His Secret Son. Brenda Jackson

      

      Three nights with a Texan...and one pregnancy surprise! Only from New York Times bestselling author Brenda Jackson!

      The Texas rancher and navy SEAL who fathered Bristol Lockett’s son died a hero’s death...or so she was told. Yet when Laramie “Coop” Cooper strolls into her exhibit at an art gallery three years later, he’s very much alive—and still making her pulse zing. The all-consuming chemistry between them is as undeniable now as it was then, but Bristol won’t risk her heart—or their son’s. Little does Bristol know he’s determined to win over his unexpected family at any cost!

      A sexy smile touched the corners of his lips.

      “I’ve wanted to kiss you from the moment I saw you.”

      Bristol drew in a deep breath and stared at him. “I just can’t believe you are alive. Someone in the State Department checked into it and told me you’d died.”

      “When was this?”

      “A month after I last saw you.”

      He nodded. “I was presumed dead, so the person was right. I was rescued just days before Christmas the following year.”

      “That was a long time.”

      “Yes, it was.” Only his close friends knew about the nightmares he’d had for months following his rescue. Nightmares he still had at times.

      “Why were you trying to reach me, Bristol?”

      Drawing in another deep breath, she met his gaze and said, “I wanted to let you know I was pregnant.”

      * * *

      His Secret Son

      is part of The Westmoreland Legacy—

      Friends and relatives of the legendary

      Westmoreland family find love!

      His Secret Son

      Brenda Jackson

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      BRENDA JACKSON is a New York Times bestselling author of more than one hundred romance titles. Brenda lives in Jacksonville, Florida, and divides her time between family, writing and traveling.

      Email Brenda at [email protected] or visit her on her website at www.brendajackson.net.

      To the man who will always and forever have my heart, Gerald Jackson Sr.

      To Cozett Mazelin and Tamira K. Butler-Likely. Thanks for your assistance in my research of two-year-olds. Your information was invaluable and I hope I did the character of “Little Laramie” justice! I could tell from your responses that you are great moms!!

      To my readers who continue to love my Westmorelands, this book is for you.

      For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone.

      —Romans 14:7, NIV

      Contents

       Cover

       Back Cover Text

       Introduction

       Title Page

       About the Author

       Dedication

       Epigraph

       Prologue

       One

       Two

       Three

       Four

       Five

       Six

       Seven

       Eight

       Nine

       Ten

       Eleven

       Twelve

       Thirteen

       Fourteen

       Fifteen

       Sixteen

       Seventeen

       Eighteen

       Epilogue

       Extract

       Copyright

       Prologue

      Bristol Lockett hurriedly moved toward her front door, wondering who would be visiting this late in the afternoon. Although it was still light outside, this particular Paris community was on the other side of town from the famous city center, where most people hung out on Friday nights and weekends. Normally, she would be there herself, but her habits had changed in the last couple of months.

      She was one of those pregnant women who experienced morning sickness in the morning and at night. Smells alone would send her running to the nearest bathroom. Most morning sickness lasted until the twelfth week of pregnancy. She was in her sixteenth week and there didn’t seem to be an end in sight. Her doctor