“I Don’t Want To Marry You,” Letter to Reader Title Page BEVERLY BARTON Dedication Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Epilogue Copyright
“I Don’t Want To Marry You,”
Blythe told Adam, “and if you’re honest with yourself, you don’t want to marry me. Despite the fact that we slept together, we really don’t like each other.”
“Maybe we could learn to like each other.” Adam stood. “If we gave each other a chance and got to know each other, we might learn to be friends.”
“I doubt that will ever happen.”
“Why not?” Adam grinned. “A few months ago neither of us would have believed we’d ever become lovers, and look what happened.”
Dear Reader,
Welcome to a wonderful new year at Silhouette Desire! Let’s start with a delightfully humorous MAN OF THE MONTH by Lass Small—The Coffeepot Inn. Here, a sinfully sexy hero is tempted by a virtuous woman. He’s determined to protect her from becoming the prey of the local men—and he’s determined to win her for himself!
The HOLIDAY HONEYMOONS miniseries continues this month with Resolved To (Re)Marry by Carole Buck. Don’t miss this latest installment of this delightful continuity series!
And the always wonderful Jennifer Greene continues her STANFORD SISTERS series with Bachelor Mom. As many of you know, Jennifer is an award winner, and this book shows why she is so popular with readers and critics alike!
Completing the month are a new love story from the sizzling pen of Beverly Barton, The Tender Trap; a delightful Western from Pamela Macaluso, The Loneliest Cowboy; and something a little bit different from Ashley Summers, On Wings of Love.
Enjoy!
Senior Editor
Please address questions and book requests to:
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The Tender Trap
Beverly Barton
BEVERLY BARTON
has been in love with romance since her grandfather gave her an illustrated book of Beauty and the Beast. An avid reader since childhood, she began writing at the age of nine and wrote short stories, poetry, plays and novels throughout high school and college. After marriage to her own “hero” and the births of her daughter and son, she chose to be a full-time homemaker, a.k.a. wife, mother, friend and volunteer.
When she returned to writing, she joined Romance Writers of America and helped found the Heart of Dixie chapter in Alabama. Since the release of her first Silhouette book in 1990, she has won the GRW Maggie Award, the National Readers’ Choice Award and has been a RITA finalist. Beverly considers writing romance books a real labor of love. Her stories come straight from the heart, and she hopes that all the strong and varied emotions she invests in her books will be felt by everyone who reads them.
With love and appreciation to a bright, funny, energetic
little ball of fire—my very special friend, JoAnn Westfall. And a heartfelt thank-you to every member of my Heart of Dixie RWA chapter for their continued support.
One
Adam Wyatt was the sexist man on earth. Blythe had thought so since the moment they met, nearly two years ago. Every time she saw him, the bottom dropped out of her stomach. Why was it that, of all the men she’d ever known, he was the one she couldn’t stop fantasizing about? She could not keep herself from thinking about what it would be like to have him as her first lover.
Standing in the doorway leading to the patio, she watched Adam while he checked the outside area to make sure the caterer had cleared away everything. He turned, smiled and waved at her.
After the last guest had left, he had removed his jacket and tie. His wide shoulders strained against the pristine white shirt, and Blythe could see plainly the contours of his muscular, six-foot-two body. A heavy sprinkling of steel gray highlighted his thick mane of black hair, which was almost completely white along his sideburns and at his temples.
Adam was good-looking, in that very big, tough manly kind of way that made a woman’s knees turn to jelly and her brain turn to mush. He was so drop-dead gorgeous few women could resist him.
Blythe quivered, then prayed the shudder hadn’t been noticeable. Turning her back to him, she walked into the condo and took a deep, steadying breath. To most women Adam Wyatt was definitely irresistible, but she could resist him. She’d been doing just that for two years, and even if it killed her, she would go on resisting. He might be devastatingly handsome, charming and a self-made millionaire, but he was the wrong man for her.
Blythe was a modern woman—Adam was an old-fashioned man. They mixed like oil and water. Perhaps that was part of his attraction. He was everything she had always avoided in a man. He was the type she repeatedly told herself she didn’t want. And that was the problem. She did want Adam—wanted him badly.
Giving in to her sexual urges in this case could mean disaster. Adam was too macho, too much the Me-Tarzan-You-Jane type. In that respect, he reminded her of her overbearing, domineering stepfather, and she had sworn long ago she’d never allow herself to fall for a man who’d try to dominate her.
Of course it wasn’t as if Adam had been pursuing her. The exact opposite was true. Since their first meeting, when sparks had flown between them, he’d avoided her as much as possible. And she’d been glad. If she spent too much time with the man, there was always the chance she’d give in to her primitive feminine desire and throw caution to the wind.