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Her Unforgettable Fiance
Allison Leigh
YOU WANT ME TO POSE AS YOUR BRIDE? BEEN THERE, DONE THAT–AND I'M NOT DOING IT AGAIN!–Kate Stockwell on a shocking "proposal"A surge of raw emotion rocked Kate Stockwell–her brothers had enlisted her ex-fiancé to spearhead the search for their long-lost mother! Years ago, the marriage she and Brett Larson had planned with such youthful enthusiasm had been crushed beneath the weight of the Stockwell name. In an ironic twist, Brett now commanded that Kate play his bride–a role she'd imagined millions of times. But now her "groom" was at a distance too dangerous for Kate. For proximity sparked passion…and a moment in Brett's arms could reveal her secret longing to rekindle their love, this time forever….
If the walls of Stockwell Mansion could talk…
…we’d spill our guts—no matter how ferociously “Big Daddy” Caine Stockwell blustered! You must remember his little conscience-cleanser—where he let slip that his wife may not have drowned all those years ago after all…! Understandably, his children have launched a full-fledged search for their mother. So far, their devoted efforts have unearthed divorce papers dated six months after Madelyn’s supposed death, confirming that Caine’s sickbed ramblings are tinged with truth. Well, we’ve seen a certain out-of-town address where secret bundles of cash are mailed each month—let’s just say the Stockwells are hot on Mumsy’s trail….
Speaking of hot, we’ve fixed our attention on family darling Kate Stockwell and her former flame, Brett Larson. Their engagement crumbled years ago, but the chemistry between them has never stopped simmering. Now he’s a crackerjack investigator determined to find the elusive Madelyn. But his plan requires that Kate act the part of Mrs. Larson. Will the “princess” agree to the scheme? Heck, yes—and in less time than it takes to say “I do!”
Mercenary Jack Stockwell wrangles with a lovely mother of two in The Millionaire and the Mom, SE #1387, by Patricia Kay, available April 2001 only from Silhouette Special Edition.
Dear Reader,
While every romance holds the promise of sweeping readers away with a rugged alpha male or a charismatic cowboy, this month we want to take a closer look at the women who fall in love with our favorite heroes.
“Heroines need to be strong,” says Sherryl Woods, author of more than fifty novels. “Readers look for a woman who can stand up to the hero—and stand up to life.” Sherryl’s book A Love Beyond Words features a special heroine who lost her hearing but became stronger because of it. “A heroine needs to triumph over fear or adversity.”
Kate Stockwell faces the fear of knowing she cannot bear her own child in Allison Leigh’s Her Unforgettable Fiancé, the next installment in the STOCKWELLS OF TEXAS miniseries. And an accident forces Josie Scott, Susan Mallery’s LONE STAR CANYON heroine in Wife in Disguise, to take stock of her life and find a second chance….
In Peggy Webb’s Standing Bear’s Surrender, Sarah Sloan must choose between loyalty and true love! In Separate Bedrooms…? by Carole Halston, Cara LaCroix is faced with fulfilling her grandmother’s final wish—marriage! And Kirsten Laurence needs the help of the man who broke her heart years ago in Laurie Campbell’s Home at Last.
“A heroine is a real role model,” Sherryl says. And in Special Edition, we aim for every heroine to be a woman we can all admire. Here’s to strong women and many more emotionally satisfying reads from Silhouette Special Edition!
Karen Taylor Richman
Senior Editor
Her Unforgettable Fiance
Allison Leigh
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
For all who have been blessed with true love,
and for all who are still searching.
ALLISON LEIGH
started her career early by writing a Halloween play that her grade-school class performed for her school. Since then, though her tastes have changed, her love for reading has not. And her writing appetite simply grows more voracious by the day.
She has been a finalist for the RITA Award and the Holt Medallion. But the true highlights of her day as a writer are when she receives word from readers that they laughed, cried or lost a night of sleep reading one of her books.
Born in Southern California, Allison has lived in several different cities in four different states. She has been, at one time or another, a cosmetologist, a computer programmer and a secretary. She has recently begun writing full-time after spending nearly a decade as an administrative assistant for a busy neighborhood church, and currently makes her home in Arizona with her family. She loves to hear from her readers, who can write to her at P.O. Box 40772, Mesa, AZ 85274-0772.
Silhouette Special Edition is delighted to present
Where family secrets, scandalous pasts and
unexpected love wreak havoc on the lives of the
infamous Stockwells of Texas!
