Sara Orwig - Standing Outside The Fire

And I want you to stay with me this morning if you will.” All amusement vanished from his expression, replaced by so much desire that it took her breath.

Her heart thudded because she knew if she said no now and walked out, he would let her go. She had to make a choice here. All her life she had known what she wanted and didn’t want. She knew now what she really wanted.

She didn’t want to walk away from this man who had turned her world topsy-turvy, the first man in her life to set her heart pounding. The best-looking man she had ever known, as well as the most exciting. He was silent, waiting, letting her make her choice.

On tiptoe, she pulled his head down. With their lips almost touching, she whispered, “Someday, I may regret this moment, but right now it seems perfect.”

Dear Reader,

Yes, we have what you’re looking for at Silhouette Desire. This month, we bring you some of the most anticipated stories…and some of the most exciting new tales we have ever offered.

Yes, New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jackson is back with Randi McCafferty’s story. You’ve been waiting to discover who fathered Randi’s baby and who was out to kill her, and the incomparable Lisa Jackson answers all your questions and more in Best-Kept Lies. Yes, we have the next installment of DYNASTIES: THE DANFORTHS with Cathleen Galitz’s Cowboy Crescendo. And you can be sure that wild Wyoming rancher Toby Danforth is just as hot as can be. Yes, there is finally another SECRETS! book from Barbara McCauley. She’s back with Miss Pruitt’s Private Life, a scandalous tale of passionate encounters and returning characters you’ve come to know and love.

Yes, Sara Orwig continues her compelling series STALLION PASS: TEXAS KNIGHTS with an outstanding tale of stranded strangers turned secret lovers, in Standing Outside the Fire. Yes, the fabulous Kathie DeNosky is back this month with a scintillating story about a woman desperate to have a Baby at His Convenience. And yes, Bronwyn Jameson is taking us down under as two passionate individuals square off in a battle that soon sweeps them Beyond Control.

Here’s hoping you’ll be saying “Yes, yes, yes” to Silhouette Desire all month…all summer…all year long!

Melissa Jeglinski

Senior Editor

Silhouette Desire

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Epilogue

“How did this happen to me?” Boone Devlin wondered for the hundredth time as he climbed out of his rental car.

It was an hour from midnight, the seventh of July, and the glistening asphalt parking lot of the swank San Antonio hotel was deserted. Boone strode across it, dodging puddles from the night’s rain.

Summer lightning streaked through the sky and was gone, plunging the Texas night back into darkness. He walked briskly, still in shock over his inheritance of a nationally famous quarter horse ranch and over a million dollars. He was in town to meet the manager of the ranch and to break the news that he intended to sell it. He was interested only in funding his new air charter service. With the money from the sale of the ranch, he could foresee endless possibilities for his business.

The staccato click of heels caught Boone’s attention, and he caught sight of a shapely female a few yards ahead who hurried toward the hotel. As his gaze ran appreciatively over her form, a man stepped out of the shadows and accosted her.

Boone couldn’t hear the man’s words, but she shook her head and snapped an emphatic no as she strode past him. The intruder fell into step beside her and continued speaking in a low voice. Abruptly, the woman veered away from him. When she did, the man reached out and grabbed her arm.

Clenching his fists, Boone sprinted toward them.

Already the woman had reacted, stomping her heel on the man’s instep. Then, she slapped him hard over the ear and shoved him away.

“No!” she exclaimed again loudly, and while the man staggered, she rushed into the hotel.

Boone chuckled, and the man spun around. “What’s so damn funny?” he snarled, starting toward Boone. The guy was ready to take out his anger on someone.

Boone clenched his fists and spread his feet. “You want some more?” he asked softly. He stood close enough now that he could face the man squarely.

Lightning flashed, and they stared at each other, eye to eye.

The man’s chest expanded while he inhaled. Turning, he hurried away, disappearing into the shadows.

Boone sauntered into the hotel’s elegant, deserted lobby that had leather chairs grouped around polished mahogany tables centered with vases of flowers. He strolled to the desk and checked in. When he went to the elevators, the woman from the parking lot was still there, and they entered the same elevator.

Boone had only seen her in the dark parking lot. Now, in the bright lights of the elevator, she stole his breath. His gaze skimmed over a figure that was usually found only in men’s dreams. Her emerald-green sleeveless dress revealed lush curves and a tiny waist. Her slender arms had well-toned muscles, and he guessed that she worked out regularly. Especially since that display in the parking lot.

Her full red lips conjured up his curiosity about how they would taste and feel beneath his own. He glanced at her long, slender fingers and noted she wore no wedding ring. She was looking down, adjusting her purse strap. The thick curtain of silky shoulder-length red hair fell forward, hiding her face. She raised her head and he gazed into the greenest eyes he had ever seen.

