Daddy, Unexpectedly. Lee Mckenzie

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      From Friends To Lovers To...Parents?

      Claire DeAngelo’s fantasy was the white picket fence and a husband and babies. She thought she’d found it, but now she’s getting a divorce. Her ex’s behavior is bordering on harassment, so it’s lucky Claire runs into her college buddy—now undercover cop—Luke Devlin.

      Luke can’t believe his luck. He’s investigating a smuggling ring, and Claire lives in the building he has under surveillance. What better way to keep an eye on the criminals than to move in! When Claire’s ex becomes hostile, Luke’s protective instincts take over and the attraction between old friends heats up.

      Back in college, Luke was a carefree playboy. So when Claire discovers she’s pregnant, she knows better than to expect Luke to be family material. She’s finally getting that white picket fence and a baby…even if there’s a piece missing!

      “We were both drinking,” Luke said about his ex. “A lot.”

      Claire gave him an anxious look.

      “One night she went out, with a blood-alcohol reading that was something like three times the legal limit, and plowed into a tree.”

      “Oh, Luke. Was she hurt? Was anyone else?”

      Aside from that night at the ER, he’d never talked about the baby. Not with anyone.

      “She wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, so she was pretty badly banged up. And...she was pregnant, and she lost the baby.”

      “Oh, my God. Luke, I’m so sorry.”

      “I accused her of being careless and irresponsible, trying to trap me into marrying her, forcing me to have a baby I didn’t want.”

      Claire snatched her hand away, averting her eyes.

      He hated that she pulled away, mostly because he had no clue what it meant. Had he said too much? Sounded too harsh?

      “She knew I didn’t want a family. There’s no way I’ll bring another Devlin child into the world and have it grow up the way I did.”

      “But you’re not your father, Luke!”

      Dear Reader,

      There’s something about a reformed bad boy that grabs our interest, don’t you agree? Give him a badge and a gun, and he’s really got our attention! Luke Devlin, the hero of this book, is one of those men, and I have to confess to being a tiny bit jealous of the heroine, Claire DeAngelo. These two have both suffered some major disappointments since they were study buddies back in college, so when they run into each other years later, they both have trust issues to overcome.

      Readers who’ve been following my Ready Set Sold series—the stories of three entrepreneurial young women who run a real-estate business in Seattle—have told me they’re looking forward to Claire’s story, and I hope all of you will have as much fun reading it as I had writing it. To be honest, it never really felt as though I was writing this story; it was more like Luke and Claire were telling it to me, and all I had to do was get it on paper. That doesn’t always happen with a book, but I love it when it does!

      Samantha from The Christmas Secret and Kristi, who you met in the The Daddy Project, are both back, offering their friend Claire a shoulder to lean on in Daddy, Unexpectedly. Since we have a bad boy cop, there has to be a villain; and as always for the animal lovers among us, there’s a dog, and this time I’ve added a cat for good measure. And because this is the third and final book in the series, it was especially fun for me to bring all these characters together one last time and share their happy-ever-afters with you.

      I always enjoy hearing from readers, so I invite you to visit my website at www.LeeMcKenzie.com and drop me a line.

      Happy reading!

      Lee McKenzie

      Daddy, Unexpectedly

      Lee McKenzie

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      From the time she was ten years old and read Anne of Green Gables and Little Women, Lee McKenzie knew she wanted to be a writer, just like Anne and Jo. In the intervening years, she has written everything from advertising copy to an honors thesis in paleontology, but becoming a four-time Golden Heart finalist and a Harlequin author are among her proudest accomplishments. Lee and her artist/teacher husband live on an island along Canada’s west coast, and she loves to spend time with two of her best friends—her grown-up children.

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      For my two proudest accomplishments,

      Joe and Michaela

      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

       Chapter Sixteen

       Epilogue

       Excerpt

      Chapter