THE TYCOON TAKES A WIFE
CATHERINE MANN
HIS ROYAL PRIZE
KATHERINE GARBERA
“I thought you wanted a divorce.”
“I do.” He secured the lily behind her ear, his knuckles caressing her neck for a second too long to be accidental.”But first, I want the honeymoon we never had.”
She gasped in surprise, followed by anger … then suspicion.”You’re just trying to shock me.”
“How do you know I’m not serious?” His blue eyes burned with unmistakable, unsettling—irresistible?—desire.
She’d barely survived their last encounter with her heart intact. No way in hell was she dipping her toes into those fiery waters again.”You can’t really believe I’ll just crawl into bed with you.”
“Why not? It isn’t like we haven’t already slept together.”
Not that they’d slept much.”That night was a mistake.” One with heartbreaking consequences.
About the Author
RITA® Award winner CATHERINE MANN resides on a sunny Florida beach with her military flyboy husband and their four children. Although after nine moves in twenty years, she hasn’t given away her winter gear! With over a million books in print in fifteen countries, she has also celebrated five RITA® Award finals, three Maggie Award of Excellence finals and a Booksellers’ Best win. A former theater school director and university teacher, she graduated with a master’s degree in theater from UNC-Greensboro and a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the College of Charleston. Catherine enjoys hearing from readers and chatting on her message board—thanks to the wonders of the wireless internet that allows her to cyber-network with her laptop by the water! To learn more about her work, visit her website, www.CatherineMann.com, or reach her by snail mail at PO BOX 6065, Navarre, FL 32566, USA.
Dear Reader
Wow, I can hardly believe it’s already time to introduce you to the last Landis brother! What a delightful journey it has been for me sharing the stories of Matthew, Sebastian and Kyle Landis. Now in The Tycoon Takes a Wife, we learn what really happened to Jonah when he traveled to Europe. If you’re new to THE LANDIS BROTHERS, no worries! I’ve penned the tale so you can dive right into this delicious family packed with powerful men.
I do so enjoy connected stories, especially family sagas, so it came as no surprise to me when my interest was piqued by the royal family of Jonah’s wife, Eloisa. Stay tuned for more on those intriguing Medina monarchs later this year.
Thank you again for all your e-mails and letters about THE LANDIS BROTHERS as well as my other books! I love hearing from readers, so please feel free to contact me through my new website: www.catherinemann.com or write to me at PO BOX 6065, Navarre, FL 32566, USA.
Happy reading!
Catherine Mann
To my intrepid traveler and oldest daughter, Haley.
Congrats on taking the world by storm!
You’ll always be our princess.
Prologue
Madrid, Spain: One Year Ago
He wanted to drape her in jewels.
Jonah Landis skimmed his fingers along the bare arm of the woman sleeping next to him and imagined which of the family heirlooms would look best with her dark hair. Rubies? Emeralds? Or perhaps even a string of fat freshwater pearls. His knuckles grazed from her shoulder to her collarbone, his five-o’clock shadow having left a light rasp along her creamy flesh.
He usually didn’t dip into the family treasure trove. He preferred to live off the money he’d made with his own investments. But for Eloisa, he would make an exception.
Early morning light streaked through the wrought-iron window grilles in the seventeenth-century manor home he’d rented for the summer. A gentle breeze rustled the linen draping over the bed. At first he hadn’t even realized she was American, she’d looked so at home walking among the Spanish castle ruins. And exotic. And hot as hell. While she’d picked her way through the scaffolding making notes, he’d lost track of his conversation with fellow investors.
Most labeled him the impulsive one in his family, not that he cared much what others thought of him. Sure he took risks on a regular basis in his work realm and private life, but he always had a plan. And it had always paid off.
So far.
Last night, for the first time, he hadn’t planned a damn thing. He’d simply jumped right in with both feet with this coolly intriguing woman. He wasn’t sure how the decision would pan out in the long run, but he knew they were going to have one helluva summer.
The rest? They could take a day at a time.
“Uhmmm,” she sighed, rolling to her side and draping her arm over his hip.”Did I oversleep?”
Her eyes were still closed but their dark, rich color had cloaked the hauteur of an Ottoman empress. He’d lost plenty of time wondering about the woman behind them during historical reconstruction meetings.
He checked the digital clock resting on a carved walnut end table.”It’s only six. We still have a couple of hours before breakfast.”
Eloisa burrowed her head deeper in the feather pillow, her black hair fanning a tempting contrast across white cotton.”Am still so sleepy.”
She should be. They’d stayed up most of the night having sex … catnapping … showering … and ending up tangled together all over again. It didn’t help that they’d had a few drinks.
He’d limited himself to a couple, but those two seemed to hit her harder than him. He stroked back her long black hair, so smooth it glided through his fingers now as it had when she’d been over him, under him.
He throbbed from wanting her all over again when he should be down for the count for a while yet. She needed the rest more.
Jonah eased from the bed, fresh morning air from outside whispering over his skin.”I’ll call down and have someone from the kitchen send breakfast up here. If you have any preferences, speak now.”
She flipped to her back, eyes still closed as she stretched, her perfectly rounded breasts on amazing display as the comforter slipped to her waist.”Hmmm, anything is fine with me.” Her words were slurred with sleep.”I’m having the most wonderful dream—”
Eloisa paused, scrunching her forehead. She peeked through barely open inky lashes.”Jonah?”
