir Roger Moore, Sir Alec Guiness and Sir John Gielgud.
In 1985 she won the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for Outstanding Series Romance Author. She has also won a Golden Leaf Award from the New Jersey Chapter of RWA, was a finalist in the RWA Golden Medallion contest in 1988 and won the 1990 RITA Award in the Best Traditional Romance category for Song of the Lorelei.
Contents
Chapter One (#u3987052e-bee9-578b-830a-8a430f4f837f)
Chapter Two (#u26d78614-e8a4-5738-b668-e59ec6b2f284)
Chapter Three (#u0f8dfca7-487a-59cb-a0ed-c3e78aee5f24)
Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One
Luke had chosen his bedroom because it overlooked the golden California coast, glittering water and Manhattan Beach pier. In fact he’d bought his house on the Strand because it had this glorious view, and his first sight of it each morning was precious.
Today, as on every day, he slipped naked out of bed and went to the window. He was about to pull up the blinds when he stopped and cast a fond glance behind him to where he could see a riot of blond curls spilling across the pillow.
Dominique was a darling, but never at her best in the morning. And after the crazy night they’d had together, she deserved her sleep. Her “beauty sleep” she called it, though why the most incredible face and body in the whole of Los Angeles—no, make that the world, he thought generously—should need beauty sleep was beyond him.
He left the blind in place, pulled on some swimming shorts and went downstairs to his oversize kitchen. From his refrigerator he took out the glass of orange juice he’d squeezed the night before as he always did. He drank it slowly, savoring each mouthful of the cold, tangy liquid. He never insulted good food by hurrying it.
When he’d finished it he raced across the Strand, just as he was, and down the beach. The sting of the fresh water drove away the last of his sleep, making him ready for the new day in a life that was good in every way.
Luke Danton, thirty-four, popular, handsome, successful. For as long as he could remember, whenever he’d held out his hands, life’s pleasures had fallen into them. Not without effort on his part, for he was a man who worked as hard as he played, which was very hard. But his efforts almost always brought their just rewards.
For an hour he bodysurfed, challenging the waves and enjoying the sense that they were challenging him back. At last he turned and stood, looking back at the panorama of the beach and the houses beyond, fixing his eyes lovingly on his own home, his pride and joy. The price had made him gulp, but it was worth every cent.
As a child he’d played on this beach. As a youth he would bum around it until his mother screamed at him. But in the intervals between screaming she’d taught him to cook, and he’d found his true vocation. As a man he’d returned to buy a house just a couple of blocks away from the Manhattan Pier.
He hurried home to take a shower. Dominique was still asleep, so he closed the bathroom door before bursting into tuneless song under the stream of water.
There wasn’t an ounce of fat on his lean, hard body, but he never bothered with workouts. His crazy energy, demon-hard work and hours in the sea kept him in shape. His legs were long and muscular, his hips taut, his shoulders broad.
His face looked younger than his thirty-four years, with a permanent touch of mischief. The dark eyes and black hair might have come from a remote Spanish ancestor, but the generous, laughing mouth echoed his father. Max Danton had been a ne’er-do-well in his youth and wasn’t much better now, according to the woman who loved him and had borne his children.
“And you’re just as bad,” she often reproved Luke. “It’s time you got a proper job.”
Owning two restaurants and having his own spot on cable television didn’t count as a proper job in her book. Luke simply grinned at her criticisms. He loved his mother, while seldom heeding a word she said.
When he’d finished showering, he pulled on a pair of slacks and went back down to the kitchen. Dominique was already there, padding about, dressed in his best silk robe, and Luke moved to forestall her. He hated anyone else in his kitchen, just as an artist would dislike anyone tampering with his brushes.
“What time is it?” she yawned.
“Nearly midday! Hell, how did we sleep so late?”
“We didn’t leave that nightclub until four,” she said, leaning against his chest, her eyes closed. “Then, when we got back—”
