World's Most Eligible Texan

This month, in WORLD’S MOST ELIGIBLE TEXAN by Sara Orwig, meet Aaron Black—diplomat extraordinaire.

Aaron was a world-weary man-about-town who found nothing to excite him, until…Pamela Miles waltzed into his arms. This Plain Jane schoolteacher was about to change his life!

Dear Reader,

Welcome to Silhouette Desire, the ultimate treat for Valentine’s Day—we promise you will find six passionate, powerful and provocative romances every month! And here’s what you can indulge yourself with this February….

The fabulous Peggy Moreland brings you February’s MAN OF THE MONTH, The Way to a Rancher’s Heart. You’ll be enticed by this gruff widowed rancher who must let down his guard for the sake of a younger woman.

The exciting Desire miniseries TEXAS CATTLEMAN’S CLUB: LONE STAR JEWELS continues with World’s Most Eligible Texan by Sara Orwig. A world-weary diplomat finds love—and fatherhood—after making a Plain Jane schoolteacher pregnant with his child.

Kathryn Jensen’s The American Earl is an office romance featuring the son of a British earl who falls for his American employee. In Overnight Cinderella by Katherine Garbera, an ugly-duckling heroine transforms herself into a swan to win the love of an alpha male. Kate Little tells the story of a wealthy bachelor captivated by the woman he was trying to protect his younger brother from in The Millionaire Takes a Bride. And Kristi Gold offers His Sheltering Arms, in which a macho ex-cop finds love with the woman he protects.

Make this Valentine’s Day extra-special by spoiling yourself with all six of these alluring Desire titles!

Enjoy!

Joan Marlow Golan

Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

World’s Most Eligible Texan

Sara Orwig

SARA ORWIG

lives with her husband and children 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 writes 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.

“What’s Happening in Royal?”

NEWS FLASH, February—Could it possibly be true that the jaded heart of diplomat Aaron Black—most eligible of bachelors—has been softened by our local country gal Pamela Miles? The town of Royal, TX, has been a-buzzing since these two were spied dancing cheek-to-cheek during the splashy Texas Cattleman’s Club gala last month…and an eyewitness saw the smitten couple dashing out the door arm-in-arm before the festivities were at an end….

In other news, Royal is still spinning from the awful emergency plane landing. No fatalities, thank our lucky stars! However, some of our Texas Cattleman’s Club members have been seen rummaging through the rubble at the crash site…. What could they be looking for?

And two mysterious men have been noted about town, asking the whereabouts of all women who were on that flight. These ladies may be needing our cattlemen’s protection—stay tuned for more!

Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Epilogue

Prologue

“You’re going home to Royal?”

“You heard me right. Can I get the family plane to pick me up?” Aaron Black persisted patiently on the phone, knowing his request was a shock to his brother.

“You’re taking a leave of absence,” Jeb Black repeated. “I don’t believe it, but I’ll have the plane there as soon as possible. The diplomat from Spain, my worldly brother, is going to take a vacation in our hometown of Royal, Texas. I’m finding this damned difficult to believe.”

“The State Department has cleared it so I can take some time to go home,” Aaron said. “Dammit, you take vacations.”

“Yeah, with the family and we go to one of those countries you work in. We don’t leave Houston to go back and sit around Royal.”

“Maybe you should. Royal is nice.”

“Yep, if you like cows and mesquite. I’ll bet you last two days and then you’ll be calling me to send the plane to get you out of there. What about the embassy while you’re gone?”

For the first time that day, Aaron was amused. He smiled in the darkness of his silent Georgetown house. “The American Embassy in Spain can carry on nicely if the First Secretary is not there for a little while.”

“I’m not sure I’m talking to my brother. Aaron, are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Tell Mary and the boys hi for me. Better yet, give them a big hug. Thanks for sending the plane.”

“Sure. Keep in touch. And tell me one more time that you’re okay.”

“I’m okay, ‘Mom.”’

“Well, I’m your big brother and I have to take her place sometimes. And you’ll have to admit, this isn’t like you at all. Aaron—does this have something to do with the Texas Cattleman’s Club?”

