Dixie Browning - Stryker's Wife

Cover Page

Excerpt “Debranne, I’ve Got A Proposition For You….” No, dammit, not a proposition, a proposal! Kurt scowled at his reflection in the mirror, one side of his face covered with lather, as he tried to compose a brief, carefully worded proposal of marriage that could not possibly be construed as a declaration of love. He had decided that genuine liking mixed with a hefty dose of lust was not too bad a basis for a marriage. Especially considering the fact that so many marriages based on undying love ended up on the rocks. Right. So he would start by pointing out that fact, and then he would say, “So you see, we’re not talking romance here. All I’m looking for is a simple, straightforward, mutually beneficial agreement.” The shower droned on, the mirror steamed up. Kurt swore and cleared a patch with his forearm. “Jeez,” he muttered. “How could any woman in her right mind refuse a proposal like that?” Three very different sexy bachelors say “I do!” You met the tall one in Alex and the Angel (September 1995), the dark one in The Beauty, the Beast and the Baby (March 1996); now meet the handsome one!

Dearreader Dear Reader, The holidays are always a busy time of year, and this year is no exception! Our “banquet table” is chock-full of delectable stories by some of your favorite authors. November is a time to come home again—and come back to the miniseries you love. Dixie Browning continues her TALL, DARK AND HANDSOME series with Stryker’s Wife, which is Dixie’s 60th book! This MAN OF THE MONTH is a reluctant bachelor you won’t be able to resist! Fall in love with a footloose cowboy in Cowboy Pride, book five of Anne McAllister’s CODE OF THE WEST series. Be enthralled by Abbie and the Cowboy —the conclusion to the THREE WEDDINGS AND A GIFT miniseries by Cathie Linz, And what would the season be without HOLIDAY HONEYMOONS? You won’t want to miss the second book in this cross-line continuity series by reader favorites Merline Lovelace and Carole Buck. This month, it’s a delightful wedding mix-up with Wrong Bride, Right Groom by Merline Lovelace. And that’s not all! In Roared Flint is a secret baby tale by RITA Award winner Jan Hudson. And Pamela Ingrahm has created an adorable opposites-attract story in The Bride Wore Tie-Dye. So, grab a book and give yourself a treat in the middle of all the holiday rushing. You’ll be glad you did. Happy reading! Senior Editor and the editors of Silhouette Desire Please address questions and book requests to: Silhouette Reader Service U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269 Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

Title Page Stryker’s Wife Dixie Browning www.millsandboon.co.uk

About the Auther DIXIE BROWNING is celebrating her sixtieth book for Silhouette since 1980 with the publication of Stryker’s Wife. She has also written a number of historical romances with her sister under the name Bronwyn Williams. A charter member of Romance Writers of America, a member of Novelists, Inc., Browning has won numerous awards for her work. She divides her time between Winston-Salem and the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

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Epilogue

Copyright

No, dammit, not a proposition, a proposal! Kurt scowled at his reflection in the mirror, one side of his face covered with lather, as he tried to compose a brief, carefully worded proposal of marriage that could not possibly be construed as a declaration of love.

He had decided that genuine liking mixed with a hefty dose of lust was not too bad a basis for a marriage. Especially considering the fact that so many marriages based on undying love ended up on the rocks.

Right. So he would start by pointing out that fact, and then he would say, “So you see, we’re not talking romance here. All I’m looking for is a simple, straightforward, mutually beneficial agreement.”

The shower droned on, the mirror steamed up. Kurt swore and cleared a patch with his forearm. “Jeez,” he muttered. “How could any woman in her right mind refuse a proposal like that?”

Three very different sexy bachelors say “I do!” You met the tall one in Alex and the Angel (September 1995), the dark one in The Beauty, the Beast and the Baby (March 1996); now meet the handsome one!

Dear Reader,

The holidays are always a busy time of year, and this year is no exception! Our “banquet table” is chock-full of delectable stories by some of your favorite authors.

November is a time to come home again—and come back to the miniseries you love. Dixie Browning continues her TALL, DARK AND HANDSOME series with Stryker’s Wife, which is Dixie’s 60th book! This MAN OF THE MONTH is a reluctant bachelor you won’t be able to resist! Fall in love with a footloose cowboy in Cowboy Pride, book five of Anne McAllister’s CODE OF THE WEST series. Be enthralled by Abbie and the Cowboy —the conclusion to the THREE WEDDINGS AND A GIFT miniseries by Cathie Linz,

And what would the season be without HOLIDAY HONEYMOONS? You won’t want to miss the second book in this cross-line continuity series by reader favorites Merline Lovelace and Carole Buck. This month, it’s a delightful wedding mix-up with Wrong Bride, Right Groom by Merline Lovelace.

And that’s not all! In Roared Flint is a secret baby tale by RITA Award winner Jan Hudson. And Pamela Ingrahm has created an adorable opposites-attract story in The Bride Wore Tie-Dye.

So, grab a book and give yourself a treat in the middle of all the holiday rushing. You’ll be glad you did.

Happy reading!

Senior Editor

and the editors of Silhouette Desire

Please address questions and book requests to:

Silhouette Reader Service

U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269

Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

www.millsandboon.co.uk

DIXIE BROWNING

is celebrating her sixtieth book for Silhouette since 1980 with the publication of Stryker’s Wife. She has also written a number of historical romances with her sister under the name Bronwyn Williams. A charter member of Romance Writers of America, a member of Novelists, Inc., Browning has won numerous awards for her work. She divides her time between Winston-Salem and the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Inhaling the familiar aroma of salt, diesel fuel and fish, Kurt Stryker tilted the fighting chair, propped his feet on the transom of his charter boat, the R&R, and sipped his first beer of the day. Life, on the whole, was good, he decided. Idly, he watched through a forest of masts and outriggers as the sun slipped slowly beneath the surface of the Atlantic.

“How many o’ them things have you had?” his young mate demanded from the pier, having just arrived with their evening meal. “There’s coffee in the pot if you want sump’n to drink.”

“One. This is it.” Kurt held up the brown bottle.

A skeptical look on his freckled face, Frog boarded the boat carrying a paper sack of burgers and fries and a king-size cola. Kurt silently cursed the drunken bastard who had spawned the kid and dragged him all over the country, leaving him with more than his share of scars. Kurt knew about scars. He had already dealt with his own, but then, his were mostly the visible kind. Frog’s were the kind that had to be found before they could be healed.