Distracting Dad

Distracting Dad
Terry Essig

Nate Parker had a plan. Find his widowed dad a wife, and keep the old man from butting into his life once and for all! But Nate never dreamed distracting Dad would put him face-to-face with his own Ms. Right. Not that Nate was in the market for a bride…As far as Allie MacLord was concerned, men were strange creatures–and Nate was the strangest of all. It seemed her handsome neighbor wanted to matchmake his dear old dad and he wanted her help. Crazier still, Nate's dad seemed to think she might make Nate a good wife. Judging by the insane attraction Allie was starting to feel for Nate, the old man might be right!

“Men. What was God thinking of?”

Nate could ask the same about women, but he had the good sense to keep that sentiment to himself. Besides, he couldn’t help but be impressed by Allie MacLord. She didn’t back down when challenged. “You, uh, have any unmarried female relatives in the forty to fifty age range?” he asked, remembering his plan to find a wife for his dad. “Mothers? Aunts?” Any female biologically related to this termagant would have no problems keeping Nate’s dad under control. Same gene pool, after all. Same domineering attitude, he figured.

“Unmarried female relatives?” Allie asked. “What are you talking about?”

“Nothing,” he mumbled, and was mortified to feel a blush creeping up his neck. When was the last time he’d blushed? Good grief. What was that all about?

If Nate didn’t know himself better, he might suspect this woman was causing him to think about marriage—for himself!

Dear Reader,

The summer after my thirteenth birthday, I read my older sister’s dog-eared copy of Wolf and the Dove by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss and I was hooked. Thousands of romance novels later—I won’t say how many years—I’ll gladly confess that I’m a romance freak! That’s why I am so delighted to become the associate senior editor for the Silhouette Romance line. My goal, as the new manager of Silhouette’s longest-running line, is to bring you brand-new, heartwarming love stories every month. As you read each one, I hope you’ll share the magic and experience love as it was meant to be.

For instance, if you love reading about rugged cowboys and the feisty heroines who melt their hearts, be sure not to miss Judy Christenberry’s Beauty & the Beastly Rancher (#1678), the latest title in her FROM THE CIRCLE K series. And share a laugh with the always-entertaining Terry Essig in Distracting Dad (#1679).

In the next THE TEXAS BROTHERHOOD title by Patricia Thayer, Jared’s Texas Homecoming (#1680), a drifter’s life changes for good when he offers to marry his nephew’s mother. And a secretary’s dream comes true when her boss, who has amnesia, thinks they’re married, in Judith McWilliams’s Did You Say…Wife? (#1681).

Don’t miss the savvy nanny who moves in on a single dad, in Married in a Month (#1682) by Linda Goodnight, or the doctor who learns his ex’s little secret, in Dad Today, Groom Tomorrow (#1683) by Holly Jacobs.

Enjoy!

Mavis C. Allen

Associate Senior Editor, Silhouette Romance

Distracting Dad

Terry Essig

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

For everyone at Silhouette—

thanks for noticing that manuscript

with the crayon drawings on the back all those years ago

and rescuing it from the slush pile,

as well as all the help and guidance since then.

Here comes lucky number thirteen.

Books by Terry Essig

Silhouette Romance

House Calls #552

The Wedding March #662

Fearless Father #725

Housemates #1015

Hardheaded Woman #1044

Daddy on Board #1114

Mad for the Dad #1198

What the Nursery Needs… #1272

The Baby Magnet #1435

A Gleam in His Eye #1472

Before You Get to Baby… #1583

Distracting Dad #1679

Silhouette Special Edition

Father of the Brood #796

TERRY ESSIG

says that writing is her escape valve from a life that leaves little time for recreation or hobbies. With a husband and six young children, Terry works on her stories a little at a time, between seeing to her children’s piano, sax and trombone lessons, their gymnastics, ice skating and swim team practices, and her own activities of leading a Brownie troop, participating in a car pool and attending organic chemistry classes. Her ideas, she says, come from her imagination and her life—neither one of which is lacking!

Contents

Chapter One (#u89db7f8a-6b88-5354-b021-54426b264653)

Chapter Two (#ufaf34343-fdb7-547e-947b-84a13a54a881)

Chapter Three (#u86f5d69c-30d6-5d62-9a73-4e79b7d3ca51)

Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)