Raising Baby Jane

Raising Baby Jane
Lilian Darcy

THE BABY'S SECRET…Connor Callahan had just met Allie Todd, but he immediately felt an overwhelming need to protect her. And to understand why she turned to ice whenever she held her baby niece. He sensed that beautiful Allie was weathering her own storm–one even fiercer than the snowstorm that had stranded them in a remote cabin. Her combination of strength and vulnerability tore at his once-restless heart. But it was only after he saved Allie from a near tragic accident that he suspected her innermost secret. What if baby Jane wasn't Allie's niece, but her daughter…?

“What the heck, Allie, let’s get it over with,” Connor growled.

And his mouth came down on hers before she could say another word.

Allie closed her eyes so that all she could feel were Connor’s fingers closed warm and firm over her knuckles, and his mouth softly tasting her. His mouth was firm, warm, smooth. His long lashes tickled her cheeks as he broke contact for just an instant and moved his head to the side. Allie’s bottom lip trembled and dropped open as she let out a slow gasp.

Allie was overwhelmed by the power of Connor’s kiss. Because the kiss had taken control of both of them, had acquired a life of its own. The kiss mattered. It was the crystallization of everything she had begun to feel about him. A trust and a connection deeper than she’d have thought possible in so short a time. A sense of promise, as if the kiss was only the beginning….

Dear Reader,

As Silhouette’s yearlong anniversary celebration continues, Romance again delivers six unique stories about the poignant journey from courtship to commitment.

Teresa Southwick invites you back to STORKVILLE, USA, where a wealthy playboy has the gossips stumped with his latest transaction: The Acquired Bride…and her triplet kids! New York Times bestselling author Kasey Michaels contributes the second title in THE CHANDLERS REQUEST…miniseries, Jessie’s Expecting. Judy Christenberry spins off her popular THE CIRCLE K SISTERS with a story involving a blizzard, a roadside motel with one bed left, a gorgeous, honor-bound rancher…and his Snowbound Sweetheart.

New from Donna Clayton is SINGLE DOCTOR DADS! In the premiere story of this wonderful series, a first-time father strikes The Nanny Proposal with a woman whose timely hiring quickly proves less serendipitous and more carefully, lovingly, staged….Lilian Darcy pens yet another edgy, uplifting story with Raising Baby Jane. And debut author Jackie Braun delivers pure romantic fantasy as a down-on-her-luck waitress receives an intriguing order from the man of her dreams: One Fiancée To Go, Please.

Happy Reading!

Mary-Theresa Hussey

Senior Editor

Raising Baby Jane

Lilian Darcy

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

Books by Lilian Darcy

Silhouette Romance

The Baby Bond #1390

Her Sister’s Child #1449

Raising Baby Jane #1478

LILIAN DARCY

Since her marriage to an irresistible New Yorker over ten years ago, Lilian Darcy has divided her time between various parts of the United States and her native Australia. Her children hold dual citizenship, and in her writing she tries to embody the shared strength of the two cultures—heroism, warmth and down-to-earth values. Although new to Silhouette, she has written over thirty books for the Harlequin Mills & Boon Medical Romance line and is now looking forward to creating strong, passionate stories for a whole new set of readers.

Contents

Chapter One (#u4bfff500-bebc-5536-baa8-7d94db3e0b83)

Chapter Two (#ub3ed9db2-5106-56b9-877b-c3a03b7940ba)

Chapter Three (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter One

“Just remind me one more time why I agreed to do this!” Allie Todd growled at her sister Karen Pirelli.

Karen didn’t answer. She was gripping the steering wheel of the minivan so hard that her knuckles were white. Her shoulders were hunched, her forehead was pleated and those little sounds coming from her mouth were probably prayers.

The road—track—they were driving on probably wouldn’t have been in great shape even on a dry summer’s day. At the end of a brief January thaw, after several big snowstorms already this winter, it was slushy and slippery and positively frightening.

“Can’t be much farther,” Karen muttered, peering ahead. “Connor said—”

She broke off. They’d come out of the dark pine woods into a cleared space that in summer would have had room for several cars. It must have been plowed a couple of times this winter. There was dirty snow heaped up in lumpy, untidy banks on two sides. But it hadn’t been plowed recently.

On the third side, there was the track that Karen had just negotiated, and on the fourth—

Karen slammed on the brakes. Worst thing you could do on a snow-slippery road. Allie could have told her that, though if she’d been driving herself, she would probably have panicked, as Karen had, and made the same mistake.

The minivan suddenly embarked on a skating career. It swirled elegantly in one direction then the other, before it came finally to a stop about two inches from the sharp, four-foot drop down to the sheet of lake ice.

Karen told Allie shakily, “I owe you one, okay?”

But Allie shook her head. “No. That’s one thing you’ll never have to say to me, Karen. You know that.” She cleared her throat to get rid of the sudden huskiness in her voice, then added, “I shouldn’t have complained about coming up here.”

“No,” Karen argued, “ I shouldn’t have asked you to do this, when I know it’s so hard for you to—” She changed tack quickly. “And anyway, I know you’re not much of a cabin gal.”

“Just how primitive is it going to be, did he happen to say?”

“No, he didn’t.”

They both sat in the front of the minivan, peering out across the white lake to the snow-covered island in the distance.