His Secret Son

His Secret Son
Stacy Connelly

That was Then…Bookish student Lindsay Brookes couldn’t believe it when football star Ryder Kincaid finally noticed her ten years ago. Back then, one magical night left her with a precious secret. Now, the single mum knows it’s time to come back to Clearville and track down the man she’s never forgotten.Could This be Their Now?When Ryder Kincaid spots the stunning brunette with the shy nine-year-old in tow, he can’t believe it’s Lindsay. Now he just has to prove that he can be the husband and father he always dreamt of becoming… with the woman he’s never stopped wanting.

“I’d like a chance for us to start over.”

“As friends?”

The corner of his mouth kicked up in a wry smile. “We were more than friends.”

For one night, they’d been lovers. One night that had changed both of their lives more than Ryder could possibly know.

Lindsay swallowed. “Ryder, I—I can’t. We can’t go back. It’s not possible.”

“And what about going forward? Is that impossible, too?” Reading the answer in her gaze, he came to his own conclusion as he eased far away from her on the crowded bench. “Because you can’t forgive me for what happened.”

“It’s not that,” Lindsay protested quietly. “It’s—”

That when I tell you the truth about what really happened that night, I don’t know how you’ll ever be able to forgive me.

* * *

The Pirelli Brothers: These California boys know what love is all about!

His Secret Son

Stacy Connelly

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

STACY CONNELLY has dreamed of publishing books since she was a kid, writing stories about a girl and her horse. Eventually, boys made it onto the page as she discovered a love of romance and the promise of happily-ever-after. When she is not lost in the land of make-believe, Stacy lives in Arizona with her three spoiled dogs. She loves to hear from readers at stacyconnelly@cox.net (http://stacyconnelly@cox.net) or www.stacyconnelly.com (http://www.stacyconnelly.com).

To Cindy Kirk and Vicki Lewis Thompson-Even though this book is set in the fictional town of Clearville, California, for me it will always be my “Tucson” book.

Contents

Cover (#u7d991a7c-8440-50b7-9af4-20a1fecc1c5e)

Introduction (#uff1f3990-4cf0-5497-8245-6a3f7398d9f4)

Title Page (#u30eee183-360a-51f0-ac02-775e639976e2)

About the Author (#u425492d5-7efe-5d3d-9a89-0d1e5f8f41b0)

Dedication (#uf70f01f1-df69-5baa-99c9-51a881f681e6)

Chapter One (#ua4028cb9-da4d-5daf-aa55-7bd3854612d1)

Chapter Two (#u21ca4061-1ddc-56f9-8236-00f14f3a44d7)

Chapter Three (#u43ee9303-5464-58b7-9599-5aaf47e07fa3)

Chapter Four (#u0449c75b-e0ac-544b-a1de-0861f6682c4e)

Chapter Five (#u05313eff-43e3-5190-965b-fce13cc0abbf)

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 Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)

Extract (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter One (#ulink_913586ae-b93f-5a3b-8a87-31454a8705f5)

The place hadn’t changed, Lindsay Brookes thought with a touch of nostalgia as she drove her SUV down Main Street. The tiny Northern California town where she’d been born and raised seemed caught in a time warp. The Victorian buildings that housed eclectic shops and restaurants had stood proudly for well over one hundred years, surviving the passage of time and even the occasional earthquake. Had she really thought they would undergo some sort of drastic modernization in the mere decade since she’d been gone?

Just because she’d worked so hard to make over the shy, awkward girl who’d graduated from Clearville High didn’t mean the town had changed, too. Didn’t mean the people who lived there would see how much she’d changed.

Shoving away the old insecurities, she sucked in a deep breath and tightened her hands on the wheel. She had her reasons for returning to her hometown, and the faster she accomplished her goals, the sooner she’d be back in Phoenix, where she belonged. Where people only knew her as the strong, confident woman she was now and had no memory of the painfully shy, desperately lonely girl she’d once been.

As she glanced in the rearview mirror at one of her reasons for coming back, her heart filled with love—and yes, concern—at the sight of her son with his ever-present tablet in hand.

“Robbie? Robbie?”

“Huh?” He blinked as he looked up through his too-long blond bangs, his eyes slightly unfocused behind his Harry Potter–frame glasses.

It worried her a little, how fixated he was with his video games though she strictly limited them to ones she thought appropriate for a nine-year-old boy. She tried to monitor the time he spent playing them, too, but that was more of a challenge.