Katherine Garbera - Rock Me All Night

It was Jack Montrose! Lauren had no idea what to say. “No. I thought you didn’t listen to my show.”

“Good. I’m not much on being in the public eye. But once I met you I had to give it a listen. I was right about your voice. Between that and those seductive songs you play, you’ve been driving me out of my mind all night.”

It didn’t help matters that she’d spent the entire evening thinking of him as the slow sensual songs played out. “They were all requests. Do you have one?”

“No. I called to talk to you. To have you to myself for a few short minutes.”

She couldn’t respond to that. It was as if he’d looked into her soul and glimpsed the part she’d always hidden. She wanted to be some man’s late-night fantasy….

Dear Reader,

Welcome to another fabulous month of novels from Silhouette Desire. Our DYNASTIES: THE ASHTONS continuity continues with Kristi Gold’s Mistaken for a Mistress. Ford Ashton sets out to find the truth about who really murdered his grandfather and believes the answers may lie with the man’s mistress—but who is Kerry Roarke really? USA TODAY bestselling author Jennifer Greene is back with a stellar novel, Hot to the Touch. You’ll love this wounded veteran hero and the feisty female whose special touch heals him.

TEXAS CATTLEMAN’S CLUB: THE SECRET DIARY presents its second installment with Less-than-Innocent Invitation by Shirley Rogers. It seems this millionaire rancher has to keep tabs on his ex-girlfriend by putting her up at his Texas spread. Oh, poor girl…trapped with a sexy—wealthy—cowboy! There’s a brand-new KING OF HEARTS book by Katherine Garbera as the mysterious El Rey’s matchmaking attempts continue in Rock Me All Night. Linda Conrad begins a compelling new miniseries called THE GYPSY INHERITANCE, the first of which is Seduction by the Book. Look for the remaining two novels to follow in September and October. And finally, Laura Wright winds up her royal series with Her Royal Bed. There’s lots of revenge, royalty and romance to be enjoyed.

Thanks for choosing Silhouette Desire. In the coming months be sure to look for titles by authors Peggy Moreland, Annette Broadrick and the incomparable Diana Palmer.

Happy reading!

Melissa Jeglinski

Senior Editor

Silhouette Desire

www.millsandboon.co.uk

This book is dedicated to Beverly Brandt— thanks for the friendship and the laughter and most especially for your rendition of Barry Manilow’s greatest hits!

has had fun working as a production page, lifeguard, secretary and VIP tour guide, but those occupations pale when compared to creating worlds where true love conquers all and wounded hearts are healed. Writing romance novels is the perfect job for her.

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

This afterlife gig kept getting crazier.

I’d been a capo in the mob. Actually the boss of bosses, Il Re. That’s Italian for The King, and believe me I acted as if I owned the world. Five shots to the chest and I ended up here in that gray area Father Dom called Purgatory. It’s not quite how I’d always pictured it, but then little in my experience ever was.

I’d cut a deal with one of God’s emissaries, one of the seraphim with a name that was a mouthful. I’d shortened it to Didi. She had an attitude and awful taste in clothing, but something about her got to me.

“Welcome back, Pasquale.”

My given name is Pasquale Mandetti, and no one but this angel broad ever got away with calling me it. “Babe, I’ve asked you to call me Ray.”

“And I’ve asked you not to call me babe.”

“Bad habit.”

She watched me carefully. I leaned back in the leather chair that I knew was just here for show and waited. Didi played the same kind of games I used to when I’d been the boss. But she was my boss now. The deal I’d cut was to unite in love as many couples as enemies I’d murdered in hate.

Madon’, do you have any idea how long I’m going to be working this matchmaking gig!

A large stack of file folders appeared on her desk. The folders were different colored, and I’d learned from experience that none of the couples were easy to get together. There was a reason why they were in a file on Didi’s desk, and usually that reason was they needed more than a nudge at a willing person of the opposite sex.

“Pick a color,” she said.

“Just give me the one on top,” I said. I hated it when she got cute with me.

She handed me the file, and I flipped it open. Not a bad gig. I was going to be a DJ at a top-100 radio station in Detroit…in February. “I’m going to freeze my butt off.”

“Probably. I’ll be going with you this time.”

“Why?”

“You’ll need a producer. Besides, this one needs careful handling.”

I skimmed the descriptions. Lauren Belchoir and Jack Montrose. They lived on opposite ends of town and had totally different lives. Jack owned a record company and Lauren worked the midnight shift at the radio station. It seemed pretty straightforward to me.

“Why do I need you along again?”

“Because you’re doing the new morning drive show and you’ll be in charge of the first annual Mile of Men promotion.”

“What is that?”

“It’s a Valentine’s Day promotion where single men line up and then women drive by and pick a guy.”

“And Lauren’s going to pick Jack?”

“If I gave you all the answers, you wouldn’t have a job to do,” she said with that tricky smile of hers that I didn’t trust.

I felt my body dissolve. Soon I was standing on the street looking up at a tall mirrored building. The radio call letters were plastered to the side—WCPD. Madon’, what had I gotten myself into?

The meeting was long and boring. Lauren Belchoir leaned back in her chair and wished she were anyplace but here. She loved her job as the late-night DJ at WCPD and had been doing her Miss Lonely Hearts show for five years now. But suddenly they had a new program manager and everything was changing.

The new guy, Ray King, and his producer, Didi Sera, were going to shake things up and take WCPD from the bottom of Detroit’s radio stations to the top. “The project is simple. A Mile of Men promotion that will entice the city’s most eligible bachelors to participate. Didi is handing out folders to each of you with the men we’d like to get on our mile.”

Lauren opened hers up and sucked in a breath. Jack Montrose. He was dark and attractive and had a reputation for never staying with anything for more than six months. Not a woman, a hobby or a house. He moved like lightning, living his life in the same large manner his father, Diamond Dave Montrose, had before his death.

She flipped through the rest of the folder, surprised to see her boss, Ty Montrose, in there as well. Ty and Jack were brothers. “Each of you will be assigned a bachelor to talk to. We want these men because they’ll bring us publicity.”

Lauren flipped through the rest of the pictures and saw Joe Brigg, the union leader of the local auto-plant workers. She already knew Joe and had in fact had dinner with him two weeks ago. Though the two of them hadn’t had any chemistry, Lauren knew she could talk Joe into participating. “I know Joe Brigg, so I’ll contact him.”