Captivating A Cowboy

Captivating A Cowboy
Jill Limber

THE RANCHER…A man would have to be blind not to notice pretty, sophisticated Julie Kerns, Ferndale's newest arrival. And good-looking Tony Graham was far from visually impaired. But when the fiercely independent beauty needed him to renovate her grandmother's old Victorian, he couldn't stop the unsettling images of them living together in the house–as a family.AND THE CITY SLICKERReturn to Ferndale? Never! Julie envisioned herself among the bright lights and bustle of L.A. forever. Yet she found herself a reluctant homeowner in the tiny town of bad childhood memories. Could the sexy, small-town cowboy make her see there was joy to be found in country life…with him in the picture?

Boy, they sure didn’t grow them like this in Los Angeles.

From the top of his cowboy hat to the tips of his leather boots, he was one tall, gorgeous hunk of man.

Julie flashed him her best smile and tried to focus on what he was saying. “You could help me with what?”

She liked the way he squirmed just a little as she studied him. Handsome as he was, he didn’t strike her as the kind of guy who’d be bashful around women. She also liked the muscles that showed through his white T-shirt. Brawn like his was the result of hard outdoor work and not a gym.

He took off his hat and ran a hand through his cropped dark chocolate-brown hair. “Handling the sander, ma’am.”

Was it possible he was just being neighborly and not flirting?

She hoped not….

Dear Reader,

We’ve been busy here at Silhouette Romance cooking up the next batch of tender, emotion-filled romances to add extra sizzle to your day.

First on the menu is Laurey Bright’s modern-day Sleeping Beauty story, With His Kiss (#1660). Next, Melissa McClone whips up a sensuous, Survivor-like tale when total opposites must survive two weeks on an island, in The Wedding Adventure (#1661). Then bite into the next juicy SOULMATES series addition, The Knight’s Kiss (#1663) by Nicole Burnham, about a cursed knight and the modern-day princess who has the power to unlock his hardened heart.

We hope you have room for more, because we have three other treats in store for you. First, popular Silhouette Romance author Susan Meier turns on the heat in The Nanny Solution (#1662), the third in her DAYCARE DADS miniseries about single fathers who learn the ABCs of love. Then, in Jill Limber’s Captivating a Cowboy (#1664), are a city girl and a dyed-in-the-wool cowboy a recipe for disaster…or romance? Finally, Lissa Manley dishes out the laughs with The Bachelor Chronicles (#1665), in which a sassy journalist is assigned to get the city’s most eligible—and stubborn—bachelor to go on a blind date!

I guarantee these heartwarming stories will keep you satisfied until next month when we serve up our list of great summer reads.

Happy reading!

Mary-Theresa Hussey

Senior Editor

Captivating a Cowboy

Jill Limber

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

To Kathy—best buddy and cosmic sister. This one’s for you!

Acknowledgments:

Many thanks to James Weippert—for letting me pick his brain and for his service to his country as a Navy SEAL. Thanks to Dr. Dick O’Connor and Dr. Ernie Tucker for all things medical, along with friendship. Special thanks to Bryn Willson for her wonderful poetry.

Books by Jill Limber

Silhouette Romance

The 15 lb. Matchmaker #1593

Captivating a Cowboy #1664

JILL LIMBER

lives in San Diego with her husband. Now that her children are grown, their two dogs keep her company while she sits at her computer writing stories. A native Californian, she enjoys the beach, loves to swim in the ocean, and for relaxation she daydreams and reads romances. You can learn more about Jill by visiting her Web site at http://www.JillLimber.com (http://www.JillLimber.com).

Contents

Chapter One (#u6f31322a-72da-5aad-a800-5549e8c942ff)

Chapter Two (#ub218b208-2a29-5760-a62c-de5d8c8b48d4)

Chapter Three (#ud233d2bc-150d-5f4d-a08f-d57d724ae4c8)

Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter One

Tony saw her the instant she walked into the hardware store. He paused in the aisle and studied the fine piece of eye candy that had sauntered in off the street, putting every fiber of his male being on alert. Her long ponytail twitched over bared shoulders. Snug shorts dipped below a slim waist, showing a band of firm brown flesh where her cropped top didn’t quite meet up with denim. Long slender legs completed the sexy little female package he judged to be about twenty-five years old.

Conversations dropped off one by one until every man in the store, including old Mr. Dunn, turned his head. Cliff, working behind the counter, looked like a deer caught in headlights as she approached him.

Tony was too far away to hear what she asked, but he could see the tips of Cliff’s ears turn a bright red. He pointed to the back of the store. She turned, and Tony felt like someone had sucked all the oxygen out of the place. She had a face like an angel, with big blue-green eyes and a generous upper lip over a full lower lip. A mouth made for kissing and a body built straight out of every man’s fantasy.

Suddenly the fact that every guy in the store was probably thinking the same thing annoyed the hell out of him. He had a sudden irrational and possessively childish urge to tell them he had seen her first.

He shook his head at his own foolishness. He had better things to do with his time than stand in Nilsen’s Hardware and have fantasies that could get him arrested in half the states in the country. If he was going to get his house finished on his land before the cold weather set in so he could move out of his tiny unheated trailer, he needed to get going.