THE TEXAS TATTLER
All the news that’s barely fit to print!
Fortunes Bestow Texas-Sized Welcome on Heirs!
Never let it be said that those Fortunes don’t look out for their own. All of Red Rock is buzzing with news of the ten-million-dollar gift Miranda and Mary Ellen Fortune have bestowed on each of the “lost heirs.” Local merchants are stockpiling electronics and “luxury goods”—just in case Miranda and Cameron Fortune’s offspring want to unload some of that money.
Of course, it’s not entirely clear that all of them need the money, especially Justin Bond. He’s already made his mark in the steel industry and is one of Pennsylvania’s leading businessmen. A source close to the Fortunes tells us that there is one thing this tycoon wants—his wife. Seems Justin and his college sweetheart have been estranged for the past year and during that time he became a daddy. Now, if you ask this reporter, that’s an even bigger gift than all the money in Texas!
Dear Reader,
Welcome to the world of Silhouette Desire, where you can indulge yourself every month with romances that can only be described as passionate, powerful and provocative!
Silhouette’s beloved author Annette Broadrick returns to Desire with a MAN OF THE MONTH who is Hard To Forget. Love rings true when former high school sweethearts reunite while both are on separate undercover missions to their hometown. Bestselling writer Cait London offers you A Loving Man, when a big-city businessman meets a country girl and learns the true meaning of love.
The Desire theme promotion THE BABY BANK, about sperm-bank client heroines who find love unexpectedly, returns with Amy J. Fetzer’s Having His Child, part of her WIFE, INC. miniseries. The tantalizing Desire miniseries THE FORTUNES OF TEXAS: THE LOST HEIRS continues with Baby of Fortune by Shirley Rogers. In Undercover Sultan, the second book of Alexandra Sellers’s SONS OF THE DESERT: THE SULTANS trilogy, a handsome prince is forced to go on the run with a sexy mystery woman—who may be the enemy. And Ashley Summers writes of a Texas tycoon who comes home to find a beautiful stranger living in his mansion in Beauty in His Bedroom.
This month see inside for details about our exciting new contest “Silhouette Makes You a Star.” You’ll feel like a star when you delve into all six fantasies created in Desire books this August!
Enjoy!
Joan Marlow Golan
Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire
Baby of Fortune
Shirley Rogers
SHIRLEY ROGERS
lives in Virginia with her husband, two cats and an adorable Maltese named Blanca. She has two grown children, a son and a daughter. As a child, she was known for having a vivid imagination. It wasn’t until she started reading romances that she realized her true destiny was writing them! Besides reading, she enjoys traveling and going to the movies.
Shirley loves to hear from readers. Please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope and write to: PMB#189, 1920-125 Centerville Tpke., Virginia Beach, VA 23464.
Meet the Fortunes of Texas
Meet the Fortunes of Texas’s Lost Heirs—membership in this Texas family has its privileges and its price. As the family gathers to welcome its newest members, it discovers a murderer in its midst…and passionate new romances that only a true-bred Texas love can bring!
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Justin Bond: This no-nonsense, hard-driven businessman has already made his mark in the world…but now he’s realizing what matters most—family!
Heather Bond: Once she’d loved Justin with her whole heart, but a tragedy had ripped their marriage apart. Can she learn to love her husband again?
Timmy Bond: At three months, he is too young to understand how the events happening in this single month will shape his entire life….
Holly Douglas: Cameron’s illegitimate daughter had refused to come to Red Rock…so now the Fortunes are taking matters into their own hands and heading to Alaska!
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
One
“Take your hands off my wife.”
Justin Bond stood on the spacious porch of the home he’d once shared with his wife, and a flash of irritation whipped through him. He steeled himself to remain in control as he stared through the partially open door. He’d never expected to find Heather in the arms of another man.
Sucking in a hard breath, he balled his hands into fists at his side. His plans to woo his wife slammed into a brick wall. He’d come to ask her to give their marriage another try. It was a blow to his self-esteem to discover she was seeing someone else.
Reeling from the brutal tone of the warning, the man snapped his arms away from Heather, tripping over his own feet as he backed away. A nervous twitch appeared in his left eye. Justin considered that a victory of sorts.
“Justin!”
Shock and disbelief registered on his wife’s face. She pressed a hand to her chest, as if unable to catch her breath. Or was she embarrassed to be caught in a compromising situation? Justin wasn’t sure which, and at the moment, he didn’t exactly care. He wanted this jerk out of his house.
“Heather.” Justin swiftly shifted his gaze in her direction again, and annoyance swept through him like a sandstorm in the desert. He clenched, then relaxed his hands again.
“What are you doing here?” She didn’t wait for him to answer as she looked from Justin to the other man, then back at her husband. Soft pink color stained her cheeks and neck, disappearing beneath the vee of her cream-colored blouse. “Um, you remember…uh, Paul…Paul Dailey, a colleague of mine from school?” Her voice trembled slightly.
Justin acknowledged the introduction with a slight nod. Twisting his lips, he studied his competitor. He hadn’t thought much of Dailey when he’d first met him a few years ago at a school function with Heather. His blond hair was messy, his casual pants and shirt severely wrinkled. He’d always had that “slick salesman” look about him. Justin didn’t trust him for a second.
It took every ounce of his willpower to restrain from storming into the room, grabbing the jerk by his collar and throwing him out of the house. Dammit! Heather was still his wife!
“Paul stopped by to discuss some…committee decisions we need to make.”
Justin sent his wife a questioning glance. “Committee decisions?” His throat tightened as his gaze shifted with lightning speed to her companion. “Is that what you were discussing with my wife?” he asked pointedly. He put his hands on his hips, and it gave him a bit of pleasure to note a trace of fear in Dailey’s eyes.
“We, uh, I…yes.” Paul Dailey cleared his throat several times, and his hands