The Seal's Second Chance Baby. Laura Marie Altom

      

       “What’s up?”

      Effie was already behind the wheel with the motor running when Marsh approached the window.

      “I wanted to tell you to drive careful and thanks again for the laughs. It felt good.”

      “I know, right?” There went her pulse again. He’d pressed his open palms against the door frame, which raised his T-shirt enough to bare a strip of skin and his wholly masculine abs.

      Mouth dry, she forced her gaze to his eyes, but that didn’t do much to stop the tingly awareness that lately took hold whenever he was around.

      “Anyway, good night, Effie.”

      “Night.” The sound of her name, pronounced nice and slow with a hint of a Southern twang, produced all manner of havoc in her belly. If she hadn’t been crammed into an old minivan that smelled like Cheerios with her grandmother and a pack of kids, would he have kissed her?

      The SEAL’s Second Chance Baby

      Laura Marie Altom

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      LAURA MARIE ALTOM is a bestselling and award-winning author who has penned nearly fifty books. After college (Go, Hogs!), Laura Marie did a brief stint as an interior designer before becoming a stay-at-home mum to boy-girl twins and a bonus son. Always an avid romance reader, she knew it was time to try her hand at writing when she found herself replotting the afternoon soaps.

      When not immersed in her next story, Laura plays video games, tackles Mount Laundry and, of course, reads romance!

      Laura loves hearing from readers at either PO Box 2074, Tulsa, OK 74101, USA or by email, [email protected].

      Check out www.lauramariealtom.com to win fun stuff!

      MILLS & BOON

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      This story is dedicated to my precious family: Terry, Not-So-Little-Anymore Terry, Hannah & her sweet Steven, Russell, Mom & Dad, and my adopted sisters—Margaret & Amy. You all make my life worth living. Xoxo

      Contents

       Cover

       Introduction

       Title Page

       About the Author

       Dedication

      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

       Chapter Seventeen

       Chapter Eighteen

       Chapter Nineteen

       Epilogue

       Extract

       Copyright

       Chapter One

      Effie Washington stopped humming to hold her hand to her forehead, shading her eyes from the brutal August sun. Was she seeing a mirage? Was that a mule deer or man on horseback, slumped in his saddle?

      From her vantage atop the roof of her grandmother’s run-down adobe ranch house, she narrowed her gaze. In southeast Colorado, judging distance could be tricky. On a clear day, she had the front range to her west, but with miles upon miles of rolling grassland and the vast wide-open sky, the object she thought might be a few hundred yards in the distance could turn out to be a mile away.

      “Colt! Remington!” she called to her six-year-old identical-twin boys. They were supposed to be on ladder guard duty—a fancy way of ensuring they didn’t run off by making them believe they were charged with a highly important job.

      “Yeah, Mom?” As usual, they answered in tandem.

      “Did you ever put your boots back on after I caught you messing with the hose?”

      “Uh-uh,” Remington said.

      “I will now!” Colt darted around the side of the house.

      Remington followed.

      A few minutes of silence alerted Effie to the chance that her angels were up to no good.

      “Cool! A scorpion!”

      She peered over the roof to find both boys beneath the yard’s sole tree—a century-old cottonwood—engrossed in poking a stick at the potentially harmful creature.

      “Leave it alone!” Effie closed her eyes and sighed. Those two would be the death of her. At least once she finally finished her nursing degree, she’d know how to tend to most of their health emergencies. Abandoning the much-needed roof-patching project, she hurried down the ladder to disperse her boys, who not only hadn’t left the scorpion alone, but had scooped it into a tin can they’d snatched from the trash barrel.

      “But it’s awesome!” Colt jabbed a weed at it to watch it rear up and strike.

      “Quit!” Remington shouted. “He’s gonna sting my eyeballs!”

      “Give me that.” Effie took the can, carrying it far from the house to fling the offensive creature over the back fence.

      “Aw, why’d you have to go and do that?”