Jan Hudson - One Ticket To Texas

Wow, What A Man. Wow, What A Man. Irish watched Kyle’s long-legged gait as he walked away from her. The man was as handsome as buttered sin. She’d never met anyone in her life who oozed such sex appeal. And from the little that they had talked, she felt certain he would be lots of fun to be with. He probably had everything a woman could ask for. Except money. Why is it, if it’s just as easy to love a rich man as a poor one, that I’m always attracted to the ones who don’t have two nickels to rub together? Irish sighed. She couldn’t afford to let herself get sidetracked. Her plans were made; her bank account was committed. She was out to snare a millionaire. And it was a crying shame that she was so captivated by Kyle Rutledge. Letter to Reader Dear Reader, There’s something for everyone this month! Brides, babies and cowboys...but also humor, sensuality...and delicious love stories (some without a baby in sight!). There’s nothing as wonderful as a new book from Barbara Boswell, and this month we have a MAN OF THE MONTH written by this talented author. Who’s the Boss? is a very sexy, delightfully funny love story. As always, Barbara not only creates a masterful hero and smart-as-a-whip heroine, she also makes her secondary characters come alive! When a pregnant woman gets stuck in a traffic jam she does the only thing she can do—talks a handsome hunk into giving her a ride to the hospital on his motorcycle in Leanne Banks’s latest, The Troublemaker Bride. Have you ever wanted to marry a millionaire? Well, heroine Irish Ellison plans on finding a man with money in One Ticket to Texas by Jan Hudson. A single momto-be gets a new life in Paula Detmer Riggs’s emotional and heartwarming Daddy by Accident. And a woman with a “bad reputation” finds unexpected romance in Barbara McMahon’s Boss Lady and the Hired Hand. Going to your high-school reunion is bad enough. But what if you were voted “Most likely to succeed”...but your success at love has been fleeting? Well, that’s just what happens in Susan Connell’s How To Succeed at Love. So read...and enjoy! Lucia Macro 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 Title Page One Ticket to Texas Jan Hudson www.millsandboon.co.uk JAN HUDSON, JAN HUDSON, a winner of the Romance Writers of America RITA Award, is a native Texan who lives with her husband in historically rich Nacogdoches, the oldest town in Texas. Formerly a licensed psychologist, she taught college psychology for over a decade before becoming a full-time author. Jan loves to write fast-paced stories laced with humor, fantasy and adventure, with bold characters who reach beyond the mundane and celebrate life. Prologue Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Epilogue Copyright

Wow, What A Man.

Irish watched Kyle’s long-legged gait as he walked away from her. The man was as handsome as buttered sin. She’d never met anyone in her life who oozed such sex appeal. And from the little that they had talked, she felt certain he would be lots of fun to be with.

He probably had everything a woman could ask for. Except money.

Why is it, if it’s just as easy to love a rich man as a poor one, that I’m always attracted to the ones who don’t have two nickels to rub together?

Irish sighed. She couldn’t afford to let herself get sidetracked. Her plans were made; her bank account was committed. She was out to snare a millionaire.

And it was a crying shame that she was so captivated by Kyle Rutledge.

Dear Reader,

There’s something for everyone this month! Brides, babies and cowboys...but also humor, sensuality...and delicious love stories (some without a baby in sight!).

There’s nothing as wonderful as a new book from Barbara Boswell, and this month we have a MAN OF THE MONTH written by this talented author. Who’s the Boss? is a very sexy, delightfully funny love story. As always, Barbara not only creates a masterful hero and smart-as-a-whip heroine, she also makes her secondary characters come alive!

When a pregnant woman gets stuck in a traffic jam she does the only thing she can do—talks a handsome hunk into giving her a ride to the hospital on his motorcycle in Leanne Banks’s latest, The Troublemaker Bride.

Have you ever wanted to marry a millionaire? Well, heroine Irish Ellison plans on finding a man with money in One Ticket to Texas by Jan Hudson. A single momto-be gets a new life in Paula Detmer Riggs’s emotional and heartwarming Daddy by Accident. And a woman with a “bad reputation” finds unexpected romance in Barbara McMahon’s Boss Lady and the Hired Hand.

Going to your high-school reunion is bad enough. But what if you were voted “Most likely to succeed”...but your success at love has been fleeting? Well, that’s just what happens in Susan Connell’s How To Succeed at Love.

So read...and enjoy!

Lucia Macro

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

One Ticket to Texas

Jan Hudson

www.millsandboon.co.uk

JAN HUDSON,

a winner of the Romance Writers of America RITA Award, is a native Texan who lives with her husband in historically rich Nacogdoches, the oldest town in Texas. Formerly a licensed psychologist, she taught college psychology for over a decade before becoming a full-time author. Jan loves to write fast-paced stories laced with humor, fantasy and adventure, with bold characters who reach beyond the mundane and celebrate life.

Prologue

“In your dreams, Buster!” Irish Ellison slammed the front door and stalked back to the den of the Foggy Bottom town house where her two roommates sat watching TV. “Men,” she groused, toeing off her high heels and plopping down on the couch next to Olivia.