“Yes, it does,” Aaron could answer honestly. His brother wasn’t a member, but he could have been and he knew that the club was a facade for members to work together covertly on secret missions to save innocents’ lives.

“Why didn’t you tell me,” Jeb said, sounding more relaxed.

“Take care of yourself.”

“Thanks, Jeb.” Aaron replaced the receiver, breaking the connection with his older brother. Aaron stared out the window at the swirling snow. “No, it isn’t like me,” he whispered to himself. “Thanks to a tall, black-haired Texas gal, I’m doing things I’ve never done in my life.” Mesmerized by the swirling snow and twinkling lights, he remembered early January, three weeks ago, the night of the Cattleman’s Club gala.

Aaron’s pulse accelerated as he recalled the moment he had glanced across the room and seen the willowy, black-haired woman in a simple black dress. When she’d turned, her blue-eyed gaze had met his and, just for an instant, he’d felt something spark inside him. She was laughing at something someone else had said to her. Seeing her wide blue eyes, dimples and irresistible smile, Aaron had a sudden, unreasonable compulsion to meet her. He’d thought he knew almost everyone in Royal, but she was a stranger.

Then Justin Webb had spoken to him and he’d turned to shake hands with his physician friend. The next time he’d looked back, the woman was gone from sight. It had taken him twenty more minutes to work his way through the crowd and get introduced. Another two minutes and he had her in his arms, moving on the dance floor. And then later—images taunted him of her in his arms, of the heat of her kisses, her eagerness—memories still fresh enough that his body reacted swiftly to them. Pamela Miles.

Breaking into his thoughts, a car slid to a stop before his Georgetown home and Brad Meadows, his stocky neighbor, emerged. Brad walked around the car to open the door for his wife, and then he opened the back door and leaned inside. In minutes he straightened up with his little girl in his arms. As they rushed toward their front door, they were all laughing, but then the curly-headed three-year-old looked at Aaron’s house and evidently saw him standing in the window because she smiled and waved. Feeling a pang as he watched them, Aaron smiled and waved in return.

Brad Meadows had a family, a beautiful wife and a precious little girl. Aaron ran his hand across his forehead as Pamela’s image floated into his thoughts again. “What the hell is the matter with me?” he mumbled. Since when did he envy a guy being married?

Yet he thought about his own family when he was growing up and what fun he’d had with his two brothers and sister. He glanced around his quiet living room. Empty house, empty life.

The thought nagged at him—why did he feel this way so often lately? Except that night with Pamela Miles. The loneliness, the feeling that he was missing something important in life, the hollowness he had been experiencing the last few years had vanished from the first moment he’d looked into her eyes. From that first glance the chemistry between them had been volatile. It had erupted into fiery lovemaking that at the slightest memory could make him break into a sweat. But there was something deeper than physical need. At least there had been for him.

The next morning she had been the one who’d slipped out without a word. When he’d stirred, she was gone. He had tried to shrug off the evening. When had he let a woman tie him in knots? If the lady wanted to end it that way—fine. He had to return to Washington and then to Spain and his busy life. And he knew she was going abroad to Asterland as an exchange teacher. If he wanted, he could look her up there after he was back in Spain.

He had left Royal without seeing her, flown back to D.C. and then to Spain. Two days after the ball, a private jet had left Royal, Texas, bound for Asterland with Pamela Miles on board. Not far from Royal, the plane had had to make an emergency landing. When Matt Walker, a rancher and a fellow member of the Texas Cattleman’s Club, called about the landing and about other strange happenings in Royal, Aaron had tried to call Pamela, but to no avail.

The hospital had released Pamela soon after the landing and Aaron knew so little about her, he couldn’t easily find her. It was clear that the lady wasn’t interested in seeing him, so he tried to put her out of mind.

But Pamela Miles had a persistent way of staying in his thoughts until he was driven to constant distraction—something so foreign to his life that he decided to see her again.

As he watched snowflakes swirl and melt on the slushy narrow Georgetown street, an emptiness struck him with a chill that was far colder than the snow. He had gone into the diplomatic corps from Army intelligence, thinking he could make a difference, help change things a little in the world, but now he was losing that feeling.

