“I’m glad you’re here with me tonight, Isabelle. Whatever the reason.”
“Tony, try to keep an employer-employee view. That’s all it can be between us. Unless, of course, you decide to become a marrying man.” She suspected that a woman looking for a husband was the last person Tony would want to spend time with.
“I’m not a marrying man. But we can still enjoy an evening out,” he replied smoothly.
Isabelle wished she could remain as cool as he was. “I want a family, so our association outside of work isn’t a good idea.”
“We’ll see about that one,” he said, smiling at her. “I know you know how to enjoy life. I have a very good memory.”
Dear Reader,
A Lone Star Love Affair touches on one of my favourite topics—families. I’ve always been deeply involved with my family. Therefore, family themes run through many of my stories, with parents, children, siblings and other relatives included in the plots.
This time the goals that many have of wanting a family or hoping for success in business are the driving forces of the hero and heroine. In both situations, the goals are family-oriented, coming out of each person’s background.
Beautiful, blonde Isabelle Smith is captivated by Tony Ryder, a dynamic, handsome multimillionaire who is driven to become a billionaire by forty. There’s no room in Tony’s life for marriage or children until he achieves that goal. Tony in turn is dazzled by Isabelle and wants her in his life, but on his terms.
With an overbearing father and a sister he protects and cares about, Tony thinks his goal is absolutely necessary for happiness. Because of her family, Isabelle’s motivations clash totally with Tony’s, and both fight the attraction they feel every time they are together.
A Lone Star Love Affair is a Texas story with the pitfalls, upheavals and problems two people work through because of love.
Thank you for letting me share this story with you.
Sara Orwig
A Lone Star
Love Affair
Sara Orwig
AND
Falling for
the Princess
Sandra Hyatt
A Lone Star
Love Affair
Sara Orwig
About the Author
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.
With thanks to Stacy Boyd, Melissa Senate,
Shana Smith and Maureen Walters.
One
Tony Ryder couldn’t suppress his jubilation.
It had taken years for him to acquire Morris Enterprises. Years—plus being in the right place at the right time.
Late at night, he had stepped off the elevator on the nineteenth floor of the twenty-story glass Morris building in downtown Dallas. Wall lights shed a softened glow in the empty corridor as he passed open doors. His father had made offers over the years for this company and never succeeded in acquiring it. Now one giant coup would make his controlling father back off. That made all the hours of work more than worth his efforts. Tony was growing as wealthy as his father and finally gaining the man’s respect.
Tony had grown more pleased with the offices from the lobby to the top floor. Strolling the empty hallway, he paused to look at framed awards mounted on the beige walls. Farther along was a glass-enclosed case of trophies for graphic arts achievements. He noticed the same director’s name on several awards and trophies. Moving on, he passed through open doors into a darkened office and switched on the light. He was in the graphic arts sector—a part of the company that he would change drastically. He intended to retain a few of the graphic arts people and offer the others generous severance packages, absorbing the remaining employees into his own public relations department.
He shut the light and continued along the silent, dimly lit hall, turning at the next open door into an anteroom. Light spilled inside from a doorway. Crossing the anteroom, Tony entered another spacious, elegant office. He stopped abruptly as a blonde looked up.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said, surprised and curious to find someone working after ten. His first thought was that he was looking at his most gorgeous employee. As she stood, his gaze drifted swiftly over her. In an all-business navy suit and matching silk blouse, she looked as if she had just arrived at work instead of putting in extra hours. Her blond hair was secured in a roll on the back of her head. He had the strange feeling of meeting her before, but he knew he would have remembered her. A sizzling current startled him. He was caught in wide blue eyes that darkened and mesmerized. Silence stretched until he realized they were entrapped in each other’s gaze. When she touched a paper on her desk, the spell broke.
“You’re working late,” he remarked.
“I believe you, too, are working late,” she replied.
He stepped forward to extend his hand across her desk. “Sorry, I’m Tony Ryder.”
“Isabelle Smith,” she said. “I know who you are.” Her hand was slender, warm, and should have been like other feminine handshakes. Instead, the electric current he had first experienced just at the sight of her, magnified. Startled by his intense reaction, he focused intently on her, momentarily immobilized by his reactions.
“I’m here because I had something to finish. You’re visiting rather late,” she said. “Looking over your new acquisition?”
While her voice was neutral, her eyes were cool and assessing. He sensed she did not approve of him.
“You’re right. And you’re the Morris graphic arts department director.”
“You’ve either done some homework about the business you just bought, or read the sign on my door.” She walked around the desk and motioned to a chair. “Please have a seat,” she said, taking a leather chair that was turned to face him. As she moved closer, he caught a whiff of exotic perfume. “I don’t know whether you actually get involved or have staff who do that for you.”
“I have staff, but I also want to be knowledgeable about my investments,” he said as he sat near her. She crossed her legs and he couldn’t resist one swift glance that made him want to look back for a thorough assessment. She had long, shapely legs. “I’m involved in whatever I own. What’s so urgent to keep you working this late when you know your department will be split up?”
“So the rumors are true,” she remarked, the frostiness in her tone increasing. “I intend to finish a few projects because we’ve already signed contracts. That won’t change with the new management. I feel I need to wind things up before you actually take charge.”
“You say that as if doomsday approaches.”
She shrugged a slender shoulder. “That seems to be your approach to your acquisitions. I’ve done my homework and you have a reputation.”
“Do I now?” he asked, amused. “Tell me what this reputation is.”
“Ambitious. Driven. What I might label ‘smash and grab.’”
He