“You Don’t Have To Pay Me Back,” Letter to Reader Title Page About the Author Dedication Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Epilogue Copyright
“You Don’t Have To Pay Me Back,”
Boone insisted.
That voice. So low and husky. So slow and sexy. Every time Boone said something, it sent a ripple of delight buzzing through Lucy’s libido.
She ignored him and said, “Here’s what I’m going to do—”
“Lucy...like I keep telling you, it’s not necessary to pay me back for anything. Okay?”
Lucy hurried on. “Here’s the deal. I’m giving you myself for one month.”
When he seemed not to understand, Lucy tried again. “I’m yours to do your bidding, at your beck and call, for four weeks.”
He still seemed mystified.
Finally, in an effort to make it as clear as possible, Lucy told him, “For the next thirty days, Boone Cagney, I’ll do whatever you tell me to do. Because for the next thirty days, I’m going to be your slave.”
THE FAMILY McCORMICK: Three separated siblings find each other—and love along the way!
Dear Reader,
A sexy fire fighter, a crazy cat and a dynamite heroine—that’s what you’ll find in Lucy and the Loner, Elizabeth Bevarly’s wonderful MAN OF THE MONTH. It’s the next in her installment of THE FAMILY McCORMICK series, and it’s also a MAN OF THE MONTH book you’ll never forget—warm, humorous and very sexy!
A story from Lass Small is always a delight, and Chancy’s Cowboy is Lass at her most marvelous. Don’t miss out as Chancy decides to take some lessons in love from a handsome hunk of a cowboy!
Eileen Wilks’s latest, The Wrong Wife, is chock-full with the sizzling tension and compelling reading that you’ve come to expect from this rising Desire star. And so many of you know and love Barbara McCauley that she needs no introduction, but this month’s The Nanny and the Reluctant Rancher is sure to both please her current fans...and win her new readers!
Suzannah Davis is another new author that we’re excited about, and Dr. Holt and the Texan may just be her best book to date! And the month is completed with a delightful. romp from Susan Carroll, Parker and the Gypsy.
There’s something for everyone. So come and relish the romantic variety you’ve come to expect from Silhouette Desire!
Lucia Macro
And the Editors at Silhouette Desire
Please address questions and book requests to:
Silhouette Reader Service U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269 Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont L2A 5X3
Lucy and the Loner
Elizabeth Bevarly
ELIZABETH BEVARLY
is an honors graduate of the University of Louisville and achieved her dream of writing full-time before she even turned thirty! At heart, she is also an avid voyager who once helped navigate a friend’s thirty-five-foot sailboat across the Bermuda Triangle. “I really love to travel,” says this self-avowed beach bum. “To me, it’s the best education a person can give to herself.” Her dream is to one day have her own sailboat, a beautifully renovated older model forty-two footer, and to enjoy the freedom and tranquillity seafaring can bring. Elizabeth likes to think she has a lot in common with the characters she creates, people who know love and life go hand in hand. And she’s getting some firsthand experience with maternity, as well—she and her husband welcomed their firstborn, a son, two years ago.
For my husband, David, who,
after twenty books, is still supportive, still indulgent and still cooking. I couldn’t have done it without you. Here’s to twenty more.
And with much, much gratitude to
Captain George Meyers (AKA Roscoe) of Chicago, Illinois, who, happily and with great humor, answered an exhaustive list of questions about his fire- fighting profession, and who added more than a little color to the book as a result. Any inaccuracies that may appear in the story do so because of my own erroneously drawn conclusions. Thanks, George!
One
Lucy Dolan woke slowly to utter darkness and discovered quickly that she was unable to breathe. A huge, heavy weight seemed to have settled on her chest while she was sleeping, and it had pushed the air right out of her lungs. When she tried to inhale, her breath leapt back out of her mouth in the form of a burning cough that seared her throat and coated her tongue with a foul taste. Another cough followed, then another and another, until she began to grow dizzy and rolled right out of bed.
Landing on the floor jarred her fully awake and afforded her some meager ability to catch her breath. But the air that passed through her lips tasted dirty and felt hot. Instead of reviving her, it made her head ache and caused her to feel oddly lethargic. As she reeled awkwardly over onto her back, she wondered why she couldn’t see the hallway light that she always kept lit at night. Only then did she realize that what she was breathing wasn’t air at all—it was smoke. Thick, black smoke that eclipsed the hallway light, burned her eyes and threatened to suffocate her.
Fire. Good God, her house was on fire.
When the recognition of that finally registered, her mind scurried into action. Unfortunately, instead of rehearsing an escape route that she’d never bothered to plan anyway, all Lucy could think