by Carla Cassidy, Evelyn Vaughn, Harper Allen, Ruth Wind, Cindy Dees
But they hadn’t talked about it, and they’d still need to do that. Cole took a deep breath and said, “I know what it did to you, seeing me in D.C. I screwed up when I didn’t tell you I was on my way back, and I don’t know that I can ever give you any details. With what we’d just been through…Well, I know you, honey. There’s this part you hardly show anyone else…the part that cares so deeply you can hardly stand it.” He kissed her neck where it joined her shoulder. “I shook that part up pretty badly. If we’d come off this incident to find you pregnant, we’d have stayed together for the sake of the baby—you know we would have.”
She stirred to protest. “We would have stayed together anyway.”
“I know,” he said, and touched her with his lips again, so light she barely felt it. “The point is, we get to show ourselves the truth of that. We get to make that decision every day, for ourselves, until we put that stupid decision of mine behind us. And also to the point,” he said, matter-of-factly, “we get to keep trying to make that baby.”
Selena laughed. “Mmm-hmm,” she said, and tipped her head back to grin wickedly at him. “We win.”
ISBN: 1-55254-715-9
ATHENA FORCE 7-12
Copyright © 2005 by Harlequin Books S.A.
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Carla Cassidy
Carla Cassidy is an award-winning author who has written more than 55 books. In 1995 she won Best Silhouette Romance of 1995 from Romantic Times Magazine for Anything for Danny. In 1998 she also won a Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times Magazine for Best Innovative Series, and her 1998 release, Pregnant With His Child, was both a nominee for Best Silhouette Romance from Romantic Times Magazine and a RITA nominee in the Best Traditional category.
She has been a professional cheerleader, an actress, and a singer/dancer in a show band before settling into her true love…writing.
Carla loves to order items she’ll never use from catalogs and believes all exercise should be banned. She lives in the Midwest with her husband, Frank, and their dogs, Sabra and Spooky. She believes the only thing better than reading a good book is creating a good story.
Evelyn Vaughn
Evelyn began writing stories as soon as she was able to hold a fat pencil and spell out words. She’s been at it ever since.
Fourth in a family of five children, Evelyn has lived in Virginia, Illinois, Arizona, Louisiana and finally Texas. She currently lives in Texas with her 17-year-old, one-eyed cat and her sweet-tempered cocker spaniel. She recently bought a house with a great yard, largely for the cocker spaniel, but she loves it, too.
In her alternate life, she teaches writing and literature at Tarrant County College in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex.
Harper Allen
Hey—the girl can’t help it. If Harper Allen seems to feel more at home writing about life on the wild side, it’s only because she’s following that old literary maxim: Write what you know. Growing up in a blue-collar motor city, and with comments such as “Does not play well with others” on her grade-school report cards, it was pretty much a given that she would end up creating loner heroes, tough heroines, and gritty settings. Harper’s characters have always been real people with real flaws, desperately struggling to find the love that will redeem them.
But there’s a kinder, gentler side to Harper. Underneath the motorcycle leathers (I was going how fast, officer?) and the rose tattoo (don’t ask—there was a bet, she won, that’s all you need to know) beats the heart of a true romantic. The day she met the man who eventually became her husband, she told her sister, “Get out of the way, that one’s mine.”
Okay, okay. Really she said, “I’ve just met the man I’m going to marry. How long do you think it’ll take him to figure it out?”
She’s a sucker for stray dogs (they’ve got four), abandoned kittens (six, and they’re pretty darn big cats now), and not-so-cute little kids who aren’t the first ones picked for the volleyball team. Her idea of a great date with her husband is going to a baseball game. Her idea of a great baseball game is any one in which the Red Sox win (a hopeless romantic, did we say?).
While her work as a reporter in the criminal court system gives her books a darker edge, and her Irish ancestry lends them a touch of Celtic mysticism, first and foremost each one is a story about a man and a woman falling in love and holding on to that love—and for that Harper need look no further for inspiration than her own life.
So what happens to bad girls when they grow up? Just ask Harper—if they’re lucky, they get to write about it and the story has a happy ending. Because the best romances always do.
Ruth Wind
A passionate hiker and traveler, there is nothing Ruth Wind likes better than setting off at dawn for a trip—anywhere! New people to meet, new sights to see. Her favorite places so far include the Tasman Sea off the coast of New Zealand, the aromatic and pungent streets of New York City, and the top of her beloved Pikes Peak. Between books, she’s currently planning trips to India, China, and a long rest in the damp and misty United Kingdom.
Explore her columns on rambling around France and Scotland, working the marathon to the top of Pikes Peak, and many topics about the writing life at www.ruthwind.com or www.barbarasamuel.com. She loves to hear from readers at [email protected]
Cindy Dees
Cindy Dees started flying airplanes while sitting in her dad’s lap at the age of three and got a pilot’s license before she got her driver’s license. At age 15, she dropped out of high school and left the horse farm in Michigan where she grew up to attend the University of Michigan.
After earning a degree in Russian and East European studies, she joined the U.S. Air Force and became the youngest female pilot in the history of the Air Force. She flew supersonic jets, VIP airlift, and the C-5 Galaxy, the world’s largest airplane. She also worked part-time gathering intelligence. During her military career, she traveled to 42 countries on five continents, was detained by the KGB and East German secret police, got shot at, flew in the first Gulf War, met her husband and amassed a lifetime’s worth of war stories.
Her hobbies include professional Middle Eastern dancing, Japanese gardening and medieval reenacting. She started writing on a one-dollar bet with her mother and was thrilled to win that bet with the publication of her first book in 2001. She loves to hear from readers and can be contacted at www.cindydees.com.
Doranna Durgin
Doranna Durgin spent her childhood filling notebooks first with stories and art, then with novels. After obtaining a degree in wildlife illustration and environmental education, she spent a number of years deep in the Appalachian Mountains. When she emerged, it was as a writer who found herself irrevocably tied to the natural world and its creatures—and with a new touchstone to the rugged spirit that helped settle the area, which she instills in her characters.
Dun Lady’s Jess, Doranna’s first published fantasy novel, received the 1995 Compton Crook/Stephen Tall award for the best first book in the fantasy
, science fiction and horror genres; she now has fifteen novels of eclectic genres on the shelves and more on the way. Most recently, she’s leaped gleefully into the world of action-romance. When she’s not writing, Doranna builds author web sites, wanders around outside with a camera and works with horses and dogs—currently, she’s teaching agility classes. There’s a Lipizzan in her backyard, a mountain looming outside her office window, a pack of agility dogs romping in the house and a laptop sitting on her desk—and that’s just the way she likes it. You can find a complete list of books at www.doranna.net along with scoops about new projects, lots of silly photos and a link to her SFF Net newsgroup. And for kicks, Connery Beagle has a LiveJournal (journal name: connerybeagle) presenting his unique view of life in the high desert—drop by and say hello!
Coming Next Month
If you enjoyed the eBook you just read, then you’ll love what we have for you next month!
ON SALE IN DECEMBER 2006
VEILED LEGACY by Jenna Mills, Silhouette Bombshell
DANGEROUS LOVER by Maggie Shayne, Silhouette Intimate Moments