Elizabeth Bevarly - The Debutante

“…supersteamy…”

—Cosmopolitan

“…fresh and funny.”

—Publishers Weekly

“…the very best in love and laughter.”

—Romantic Times

“Practically perfect romance…”

—Library Journal

“Elizabeth Bevarly delivers romantic comedy at its sparkling best!”

—Bestselling author Teresa Medeiros

“I just love Elizabeth Bevarly’s sense of humor.”

—Bestselling author Julia Quinn

Don’t miss Signature Select’s exciting series:

The Fortunes of Texas: Reunion

Starting in June 2005, get swept up in

twelve new stories from your favorite family!

COWBOY AT MIDNIGHT by Ann Major

A BABY CHANGES EVERYTHING by Marie Ferrarella

IN THE ARMS OF THE LAW by Peggy Moreland

LONE STAR RANCHER by Laurie Paige

THE GOOD DOCTOR by Karen Rose Smith

THE DEBUTANTE by Elizabeth Bevarly

KEEPING HER SAFE by Myrna Mackenzie

THE LAW OF ATTRACTION by Kristi Gold

ONCE A REBEL by Sheri WhiteFeather

MILITARY MAN by Marie Ferrarella

FORTUNE’S LEGACY by Maureen Child

THE RECKONING by Christie Ridgway

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dear Reader,

Writing continuities for Silhouette is always so much fun. First, there’s the challenge of taking the story and characters the editors create and making them my own, and then there’s the joy of working with so many of my favorite writers. I was both flattered and delighted to be invited to participate in THE FORTUNES OF TEXAS: REUNION. The Debutante is my second contribution to the Fortunes saga, and it was wonderful to be able to go back and visit the family again. I had a terrific time writing about Lanie and Miles, and about their sometimes rocky, sometimes comical, journey toward finding true love. I hope you have fun reading about them, too.

Happy Reading!

For the readers.

With a million billion thanks.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Bonus Features

No carrot cake. Drat. She’d just have to settle for chocolate torte instead.

Lanie Meyers sighed with not-quite-heartfelt disappointment at the realization. Ah, well. One couldn’t have everything, could one? Not even at a “Dessert, the Whole Dessert, and Nothing But Dessert” fund-raiser for one’s own father’s gubernatorial campaign.

Not that Lanie understood the need for yet another fund-raiser, even if it did involve the consumption of mass quantities of sugar. Her father was already governor of Texas, and last she heard, he was still ahead in the polls, even if it was only by a small margin. And since October was nearly over, the election was less than two weeks away. She just didn’t see how a last-minute financial push like this was going to help all that much. Nevertheless, if her father’s campaign wanted to host a $100-per-person party at this point in the game, the least Lanie could do was show up for it.

And eat lots and lots of dessert.

She scooped up a modest serving of the chocolate torte—well, okay, maybe it wasn’t as modest as some—and transferred it to her plate. Then, just to be on the safe side, she forked up a little—kind of—piece of what looked like marble pound cake to go with it. And, okay, just a smallish—sort of—piece of the maple nut cake, too. It just really complemented the other two so nicely, aesthetically speaking. And maybe just a teeny slice of the white velvet cake to fill in that last empty spot on her plate.

Well, she’d written a check to her father’s campaign for a hundred dollars just like everyone else here tonight had. There was no reason why Lanie shouldn’t enjoy as much of the spread as the other guests. Besides, she’d been forced to skip dinner because her mother had wanted her to come along for moral support during the speech Luanne Meyers had given to the Austin Gardening Society. Lanie just decided not to think for now about how snug her clothes would feel in the morning. That was tomorrow, after all. Fiddle-de-dee on that. She told herself it was only her imagination that the brief, strapless sapphire-blue cocktail dress she’d donned for the occasion was already beginning to pinch.

Nudging away a stray lock of blond hair that had fallen into her face from the topknot fixed loosely at the crown of her head, she retrieved her glass of club soda from where she had left it on the table, took her mile-high pile of assorted cakes and retreated to the far side of the room where she could eat in peace, removed from the crowd. The ballroom of the Four Seasons Austin was packed with her father’s supporters, the majority of them talking politics, naturally, which was probably Lanie’s least favorite topic of conversation in the entire world. She would have rather talked about the mating habits of the luna moth, for heaven’s sake. Unfortunately, she being the daughter of a Texas governor, it seemed as if everyone assumed she was as rabid about state government as Tom Meyers was. There were even a few of her father’s cronies who had dropped hints that Lanie herself might run for office one day.

As if.

She could think of scores of occupations she’d rather pursue than stateswoman. Of course, there were those who might argue that her current occupation was hobnobber, which wasn’t that far off from politician.

Lanie just hadn’t figured out yet what she wanted to do with her life, that was all. Yes, at twenty-five she probably should have some vague notion of what path she wanted to follow—professionally, if nothing else. But she’d been groomed since childhood to be the daughter of a politician, and no one had ever encouraged her to stray from that path. Even in college, Lanie had majored in fine arts, not exactly a field of study that had made her highly employable. But she’d volunteered on both of her father’s gubernatorial campaigns, and she worked side by side with her mother in a number of charitable organizations, so she did stay busy. Income wasn’t exactly a problem, since the Meyerses were quite wealthy, and Lanie was what had commonly become referred to as a “trust-fund baby.”

Nevertheless, there were days when even she was appalled by her lack of contribution to the working world. Not that she wanted to set the world on fire or anything, but a person liked to think she was valuable somewhere, to someone, in some capacity.

No sooner had the thought unrolled in her head than Lanie glanced up from her plate to see someone very valuable indeed standing head and shoulders above a small group of people roughly twenty feet to her right. A member of the Fortune family, she realized, not at all surprised to find at least one of them in attendance tonight. Everyone in Texas knew who the Fortunes were, since they were one of the premier families of the state. It was only natural that they’d have an interest in state politics. And Lanie knew her father was presenting Ryan Fortune with the prestigious Hensley-Robinson Award later this month to honor and commemorate his many charitable contributions and volunteerism. The family no doubt wanted to reciprocate by showing their support for his campaign.

And how nice of them to send one of the yummy Fortune triplets as ambassador, Lanie thought. And how appropriate, too, since she herself had been a supporter of the Fortune triplets since she was a teenager. Just not in any political capacity.