Mom In Waiting

Mom In Waiting
Maureen Child

HER STAND-IN FIANCE?When Tracy Hall vowed to be the belle of her high school reunion, she thought all she'd need was a glamorous new look, a diamond ring on her finger and a fiance - conveniently left behind, of course. Simple, right? Wrong! Once she met up with high school heartthrob Rick Bennet, her simple plan went awry.For after an unexpected night of passion with the gorgeous marine captain, Tracy suddenly found herself inconveniently pregnant. Now Rick no longer wanted to be her pretend fiance … but her husband of convenience. But what Rick was willing to do for duty, Tracy could do only for love… .BACHELOR BATTALION: Defending their country is their duty; love and marriage is their reward!

“I’ll Be Your Pretend Fiancé,” He Said. (#ua4700086-86d7-5dcb-bad9-c27150f604e1)Letter to Reader (#u304b1581-ad72-58b8-9a92-f1b5ee377e88)Title Page (#u33cf2db2-ff04-53ed-98aa-ec5fbaf2c8ac)About the Author (#u915b5430-edd4-51ce-978b-c41708259b81)Dedication (#u852f61ee-eef3-5d24-b4fd-3c9acca1d4b6)Chapter One (#u1b5e83c3-69d0-522b-b7c3-775fdc093432)Chapter Two (#ub38f55bd-bbcc-58dd-af91-f16e76b072f9)Chapter Three (#ue7667e34-0b02-52d0-8e7c-52961b6d25c9)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)Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

“I’ll Be Your Pretend Fiancé,” He Said.

Tracy reacted to Rick’s idea with an excited shiver. By agreeing, she would gain a few more days of a rich, full fantasy life. One in which Captain Rick Bennet, United States Marine Corps, loved her.

Her eyes misted over. If she indulged in that much fantasy, going back to a life without him would be even more painful than it was already going to be.

She shook her head firmly.

“Why not?” he demanded. “A real live fiancé is much easier to believe than a conspicuously absent one.... But that’s not the only reason.”

“Then what?”

“You can’t ignore the possibility that you might be pregnant. Your baby can’t have a pretend father.”

And he’d be damned if he’d have anybody thinking that his baby had been fathered by her fictional accountant.

Dear Reader,

Silhouette Desire matches August’s steamy heat with six new powerful, passionate and provocative romances.

Popular Elizabeth Bevarly offers That Boss of Mine as August’s MAN OF THE MONTH. In this irresistible romantic comedy, a CEO falls for his less-than-perfect secretary.

And Silhouette Desire proudly presents a compelling new series, TEXAS CATTLEMAN’S CLUB. The members of this exclusive club are some of the Lone Star State’s sexiest, most powerful men, who go on a mission to rescue a princess and find true love! Bestselling author Dixie Browning launches the series with Texas Millionaire, in which a fresh-faced country beauty is wooed by an older man.

Cait London’s miniseries THE BLAYLOCKS continues with Rio: Man of Destiny, in which the hero’s love leads the heroine to the truth of her family secrets. The BACHELOR BATTALION miniseries by Maureen Child marches on with Mom in Waiting. An amnesiac woman must rediscover her husband in Lost and Found Bride by Modean Moon. And Barbara McCauley’s SECRETS! miniseries offers another scandalous tale with Secret Baby Santos.

August also marks the debut of Silhouette’s original continuity THE FORTUNES OF TEXAS with Maggie Shayne’s Million Dollar Marriage, available now at your local retail outlet.

So indulge yourself this month with some poolside reading—the first of THE FORTUNES OF TEXAS, and all six Silhouette Desire titles!

Enjoy!

Joan Marlow Golan

Senior Editor

Please address questions and book requests to:

Silhouette Reader Service

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

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

Mom in Waiting

Maureen Child

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

MAUREEN CHILD

was born and raised in Southern California and is the only person she knows who longs for an occasional change of season. She is delighted to be writing for Silhouette Books, and is especially excited to be a part of the Desire line.

An avid reader, Maureen looks forward to those rare rainy California days when she can curl up and sink into a good book. Or two. When she isn’t busy writing, she and her husband of twenty-five years like to travel, leaving their two grown children in charge of the neurotic golden retriever who is the real head of the household. Maureen is also an award-winning historical writer under the names Kathleen Kane and Ann Carberry.

To the owners and operators of the Crescent Beach Motel in Crescent City, California. You have the most beautiful spot on Hwy. 101... thanks for sharing it with us.

And to the city of Newport, Oregon. Your scenery is as gorgeous as your citizens are warm and friendly.

One

“I hate reunions,” Tracy Hall muttered into the telephone receiver. This had seemed like such a good idea. Go home to Oregon. Attend a joint reunion for the last forty graduating classes of their tiny high school.

Now that her departure date had arrived, though, Tracy was seriously reconsidering the plan she’d thought brilliant a few weeks ago and that now seemed idiotic.

Still grumbling, she plopped down hard on top of her suitcase. She had enough clothes stuffed into the bag for a trip around the world. And that wasn’t even counting her brand-new garment bag that literally bulged with dresses, high heels and purses or her cosmetic bag that now held several tons of makeup and lotions.

From her precarious seat, she leaned forward and clicked the latches shut, one after the other, with a sigh of triumph. The suitcase groaned a little as she scooted off, but she ignored it.

A flutter of nerves rose up and twisted in the pit of her stomach. What if this didn’t work? What if someone found out what she was doing? Just imagining the gales of laughter made her groan and grit her teeth.

“Why am I doing this again?” she wondered aloud.

“Because it’ll be fun,” the voice on the phone told her.

“Yeah,” Tracy said, unconvinced. “So far, it’s a blast.” The preparation alone for this little trip into her past had just about worn her out. And that didn’t even take into account The Plan. She even thought of it in capital letters.

“Honestly, Tracy,” her sister Meg said in the drill sergeant tone she used on her children, “you might try for a little enthusiasm.”

Well, she had been enthusiastic. A few weeks ago. When this silly idea of hers had first occurred to her. Now that she was actually having to go through with it, though, the notion had lost a little of its sparkle.

She looked into the mirror directly opposite her. Since the image was out of focus, she closed her left eye. She’d been in the middle of putting in her new contacts when Meg called, so she was now only half-blind.

The woman staring back at her from the glass looked quietly elegant, professional, confident—if you ignored the squint. Which just went to prove how deceiving appearances are. Because beneath the flashy new veneer, she was the same old Tracy Hall The class nerd. The outcast. Ugly duckling to her older sister Meg’s swan.

So, she’d never be a cover girl. She’d learned to live with that. But, she told herself, even ugly ducklings grow up. And become, if not gorgeous swans, at least not-too-bad ducks.

“Tracy?” Meg said loudly. “You still there?”

“Yeah, I’m here,” she said, smiling at the growing noise from Meg’s end of the phone. “What’s going on?”

“Just the usual,” her sister said with a rueful laugh, then, half covering the mouthpiece, yelled, “Tony! Don’t jump from the top of the stairs. You’ll break your neck!”