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The Barons Of Texas: Tess
Fayrene Preston
LOVE AT FIRST SIGHTTess Baron knew she was in trouble the second she laid eyes on the mysterious - and oh-so-sexy - stranger. Why had Nick Trejo suddenly appeared, asking her for a private meeting? And what was it about Nick that made Tess long to be in his arms… ?Nick was on a quest to discover his family's fortune, and he wasn't going to let some beautiful heiress stand in his way - even if he was falling in love with her. Or could the treasure he'd been searching for his entire life be less precious than the treasure he'd just found - Tess's love?The Barons of Texas: Meet the Baron sisters - Tess, Jill and Kit. Inheriting the family fortune is easy. But what about falling in love?
Table of Contents
Cover Page (#u0b7c583c-7093-5088-acbf-d15243f6f104)
Excerpt (#u440e00d6-c29e-5070-8c86-2e831671e4a4)
Dear Reader (#u103bb2e2-eab4-5ed6-948f-1c729e9d16f3)
Title Page (#u1d8368f9-d116-5db0-a15b-f7b37d56f604)
About the Author (#ubbc5a227-df21-5826-8da8-79f2c66f2620)
Dedication (#ua0770b14-e7ec-5a93-82c5-894578491549)
Chapter One (#uac6a60ca-5b93-552a-aa4f-704c12fe9aab)
Chapter Two (#ua47d4c4f-8260-518a-bb8b-3b083f3678dc)
Chapter Three (#u3c66ca84-0727-55f7-964d-60d16131da02)
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)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
She Loved Nick.
The idea astounded her. She didn’t even know how to love, perhaps because she’d never been truly loved. Yet there was no doubt. She was definitely in love with Nick.
Right from the first, the signs had been there—all of them in big, bright, red neon letters. How could she have missed them?
There was the way he’d mesmerized her on the night of her birthday and the way her body had melted against his when they’d danced. There was the way she’d so easily acquiesced to the idea of flying to some unknown destination for dinner and the stunning fact that she’d turned down Des’s offer for her.
Drops of rain began to fall. She didn’t care.
The rain was cool. Her skin was hot. She wanted Nick.
Dear Reader,
Welcome to Silhouette Desire—where you’re guaranteed powerful, passionate and provocative love stories that feature rugged heroes and spirited heroines who experience the full emotional intensity of falling in love!
Wonderful and ever-popular Annette Broadrick brings us September’s MAN OF THE MONTH with Lean, Mean & Lonesome. Watch as a tough loner returns home to face the woman he walked away from but never forgot.
Our exciting continuity series TEXAS CATTLEMAN’S CLUB continues with Cinderella’s Tycoon by Caroline Cross. Charismatic CEO Sterling Churchill marries a shy librarian pregnant with his sperm-bank baby—and finds love.
Proposition: Marriage is what rising star Eileen Wilks offers when the girl-next-door comes alive in the arms of an alpha hero. Beloved romance author Fayrene Preston makes her Desire debut with The Barons of Texas: Tess, featuring a beautiful heiress who falls in love with a sexy stranger. The popular theme BACHELORS & BABIES returns to Desire with Metsy Hingle’s Dad in Demand. And Barbara McCauley’s miniseries SECRETS! continues with the dramatic story of a mysterious millionaire in Killian’s Passion.
So make a commitment to sensual love—treat yourself to all six September love stories from Silhouette Desire!
Enjoy!
Joan Marlow Golan
Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire
Please address questions and book requests to:
Silhouette Reader Service
U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269
Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3
The Barons of
Texas: Tess
Fayrene Preston
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
FAYRENE PRESTON
published her first book in 1981 and has been publishing steadily ever since. The Barons of Texas: Tess is her first novel for Silhouette Books, and she is delighted to be on board. Fayrene lives in north Texas and is the mother of two grown sons. She claims her greatest achievement in life is turning out two wonderful human beings. She is also proud to announce the arrival of her first grandchild: a beautiful baby girl. Now she has even more to be thankful for.
This book is dedicated
with many, many thanks to:
R. G. Font, Ph.D., CPG, PG,
EurGeol President, Geoscience Data Management
One (#ulink_c2869393-6615-5546-a316-4058058d8c8f)
Tall, lean and bronzed, the man stood at the edge of the terrace watching her, just as he had for the last fifteen minutes. Tess Baron tried to ignore him and focus instead on her party guests, but she found it virtually impossible.
Something about his stillness compelled her attention. It was like lightning caught in a bottle, an electric tension that would be safe only as long as it was contained. And he didn’t strike her as the type of man to contain his energies for long.
This was her birthday party. She knew everyone here. Everyone, that was, except him.
She skimmed the crowd, wondering who had brought him, but everyone was either dancing or mixing. No one looked as if they’d brought a guest, then forgotten him. Besides, she reflected ruefully, it would be impossible to forget him.
Behind him, the sun was slowly setting into the Gulf of Mexico, its great orange ball searing the water with its heat as it dipped lower and lower. Silhouetted against the elemental tableau, with the sun surrounding him, the man looked larger than life—a sun god.
At that moment she wouldn’t have bet money against the possibility that he had lassoed the sun down from the sky.
She exhaled a long breath, reminded herself that she didn’t have a quixotic bone in her body, and forced her focus elsewhere. At least everything else about her party was going well.
A warm breeze from off the Gulf waters somehow matched the band’s sensual bossa nova beat. Icy margaritas and long neck beers were being served, along with mounds of jumbo Gulf shrimp and oysters harvested fresh that day. Out on the lawn, barbecued cabrito turned on a spit.
