Marie Ferrarella - The Man Who Would Be Daddy

Cover Page

Excerpt “Man,” Robin announced, pointing at Malcolm. Yes, he certainly is, Christa thought. With a capital M. “Man,” Robin repeated, this time more insistently. “I think she wants you to pick her up,” Christa prompted. She wondered how he would react. He seemed obviously torn between gruffly dismissing the little girl and giving in to what Christa guessed was a real desire to hold the child. Robin stamped a tiny, sneakered foot on the concrete. “Man.” “Demanding little female, isn’t she?” he commented. Before he could reason himself out of it, he bent down to the girl’s level and picked her up. Christa held her breath as she watched them together. They belonged, she thought. Two halves of a puzzle. A man without a child and a child without a father. It was almost as if they were made for each other. All three of them…

Dear Reader Dear Reader, From classic love stories to romantic comedies to emotional heart tuggers, Silhouette Romance offers six irresistible novels every month by some of your favorite authors—and some sure to become favorites. Just look at the lineup this month: In Most Eligible Dad, book 2 of Karen Rose Smith’s wonderful miniseries THE BEST MEN, a confirmed bachelor becomes a FABULOUS FATHER when he discovers he’s a daddy. A single mother and her precious BUNDLE OF JOY teach an unsmiling man how to love again in The Man Who Would Be Daddy by bestselling author Marie Ferrarella. I Do? I Don’t? is the very question a bride-to-be asks herself when a sexy rebel from her past arrives just in time to stop her wedding in Christine Scott’s delightful novel. Marriage? A very happily unmarried police officer finally says “I do” in Gayle Kaye’s touching tale Bachelor Cop. In Family of Three by Julianna Morris, a man and a woman have to share the same house—with separate bedrooms, of course…. Debut author Leanna Wilson knows no woman can resist a Strong, Silent Cowboy—and you won’t be able to, either! I’d love to know what you think of the Romance line. Are there any special kinds of stories you’d like to see more of, less of? Your thoughts are very important to me—after all, these books are for you! Sincerely, Melissa Senate, 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

Title Page The Man Who Would Be Daddy Marie Ferrarella www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dedication To Daddy, Who finally got it right after all these years. I miss you. Love, Marysia.

About the Author MARIE FERRARELLA lives in Southern California. She describes herself as the tired mother of two overenergetic children and the contented wife of one wonderful man. The RITA-Award-winning author is thrilled to be following her dream of writing full-time.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Copyright

Yes, he certainly is, Christa thought. With a capital M.

“Man,” Robin repeated, this time more insistently.

“I think she wants you to pick her up,” Christa prompted. She wondered how he would react. He seemed obviously torn between gruffly dismissing the little girl and giving in to what Christa guessed was a real desire to hold the child.

Robin stamped a tiny, sneakered foot on the concrete. “Man.”

“Demanding little female, isn’t she?” he commented. Before he could reason himself out of it, he bent down to the girl’s level and picked her up.

Christa held her breath as she watched them together. They belonged, she thought. Two halves of a puzzle. A man without a child and a child without a father.

It was almost as if they were made for each other. All three of them…

Dear Reader,

From classic love stories to romantic comedies to emotional heart tuggers, Silhouette Romance offers six irresistible novels every month by some of your favorite authors—and some sure to become favorites. Just look at the lineup this month:

In Most Eligible Dad, book 2 of Karen Rose Smith’s wonderful miniseries THE BEST MEN, a confirmed bachelor becomes a FABULOUS FATHER when he discovers he’s a daddy.

A single mother and her precious BUNDLE OF JOY teach an unsmiling man how to love again in The Man Who Would Be Daddy by bestselling author Marie Ferrarella.

I Do? I Don’t? is the very question a bride-to-be asks herself when a sexy rebel from her past arrives just in time to stop her wedding in Christine Scott’s delightful novel. Marriage? A very happily unmarried police officer finally says “I do” in Gayle Kaye’s touching tale Bachelor Cop.

In Family of Three by Julianna Morris, a man and a woman have to share the same house—with separate bedrooms, of course….

Debut author Leanna Wilson knows no woman can resist a Strong, Silent Cowboy—and you won’t be able to, either!

I’d love to know what you think of the Romance line. Are there any special kinds of stories you’d like to see more of, less of? Your thoughts are very important to me—after all, these books are for you!

Sincerely,

Melissa Senate,

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

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To Daddy,

Who finally got it right after all these years.

I miss you.

Love, Marysia.

lives in Southern California. She describes herself as the tired mother of two overenergetic children and the contented wife of one wonderful man. The RITA-Award-winning author is thrilled to be following her dream of writing full-time.

She never saw it coming.

One minute, Christa Winslow, newly divorced, newly transplanted former senior accountant of a prestigious Las Vegas-based firm, was just pulling her van into a parking space in front of a convenience store. The next, she was being brutally pulled out of the vehicle and then shoved aside by a tall, wiry man with wild, frightening :eyes.

Had she seen him, she would have been prepared and just possibly been able to thwart what he did next. Christa’s father and two older brothers, policemen all, had spent long hours seeing to it that she was properly trained to defend herself.

But she hadn’t seen him, not until he was beside her, not until he had propelled her away, making her stumble and fall to the ground next to the tread-worn tire of her dusty van. He had caught her off guard and off balance. Trying to break her fall, she twisted her wrist beneath her body at an awkward angle. Christa felt the skin on the palm of her hand rip at the same time that she hit her forehead against the curb.

She had no time to react, no time to be afraid. Her heart was pounding wildly, but only in response to the violence, not in anticipation of what might lie ahead for her.

But it wasn’t her the thug wanted. It was her vehicle.

Which made it all the worse.

Turning the key, which was still in the ignition, the car-jacker gunned the van’s engine as if he were thumbing his nose at Christa in triumph. The next moment, he was peeling out of the lot even as she was scrambling back to her feet.