LEANNA WILSON

      A native Texan, Leanna Wilson was born and bred in Big D, but she’s a country girl at heart. She loves visiting her parents’ ranch in east Texas, whether she’s helping to herd cattle or simply sitting by the lake, and she enjoys vacationing in the Rocky Mountains, dreaming up new plots by the side of a rippling brook.

      More at home dreaming up stories than writing lesson plans, Leanna gave up teaching to pursue writing. Once she began putting her stories onto paper, it didn’t take her long to publish her first Silhouette Romance novel, Strong, Silent Cowboy, which won the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart Award. “That was a summer I will never forget,” Leanna says. “I sold my first book, got married to my not-so-silent city-slicker husband and after a fabulous honeymoon in England and Scotland had to go to Hawaii, where I won the Golden Heart Award.”

      Besides writing Silhouette Romance, Harlequin Temptation and Harlequin American Romance novels, Leanna keeps busy with her two children. She teaches a writing class and leads a book club at the senior center near her home. But mostly she enjoys spending time with her growing family.

      To Matrice—a terrific editor!

      Contents

      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

      Chapter Fourteen

      Chapter Fifteen

      One

      “Jillian, you’re the luckiest woman in all of San Antonio!”

      Lucky? Jillian Hart Tanner squelched her disbelieving laughter. As far as she was concerned, life had dealt her a pathetic hand. She certainly had the sorriest love life. In fact, she’d never felt lucky at anything, least of all on this day as she sat alone at a table in the third-floor lounge of the Fortunes TX, Ltd. high-rise. She snapped a saltine cracker in two and placed half of it in her mouth rather than respond to the data entry specialist’s envious statement.

      “I’d say in the whole U. S. of A.” Alice from accounting poured another packet of sweetener into her coffee and stirred it in with a skinny red straw. “I got a glimpse of your new boss first thing this morning. My, my, my!”

      Pretending not to care about the conversation spinning around her, Jillian tried to ignore the nervous fluttering of her heart. She tried to swallow, but the cracker stuck in her throat. Her stomach had been on the verge of mutiny all morning. She clasped her trembling hands under the table.

      “You saw him, too?” Kathy from data entry adjusted her wire frames as if preparing for a better glimpse of the newest Australian import of the Fortune clan should he waltz through the door.

      “Have mercy!” Alice fanned her face with her hand. “If he was my new boss, I’d be fired for chasing him around the desk, sure as the world. But, Lord, it’d be worth it.”

      Kathy laughed. The sound grated on Jillian’s nerves and she gritted her teeth. Why couldn’t her new boss have been anyone other than Brody Fortune? Just the thought of the tall, rugged Aussie was enough to make Jillian’s pulse surge as if she’d been jolted with electricity.

      “If you play your cards right, Jill,” Alice added, “you could end up the newest Mrs. Fortune.”

      Jillian’s heart pinched tight. Yeah, right. She’d had her chance with the too eligible bachelor once. A long time ago. The odds of that happening then or now were as remote as winning the Texas forty-million-dollar lottery. Besides, she wasn’t interested in the dubious distinction of Mrs. Fortune anymore.

      Glancing at the digital clock on the wall, she folded her brown paper sack, stuffed it inside her purse and pushed away from the table. “The last thing I need,” she said, “is a man.”

      After all, her husband—her scallywag of a husband…her deceased husband—had put her in extreme financial straits. Resulting in this awkward predicament. One more thing to blame on James.

      She squared her shoulders as she left the lounge and headed for the elevator. It didn’t matter who her new boss was. This was business. It was her job. One she desperately needed. She didn’t have the time, the need, or the luxury of an office romance.

      Especially with Brody Fortune.

      He’d broken her heart once. Eons ago. In a faraway land. She wouldn’t let it happen again.

      Oh, Lord. Her heart fluttered, leaving her light-headed. She put a shaky hand to her forehead. What have I agreed to?

      Had she really been given a choice? She’d been offered a promotion. How could she refuse? Especially when she needed the extra money the raise would afford. Straightening