Lately he had been too aware of his thirty-seven years and what little he had in his life that was really important. But the night of the Texas ball, that desolation had vanished. Pamela had brought him to life to an extent he wouldn’t have guessed possible.

He swore, looking at the phone in his hand as an annoyingly loud recorded message told him his receiver was off the hook.

Aaron stared out the window, no longer seeing swirling snow or the neighboring houses with warm glows spilling from open windows. He was seeing sprawling, mesquite-covered land and a willowy, blue-eyed woman.

“Dammit,” he said. “Pamela, I know there was something you felt as much as I did.” He shook his head. He was being a world-class sap. The lady wasn’t interested. She had made that clear. Maybe so, but he was going home to find out.

The following afternoon, the last day of January, Aaron gripped the wheel of a family car left for him at the airport as he sped down the hard-packed dusty road toward a sprawling ranch in the distance. Mesquite trees bending to the north by prevailing southern winds dotted the land on either side of the road, but all he could think about was Pamela.

He was home and he was going to find his lady.

One

“Well, I can tell you what’s making you nauseated, Pamela.”

She sat on the examining table with her legs crossed, the silly light cotton gown covering her as she faced white-haired Doctor Woodbury who had been treating her since she was born. She tilted her head to one side and waited, long accustomed to his blunt manner.

“You’re pregnant.”

“Pregnant!” Pamela’s head swam and she clutched the table she was seated on with both hands. Pregnant. It was only once. One night three weeks ago. She couldn’t be.

Dr. Woodbury was talking, but she didn’t hear anything except the ringing in her ears. Her teaching job—they wouldn’t want her. Pregnant! She was going to have a baby. Baby…baby… The word echoed in her mind. Impossible! But of course, it was possible. That night with Aaron Black. She closed her eyes and clung tightly to the cold metal, feeling as if she were going to faint.

“Knowing you as I’ve done through all these years, I’m guessing you’ll want to keep this baby.”

Dr. Woodbury’s words cut through the wooziness she was experiencing. …keep this baby…

She opened her eyes and placed her hand protectively against her stomach. “Yes! Of course, I’ll keep my baby,” she snapped, her head clearing swiftly. How could he think she wouldn’t!

His blue eyes gazed undisturbed at her as he shrugged stooped shoulders. “After she had you, your mother had two abortions. She wasn’t having any more babies.”

“I’m not my mother,” Pamela said stiffly, suddenly seeing how not only Dr. Woodbury, but everyone else in town would see her—with morals as loose as her mother’s had been. The town tramp. That was what Dolly Miles had been called too many times. Pamela remembered the teasing, the whispers, and worse, the steady stream of men who came and went through the Miles’s tiny house.

She was shocked to learn there had been two abortions. When she thought about it, though, she wasn’t surprised. Dolly thought of no one except herself. Two abortions. Pamela had a strange sense of loss. She might have had brothers or sisters. She pressed her hand against her stomach as she tried to focus on what Dr. Woodbury was saying.

“I’m keeping my baby.”

“I thought you would,” he said complacently. “You seem in perfectly good health. I’m going to put you on some vitamins, and then you make an appointment to come back this time next month.”

The rest of the hour she moved in a daze that lasted through running errands, getting her vitamins and heading to the Royal Diner to eat. It was early for lunch and the diner would be empty, which suited her fine. Right now she didn’t feel like seeing anyone. Thank heavens Aaron Black had gone back to Spain. She would have three or four months before her pregnancy would show, so she would have to make her plans in that time.

The brisk wind was chilly, catching the door to the diner and fluttering the muslin curtains at the windows, following her into the diner in a gust that swirled dried leaves around her feet. The little brass bell over the door tinkled. She glanced at the long, Formica counter top, the red vinyl-covered barstools and headed toward an empty booth along the wall. The jukebox was quiet. She put her head in her hands, her elbows propped on the table, while she thought about her pregnancy.

