Linda Conrad - Slow Dancing With a Texan

Rocking a baby, watching it grow were things she’d refused to consider.

She’d been so wrapped up in her career, so busy getting ahead that she hadn’t given a family of her own a second thought.

Lainie blinked back wetness. She slid a glance over at Sloan’s profile, wondering what he thought about having kids.

She chastised herself for being an idiot. Know a guy for three days, share one spectacular dance and an equally spectacular kiss and you start thinking of diapers and baby blankets? That was just the sort of thing she counseled against in her column. She’d told literally hundreds of women not to do anything so foolish.

Good thing she and Sloan had only shared kisses.

Oh, but she wanted to share so much more….

Dear Reader,

Welcome back to another passionate month at Silhouette Desire. A Scandal Between the Sheets is breaking out as Brenda Jackson pens the next tale in the scintillating DYNASTIES: THE DANFORTHS series. We all love the melodrama and mayhem that surrounds this Southern family—how about you?

The superb Beverly Barton stops by Silhouette Desire with an extra wonderful title in her bestselling series THE PROTECTORS. Keeping Baby Secret will keep you on the edge of your seat—and curl your toes all at the same time. What would you do if you had to change your name and your entire history? Sheri WhiteFeather tackles that compelling question when her heroine is forced to enter the witness protection program in A Kept Woman. Seems she was a kept woman of another sort, as well…so be sure to pick up this fabulous read if you want the juicy details.

Kristi Gold has written the final, fabulous installment of THE TEXAS CATTLEMAN’S CLUB: THE STOLEN BABY series with Fit for a Sheikh. (But don’t worry, we promise those sexy cattlemen with be back.) And rounding out the month are two wonderful stories filled with an extra dose of passion: Linda Conrad’s dramatic Slow Dancing With A Texan and Emilie Rose’s suppercharged A Passionate Proposal.

Enjoy all we have to offer this month—and every month—at Silhouette Desire.

Melissa Jeglinski

Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

Born in Brazil to a commercial pilot and his wife, Linda Conrad was raised in south Florida and has been a dreamer and storyteller for as long as she can remember. After her mother’s death a few years ago, she moved from her then-home in Texas to Southern California and gave up her previous life as a stockbroker to rededicate herself to her first love—writing.

Linda and her husband, along with a Siamese mix cat named Sam, recently moved back to south Florida. She’s been writing contemporary romances for about five years and loves sharing them with readers. She enjoys growing roses, reading cozy mysteries and sexy romances, and driving her little convertible in the sunshine. But most important, Linda loves learning about—and living with—passion.

It makes Linda’s day to hear from readers. Visit with her at www.LindaConrad.com.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Danged, crazy-fool redhead.

With one swift curse under his breath, Texas Ranger Sloan Abbott checked his watch and headed across the narrow downtown street toward the lobby where the foolhardy woman stood in full view. He wasn’t supposed to meet Lainie Gardner in her office on the twelfth floor of the Houston News building for another half hour.

He’d had serious reservations about taking this assignment. Being a bodyguard wasn’t his normal area of expertise. But he knew enough to be sure that a stalking victim was supposed to follow instructions.

Her life might depend on it.

Sloan had spent the day inspecting every inch of the building and the surrounding area. He knew the elevator systems and the location of each closet and air duct. No one could’ve done a better job of securing the premises than he had.

He’d also spent a good deal of time studying a dossier on Ms. Gardner that the captain had given him. The surprise was that he’d been fascinated by the interesting bits and pieces the file had supplied of her life.

Sloan had already come to the conclusion it would definitely be worthwhile to postpone the trip that had been the original reason he’d taken a leave of absence from the Texas Rangers. Protecting a beautiful advice columnist seemed like a much better idea at the moment than searching out potentially painful truths about his background.

So what does the gorgeous woman with such a famous face do? She casually strolls out of the elevator into the open lobby in full daylight.

He’d had no trouble recognizing her from across the street. Of course, he’d been studying her pictures. But he also knew that for years her face had been splattered in newspapers as an advertisement for her syndicated advice columns. With her flash of bright-copper hair, she’d be hard for anyone to miss.

As irritated as he was with her casual behavior, he couldn’t help the smile that broke out on his face when he walked closer to the reality of Lainie Gardner—despite how foolish she was being at the moment.

The pictures hadn’t done her justice. Her body was compact, sturdy but curved in all the right places. And even dressed as she was, in loose-fitting pants and a sweater, he could tell that most of her five-foot, seven-inch body was made up of long, sexy legs.

Have mercy. He’d always been a leg man.

His mood changed dramatically when he saw Lainie stop in full view of the street and begin to laugh at something the other woman said. She’d been told to wait in her office until he arrived to give her instructions and escort her home. She was in danger and had been threatened. So what the hell was she doing?