Thickly lashed, her cat eyes mesmerized and enticed. They were cool, icy green, full of mystery and mischief and hints of sensual pleasure. She met his gaze with her own direct, self-assured stare.

“I was going to come to your rescue out there in the parking lot,” Boone told her, “until I saw I wasn’t needed.”

“Thanks, anyway,” she replied in a throaty voice.

“Would you like to go downstairs and have a drink?” he asked, hoping to prolong their time together.

She smiled briefly at him. “Thank you. Actually, I was going back downstairs. I haven’t had dinner tonight so I’m going to eat not drink.”

“Fine. I just got into town. Let me take you to dinner to celebrate.”

Her eyebrow arched. “Celebrate what? Your getting into town?”

He grinned. “No, you fending off that guy. You were cool, collected and efficient. It was impressive.”

“Thanks.” The elevator doors opened. “Maybe I’ll see you in the restaurant,” she offered, and the doors closed behind her.

“Yes, you will,” Boone replied quietly. He rode to his floor, hurried to his room to deposit his flight bag, wash up and comb his wavy brown hair.

Downstairs in the restaurant, he got a table beside a window that overlooked the deserted swimming pool. In the red-carpeted restaurant the lights were low and, because of the late hour, the room was almost deserted. While he sat and waited, he could hear live music from the lounge.

Less than five minutes later, she walked through the door, and his pulse skipped a beat. When he stood and waved to her, she hesitated, but then she smiled and crossed the room toward him, moving past the tables draped with white linen cloths.

He watched the easy sway of her hips, and his temperature rose another notch.

“You don’t give up easily, either, do you?” she demanded.

“No, but I’m not going to coerce you into eating with me. You’ll have to admit, it’ll be far more entertaining than if we eat alone.”

“And you don’t lack in confidence,” she added, sounding amused.

“That was fact not confidence. I know I’ll have a better time eating with you instead of alone.” He pulled out a chair.

“I don’t usually let guys pick me up,” she told him, “and I don’t usually have dinner with strangers. For all I know, you’re married.”

“I’m not picking you up—this isn’t a date,” he said as she sat down. “And I’ve never been married, not married now, not going to be.”

“A free spirit?”

“Exactly.” He walked around to his chair to sit and face her. “Besides, we’re not strangers now. We’ve known each other almost a whole half hour.” He held out his hand. “I’m B—”

She shook her head. “No names. Let’s keep this impersonal.”

“You don’t want to know my name?”

“No, because we won’t see each other again after this night. When dinner is over we’ll go our separate ways. I’ll feel much better about it.”

He cocked his head. “Want to make a bet? I’ll bet you that before we part, you’ll tell me your name. In the meantime, I’ll just call you Red.”

Smiling, she nodded while her green eyes twinkled. “All right, I’ll take that bet. Winner gets what?”

“What would you like if you win?” he challenged, knowing what he would like to claim as his prize, but also knowing he couldn’t tell her that now. Another loud clap of thunder boomed and crackled through the hotel. “What would you like if you win? Name something,” he urged her.

She gazed past him and pursed her lips in thought. Boone had to fight the temptation to lean across the table and touch his lips to hers. Finally her gaze returned to him. “I’m a chocoholic. If I win, you get me a chocolate dessert, or if they don’t have one, a candy bar. I know the gift shop will have them.”

“Fine with me,” he replied.

“Now, if you win, what do you want? You better keep the prize simple and impersonal,” she warned in a no-nonsense tone.

“That you tell me four facts about yourself—in addition to the ones I figure out on my own.”

He received another smile. “If you’re trying to figure me out, I can save you the trouble. I’m an ordinary person who leads an ordinary life.”

“I don’t think so. Four new facts, right?”

“That’s an easy one. All right. I’ll take that bet and enjoy my chocolate.”

“Tonight we can have a double celebration.”

“This ought to be a good one—what else will we celebrate?” Outside, lightning flashed, and then was gone.

“My having dinner with one of the prettiest women in Texas, and that’s saying a lot. Since Texas women are usually gorgeous.”

She laughed and shook her head. “That’s a little thick!”

“There! Your smile is absolute proof. You have a dimple, even, white teeth, a smile that would set any man’s pulse racing, plus those big green eyes…” He paused when a waiter arrived to pour glasses of water for each of them.

Boone ordered white wine, yet all the time he was ordering, he was watching the woman and thinking about her. He had meant every word he’d said to her. Besides being capable and keeping a cool head in a scary situation, she was stunning and sexy—a combination to heat his blood to boiling. And he had the feeling that she was merely tolerating him. He could get some response from her, but it was slight and guarded, a rarity in his dealings with women.