A Little Texas Two-Step

A Little Texas Two-Step
Peggy Moreland

BACHELOR BEWARE! Hank Braden prided himself on being the most confirmed dating bachelor in Temptation, Texas. So when the men in town advertised for women, he was there to welcome them with bad-boy good looks, a smile that would melt chocolate and lines smoother than black ice on the Texas byways. But marry one - no way!The moment Leighanna Farrow walked into his juke joint, Hank knew the reason God had created single women! But Leighanna hadn't come into town to be somebody's "girl," and she wasn't easily swayed by Hank's tempting ways. It seemed the only chance Hank had of getting Leighanna was - getting hitched!TROUBLE IN TEXAS… . When Temptation beckons, three rugged cowboys lose their hearts.

Hank Wanted To Hold Leighanna And Never Let Her Go. (#u21c46b7f-d9af-5fc8-8480-140b2fa1c162)Letter to Reader (#u508b6fa5-2cb8-5693-bf4a-e4bc9456d3f8)Title Page (#u70d1667c-87dd-5c8e-98de-1b5315c5b2d4)Dedication (#u39b98e97-140f-5483-a3dc-80c77ef97705)About the Author (#u2784808e-d8f4-5180-acfa-ec59da4ec5b3)Letter to Reader (#udffee025-65c3-5290-b028-6c1cf51ac7b2)Prologue (#u5613e0e3-caa3-579a-90a1-6f91668f94e6)Chapter One (#u7ea838e4-dcaa-5a52-a5e9-9b2d9a2bd311)Chapter Two (#u98730e7a-b140-52c5-bc83-16a8b93e950d)Chapter Three (#litres_trial_promo)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)Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

Hank Wanted To Hold Leighanna And Never Let Her Go.

And that was what scared him.

As he softened the kiss, then slowly withdrew, his gaze met her blue eyes, glazed with passion...and he was tempted to drag her into his arms again.

Fighting the desire to do something he’d regret, Hank stepped back and forced a teasing grin to his mouth. “See?” he said. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

Bad? It was anything but bad, Leighanna thought numbly, her blood still racing like fire through her veins. But Hank’s casual remark infuriated her, and his indifferent stance made him vulnerable to the force of the hand that suddenly streaked out and slapped the side of his face.

“What was that for?” he asked incredulously.

“I warned you once,” Leighanna said, fighting to keep the tremble from her voice. “Next time, you better think twice before kissing me.”

Dear Reader,

This month we have some special treats in store for you, beginning with Nobody’s Princess, another terrific MAN OF THE MONTH from award-winning writer Jennifer Greene. Our heroine beheves she’s just another run-of-the-mill kind of gal...but naturally our hero knows better. And he sets out to prove to her that he is her handsome prince...and she is his princess!

Joan Elliott Pickart’s irresistible Bishop brothers are back in Texas Glory, the next installment of her FAMILY MEN series. And Amy Fetzer brings us her first contemporary romance, a romantic romp concerning parenthood—with a twist—in Anybody’s Dad.

Peggy Moreland’s heroes are always something special, as you’ll see in A Little Texas Two-Step, the latest in her TROUBLE IN TEXAS senses.

And if you’re looking for fun and frolic—and a high dose of sensuality—don’t miss Patty Salier’s latest,

The Honeymoon House. If emotional and dramatic is more your cup of tea, then you’ll love Kelly Jamison’s Unexpected Father.

As always, there is something for everyone here at Silhouette Desire, where you’ll find the very best contemporary romance.

Enjoy!

Senior Editor

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

Peggy Moreland

A Little Texas Two-Step

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

To Jean Brashear, the quintessential friend.

And a special thanks to Snuffy’s of Hutto, Texas, for

inspiration in creating The End of the Road bar!

PEGGY MORELAND

published her first romance with Silhouette in 1989. She’s a natural storyteller with a sense of humor that will tickle your fancy, and Peggy’s goal is to write a story that readers will remember long after the last page is turned. Winner of the 1992 National Readers’ Choice Award and a 1994 RITA finalist, Peggy frequently appears on bestseller lists around the country. A native Texan, she and her family live in Round Rock, Texas.