“I take it that you and the senator’s staffer are having some problems,” Olivia said, offering Irish the popcorn bowl.

“You take right.” She plunged her hand into the buttery kernels and popped a few in her mouth. “The jerk.”

“What’s wrong?” Kim asked. “Gavin seemed very nice. I thought the two of you had something going.”

“I thought so, too—untit he hit me up for a loan. Can you believe it? The skunk takes me to a couple of embassy parties, wines and dines me with free booze and free food, and then tries to borrow money from me.”

Kim’s eyes grew even larger behind her thick glasses. “He didn’t?”

“He did. He’s behind on his alimony.”

“I didn’t even know that Gavin had been married,” Olivia said.

“Neither did I.” Irish propped her feet on the coffee table. “Until tonight. Seems that he’s been married not once, but twice, and he has four kids. Why do I always end up with somebody else’s rejects? You’re the psychologist, Olivia. What’s my problem?”

Olivia, the oldest of the three—and considered the wisest—raised her brows at the former model who had legs up to her armpits, bone structure that most women would die for and a shining fall of hair that was naturally a magnificent shade somewhere between strawberry blond and copper. “I don’t have my Ph.D. yet, but as far as I can tell, you don’t have any major problems, Irish. It’s this town. Washington has a dozen gorgeous single women vying for every available man—and even some that aren’t available. If you’re interested in meeting men, you’ve picked a bad place to settle.”

“I didn’t pick D.C. I’m only here because the jobs were drying up in New York and Aunt Katie left me this house. Maybe we’d better all move to Alaska. I understand that guys there are desperate for women.”

Neither Olivia nor Kim mentioned the third reason that Irish had fled the Big Apple.

“I’m not interested in meeting men,” Olivia said. “Been there. Done that.”

Irish turned to the TV where Marilyn Monroe filled the screen. “What are we watching?”

“How to Marry a Millionaire,” Kim said.

“Now there’s an idea that appeals to me. My mama always said, ‘It’s just as easy to fall in love with a rich man as a poor one.’”

“I thought that your father was a butcher.”

Irish waved off the comment. “Mama was a slow learner.” Her eyes narrowed, and she leaned forward, staring at a young Lauren Bacall. “I didn’t have her kind of luck in New York. I wonder where one goes nowadays to find millionaires—the kind that are good-looking, single and itching for a meaningful relationship?”

“Texas.”

Irish and Olivia turned to Kim, who at twenty was the youngest member of the household. “Texas?” they echoed in unison.

“Sure. My...boss is a millionaire and from Texas.”

“But your boss is a woman. Remember, Congress-woman Ellen O’Hara.”

“Yes, but she has a couple of younger brothers and two cousins who are single and rolling in dough.”

“Fat and bald, right? And short?”

Kim grinned. “Nope. Not the ones I’ve seen. They’re quite good-looking. And tall. Want me to borrow their photographs from the office and bring them home?”

“Not for me,” Olivia said. “I’m not interested.”

Irish sat up. “I am. I’ll be thirty next February. I’d like to be snuggly settled into a nice Dallas mansion and driving a Beemer by my birthday. I’m sick of selling cosmetics at Macy’s and trying to hustle freelance articles on beauty tips to keep up the payments on my little car. Which one of her brothers is tall, dark and the richest and the most handsome?”

Kim cocked her head. “Well, that probably would be Jackson, but he doesn’t live in Dallas. Although the cousins...”

“Enough said. Jackson it is. How do I meet this guy?”

Olivia looked aghast. “You can’t be serious. You wouldn’t judge a potential husband simply by the size of his bank account.”

“I wouldn’t? Pray tell, why not?”

“What about love?” Kim asked. “What about passion?”

“What about it? Passion is vastly overrated. I want security in my old age. Besides, I find money very sexy.” Irish glanced at the movie, then watched intently for a few minutes. As the story unfolded, wheels and gears spun to life in her head. With a devilish gleam in her eyes, she turned to her roommates and said, “We need to map out a strategy.”

One

When Irish Ellison rattled the padlocked chain on the gate and it didn’t budge, her spirits sank deeper than the high heels of her new suede boots into the soft ground.

“Drive through the gate and continue for another half mile,” Ellen Crow O’Hara’s secretary had said. But how the heck was she supposed to drive through a locked gate?

Thoroughly disgusted, Irish picked her way back to the Mercedes she’d rented over two hours before at the airport in Dallas. Things weren’t turning out the way she’d planned at all. She’d gone for broke on the scheme she and her roommates had hatched. She’d maxed out her credit card on a seductive wardrobe and had wrangled an advance from an editor friend at Esprit for an article about young Texas millionaires at play. The advance had covered her ticket to Texas and the car rental. Her food and lodging at Crow’s Nest, Jackson Crow’s golf retreat beyond the locked gate and in the middle of nowhere, were supposed to be compliments of Ellen’s brother.