He heard the muffled crack at the same instant the glass in front of him fractured into a million crystal slivers and flew in every direction. Someone screamed. Someone else shouted. But Sloan didn’t waste time wondering where the shot had come from.

After sprinting through the shattered window, he pushed past hysterical bystanders to the spot where the two women lay. Both of them were facedown on the marble floor…and there was blood. Lots of blood.

Within two seconds he’d determined that both women were still alive and that Lainie hadn’t lost consciousness. She didn’t fight him, as he pulled her up and quickly decided to remove her from the line of fire. If she was hurt badly, he’d find out soon enough. But for now, he wasn’t taking any chances on her being shot again while he stopped to check her wounds.

Another sudden hail of bullets had bystanders dodging out of the way to the sidewalk. “Call 9-1-1!” he shouted to anyone within earshot.

But Sloan was sure that, when he got Lainie out of sight, the shooting would stop. She had to be the target.

It was a danged good thing he’d checked this building out earlier. Sloan dashed into an alcove and found the side exit to an employee parking lot.

He stopped at the door and gently lowered her to the floor. Kneeling beside her, he checked her pulse and looked for any obvious or bleeding wounds. Her eyes fluttered open and he saw the shock in her eyes, but he didn’t see pain.

Relieved, Sloan carefully opened the heavy metal door and scrutinized the lot. It seemed quiet enough, but he knew that in the brilliant sunlight of the late afternoon their chances of making it to his pickup without being seen were pretty slim. He lifted her again and laid her across his shoulder in preparation to make a run for it.

She moaned and squirmed. “My…my sister. Please help her.”

“Stay still! Don’t move,” he ground out in a whisper. “Someone will be coming to help the others. You’re still in danger.”

A second later he slid them both past the protection of the door and dashed toward the alley where he’d parked. He managed to make it across the asphalt lot without incident by darting between the parked cars.

“Wait a minute!” she yelled as she grabbed the back of his shirt with both hands. “Stop. I can’t…”

He ignored her words because he didn’t want to waste his running breath, but he was grateful that her voice sounded so strong. Maybe she hadn’t been hit at all. He needed a peaceful moment to stop and really check her over.

Until then he had mere seconds to decide whether stealth or speed was their best chance at survival. Quickly making the decision to get the hell out of Dodge as fast as possible, Sloan punched the button on his keyless entry remote and heard the familiar but noisy beeps coming from his pickup in the alleyway twenty feet beyond.

He’d never before realized how loud and echoing the sound of the alarm-disengage truly was. Too late now.

Sloan all but threw her into the front seat and slammed the door. He made it clear around to the driver’s side and had the key in the ignition before hearing the ping of bullets as they hit the asphalt behind them.

“Stay down,” he snapped at her.

“I have to go back.” She popped her head up as he gunned the engine. “My sister…all the others…they need help. I have to help them.”

“The police will take care of it. But you’ve got to keep low.” He pushed at her shoulder while the truck screamed out of the alley.

Lainie banged her head on the glove box as she slid off the seat like a rag doll and landed on the dirty floor mat below. She let loose a string of very unladylike remarks and struggled to hang on.

The engine revved and the tires squealed as the truck jerked madly around a corner. What in heaven’s name was happening to her?

Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes and chanced a glimpse at the crazy cowpoke who’d manhandled her into this predicament. At once Lainie took in the shiny, leather cowboy boots and the spotless white Western hat.

Almost chalking him up to being an out-of-control urban cowboy, she briefly wondered if this was a kidnapping. Before that thought registered, he dragged at the wheel and sent the pickup truck into a spin.

It couldn’t have been more than two seconds later when he grimaced and righted the wheel again. But in that instant, she’d managed a glimpse under his denim jacket of a freshly starched white Western-cut shirt, a dark blue tie and the silver badge pinned neatly over his breast pocket.

Just then she remembered. Her mother had said to expect Captain Chet Johnson’s handpicked man this afternoon. What was the man’s name? Oh, yes. Sergeant Sloan Abbott of the Texas Rangers.

“We’ve got a black van on our tail.” His eyes flicked to the rearview mirror.

“Someone is following us?” she rasped. “But why?”

He shot her a quick, dark look that could’ve easily pinned her to the dashboard. “If it’s somehow managed to escape your notice, people have been shooting at you for the last ten minutes.”

Lainie thought about the cracking sound she’d heard when the whole world exploded around her. She’d been standing in the lobby, chuckling over some joke her sister had told when they’d heard the noise. Both she and Suzy had hit the floor in the same instant. So it must’ve been gunfire that broke the glass window next to them.