“Hi, Pamela,” came a sharp voice, and she looked up at Sheila Foster, who plopped a plastic-coated menu into her hands. The Royal Diner—Food Fit For A King! was lettered across the top. Trying to focus on the words, Pamela skimmed the menu and ordered one of Manny’s delicious hamburgers and a chocolate malt, knowing she would have to start thinking in terms of healthy meals because of the baby. The baby. She was going to have a baby. She was pregnant!

She couldn’t believe the news. First sheer terror had gripped her because she didn’t know how to be a mother and being unwed and pregnant was still scandalous in Royal, Texas. But the terror was quickly replaced with awe. And then when Dr. Woodbury had asked her if she would keep her baby, reality had come and she’d known she wanted her baby with every fiber in her body.

A precious baby all her own. She had never once expected to have her own baby. She had rarely dated. What Aaron had found in her, even for one night, she couldn’t imagine. Except she had easily fallen into his arms, succumbed to his charms, returned his lovemaking with unbridled passion.

As she sat waiting for her lunch, her mind went back to that magical night of the Texas Cattleman’s Club gala.

The gala had been given to celebrate the European dignitaries who were visiting Royal from Asterland and Obersbourg and to thank the members of the local Texas Cattleman’s Club for their help in the rescue of Princess Anna von Oberland, now married to Greg Hunt. It was a glittering array of diplomats and titled people including Asterland’s Lady Helena Reichard. It had been a cold, clear night, and when Pamela had walked into the light and warmth of the ballroom, she had wondered what she was doing there. Yet, it had sounded like fun when Thad Delner, her recently widowed principal, had told her he had to make an appearance and would she like to go, since his invitation included a guest.

While Thad had talked to friends and she had talked to people she knew, they’d drifted apart. As she stood in a circle of acquaintances, she felt compelled to turn. Glancing across the room, she looked into the green-eyed gaze of a tall, ruggedly handsome man. Looking dashing in his black tux and white shirt, he had stared at her too intently, a little too long to be a casual glance. Broad-shouldered yet lean, he had short, neatly combed dark brown hair. His features were rugged with a prominent bone structure, but it was his thickly lashed green eyes that mesmerized and held her.

As she gazed back at him, time was suspended. Her pulse jumped: it was as if he had reached across the room and touched her.

Then Justin Webb had spoken to him, and he’d turned away to talk to his friend.

She knew who he was. Aaron Black. Older, an American diplomat stationed abroad, he was from Royal. Everyone in town knew the Black family. Old money, but down-to-earth good people.

Trying to concentrate and forget the look from the disturbing stranger, she turned back to the conversation at hand.

And then she was looking into his eyes only a few feet from her as he extended his hand. “Fun party. I’m Aaron Black.” His voice was low, husky and mellow. She’d placed her hand in his and his grip was solid, his fingers warm, curling around hers.

“I’m Pamela Miles.”

“Native?”

“Yes,” she’d answered, wondering how he could possibly not know. She’d thought everyone in town knew Dolly Miles, and that Dolly had a daughter.

“I haven’t spotted your date hovering over you.”

She’d laughed. “You won’t. I’m here with Thad Delner, my principal. I teach second grade at Royal Elementary, and Thad has been recently widowed. He had an invitation for tonight, and thought he needed to attend briefly to represent Royal Elementary, so he asked if I would like to come along. I’ve never been to one of these balls before.”

“Well, since no date will be breathing down my neck—want to dance?”

When she’d nodded, he’d taken her arm to steer her to the dance floor and then she was closer than ever to him, aware of the cottony scent of his stiffly starched shirt, his cologne. Her fingers brushed his neck as she put her arm on his shoulder to dance. His hand holding hers was warm. They moved together as if they had danced with each other forever.

His cheekbones were prominent and his lower lip full, sensual. She realized she was staring at his mouth, and her gaze flew back up to meet his. She saw fires in the depth of his emerald eyes. Once again her gaze was caught and held by his and conversation fled while her heart drummed. As the moment stretched, making her breathless, tension crackled between them. With an effort of will she looked away.

“Tell me about your life, Pamela,” he said. “You’re here with your principal. Does this mean there’s no guy in your life right now?”

