The Billionaire And The Bassinet

The Billionaire And The Bassinet
Suzanne McMinn

Bundles of JoyWHOSE BABY IS IT?Executive Garrett Blakemore vowed to discover if expectant mother Lanie was really carrying a Blakemore heir–or if she was only after the family fortune. Then he became enticed by the pregnant beauty. Was it her love for her unborn child or her aching vulnerability that struck a chord? And when Lanie's labor pains started, he found himself playing the role of delivery dad….All Lanie wanted was for her baby to know his father's family. But she wasn't about to fall for sexy Garrett. So why, as the gruf businessman tenderly cradled her newborn, did she wish he'd claim her and little Dalton as his own?Sometimes small packages lead to the biggest surprises!

Lanie had the smile of an angel. Achingly vulnerable. Completely kissable. (#u2e65ce04-bc9a-5cf6-8eb4-8df96d839db9)Letter to Reader (#u7936c676-ea73-5718-80f7-185f706a995d)Title Page (#u952c2a23-50fb-58f9-811e-36b3cbe666b3)Dedication (#ud7e901a8-077f-5204-be20-9377f094dd91)About the Author (#ubcbb8789-66b9-5959-b9ef-0a1752f8d09d)Letter to Reader (#u4023c546-2666-5df5-95cc-24b26a627af9)Chapter One (#u3fd51554-dfd4-5604-9b3d-68fd600a7f56)Chapter Two (#u5c1eebd8-56d7-57b5-bea3-f46986e91708)Chapter Three (#ufa104d17-d75c-5937-9a71-35bb65093417)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 Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

Lanie had the smile of an angel. Achingly vulnerable. Completely kissable.

Garrett forgot for a second where they were or that Lanie was eight months pregnant. All he could think was that he wanted to kiss her, right then, right there. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d wanted to kiss a woman this badly.

Why did she have this effect on him? Did the woman weave some sort of magic spell?

Garrett stared determinedly out the narrow window, watching the occasional car pass outside the doctor’s office. He tried to think about a land development company he’d been considering buying for the Blakemore Corporation. He tried to think about his upcoming trip to Japan to consult on an overseas merger.

But no matter what he did, his mind kept drifting back to Lanie.

How would he feel if Lanie truly was his wife and she was having his baby...?

Dear Reader,

Silhouette Romance novels aren’t just for other women—the wonder of a Silhouette Romance is that it can touch your heart And this month’s selections are guaranteed to leave you smiling!

In Suzanne McMinn’s engaging BUNDLES OF JOY title, The Billionaire and the Bassinet, a blue blood finds his hardened heart irrevocably tamed. This month’s FABULOUS FATHERS offering by Jodi O’Donnell features an emotional, heartwarming twist you won’t soon forget; in Dr. Dad to the Rescue, a man discovers strength and the healing power of love from one very special lady. Marrying O’Malley, the renegade who’d been her childhood nemesis, seemed the perfect way for a bride-to-be to thwart an unwanted betrothal—until their unlikely alliance stirred an even more incredible passion; don’t miss this latest winner by Elizabeth August!

The Cowboy Proposes...Marriage? Get the charming lowdown as WRANGLERS & LACE continues with this sizzling story by Cathy Forsythe. Cara Colter will make you laugh and cry with A Bride Worth Waiting For, the story of the boy next door who didn’t get the girl, but who’ll stop at nothing to have her now. For readers who love powerful, dramatic stories, you won’t want to miss Paternity Lessons, Maris Soule’s uplifting FAMILY MATTERS tale.

Enjoy this month’s titles—and please drop me a line about why you keep coming back to Romance. I want to make sure we continue fulfilling your dreams!

Regards,

Mary-Theresa Hussey

Senior Editor Silhouette Romance

Please address questions and book requests to:

Silhouette Reader Service

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

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The Billionaire and the Bassinet

Suzanne McMinn

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

To the best friends a writer could have—Jill Shalvis and Mary Schramski.

SUZANNE McMINN

lives in a small Texas town. She always dreamed of being a writer, so she feels as if she’s living in a fantasy these days. And with a real life including a husband, three young children and a scary mountain of laundry that seems to grow all by itself, she needs an active fantasy life to keep her going! She hopes her readers enjoy coming along for the ride. Suzanne loves to hear from readers and can be reached at: P.O. Box 12, Granbury, TX 76048.

