Jacob's Proposal

Jacob's Proposal
Eileen Wilks

Known as the Iceman for his cool, controlled business dealings, enigmatic Jacob West planned his takeovers with precision - and always succeeded. So when Jacob needed a wife to secure his massive inheritance, he plotted to "acquire" the perfect bride, Claire McGuire. The vulnerable beauty reluctantly agreed, for she desperately needed the fortress of Jacob's protection. Though love would be off-limits, passion would heed no boundaries.Now Jacob was shaken by the deep possessiveness his bride-to-be awakened. Had this ferocious Texas power broker been overpowered…by love?

Jacob Was Marrying Her For Money, Not Love.

Money, and the undeniable passion that flared between them. He wasn’t thinking of forever. Only three nights ago, Claire had actually been relieved to learn that he didn’t love her. How could so much change so quickly?

She held out her hand and hardly noticed as the jeweler slipped a ring on.

Last night, saying yes had been so easy. She loved him. He needed her. Given time, he might well come to love her, and last night, in the private darkness they’d shared, answers had formed and flowed easily.

“Do you want a larger stone?” Jacob asked.

“If the diamond was any bigger, I’d have to start working out just to lift it. It’s a beautiful ring. I just…” She turned to look at him. His eyes were frowning, intent. He wasn’t taking this business of getting a ring—of getting married—as lightly as it seemed….

Dear Reader,

Welcome to Silhouette Desire, where every month you’ll find six passionate, powerful and provocative romances.

October’s MAN OF THE MONTH is The Taming of Jackson Cade, part of bestselling author BJ James’ MEN OF BELLE TERRE miniseries, in which a tough horse breeder is gentled by a lovely veterinarian. The Texan’s Tiny Secret by Peggy Moreland tells the moving story of a woman in love with the governor of Texas and afraid her scandalous past will hurt him.

The exciting series 20 AMBER COURT continues with Katherine Garbera’s Some Kind of Incredible, in which a secretary teaches her lone-wolf boss to take a chance on love. In Her Boss’s Baby, Cathleen Galitz’s contribution to FORTUNES OF TEXAS: THE LOST HEIRS, a businessman falsely accused of a crime finds help from his faithful assistant and solace in her virginal embrace.

Jacob’s Proposal, the first book in Eileen Wilks’ dynamic new series, TALL, DARK & ELIGIBLE, features a marriage of convenience between a beauty and a devastatingly handsome financier known as the Iceman. And Maureen Child’s popular BACHELOR BATTALION marches on with Last Virgin in California, an opposites-attract romance between a tough, by-the-book marine drill instructor and a free-spirited heroine.

So celebrate the arrival of autumn by indulging yourself with all six of these not-to-be-missed love stories.

Enjoy!

Joan Marlow Golan

Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

Jacob’s Proposal

Eileen Wilks

EILEEN WILKS

is a fifth-generation Texan. Her great-great-grandmother came to Texas in a covered wagon shortly after the end of the Civil War—excuse us, the War Between the States. But she’s not a full-blooded Texan. Right after another war, her Texan father fell for a Yankee woman. This obviously mismatched pair proceeded to travel to nine cities in three countries in the first twenty years of their marriage. For the next twenty years they stayed put, back home in Texas again—and still together.

Eileen figures her professional career matches her nomadic upbringing, since she’s tried everything from drafting to a brief stint as a ranch hand—raising two children and any number of cats and dogs along the way. Not until she started writing did she “stay put,” because that’s when she knew she’d come home. Readers can write to her at P.O. Box 4612, Midland, TX 79704-4612.

Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Prologue

“We have to get married.”

Outside, wind thrashed the shrubbery and snatched leaves from the oaks. Inside, three brothers stood in silence—two of them stunned, one grim. All three were tall, strong men, but that was the only obvious resemblance. They weren’t full brothers, after all. A close observer might notice a certain shared grace, the identical long-fingered hands, a likeness about the jaws and strong throats. Those few people who knew the West brothers well knew of other traits their father had passed on to his sons. Less visible traits than physical strength and grace.

Less desirable ones.

Luke, the middle brother, gave a quick bark of laughter. “What, the three of us? This is Texas. I’m pretty sure there are laws against that sort of thing.”

“Don’t be any more of an ass than you have to.” That came from Michael, the youngest, who sat in one of the wing chairs facing the empty fireplace. His eyes were as dark as his hair; he had the build of a dockworker and the face of a scholar. “The treatments are that expensive, Jacob?”

The oldest and tallest of the brothers stood in front of the mantel. Jacob West was a lean, broad-shouldered man with harsh features and a remote expression. His hair was dark enough to look black in the artificial light; his eyes were oddly pale, as nearly colorless as human irises can be. “Each treatment takes eight days and costs just under a hundred thousand dollars. None of it, of course, is covered by insurance, since it’s experimental.”

Michael whistled soundlessly.

“Even you don’t have that kind of money.” Luke pushed away from the wall he’d been leaning against. “God. The last time I saw Ada, she looked fine. It’s hard to take in…how long have you known?”

“Four months.”

“Four months?” Luke stopped, his head swiveling toward his brother. He was a restless man, lighter than the others in build and coloring, with the face of a fallen angel and more charm than was good for him. “Four months, and you didn’t tell us?” He took a step toward Jacob. It looked as if he might take a swing at him, too.

Michael stood and put a hand on Luke’s arm. “Easy.”

“Ada insisted that I promise not to tell anyone. I wouldn’t have known about her condition myself if I hadn’t found her collapsed one day…” Jacob’s thin lips closed tightly on that memory. “I’m breaking my promise now because there’s something we can do.”

Michael spoke. “Where’s Ada now, Jacob? In the hospital?”