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“You’re awfully flippant with your boss,”
Noah said. “I could fire you.”
“You don’t scare me,” Olivia replied.
“Really?” Noah leaned in closer, irresistibly drawn by her saucy grin. “And why is that?”
“If you were as mean as you want me to think you are, you never would have come back for me at that bus station.”
He wondered what she would say if she knew it had not been only kindness that had caused him to extend his help. More important, however, he wondered what she would do if he tasted that rosebud of a mouth she was lifting toward his.
“I’m not really so nice,” he murmured.
Her eyes had gone all soft. “I think you are nice. Very nice.”
He kissed her then, before he could come to his senses. He kissed her, even as he was damning his foolishness to hell.
Dear Reader,
With spring in the air, there’s no better way to herald the season and continue to celebrate Silhouette’s 20th Anniversary year than with an exhilarating month of romance from Special Edition!
Kicking off a great lineup is Beginning with Baby, a heartwarming THAT’S MY BABY! story by rising star Christie Ridgway. Longtime Special Edition favorite Susan Mallery turns up the heat in The Sheik’s Kidnapped Bride, the first book in her new DESERT ROGUES series. And popular author Laurie Paige wraps up the SO MANY BABIES miniseries with Make Way for Babies!, a poignant reunion romance in which a set of newborn twins unwittingly plays Cupid!
Beloved author Gina Wilkins weaves a sensuous modern love story about two career-minded people who are unexpectedly swept away by desire in Surprise Partners. In Her Wildest Wedding Dreams from veteran author Celeste Hamilton, a sheltered woman finds the passion of a lifetime in a rugged rancher’s arms. And finally, Carol Finch brings every woman’s fantasy to life with an irresistible millionaire hero in her compelling novel Soul Mates.
It’s a gripping month of reading in Special Edition. Enjoy!
All the best,
Karen Taylor Richman
Senior Editor
Her Wildest Wedding Dreams
Celeste Hamilton
For “The Loop”: Marcy Froemke, Faith Garner, Janice Maynard, Jan McDaniel, Lurlene McDaniel, Leigh Neely, Susan Sawyer and Clara Wimberly. For reasons they understand.
Books by Celeste Hamilton
Silhouette Special Edition
Torn Asunder #418
Silent Partner #447
A Fine Spring Rain #503
Face Value #532
No Place To Hide #620
Don’t Look Back #690
Baby, It’s You #708
Single Father #738
Father Figure #779
Child of Dreams #827
Sally Jane Got Married #865
Which Way Is Home? #897
A Family Home #938
The Daddy Quest #994
Marry Me in Amarillo #1091
Honeymoon Ranch #1158
A Father for Her Baby #1237
Her Wildest Wedding Dreams #1319
Silhouette Desire
*The Diamond’s Sparkle #537
*Ruby Fire #549
*The Hidden Pearl #561
Silhouette Yours Truly
When Mac Met Haley
Silhouette Books
Montana Mavericks
Man without a Past
CELESTE HAMILTON
has been writing since she was ten years old, with the encouragement of parents who told her she could do anything she set out to do and teachers who helped her refine her talents.
The broadcast media captured her interest in high school, and she graduated from the University of Tennessee with a B.S. in Communications. From there, she began writing and producing commercials at a Chattanooga, Tennessee, radio station.
Celeste began writing romances in 1985 and now works at her craft full-time. Married to a policeman, she likes nothing better than spending time at home with him and their two much-loved cats, although she and her husband also enjoy traveling when their busy schedules permit. Wherever they go, however, “It’s always nice to come home to east Tennessee—one of the most beautiful corners of the world.”
Contents
Chapter One
Olivia Franklin knew no bride-to-be could ask for a more beautiful setting for a prenuptial bash. A breeze softened the late-May evening. The sun had slipped past the western horizon, painting the big, Texas sky in pinks and lavenders, hues echoed by the pansies and petunias edging the tiled patio. A string quartet accompanied the laughter of the guests and the tinkling of ice in fine crystal.
Groups strolled in and out of the stucco mansion and wandered from the veranda to the buffet set up in a tent on the lawn. The movers and shakers of Austin were out in glittering force to toast the wedding of Roger Franklin’s daughter.
That’s all she was to them. Roger Franklin’s daughter.
Soon to be Marshall Crane’s wife.
Olivia set her champagne flute on a table and walked, virtually unnoticed, around the periphery of the crowd. At the other end of the veranda, her father held court. Marshall stood beside him, smiling as Roger clapped him on the shoulder and grinned his approval. Tomorrow, when Marshall said “I do” to Olivia, he would become much more than just her father’s business prot'eg'e. He would be family. Roger would have exactly what he wanted. So would Marshall.