Dear Reader,

Babies! I love babies. I love the way they blow bubbles and coo and laugh and spit up.... Oh, wait a minute, now I remember why I stopped having them. Seriously, I had three babies before I could shake off the baby lust. My two boys, Ross and Weston, are in elementary school, and my daughter, Morgan, is three. They aren’t babies anymore, and maybe that’s why I love writing about that stage of a child’s life now. Babyhood passes swiftly, and sometimes it’s hard to enjoy it while it’s happening, because you are so tired from all those midnight feedings! Thank goodness for photographs to immortalize how they looked...and books to remember how it felt to love and cuddle them when they were little enough to fit into the crook of your arm. Whether you’ve already had your babies, or are still looking forward to that day in the future, I hope you enjoy reading The Billionaire and the Bassinet, and imagining along with me that special day when your newborn comes into your life. Ah! Babies...

Happy reading,

Suzanne McMinn

Chapter One

Lanie Blakemore opened her front door onto a sweet spring afternoon in Deer Creek, Texas and stared into a face she knew—and had never thought she’d see again.

Both a dazed numbness and a pulsing electricity hit her all at once. Was he real? A bizarre product of her imagination?

Around her the world sharpened. Bees buzzed merrily about the honeysuckle vines, their drone harmonizing with the flap of sheets from the backyard clothesline. The sugary scent of the cookies she’d just taken out of the oven mingled with the fragrance of freshly mown grass, carried up the street by the light May breeze.

She tried to reach out, touch him, find out if he was real—but she couldn’t. Her hands felt as if they belonged to someone else. Her heart hammered in her chest, deafening her to any other sound—to the birds chirping from their nest in the oak tree, to the distant hum of a car on the next street over, to the words coming out of the man’s mouth as he stood in front of her.

“Ben?” she whispered, one hand grappling for the door frame, her knees soupy. Her other hand went instinctively to her swollen stomach.

The man was saying something to her. At least, she could see his mouth moving. She still couldn’t hear him. A rushing sound filled her ears then, and in another second, everything went black.

Garrett Blakemore lunged forward, cursing, and scooped the woman in the doorway into his arms just before she struck the stoop. She felt surprisingly light, fragile.

It hadn’t occurred to him that his resemblance to Ben would shock his cousin’s widow to this extent. The last thing he’d meant to do was scare the living daylights out of her.

At least, he hadn’t meant to scare the living daylights out of her yet.

Moving quickly inside the house, Garrett adjusted his grip on the unconscious woman. Along with the strong, sweet fragrance emanating from the back of the house came the more subtle scent of something soft and feminine. Something that reminded him of springtime and apple blossoms.

Something innocently alluring.

Garrett pulled his thoughts up short. What was wrong with him? The innocence of Ben’s widow was definitely in doubt, and no amount of feminine allure could resolve that particular question.

What Garrett was after was proof. Hard, scientific evidence, one way or another, to show that Lanie had been telling the truth in the letter she’d sent. Ben’s father, Walter Blakemore, needed the truth—and Garrett owed it to the uncle who’d raised him to help find it.

And he owed it to Ben.

Garrett crossed from the foyer to the parlor of the old house, worried about the woman’s state of unconsciousness. Fainting couldn’t be good for anyone, and she was pregnant—that was obvious enough. At least that part of her letter hadn’t been a lie.

Garrett registered surprise at the contrast between the home’s faded exterior and its bright interior as he gently placed the woman on one of the long couches and sat beside her on the edge. The cozy parlor wasn’t what he’d expected.

Outside, a crumbling sidewalk led to a narrow front porch nearly consumed by unruly bushes. A worn sign stuck up from the midst of the scraggly lawn, its flowing pink letters announcing the home to be the Sweet Dreams Bed and Breakfast. The home itself looked to be about a hundred years old, with pink gingerbread trim decorating the flaking white wooden siding.

The inside presented a shining contrast. Soft peach walls and plump contemporary-style couches were set among gently aged antiques. Handwoven rugs decorated the polished oak floor. A vase of fresh-picked flowers cheered one corner. It was comfortable and warm and very, very feminine.