He ate or drank nothing, though she’d seen waiters offering him his preference of drinks.
“Happy birthday, Tess.”
The voice of a longtime friend snapped her mind back to her party. “Thanks, Becca.” She kissed the cheek of the pretty young woman, then reached up to hug Becca’s college sweetheart and husband, Mel Grant. “I’m so glad you two could come.”
Becca laughed. “Are you kidding? Your birthday parties are way too much fun to miss. Besides, Corpus Christi is a pretty cool city.”
Mel smiled at her. “It’s become a party game to try to guess where you’re going to hold your parties each year. The year you threw your party in Kuala Lumpur is now legendary. But last year I felt a little let down.”
She grinned. “Oh, yeah?”
“Southfork?” He shook his head. “Not very original, Tess, and way too close to home.”
She laughed. “Sorry, but the location of my parties depends on where I’m working, and last year I was working at home.”
“I know, but personally, I was hoping for an oil rig in the South China Sea.”
“An oil rig is no place to throw a party—which you very well know. Too much chance for harm on either side.”
Mel worked for Coastal Petroleum, one of the world’s major oil companies. Nevertheless, he sighed dramatically. “Okay, okay, I’ll give you that, plus a big thumbs-up for this year.”
“What a relief,” she said dryly.
“Yep. This is a great house, right on the beach and with a fabulous view. I’d say you made up the points you lost last year.”
“Ignore him, Tess,” Becca advised.
“He’s much too entertaining to ignore. Besides, he’s right. This is a great house. I leased it because my new offshore drilling site is straight out there.” She pointed toward the Gulf. “And because there’s a great helipad at the side of the house.”
Mel nodded. “By the way, congratulations. Word is you think the reservoir you’ve found out there will be your richest oil discovery yet.”
She grimaced, and her hand automatically went to cover her stomach, where a heavy dread appeared every time she thought of what she was gambling on this one site. “Do me a favor and don’t congratulate me yet. I’m superstitious. The initial tests were very encouraging, but in the end, we both know that could mean nothing. I won’t celebrate until we strike that first oil and the well actually starts to produce.”
Becca waved a dismissive hand. “You’re like a bloodhound when it comes to oil. I’d back your instincts before I would all those sophisticated tests they do. If you like what you’ve seen out there, then the oil is as good as in the pipeline.”
Tess gave Becca a quick, grateful hug. “Thank you.”
Her instincts had always been solid; Becca was right about that. Yet the stakes were so high on this particular venture that she couldn’t be sure her instincts hadn’t been tainted by her need for this well to come in big, not to mention quick.
“Word is also out that you’ve been having some problems,” Mel continued. “In case you decide you need some help, just remember, my company is always interested.”
Unfortunately, it was very hard to keep secrets in the oil business. “You know how I feel about my oil ventures, Mel.”
“I know, I know. They’re your babies, and you keep them until they’re raised and well into old age.”
She nodded. “It’s a family tradition.” She’d hoped this party would help her relax and have a good time, something she hadn’t been able to do in a long time. Unfortunately, though, her nerves were tighter than ever. Between Mel and his well-meaning talk of her problems and the man… He hadn’t moved, and he was still looking at her with that laser gaze of his. Beneath his stare, her skin felt just like it was being sunburned.
“Listen, do either of you know that man standing over there, leaning against the balustrade?”
Both Becca and Mel glanced over their shoulders. “No, but if I weren’t with Mel tonight, I would love to.”
Mel frowned at his wife. “Excuse me, but I don’t think that’s funny.”
“No?” With her eyes twinkling with laughter, she reached for her husband’s hand. “Then how about dancing with me? Maybe it will come back to me why I love you so much.”
“That sounds like a challenge and I’m definitely up for it.” With a wink at Tess, he pulled his wife onto the dance floor. “See you later.”
“You bet.” Surely there was a simple explanation for the man’s presence. Tess pondered. One of her guests must have brought him, but if so, why weren’t they with him? Why hadn’t they introduced him to her? And most of all, why did he keep looking at her?
And, damn it, where was Ron? He might be able to tell her the identity of the man. Ron Hughes was a bright, competent young man in his late twenties. As her assistant, it was his job to know everything and everyone, and he usually did. But he was probably still in the house, working in the two-room suite they’d appropriated as their offices for the time they would be there.
Someone lightly clasped her elbow. “Dance?”
She started, then inwardly laughed at herself. No, she reflected wryly, there was nothing at all wrong with her nerves. She looked around. “Colin! Oh, great, you made it.”
“Did you doubt it for a minute?”
She smiled. “No.”
Colin Wynne, tanned, suave and incredibly goodlooking, was one of Dallas’s most eligible bachelors. He was also one of her favorite people, though they’d never dated. She’d never had the desire to go out with him other than in a group, and she knew the feeling was mutual. Over the years, she’d found friendships to be much more satisfying than a love life. He held out his hand to her.
“Thanks,” she said, “but not right now. I still have some details to see to. The party’s really just beginning.”
“Nonsense. I’m here. You’re here. The party has officially started.”
She grinned. Few people possessed the self-confidence Colin did. He made everything he did look easy, yet he was one of the hardest-working people she knew. “Who did you bring tonight?”
“I didn’t bring a date, if that’s what you mean—just a planeload of the usual suspects.”
“Oh, that’s right. I heard you were going to fly down some of the group in your new jet. Thanks.”
