“Dance with me, Becka.”
Her heart clattered against her rib cage. “Too risky.”
“Okay, then. You asked for it.” Giving a quick yank, he unbalanced her, plunging her into his lap. His arms went around her, he snuggled her against his chest and grinned down into her face. “Gotcha.”
She struggled, but not nearly enough. While the sensible portion of her mind said get up and run, every other cell in her body refused to obey. Jett’s cologne drifted up from his cotton T-shirt. His firm thighs pressed against her trapped fingertips, and she could scarcely keep from stroking them.
“When you turn me loose you’re going to be very sorry,” she said with more authority than she felt.
“Then I guess I might as well enjoy this while I can,” he said as his blue eyes drifted over her face, coming to rest on her mouth.
“Don’t even think about it, cowboy.”
“Oh, I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and now I’m going to do something about it.”
Dear Reader,
When you’re stuffing the stockings this year remember that Silhouette Romance’s December lineup is the perfect complement to candy canes and chocolate! Remind your loved ones—and yourself—of the power of love.
Open your heart to magic with the third installment of IN A FAIRY TALE WORLD…, the miniseries where matchmaking gets a little help from an enchanted princess. In Her Frog Prince (SR #1746) Shirley Jump provides a rollicking good read with the antics of two opposites who couldn’t be more attracted!
Then meet a couple of heartbreaking cowboys from authors Linda Goodnight and Roxann Delaney. In The Least Likely Groom (SR #1747) Linda Goodnight brings us a risk-taking rodeo man who finds himself the recipient of lots of tender loving care—from one very special nurse! And Roxann Delaney pairs a beauty disguised as an ugly duckling with the man most likely to make her smolder, in The Truth About Plain Jane (SR #1748).
Last but not least, discover the explosive potential of close proximity as a big-city physician works side by side with a small-town beauty. Is it her wacky ideas that drive him crazy—or his sudden desire to make her his? Find out in Love Chronicles (SR #1749) by Lissa Manley.
Watch for more heartwarming titles in the coming year. You don’t want to miss a single one!
Happy reading!
Mavis C. Allen
Associate Senior Editor
The Least Likely Groom
Linda Goodnight
For Celeste, Missy and Alison,
the best daughters-in-law on the planet.
Books by Linda Goodnight
Silhouette Romance
For Her Child… #1569
Married in a Month #1682
Her Pregnant Agenda #1690
Saved by the Baby #1709
Rich Man, Poor Bride #1742
The Least Likely Groom #1747
LINDA GOODNIGHT
A romantic at heart, Linda Goodnight believes in the traditional values of family and home. Writing books enables her to share her certainty that, with faith and perseverance, love can last forever and happy endings really are possible.
A native of Oklahoma, Linda lives in the country with her husband, Gene, and Mugsy, an adorably obnoxious rat terrier. She and Gene have a blended family of six grown children. An elementary school teacher, she is also a licensed nurse. When time permits, Linda loves to read, watch football and rodeo, and indulge in chocolate. She also enjoys taking long, calorie-burning walks in the nearby woods. Readers can write to her at [email protected].
Contents
Chapter One
It had been a quiet summer Sunday in the small hospital of Rattlesnake, Texas…until a certain ornery cowboy appeared in the emergency room.
And now the misguided drunk-and-disorderly was singing at the top of his lungs.
From her spot at the nurses’ desk, Rebecka Washburn placed a hand over the telephone receiver and frowned down the long, white-tiled corridor toward the holding area where he lay sprawled on a gurney. She glimpsed one dusty cowboy boot and a muscled, jean-covered leg before a nurse’s assistant wheeled him into an exam room.
A tortured mangle of “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” and a rodeo song about bulls and blood and dust and mud echoed through the corridor.
“Do what you have to, Sid,” she said to the man on the other end of the line. “I’ll rake up the money somewhere.”
With a worried sigh she muttered her thanks to the town’s only auto mechanic and replaced the receiver. Where was she going to get that kind of money?
The singing maniac ripped into a third, even heartier, chorus of the children’s church song.
Determined to muzzle her unwanted serenader before he disrupted the other twenty patients on her wing, Becka pushed the nagging worry about her on-its-last-legs car into the background and padded on soft-soled shoes toward the E.R.
As charge nurse for the day shift, keeping everything running smoothly and under tight control was her responsibility. Control was what she did best. Every chart was neatly updated and in its proper slot, every medication carefully accounted for, and every patient given the best care a small-town hospital could manage. That included quieting down any and all drunks that passed through the doors.
“‘He’s got the little bitty babies in his hands,’” the man sang.
Irresponsible