The Baby Bond

The Baby Bond
Lilian Darcy

Bundles of JoyA DOUBLE BUNDLE OF JOY!Surrogate mother Julie Gregory was suddenly the only mother for the beloved baby she was carrying. And the baby's handsome father wasn't even aware she or the baby existed! Yet millionaire businessman Tom Callahan didn't intend to give up parental rights to his sudden heir. He insisted on an ice-cold marriage of convenience….But the red-hot love Julie felt for her new husband wasn't the biggest surprise of all. They were expecting two bundles of joy–twins! Still, the pregnant bride knew her heart would always be empty without the most precious gift of all…Tom's love.Sometimes small packages can lead to the biggest surprises!

I got pregnant first, then met the father and got married.... (#u74fb3ad8-3094-5a14-a26d-afddc56be00f)Letter to Reader (#u011eeb7b-e1d4-50bc-af32-08e00c31a13d)Title Page (#u1cb90d32-14aa-5c54-a03c-ff953706835e)LILIAN DARCY (#ueffc65a8-6b9b-546b-9612-e16f10f5f251)Letter to Reader (#uc0939cc7-ad0d-53d6-895b-9261de63a67e)Chapter One (#u08ad5f6b-e81e-5bee-bc42-9f9538d8f223)Chapter Two (#ua54a2c86-e511-5c2f-974e-2f67b12bbe0f)Chapter Three (#ueaf13c24-9fc4-5489-a591-66b1a7b43841)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)Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

I got pregnant first, then met the father and got married....

And then fell in love—yesterday, Julie thought, her heart aching. Yesterday. Suddenly yesterday there it all was, as sharp and as clear as day, named and waiting for her: love.

She loved Tom Callahan, with all the completeness and breadth and depth of what that meant. She loved his body to the point of aching. She loved his tenderness and care. She wanted to be in his life forever, to belong with him, to belong in his heart. Most of all, she wanted him to feel that way about her.

But how could he? The prenuptial agreement alone bore witness to their shared caution in their marriage of convenience. It contained forty-seven clauses, reaching forward into an unimaginably distant future when their twin babies reached adulthood!

But it said nothing about what happened yesterday...and their overpowering physical hunger for each other....

Dear Reader,

September’s stellar selections beautifully exemplify Silhouette Romance’s commitment to publish strong, emotional love stories that touch every woman’s heart. In The Baby Bond, Lilian Darcy pens the poignant tale of a surrogate mom who discovers the father knew nothing of his impending daddyhood! His demand: a marriage of convenience to protect their BUNDLES OF JOY....

Carol Grace pairs a sheik with his plain-Jane secretary in a marriage meant to satisfy family requirements. But the oil tycoon’s shocked to learn that being Married to the Sheik is his VIRGIN BRIDE’s secret desire.... FOR THE CHILDREN. Diana Whitney’s miniseries that launched in Special Edition in August 1999—and returns to that series in October 1999—crosses into Silhouette Romance with A Dad of His Own, the touching story of a man, mistaken for a boy’s father, who ultimately realizes that mother and child are exactly what he needs.

Laura Anthony explores the lighter side of love in The Twenty-Four-Hour Groom, in which a pretend marriage between a lawman and his neighbor kindles some very real feelings. WITH THESE RINGS, Patricia Thayer’s Special Edition/Romance cross-line miniseries, moves into Romance with Her Surprise Family, with a woman who longs for a husband and home and unexpectedly finds both. And in A Man Worth Marrying, beloved author Phyllis Halldorson shows the touching romance between a virginal schoolteacher and a much older single dad.

Treasure this month’s offerings—and keep coming back to Romance for more compelling love stories!

Enjoy,

Mary-Theresa Hussey

Senior Editor

Please address questions and book requests to:

Silhouette Reader Service

U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269

Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

The Baby Bond

Lilian Darcy

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

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 Harlequin Mills & Boon Medical Romance line and is now looking forward to creating strong, passionate stories for a whole new set of readers.

Dear Reader,

When it comes to making babies, I’m a specialist. I only do the active kind. They can lift their heads the day they’re born. They run at ten months. By a year, they’re climbing the handles of the kitchen drawers as if they were rungs on a ladder. They’re curious, too. Will someone please invent a refrigerator lock that they don’t learn to unfasten within a week? I’m sick of cleaning large puddles of homemade spaghetti sauce off my kitchen floor.

As you can tell, my husband and I are still in the throes of the toddler years at my place. So when you read about babies in my books, you’ll know the memories are still fresh. Far too fresh. I asked my very dear mother-in-law a year or two ago, “When does it get easier?” “It doesn’t,” she said cheerfully. I gulped. Her eldest is forty-five.

Strangely enough, though, the question that haunts me most frequently as I contemplate my manic brood is not, “How do I get out of this?” but “Shall we have another one?”

Sincerely,

Chapter One

This, at last, was Loretta’s husband.

Julie had only a few seconds to marshal her first impressions of the man who had been married to her cousin. Tom Callahan was coming toward her across the polished hardwood floor of this spacious and blessedly cool office.

Her very soul ragged with fatigue and stress, she saw that he was tall, dark-haired, golden tanned, denim-clad and somewhere in his early thirties.

And then he had reached her, and taken her hot hands into his cool ones. They looked at each other for a moment, their hands locked together, not yet knowing what to say, how to begin.

Despite the awkwardness, the engulfing pressure of his touch was like a lifeline.

Then carefully, as a tribute to the circumstances of this, their first meeting, he took her into his arms. It didn’t seem odd. On Tuesday, also, at Loretta’s sparsely attended funeral, Julie had found herself being hugged by strangers.

“Julie,” he said eventually. His voice sounded deeper and huskier than it had on the phone yesterday.

“Tom,” she managed to say.

He was strong, athletic. She could feel it in the hard, warm knots of muscle that filled out his upper arms and in the squared pectorals of his chest. She hadn’t expected such a powerfully physical man. It helped a little. Physically, right now, she simply needed the support.

As well, she had begun to realize just how strongly every detail, every attribute of this man would live on in her future. Distractedly, she had already registered that he was one of the best looking men she’d ever met. Now, detail added to detail.

His eyes were as dark and glowing as polished teak. His thick hair was the color of molasses shafted by sunlight. Just a tad untidy and too long on top, it was hair that could make a woman want to reach out and smooth it into place with a caress.

In his arms, she closed her eyes, drew a waft of his mellow male scent into her nostrils and felt the shaking in her limbs, in contrast to his quiet steadiness. He must have felt it also. His arms tightened and he said her name again, with his lips against her hair. She felt the warmth of his breath and heard the thud of his heartbeat.

“It was good of you to come up.” His voice resonated deep in his chest.

“I needed to,” she told him.

It was truer than he could yet know. He would know by the end of their meeting today. On the journey by plane and car from Philadelphia, she’d thought of little else. Tom Callahan’s part-time maintenance man, Don Jarvis, had brought her here from the Albany airport, and she’d barely managed to pass the time of day with the man. Fortunately, having given her his careful condolences about Loretta’s death, Don probably hadn’t expected much in the way of conversation.

Tom let her go at last, slowly, as if to make sure she had the strength to stand up. They stood facing each other, not touching any more but still standing close.

“This is hard,” he said. She could see in the twist of his face how much he meant it.

“It has to be, doesn’t it?” she agreed, her throat tight

“I’m sorry I couldn’t meet you at the airport myself.”