Overnight Heiress

Overnight Heiress
Modean Moon

MISSING HEIRESS FOUND!Almost overnight, plain Meg Wilson had gone from being a struggling single mom to a long-lost heiress! She'd inherited a glittering world of wealth and power that would once have satisfied her wildest dreams. But nothing about it would be satisfying without the love of Sheriff Lucas Lambert… .This tall, dark and devastatingly sexy lawman had found the missing millionairess, but it was his all-consuming kisses and quiet strength that had shown her what it meant to be cherished as a beautiful, desirable woman. After a night of passion, Meg knew her world would never be complete without Lucas. But first she's have to break down the walls this loner had built around his heart… .

As Natural As Breathing. As Necessary As Breathing. (#u0443ade1-fd12-5591-86aa-8175ffd1cd57)Letter to Reader (#ud88ea3cd-f92d-52d8-8586-1c8e2c38866e)Title Page (#ua29ae817-4b3f-5fac-b261-8c3298a028c9)About the Author (#uc7426602-4072-571b-a63e-d0df664e1e46)Chapter One (#ud4272a4e-a2e3-5f3c-8718-97ead2d4ad8c)Chapter Two (#u63e94137-e748-5846-9a62-8743771d273f)Chapter Three (#ue833a245-84d8-5bcc-a784-4402ca57d6e2)Chapter Four (#uc327fdc7-7922-5135-b46d-7eb36fb82234)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)Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

As Natural As Breathing. As Necessary As Breathing.

Meg felt Lucas’s start of surprise as her lips touched his, and then she was where she wanted to be, had needed to be, in an embrace that healed and filled all the empty caverns in her heart.

She felt the brush of the mat as he lowered her to it, felt the weight of Lucas against her, felt the tangle of their legs. She felt a need as Lucas took control of the kiss she’d begun.

Desire. Had she ever really felt it before?

And more. Much more. Every nerve ending she possessed had sprung to life, demanding... demanding something she’d never believed in until this moment.

Had anyone ever cherished her—because she could only have dreamed of this happening, never truly imagined it—as Lucas now did with every touch, every breath?

For a woman who now was worth millions, Meg would give up every penny for Lucas’s arms to stay around her for the rest of her life....

Dear Reader,

This month, Silhouette Desire celebrates sensuality. All six steamy novels perfectly describe those unique pleasures that gratify our senses, like seeing the lean body of a cowboy at work, smelling his earthy scent, tasting his kiss...and hearing him say, “I love you.”

Feast your eyes on June’s MAN OF THE MONTH, the tall, dark and incredibly handsome single father of four in beloved author Barbara Boswell’s That Marriageable Man! In bestselling author Lass Small’s continuing series, THE KEEPERS OF TEXAS, a feisty lady does her best to tame a reckless cowboy and he wisds up unleashing her wild side in The Hard-To-Tame Texan. And a dating service guarantees delivery of a husband-to-be in Non-Refundable Groom by ultrasexy writer Patty Salier.

Plus, Modean Moon unfolds the rags-to-riches story of an honorable lawman who fulfills a sudden socialite’s deepest secret desire in Overnight Heiress. In Catherine Lanigan’s Montana Bride, a bachelor hero introduces love and passion to a beautiful virgin. And a rugged cowboy saves a jilted lady in The Cowboy Who Came in From the Cold by Pamela Macaluso.

These six passionate stories are sure to leave you tingling... and anticipating next month’s sensuous selections. Enjoy!

Regards,

Melissa Senate

Senior Editor

Silhouette Books

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

Overnight Heiress

Modean Moon

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

MODEAN MOON once believed she could do anything she wanted. Now she realizes there is not enough time in one’s life to do everything. As a result, she says her writing is a means of exploring paths not taken. Currently she works as a land-title researcher, determining land or mineral ownership for clients. Modean lives in Oklahoma on a hill overlooking a small town. She shares a restored Victorian farmhouse with a six-pound dog, a twelve-pound cat, and, reportedly, a resident ghost.

One

Two plainclothes policemen stood at the end of the bar.

Meg stopped just inside the door and looked warily at the two strangers, knowing they were cops without ever having seen them before. Then, with her heart beating a heavy cadence to the beat of her footsteps on the hardwood floor, she made her way through the scrubbed-clean tables and upended chairs.

They’re not here for me. They can’t be here for me, she told herself as she schooled her features into an expression of concerned curiosity.

“Good morning,” she said pleasantly. “Is Patrick—” As she glanced around the brightly lighted room, her concern became real. “Patrick McBean is here, isn’t he?”

The younger of the two men flashed a smile and just as easily flashed his ID at her. “Yes. He’s in the back.”

Meg let an eyebrow climb a fraction of an inch. “Is there a problem?” she asked.

The older cop, a stereotype of her worst nightmares, raked a glance over the black tailored slacks and white pin-tucked shirt she wore on her angular body. “You a waitress here?”

“Day bartender,” Meg told him, and started to pass him to go behind the bar.

“Don’t touch anything.”

“What?” Meg stopped in her reach for her apron.

“Not until the print crew gets here. And we’re going to need your prints, too. For comparison.”

Oh, hell. Oh, God. Oh, no.

The detective’s eyes narrowed. “You got a problem with being printed, Miss—?”

Meg sighed. “Wilson. Meg Wilson. And yes, I have a problem in principle with workplace fingerprinting, workplace polygraph testing and random drug tests. But since my objections are based on my interpretation of constitutional rights, I don’t suppose those objections will carry any weight with you, will they?”

Shut your mouth, Meg. Shut it now. This isn’t the time to bait a bear. Too much is at risk.

“Isn’t she something?” Patrick asked, coming in from the back room and draping his arm affectionately over Meg’s shoulder.

“Night school. I swear, she can hold her own with anybody who comes in this joint. And they love it.” The bar’s owner squeezed her shoulder with a little more force than necessary. A warning? “Now tell these fine gentlemen you were only staying in practice, Meg, me darlin’.”

Back off. Meg’s silent warning to herself echoed Patrick’s. Your prints aren’t on file. They can’t learn anything. Don’t antagonize them. Don’t make them want to look past the obvious.

Meg had a wide and generous smile. She knew: she’d had to work at it. “I’m sorry,” she said, using that smile. “Wisecracks have gotten to be such a part of the job, I sometimes think I put on the personality when I put on the rest of the uniform.”

Meg turned toward her boss, but now her smile was genuine and concerned. “What happened this time, Patrick?”

Meg paced her minuscule living room, stopping sporadically in her marching to look out through the sliding patio door at the vibrant colors on the surviving trees in this older neighborhood—looking for peace in the panorama of changing seasons, finding none. Tulsa was big enough to get lost in, big enough to escape from, but not big enough to hide two persons from a concentrated search.

Three days had passed since the latest theft from Patrick’s upscale bar and grill, three days since her fingerprints had been sent to the FBI wonderland that cops worshiped. She’d never been printed before, but... but, but, but. There were too many unknowns in this equation, and Meg was so tired—tired of running, tired of hiding—exhausted from the effort of making a home that didn’t feel like they were running or hiding.