THE TYCOON’S INSTANT DAUGHTER
Christine Rimmer
(SE #1369)
SEVEN MONTHS AND COUNTING…
Myrna Temte
(SE #1375)
HER UNFORGETTABLE FIANCÉ
Allison Leigh
(SE #1381)
THE MILLIONAIRE AND THE MOM
Patricia Kay
(SE #1387)
THE CATTLEMAN AND THE VIRGIN HEIRESS
Jackie Merritt
(SE #1393)
Available at your favorite retail outlet.
Visit Silhouette at www.eHarlequin.com
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
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter One
He’s here.
That was Kate Stockwell’s first thought when she heard the faint sound of the door closing to the entry of Stockwell Mansion.
God help me.
That was Kate Stockwell’s second thought.
She drew in a long breath and slowly set the cordless phone that she’d been clutching with a white-knuckled grip on the nightstand. She stared blindly at the full-length mirror lining one wall of her spacious bedroom suite. The fact that her breath was unsteady was something she chose to blame on the phone conversation she’d just had.
It certainly couldn’t be because of him.
“Kate!” The yell drifted up the stairs and along the spacious hallway to her bedroom. That was Cord. Blunt, straightforward Cord. Cord’s twin, Rafe, would never bellow that way. He was too controlled. And Jack, well, her third and oldest brother simply didn’t raise his voice to Kate. Ever.
“Hustle it up!” Cord yelled again.
Kate sighed and looked at her reflection again. Really looked. Her ice-blue silk suit screamed “Woman Power.” Unfortunately, as she smoothed her hand down the perfectly tailored jacket, her hand trembled. Badly.
She touched a finger to the corner of her lips that she’d already glossed carefully with a pinkish hue. Her hair gleamed, grazing just below the shoulders of her suit, adding just the right touch of casual.
She knew she was taking too long. They were waiting for her. But he would be with them.
Kate swallowed, needlessly adjusting the drape of her delicate, silver necklace. She jiggled her knees in the narrow silk slacks, making sure the fabric fell just so.
What was she doing?
Her clothes were fine. Her makeup was fine. Even the matching pale blue lace bra and panties that she wore beneath the jacket and slacks were fine.
Gracious. Was anything more pathetic than a mature, thirty-year-old woman dithering over her appearance just because she had to go down to a room filled with her dominating big brothers…and an old lover?
Not just an old lover, her mind whispered.
Him. Brett Larson.
It wasn’t like it was the first time she’d seen him recently, either. It seemed that every time she turned around, he was at the house for one reason or another. To go over some detail with Cord or Rafe. So it wasn’t as if she was bracing herself for that first shock of seeing him after eight years.
Eight long years, her mind whispered.
She frowned. “Hush up.” The only reason she was so uneasy was that phone call.
The excuse didn’t convince her any more this time around than it did the first time. Yes, she was upset about the young patient who’d just been yanked from her program. But the true culprit was him.
She straightened her shoulders, dashed her fingers through the freshly cut and styled ends of her hair and strode out of her bedroom.
She was a Stockwell. Dealing with life’s curveballs was part and parcel of her existence.
So why did she feel as if every nerve inside her was frayed to the point of unraveling?
She could hear them talking before she entered the study and a fresh wave of nerves rippled uneasily down her spine.
Oh, really. Why was she torturing herself like this? She didn’t have to go in there. Didn’t have to put herself in this position where she felt awkward and useless and—
“Kate.” Jack spotted her hovering like a ninny outside the doorway and his lips stretched into a rare smile.
No escape, now. She focused on Jack—avoiding Brett—and walked into the room, going straight to him for a hug. “So, my favorite world traveler has returned yet again,” she said in a voice that was a little too husky.
Jack wrapped his strong arms around her, lifting her right off her feet and she swallowed hard, clinging a little too fervently. And realizing it, she pressed a smacking kiss lightheartedly to his hard cheek as he set her back on her feet.
He was big and broad and so dear to her. She loved all three of her brothers, but Cord and Rafe were twins and they shared a special closeness. It was Jack who’d been Kate’s rock when she’d needed him. After her breakup with—
“Hello, Kate.”
Jack gave her an imperceptible nudge of encouragement, and she swallowed past the growing knot that seemed determined to strangle her. Then she turned to face the other man.
Him. Her ex-fiancé.
“Brett,” she greeted smoothly. “How are you today?” Polite, meaningless words said across a bookcase-filled room to a tall, brown-eyed man whom she’d once thought she’d known as well as the back of her hand.
Now, after all these years, he was just a stranger.
A six-foot-three-inch stranger, with thick, dark messy waves that her traitorous fingers still remembered stroking back from his hard, long face, away from his chocolate-brown eyes as he leaned over her….
“Fine,” the “stranger” replied, a little twist to his lips. “You?”
