The Millionaire Comes Home

The Millionaire Comes Home
Mary Lynn Baxter

His sleek BMW looking like a champion black stallion, Denton rode arrogantly into the one-horse Texas town he'd once called home.Ripe with disdain, he planned to make a quick million - then bolt. But the unexpected sight of Grace Simmons launched him down memory lane to a perfect starlit night when he'd gently taken her innocence…and she'd stolen his heart.Suddenly Denton yearned to relive her exquisite kisses, to revel in her laughter, to squander whole afternoons in her bed - and to turn his first love into his forever love!

Grace Was Smitten. Still.

But that would change, she told herself. Thank God, she no longer loved Denton. Her fixation on him was about loneliness and lust. But that was a disastrous combination. Her heart knew they had no future—that he merely wanted to make love to her, then walk away like before.

They were from two different worlds, and that wasn’t going to change. Nor did she want it to. She couldn’t survive in the city, and he couldn’t survive in the country. But their differences went much deeper than locale.

She had known the boy. She didn’t know the man.

Would she get the chance…?

Dear Reader,

Welcome to Silhouette Desire, where you can indulge yourself every month with six passionate, powerful and provocative romances! And you can take romance one step further…. Look inside for details about our exciting new contest, “Silhouette Makes You a Star.”

Popular author Mary Lynn Baxter returns to Desire with our MAN OF THE MONTH when The Millionaire Comes Home to Texas to reunite with the woman he could never forget. Rising star Sheri WhiteFeather’s latest story features a Comanche Vow that leads to a marriage of convenience…until passionate love transforms it into the real thing.

It’s our pleasure to present you with a new miniseries entitled 20 AMBER COURT, featuring four twentysomething female friends who share an address…and their discoveries about life and love. Don’t miss the launch title, When Jayne Met Erik, by beloved author Elizabeth Bevarly. The scandalous Desire miniseries FORTUNES OF TEXAS: THE LOST HEIRS continues with Fortune’s Secret Daughter by Barbara McCauley. Alexandra Sellers offers you another sumptuous story in her miniseries SONS OF THE DESERT: THE SULTANS, Sleeping with the Sultan. And the talented Cindy Gerard brings you a touching love story about a man of honor pledged to marry an innocent young woman with a secret, in The Bridal Arrangement.

Treat yourself to all six of these tantalizing tales from Silhouette Desire.

Enjoy!

Joan Marlow Golan

Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

The Millionaire Comes Home

Mary Lynn Baxter

MARY LYNN BAXTER

A native Texan, Mary Lynn Baxter knew instinctively that books would occupy an important part of her life. Always an avid reader, she became a school librarian, then a bookstore owner, before writing her first novel.

Now Mary Lynn Baxter is an award-winning author who has written more than thirty novels, many of which have appeared on the USA Today list.

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 Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

One

He wondered if she still lived here.

Denton Hardesty scoffed at his thoughts of his old girlfriend as he braked his BMW at the first and only stoplight in Ruby, Texas. He couldn’t believe he’d been born in this one-horse town and lived here until he’d left for college. But Ruby had been his parents’ home; he’d had no choice.

Thank heavens he had a choice now. Dallas, the city he called home, was a far cry from this quaint little tourist town with its bed-and-breakfast lodgings, antique and gift shops. Too quiet to suit him. As soon as he finished his meeting with his prospective client, regardless of whether a deal was cemented, he would hit the road again, back to Big D.

When he heard a truck honk from behind Denton realized he’d been camped at the light. Muttering under his breath, he shoved down on the accelerator only to have the engine sputter, then quit completely.

A few choice words escaped his lips as he watched the truck swerve around him, a killer look on the driver’s face. So, all of Ruby wasn’t that laid-back. With dark amusement, Denton found that somewhat comforting as he restarted the BMW. It died on him again directly in front of a service station, the old-fashioned kind where a sign said owner/mechanic on duty—only in Small Town, USA.

The owner came out immediately, wiping his greasy hands on an equally greasy rag. He smiled, showing off crooked teeth stained with tobacco. “Howdy, need some help?”

Denton figured that went without saying but refrained from stating the obvious, keeping his impatience on a short leash. “My engine’s giving me trouble. Mind if I leave it here until the dealership can come get it?”

“Don’t mind at all, only how ’bout I take a look at it?”

Denton eyed the tall, lanky man with suspicion. “You know something about foreign cars?”