“Yes, it does. I lead an ordinary teacher’s life except I’m going to Asterland in two days as an exchange teacher.”

“You’re the one!” Aaron’s eyebrow arched, and he tilted his head as he leaned away slightly to study her. “This is my lucky day. I’m with the American Embassy in Spain. On weekends we can see each other,” he said with a warmth in his voice that sent a tingle through her. “Lucky Asterland. It’s a pretty place. Very different from West Texas,” he drawled.

She laughed. “I’d imagined that.”

She’d listened to him talk as they danced through two more dances, and then his arm had tightened and they were dancing cheek-to-cheek and her pulse was racing.

She’d danced once with Matt Walker, an old friend and one of the local ranchers, and then Aaron was back, claiming her for another dance. And she was aware of other women watching Aaron, and she knew they wanted to be dancing with him, and she could understand why they did. As they’d spun around the floor to a fast number, she looked at women in fancy gowns they had bought for thousands of dollars in elegant boutiques here in Royal or in stores in Dallas and Houston while she was in her simple black sheath she had purchased for a little over fifty dollars. She was amazed that Aaron was dancing with her—amazed and glad. And in some ways, it seemed the most natural thing in the world to be in his arms, moving with him, looking into his green eyes.

After an hour, between dances, Thad Delner had joined them. As soon as she introduced him to Aaron, Thad had turned to her to tell her he was ready to leave. Before he could finish, Aaron broke in.

“I’ll take Pamela home, Mr. Delner. I’m glad you brought her.”

Thad Delner’s blue eyes focused on her with a questioning look. “Is that all right with you, Pamela?”

She’d nodded, breathless, amazed Aaron was offering to take her home “Yes, it’s fine,” she said, looking at Aaron, whose rugged handsomeness made her heart race.

“All right. You two go back to your dancing. I’ll talk to you before you leave for Asterland, Pamela.”

“Thanks for bringing me, Thad,” she’d said and then she was back in Aaron’s arms to dance again.

When he’d invited her to come by his house for a drink, and she’d accepted, the dreamlike quality of the evening continued. At Pine Valley, an exclusive area of fine homes, Aaron slowed for large iron gates to open. As a gate swung back, he drove past it and waved at the guard.

The stately mansions sobered her. The lawns were vast and well-cared-for, the houses imposing, and his world of wealth and privilege seemed light years from her world of teaching and budgeting and ordinary living.

“Why so quiet?” Aaron asked. The lights of the dash threw the flat planes of his cheeks into shadow. When he looked at her, she could feel his probing look. Handsome, dashing, he was incredibly unique.

“I was just thinking about the differences in our lives,” she said, looking at the palatial Georgian-style houses with sweeping, constantly tended lawns. “We’re very different, you and I,” she said solemnly.

“Thank heavens,” he said lightly and picked up her hand to brush her knuckles across his cheek. “If you were just like me, I wouldn’t be taking you home with me now, I can promise.”

She smiled at him and relaxed, but the feeling returned again when they entered his house and he turned off an alarm.

“Gates, guards and alarms. You’re well-protected.”

He shrugged. “This is a family home. Ninety percent of the time, no one lives here,” he said, taking her arm as he switched on a low light in the entryway.

“I’m sorry you lost your parents,” she said, remembering headlines several years ago that had told about the plane crash in Denmark when his parents and six other Texans had been killed.

“Thanks. What about your parents?”

“They’re deceased,” she said stiffly, amazed again that he didn’t know about her mother. She had never known her father and wasn’t certain her mother even knew which man fathered her.

Aaron had led her through a kitchen and down a wide hall into a large family room elegantly furnished with plush navy leather and deeply burnished cherrywood furniture. An immense redbrick fireplace was at one end of the room and a thick Oriental rug covered part of the polished oak floor. He crossed the room to the fireplace to start the fire and in minutes the logs blazed. Following him into the room, she wandered around to look at oil paintings of western scenes. When she glanced back at him, he’d shed his tux coat. As her gaze ran across his broad shoulders, she drew a deep breath. He removed his tie and unfastened his collar and there was something so personal in watching him shed part of his clothing, that her cheeks flushed.