Dear Reader,

Women. Man, I love ‘em! The shape of ’em, the feel of ‘em, the scent of ’em. Nothing compares to rolling around on a bed with a willing woman, taking a little pleasure and giving a ton of it in return, sleeping all cuddled up next to a soft and curvy body, then waking up the next morning revitalized and ready for another tangle on the sheets. Man, that’s what I call life!

Variety. I like that, too, which is why I’m a confirmed bachelor I always let a woman know up front that I’m not interested in a permanent relationship, but occasionally one will start making those little possessive noises, and that’s when I start backpedaling. I’m not interested in marriage. No, sirree, not me I like my life just the way it is...or at least I did until Leighanna came along. Leighanna. The epitome of woman. Soft. Femirune. Sexy. Passionate. But with a streak of stubbornness in her that defies a man’s patience. She happened along, looking for a job, and against my better judgment I hired her on as a waitress at The End of the Road My life hasn’t been the same since.

Misery. That’s what life is like without Leighanna. Have you ever felt like there’s this hole where your heart used to be? I don’t know how it happened, or even when, but that’s exactly how I feel whenever Leighanna isn’t around. Do you think this is love? The forever kind? Nah, it couldn’t be. Could it...?

Prologue

The minute she opened the door of her apartment, Leighanna smelled him. Polo. That spicy, sexy scent that her ex couldn’t afford but always somehow managed to find the money to purchase.

She stopped, her key cutting into the palm of one hand, her suitcase cinched tight in the other. He can’t be here, she told herself in growing panic. He didn’t have a key any longer, and there was no way in hell that Reggie, her friend and the owner of the apartment complex, would ever let him inside.

Yet the scent of him continued to taunt her.

Her legs trembled in fear, but she forced them into motion, taking one cautious step, then another, until she stood in the center of her small living room.

“Roger?” she called hesitantly. “Are you here?”

She waited a moment, listening, but only the muted click of her mantel clock as it ticked off each second disturbed the quiet. If he wasn’t here, she knew he had been. The scent of his cologne still hung thick in the air. But how did he get in? she asked herself in growing dread. She’d changed the locks after she’d kicked him out more than a year before.

The handle of her suitcase slipped from her fingers, and she drew her shaking fingers to her lips. Her key ring! She’d given him her key ring over a month ago when he’d offered to take her car in for repairs.

Her fingers closed into a fist against her lips as she remembered the incident. Of course, he hadn’t had her car repaired. Instead, he’d paid some shady mechanic a pittance of what she’d given him and instructed the man to do what he could without replacing the transmission, then pocketed the rest of the money for himself. Naturally, Roger hadn’t told her about his clever little scheme. She’d discovered it on her own, weeks later, when the transmission had gone out on her in the middle of Houston’s five-o’clock traffic.

She was sure that at the same time Roger had been having her car repaired, he’d probably had a duplicate set of keys made to every key on her ring...including the one to her apartment.

Anger burned through her. She knew better than to trust her ex-husband. Hadn’t she learned anything during the four years of their marriage? He was the master of lies and deception. And she knew without a doubt that he wouldn’t think twice about stealing from her. He’d done it often enough in the past. A twenty here, a hundred there, missing from her purse. After their divorce, he’d even taken her wedding ring from her jewelry box and pawned it, spending the money on some new scam.

Money! Her fingers curled around the key ring as a new fear rose. With her heart thundering against her chest, she ran to the kitchen and jerked a canister from those that lined the counter beside the sink...and listened to the sick clink of loose coins. She knew even before she opened it that it was gone. All that she’d managed to save toward the purchase of a new car. She tipped the canister upside down, and pennies rained onto the floor

Tears swelled and the canister blurred before her eyes. Raising the container above her head, she screamed, “Damn you, Roger‘” and hurled it against the far wall where it shattered into a hundred jagged pieces right along with her dreams for a new car.

Reggie Giles frowned at the open apartment door then stepped inside, knocking on the door as she passed. “Leighanna?” she called as she stopped in the living room. “Leighanna, where are you?”

“I’m back here,” came Leighanna’s muffled reply. “In my room.”

Anxious to hear about Leighanna’s visit with their friend Mary Claire in her new home in Temptation, Reggie headed down the short hall.