Maternity Bride. Maureen Child

      He Had Never Planned On Being A Father. Letter to Reader Title Page About the Author Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Epilogue Copyright

      He Had Never Planned On Being A Father.

      But now that Mike was actually faced with the prospect of a child, it was different. Surprising as it was to admit, he had caught himself almost hoping there would be a baby. A girl maybe, with Denise’s blue eyes and blond hair.

      

      Something inside him shifted painfully Was it the child he wanted...or was it her child that had suddenly become so important?

      

      “We’ll know for sure tomorrow,” she said, “one way or the other.”

      

      He nodded.

      

      “But tonight, Mike,” she went on, “let’s forget about everything but us. I want one more night with you before we know. Before things change forever.”

      

      Mike bit back a groan as an invisible hand tightened around his heart and squeezed. Her quiet words tore at him, leaving his insides open and unguarded.

      

      “Kiss me, Mike.”

      Dear Reader,

      

      This month Silhouette Desire brings you six brand-new, emotional and sensual novels by some of the bestselling—and most beloved—authors in the romance genre. Cait London continues her hugely popular miniseries THE TALLCHIEFS with The Seduction of Fiona Tallchief, April’s MAN OF THE MONTH. Next, Elizabeth Bevarly concludes her BLAME IT ON BOB series with The Virgin and the Vagabond. And when a socialite confesses her virginity to a cowboy, she just might be Taken by a Texan, in Lass Small’s THE KEEPERS OF TEXAS miniseries.

      

      Plus, we have Maureen Child’s Maternity Bride. The Cowboy and the Calendar Girl, the last in the OPPOSITES ATTRACT series by Nancy Martin, and Kathryn Taylor’s tale of domesticating an office-bound hunk in Taming the Tycoon

      

      I hope you enjoy all six of Silhouette Desire’s selections this month—and every month!

      

      Regards,

      Senior Editor

      Silhouette Books

      Please address questions and book requests to:

      Silhouette Reader Service U.S. 3010 Walden Ave., PO Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269 Canadian: P.O Box 609, Fort Ene, Ont. L2A 5X3

      Maureen Child

      Maternity Bride

      

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      MAUREEN CHILD

       was born and raised in Southern California and is the only person she knows who longs for an occasional change of season. She is delighted to be writing for Silhouette and is especially excited to be a part of the Desire line.

      

      An avid reader, she looks forward to those rare, rainy California days when she can curl up and sink into a good book. Or two. When she isn’t busy writing, she and her husband of twenty-five years like to travel, leaving their two grown children in charge of the neurotic golden retriever who is the real head of the household. She is also an award-winning historical writer under the names Kathleen Kane and Ann Carberry.

      One

      “Just stick it in, dummy,” Denise Torrance whispered to herself and scraped the key across the doorknob plate again. The darkness in the hallway pushed at her. She glanced uneasily over her shoulder and wondered why a simple power outage could make her feel as if she were stuck in a fifties horror movie. For heaven’s sake. She knew these offices better than she knew her own apartment. There were no monsters lurking in the shadows waiting to pounce.

      “Ah.” She sighed in satisfaction as the stubborn key finally slipped into the lock. Pushing her purse strap higher on her shoulder, she shoved the oversize bag out of her way, turned the key and stepped into the darkened office.

      Automatically, her right hand went to the switch plate. She tried each of the two switches with no success. “Perfect,” she said into the black stillness. “Apparently, no one is in a hurry to get the power turned back on.”

      But then, if she had collected the files from Patrick’s office a bit earlier, she’d have been gone long before the lights went out and she wouldn’t be standing there in the dark talking to herself.

      “Ten o’clock at night,” she muttered. “What kind of idiot works until ten o’clock when they could be home in a hot bath?”

      “Just you and me, I guess.” A deep voice rumbled out of the darkness.

      Her heart shot into her throat.

      “And honey,” the voice added, “that bath sounds real good.”

      She choked her heart back into her chest and whirled around, her gaze sweeping across the shadowy corners of the room. Instinctively, Denise backed up, and wished she was wearing her running shoes instead of the three-inch heels wobbling beneath her. Her sharp eyes strained to find the intruder at the same time her mind screamed at her to run like hell.

      Then he stepped closer, passing across a splash of moonlight shining through a window before disappearing into the darkness again. Still, she’d been able to see him. Not his face of course, but enough to know he was big.

      And standing between her and the door.

      Okay fine, she told herself. No escape there. They were on the third floor, so jumping out the window was quickly dismissed, as well. Think, Denise, think. Frantically, she tried to remember the self-defense lessons she’d taken the year before. Something about step into the attacker and throw him over your shoulder?

      Yeah, right.

      She took another step back, bumped into a chair and staggered. One of her heels snapped off and she dropped into a tilted stance. “Stay back,” she warned,