“Still certain you want to go with me? It may be dangerous,” Colin warned.
“It’s definitely dangerous,” Isabella said.
“I’m talking about the life-or-death kind of danger.”
“I’m not afraid. Besides, you told me you thought it would be safe enough for a few more days.” She linked her arm with his.
Colin shook his head. “Isabella, you’re dangerous in too many ways to count.”
She laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a man consider me dangerous. Now you—I’ll bet every female you meet sees a streak of danger in you,” she replied.
“I wouldn’t hurt a woman. You should know that.”
“Ah, but you’re a threat to a woman’s heart.” Her voice was warm and sexy.
“Careful, Isabella,” Colin murmured, meeting her gaze with his own. “You’re asking for trouble.”
She smiled. “I’ll take my chances.”
Dear Reader,
It’s fall and the kids are going back to school, which means more time for you to read. And you’ll need all of it, because you won’t want to miss a single one of this month’s Silhouette Intimate Moments, starting with In Broad Daylight. This latest CAVANAUGH JUSTICE title from award winner Marie Ferrarella matches a badge-on-his-sleeve detective with a heart-on-her-sleeve teacher as they search for a missing student, along with something even rarer: love.
Don’t Close Your Eyes as you read Sara Orwig’s newest. This latest in her STALLION PASS: TEXAS KNIGHT miniseries features the kind of page-turning suspense no reader will want to resist as Colin Garrick returns to town with danger on his tail—and romance in his future. FAMILY SECRETS: THE NEXT GENERATION continues with A Touch of the Beast, by Linda Winstead Jones. Hawk Donovan and Sheryl Eldanis need to solve the mystery of the past or they’ll have no shot at all at a future…together. Award-winning Justine Davis’s hero has the heroine In His Sights in her newest REDSTONE, INCORPORATED title. Suspicion brings this couple together, but it’s honesty and passion that will keep them there. A cursed pirate and a modern-day researcher are the unlikely—but perfect—lovers in Nina Bruhns’s Ghost of a Chance, a book as wonderful as it is unexpected. Finally, welcome new author Lauren Giordano, whose debut novel, For Her Protection, tells an opposites-attract story with humor, suspense and plenty of irresistible emotion.
Enjoy them all—then come back next month for more of the best and most exciting romance reading around, only in Silhouette Intimate Moments.
Yours,
Leslie J. Wainger
Executive Editor
Don’t Close Your Eyes
Sara Orwig
SARA ORWIG
lives in Oklahoma. She has a patient husband who will take her on research trips anywhere from big cities to old forts. She is an avid collector of Western history books. With a master’s degree in English, Sara has written historical romance, mainstream fiction and contemporary romance. Books are beloved treasures that take Sara to magical worlds, and she loves both reading and writing them.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Epilogue
Chapter 1
Keeping to the shadows under the trees, the tall man dressed in black blended into the Texas night. Beneath the pale sliver of April moon he dashed across the manicured lawn while unerringly following the map he had memorized.
Under a leafy oak, he paused to check that the hunter was not the hunted. If he spotted anyone following him, he would abort his mission and try again some other way. He waited in the humid darkness before he ran again.
In an elegant, gated community of the small town of Stallion Pass, he went over fences with ease. As he crossed the lawn of a three-story, red-brick Georgian mansion he noted few lights in the upper-story windows and hurried to the back of the house.
With a knowledge of the yard and house gained from his surveillance he crept to the back wall where two wires came out of the ground and ran up to a small box.
Pulling out his pocketknife, he cut the phone lines to disengage the alarm.
Moving to the side of the house, he hid his backpack behind a spirea and removed a glass cutter from his pack.
There was a faint scrape when he cut away a circle of glass and then unlocked and opened the window. The man hoisted himself up, over the sill and into the darkened room.
The bright beam of the tiny penlight in his hand revealed oil paintings, antique guns, a glistening silver candelabra and elegant furniture. He whistled softly in appreciation. The furnishings in this one room were worth a small fortune, he knew.
With practiced stealth, the man eased into a dark hall and headed toward the sweeping staircase. As he dashed towards the stairs, a door opened. Light spilled out and a woman stepped into the hall, colliding with him.
Instantly, without thinking about it, his training kicked in. He caught her, spun her around and covered her mouth with his hand as he pinned her arms to her sides.
“I’m not going to hurt you. I’m—”
She stomped on his instep, sending a flash of pain through his leg. At the same time, she jabbed an elbow into his middle, knocking the wind from his lungs.
“You wildcat!” he snapped as he dodged knees aimed at parts he wanted to protect. He had never slugged a woman and he wasn’t going to start with the lady of the house, but in her defensive fury she was trying to gouge out his eyes.
“Ouch!” he exclaimed, a kick to his shin sending a flash of pain through him as she scraped her fingers across his cheek.
“Dammit!” he snarled, wading in to wrap his arms around her to crush her against his chest.
Another tactical error because, for one stunned second as she struggled against him, he forgot the fight, the danger and his mission.
He was conscious only of soft curves, enticing perfume, silky tendrils of hair and female hips gyrating against him, causing reactions entirely different from what the struggle they were having should elicit.
His guard was down, lost in the proximity of a warm, soft body. His only thought, Desirable female. Very desirable.
Too late, he felt his gun leave the waistband of his jeans at the small of his back only to be thrust into his ribs.
“Let me go!” she stormed.
Careful to avoid any sudden moves, he released her.
She had