Table of Contents
Cover Page
Excerpt
Dear Reader
Title Page
Books by Sara Orwig
About the Author
Dedication
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Copyright
“I’m Talking About A Marriage
In Name Only,”
Caleb said quietly. “There wouldn’t be anything physical—” he paused, his dark eyes boring into her “—unless you want a physical relationship.”
Juliana’s mouth dropped open as she stared at him, and Cal had to bite back a laugh.
“In name only?” she repeated.
He was in deep now and he clung to the remembrance of the amount of money each would inherit. “As beautiful as your body is, I know we’re strangers. I’m suggesting in name only. I like my solitary life and peace and quiet, and I am not a marrying man.”
He knew when to rest his case. He gazed at her and wondered idly how she would look with her hair falling free. He resisted the impulse to reach out and tug loose her golden locks. Her skin was as smooth as silk and her lips full, looking tantalizingly soft.
What would it be like to kiss her?
Dear Reader,
Welcome to Silhouette Desire, where you can discover the answers to all your romantic questions. Such as…
Q. What would you think if you discovered the man you love has a secret identity—as a movie star?
A. That’s what happens to the heroine of August’s MAN OF THE MONTH, Don’t Fence Me In by award-winning writer Kathleen Korbel.
Q. What would you do if you were pregnant, in labor and snowbound with a sexy—but panicked—stranger?
A. Discover the answer in Father on the Brink, the conclusion to Elizabeth Bevarly’s FROM HERE TO PATERNITY series.
Q. Suppose you had to have a marriage of convenience?
A. Maybe you’d behave like the heroine in Barbara McMahon’s Bride of a Thousand Days.
Q. How could you talk a man into fathering your child…no strings attached?
A. Learn how in Susan Crosby’s Baby Fever!
Q. Would you ever marry a stranger?
A. You might, if he was the hero of Sara Orwig’s The Bride’s Choice.
Q. What does it take to lasso a sexy cowboy?
A. Find out in Shawna Delacorte’s Cowboy Dreaming.
Silhouette Desire…where all your questions are answered and your romantic dreams can come true. Until next month, happy reading!
Senior Editor
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
The Bride’s ChoiceSara Orwig
Books by Sara Orwig
Silhouette Desire
Falcon’s Lair #938
The Bride’s Choice #1019
Silhouette Intimate Moments
Hide in Plain Sight #679
SARA ORWIG
lives with her husband and children 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 writes 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.
To all my editors at Silhouette:
Lucia Macro, Cristine Niessner,
Angela Catalano and Lynda Curnyn.
One
“This is Elnora Roseanne Tangney Siever’s last will and testament.”
Caleb Duncan listened as Willard Mason read in an im- passive voice, and again felt shock that Elnora had written a new will with a new attorney. Cal had been the Siever at- torney since he had opened his practice. The Sievers were old family friends of his grandparents’ and Lawrence Siever had referred clients to Cal until Siever’s death. Cal had been El- nora’s lawyer. Why, only last month, he had taken her to lunch. He’d had no idea she’d hired another lawyer.
Cal glanced at the three people seated to his right: gray- haired Stoddard Tamblin, Elnora Siever’s elderly butler and chauffeur; Gladys Wicklund, the woman’s faithful ser- vant; and Juliana Aldrich, former companion and friend to Elnora.
Cal’s gaze raked over the blonde, slowing momentarily over her long, silken legs. Juliana Aldrich was a good- looking woman. Tall and willowy, she had golden hair the rich color of ripe wheat. It was pinned behind her head in a chignon. Distaste curled in Cal’s mouth. The beautiful lit- tle gold digger should not be sitting there. During college, she had worked as a companion for Elnora, probably play- ing on Elnora’s sympathy and winning her everlasting friendship.
Cal recalled several times Elnora had suggested changing her will to include Juliana, and each time Cal had talked her out of the notion. Or he thought he had. Cal’s instincts told him why Elnora had hired Mason and written another will. Memories of what Elnora had suggested made his anger boil. Surely not even Elnora could have been so flighty and whimsical as to have actually written the will she’d pro- posed to him? And surely Willard Mason would have talked her out of it, too.
As Cal looked at Juliana Aldrich, cool blue eyes met his gaze. He stared back, fury and wariness churning in him while he listened to Willard Mason’s deep voice.
“I, Elnora Siever of Colby County, state of Texas, being now in good health and strength of body and mind, desir- ing to make disposition of my property and affairs, do hereby declare this to be my last will and testament.”
Provisions were made for bills to be paid, the standard legal jargon was read, and as she listened, Juliana was still surprised to be one of the heirs. She hadn’t given a thought to inheriting from Elnora. Various token amounts ran through her mind, but she felt certain she would be be- queathed some sentimental remembrance, Elnora’s music box that played “Lara’s Theme,” or some of Elnora’s books.
Yet, perhaps it was something more substantial; what- ever it was, Caleb Duncan must not approve. He’d been curt with her, and every glance he gave her looked angry while he was warm and courteous to Gladys and Stoddard. Yet per- haps his anger was caused by Elnora herself. As Juliana re- called, Caleb Duncan had been Elnora’s attorney. What
