Letter to Reader Title Page Dedication Acknowledgments CAROLINE CROSS “What’s Happening in Royal?” Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Epilogue Teaser chapter Copyright
This month, in CINDERELLA’S TYCOON
by Caroline Cross, meet Sterling Churchill—CEO of Churchill Enterprises. Nothing seems too big a challenge for steely Sterling, until he finds himself marrying Susan Wilkins—a plain-Jane librarian who wants only to have her baby in peace in this modern-day Cinderella love story!
SILHOUETTE DESIRE
IS PROUD TO PRESENT THE
Five wealthy Texas bachelors—all members
of the state’s most exclusive club—set out on a mission to rescue a princess...and find true love.
And don’t miss BILLIONAIRE BRIDEGROOM
by Peggy Moreland, next month’s installment of the Texas Cattleman’s Club, available in Silhouette Desire!
Dear Reader,
Welcome to Silhouette Desire—where you’re guaranteed powerful, passionate and provocative love stories that feature rugged heroes and spirited heroines who experience the full emotional intensity of falling in love!
Wonderful and ever-popular Annette Broadrick brings us September’s MAN OF THE MONTH with Lean, Mean & Lonesome. Watch as a tough loner returns home to face the woman he walked away from but never forgot.
Our exciting continuity series TEXAS CATTLEMAN’S CLUB continues with Cinderella’s Tycoon by Caroline Cross. Charismatic CEO Sterling Churchill marries a shy librarian pregnant with his sperm-bank baby—and finds love.
Proposition: Marriage is what rising star Eileen Wilks offers when the girl-next-door comes alive in the arms of an alpha hero. Beloved romance author Fayrene Preston makes her Desire debut with The Barons of Texas: Tess, featuring a beautiful heiress who falls in love with a sexy stranger. The popular theme BACHELORS & BABIES returns to Desire with Metsy Hingle’s Dad in Demand. And Barbara McCauley’s miniseries SECRETS! continues with the dramatic story of a mysterious millionaire in Killian’s Passion.
So make a commitment to sensual love—treat yourself to all six September love stones from Silhouette Desire!
Enjoy!
Joan Marlow Golan
Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire
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Cinderella’s Tycoon
Caroline Cross
To the other Texas Cattleman’s Club ladies:
Dixie Browning, Peggy Moreland, Metsy Hingle and Cindy Gerard, four exceptional writers whose considerable talents are matched only by their generous hearts.
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to
Caroline Cross for her contribution to the Texas Cattleman’s Club miniseries.
CAROLINE CROSS
always loved to read, but it wasn’t until she discovered romance that she felt compelled to write, fascinated by the chance to explore the positive power of love in people’s lives. She grew up in Yakima, Washington, the “Apple Capital of the World,” attended the University of Puget Sound and now lives outside Seattle, where she works (or tries to) at home despite the chaos created by two telephone-addicted teenage daughters and a husband with a fondness for home-improvement projects. An award-winning author who’s been called “one of the best” writers of romance today by Romantic Times Magazine, Caroline believes in writing from the heart—and having a good brainstorming partner. She loves hearing from readers and can be reached at P.O. Box 47375, Seattle, Washington, 98146.
“What’s Happening in Royal?”
NEWS FLASH, September 1999—Royal, Texas, is reeling from the news that illustrious business tycoon Mr. Sterling Churchill, CEO of Churchill Enterprises, has recently married Miss Susan Wilkins, librarian of the Royal Public Library, in a private ceremony at the city courthouse. Obviously, this was a whirlwind courtship!
Miss Wilkins was seen a number of times entering the Buddy Clinic—local lingo for the Buddy Williams Clinic for Reproductive Technology. Could it be a baby is the reason for the Churchills’ surprise nuptials?
And just who is that regal blonde suddenly spotted waitressing at the Royal Diner? Do our Texas Cattleman’s Club members have anything to do with her mysterious appearance from no one knows where? Our sources will tell you soon....
One
The telephone was ringing.
Head down, arms braced against the slick white shower tile, Sterling Churchill tensed at the shrill sound, the muscles in his back tightening reflexively beneath the pounding spray.
Why the hell doesn’t Maxine get that? he wondered irritably a second before he remembered he was alone in the house. His return from Obersbourg earlier than planned had sent his housekeeper rushing off to the grocery store, muttering crossly under her breath about a certain person’s lack of consideration.
Sterling snorted. After ten years in his employ, Max damn well ought to know he would have called if it had been feasible. As it was, he was