Leanne Banks - Her Forever Man

“The name LEANNE BANKS signifies the very best in romance.”

—Romantic Times Magazine

SILHOUETTE DESIRE IS PROUD TO PRESENT A BRAND-NEW MINISERIES BY BESTSELLING AUTHOR LEANNE BANKS

The legendary Logans face their greatest challenge, each seeking a love that lasts forever….

Her Forever Man (SD #1267)

The Doctor Wore Spurs (SD #1280)

Expecting His Child (SD #1292)

Don’t miss any of these Silhouette Desire novels!

Dear Reader,

Please join us in celebrating Silhouette’s 20th anniversary in 2000! We promise to deliver—all year—passionate, powerful, provocative love stories from your favorite Desire authors!

This January, look for bestselling author Leanne Banks’s first MAN OF THE MONTH with Her Forever Man. Watch sparks fly when irresistibly rugged ranch owner Brock Logan comes face-to-face with his new partner, the fiery Felicity Chambeau, in the first book of Leanne’s brand-new miniseries LONE STAR FAMILIES: THE LOGANS.

Desire is pleased to continue the Silhouette cross-line continuity ROYALLY WED with The Pregnant Princess by favorite author Anne Marie Winston. After a night of torrid passion with a stranger, a beautiful princess ends up pregnant…and seeks out the father of her child.

Elizabeth Bevarly returns to Desire with her immensely popular miniseries FROM HERE TO MATERNITY with Dr. Mommy, about a couple reunited by a baby left on a doorstep. Hard Lovin’ Man, another of Peggy Moreland’s TEXAS BRIDES, captures the intensity of falling in love when a cowgirl gives her heart to a sweet-talkin’, hard-lovin’ hunk. Cathleen Galitz delivers a compelling marriage-of-convenience tale in The Cowboy Takes a Bride, in the series THE BRIDAL BID. And Sheri WhiteFeather offers another provocative Native American hero in Skyler Hawk: Lone Brave.

Help us celebrate 20 years of great romantic fiction from Silhouette by indulging yourself with all six delectably sensual Desire titles each and every month during this special year!

Enjoy!

Joan Marlow Golan

Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Special acknowledgment and thanks to Susan Macias for lighting a candle for me when things got a little dark and to the TCU School of Ranch Management for educating me about the cattle business.

This book is dedicated to two groups of fabulous ladies I’m blessed to know: The Relay for Life Pink Ribbon Runners and the Desire Loop.

is a national number-one bestselling author of romance. She lives in her native Virginia with her husband, son and daughter. Recognized for both her sensual and humorous writing with two Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times Magazine, Leanne likes creating a story with a few grins, a generous kick of sensuality and characters that hang around after the book is finished. Leanne believes romance readers are the best readers in the world because they understand that love is the greatest miracle of all. You can write to her at P.O. Box 1442, Midlothian, VA 23113. A SASE for a reply would be greatly appreciated.

Four generations ago, the Logan family moved west from Virginia and took a scrap of Texas land. Despite droughts and floods, broken hearts and death, the Logans now own one of the most successful cattle ranches in Texas.

The Logans have power, brains and strength. Some call their ongoing success a legacy. The Logans would instead point to hard work, persistence and plain old American ingenuity. When it comes to matters of the heart, however, they refer to their inheritance as a curse. The Logans face their greatest challenge in breaking that curse, and finding a love that lasts forever….

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

All Brock Logan wanted was a smooth-running ranch, security for his children, and peace.

He wasn’t interested in excitement or the foolishness of romance. He’d experienced the curse of passion firsthand when his ex-wife left him with a broken heart and two kids to raise. He thought of his kids and inhaled a breath of air tinged with the metallic scent of impending rain. Thank God for his son and daughter.

All he really wanted was peace. Standing on the wooden porch of the sprawling home his forefathers had built and he had expanded, he eyed the dark, angry-looking clouds coming in from the north. He crumpled the fax in his fist as uneasiness curled in his gut.

“We could use the rain,” his younger brother Tyler said, joining Brock on the porch. “But I couldn’t tell it from your face.”

“We don’t need a quick storm. We need a long, soaking rain. We don’t need a flighty visitor, either,” he muttered, glancing at the fax in his hand.

“Visitor,” Tyler echoed. “Who’s that fax from?”

Brock’s stomach tightened again. “Greg Roberts, our attorney.” Wuss attorney, he thought. Brock knew Greg had faxed instead of called to avoid Brock’s wrath. Brock had wanted to dissolve the silly silent partner agreement years ago, but Greg had dragged his feet. “He says our silent partner’s paying us a visit.”

Tyler blinked. “Silent partner? Not the Chambeaus?”

“Chambeau,” Brock corrected and narrowed his eyes. “There’s only one Chambeau left. Felicity Chambeau.” He unfolded the fax and reread it. “Her attorney contacted Greg and told him she would like to visit the dwelling set aside as part of the contractual agreement between her great-great-grandfather and our great-great-grandfather.”

Tyler frowned in confusion. “Isn’t that dwelling where the foreman is living?”

Brock nodded and pulled his hat off his head. He raked his fingers through his hair. “Yep, and since he’s a product of TCU Ranch Management School, I want to keep him happy. This could be a rough calving season since the Coltrane bull sowed his oats in one of my pastures. Looks like it’s gonna be rough in more than one way.”

“Where’s she going to stay?”

Brock kissed his peace goodbye. “In the house. There’s no decent hotels in Blackstone,” he said, referring to the closest town.

Tyler chuckled. “Maybe she’ll liven things up around here.”

Brock glowered at his brother. “I don’t need to have things livened up.”

All Felicity Chambeau wanted was to give away half of her money, she thought as she wearily stared out the window of her cab at the unfamiliar terrain. She knew her money was useless sitting in the bank gaining interest, and she had reached the conclusion that it was her purpose in life to give it away to a worthy cause. Besides, she wanted off that blasted list. The one that, without fail, annually listed the fifty wealthiest women in America. As long as she was on the stupid list, she might as well be wearing a bull’s-eye for every opportunistic male acquainted with the knowledge of her wealth.

Although she hadn’t excelled at anything else in life, surely this couldn’t be that difficult. Somehow, however, she’d bungled this, too.

Her attorneys had recommended she go somewhere quiet until some of the scandal died down and they made progress with the legal proceedings. When Felicity thought of quiet, she pictured a nice little château in the south of France. Her attorneys preferred something in the south, but more domestic should she need to testify. Texas.

It might as well have been a foreign country to her. Accustomed to a Manhattan skyline, she found the endless flat plain and swollen gray skies desolate and too quiet. Even the cab driver was quiet. The quiet made her want to run.