Emily Dalton - Professor and The Pregnant Nanny

Charles could see she was serious. Her words were heartfelt. Tears gathered in her eyes.

“Melissa, what are you talking about? You’re a great nanny. You’re doing a great job. The kids love you,” he said with a smile. He wanted more than ever to take her in his arms. To comfort her. To reassure her. To kiss every inch of…but he couldn’t do that!

“Well, I love them, too,” Melissa said miserably.

“You only fell asleep last night because your nap was interrupted yesterday,” he said. She was looking down, so he cupped her jaw with his hand and tilted her chin up, compelling her to look at him. He let his hand drop and stepped back to a safer distance. His attraction to her was making him want to say things, express feelings he couldn’t possibly be feeling after just three days in her company. She’d think he was coming on to her.

Maybe he was.

Dear Reader,

This month we have a wonderful lineup of stories, guaranteed to warm you on these last chilly days of winter. First, Charlotte Douglas kicks things off with Surprise Inheritance, the third installment in Harlequin American Romance’s MILLIONAIRE, MONTANA series, in which a sexy sheriff is reunited with the woman he’s always loved when she returns to town to claim her inheritance.

Next, THE BABIES OF DOCTORS CIRCLE, Jacqueline Diamond’s new miniseries centered around a maternity and well-baby clinic, premieres this month with Diagnosis: Expecting Boss’s Baby. In this sparkling story, an unforgettable night of passion between a secretary and her handsome employer leads to an unexpected pregnancy.

Also available this month is Sweeping the Bride Away by Michele Dunaway. A bride-to-be is all set to wed “Mr. Boring” until she hires a rugged contractor who makes her pulse race and gives her second thoughts about her upcoming nuptials. Rounding things out is Professor & the Pregnant Nanny by Emily Dalton. This heartwarming story pairs a single dad in need of a nanny for his three adorable children with a woman who is alone, pregnant and in need of a job.

Enjoy this month’s offerings as Harlequin American Romance continues to celebrate twenty years of publishing the best in contemporary category romance fiction. Be sure to come back next month for more stories guaranteed to touch your heart!

Melissa Jeglinski

Associate Senior Editor

Harlequin American Romance

Professor & The Pregnant Nanny

Emily Dalton

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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To my grandparents, Margaret Emily Rutherford Phillips and James Jerome Phillips. I still miss you.

And you still inspire me.

Love, Sis.

Two years ago, Emily Dalton moved with her husband and two sons to Centerville, Utah, into the house of her childhood dreams. A two-story Cape Cod with dormer windows and a covered porch that spans the front of the house says Leave It to Beaver in a big way.

Her “boys,” both in their early twenties, attend college within daily driving distance of the house, but keep busy with school, work and girls, leaving Emily and her husband plenty of time to spend together on their own.

Emily enjoys gardening and decorating, and she’s still addicted to chocolate, Victorian art, Jane Austen and traveling by train.

HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE

586—MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY

650—HEAVEN CAN WAIT

666—ELISE & THE HOTSHOT LAWYER

685—WAKE ME WITH A KISS

706—MARLEY AND HER SCROOGE

738—DREAM BABY

783—INSTANT DADDY

823—A PRECIOUS INHERITANCE

926—A BABY FOR LORD RODERICK

964—PROFESSOR & THE PREGNANT NANNY

½ cup shortening and ½ cup butter, room temperature

1 cup packed brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup toasted pecans, chopped (See below for quick directions for toasting.)

Preheat oven to 375°F. In a mixing bowl beat shortening and butter on medium speed for 60 seconds. Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking soda and salt. continue beating until all ingredients are well mixed. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in rest of flour using wooden spoon. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart on nonstick cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

(To quickly toast pecans, spread them on a paper or other microwave-safe plate. Microwave on high, stirring a few times, 4 to 4½ minutes until fragrant and lightly browned. Let cool completely before chopping.

This recipe will please the whole family, but leave out the nuts if you’re feeding a toddler! Serve with cold milk and warm hugs.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

“Dad, when will the new nanny get here?”

“Any minute now, Christopher,” Charles assured his four-year-old son as the two of them stood in the curve of the bay window that looked out over the front yard and the street beyond. “And she’s not really new, Christopher. She’s just temporary, till Mrs. Butters gets back.”

Christopher nodded, his carrot-red hair shining in the sun that streamed in from the bright July morning. He stood imitating his father, with his hands on his hips, both of them watching as an occasional car drove down Harvard Avenue at the sedate, residential speed of twenty-five miles an hour. But when a promising-looking minivan slowed down, then passed by without depositing their expected nanny, Christopher grew impatient.

“Did you say ‘any minute,’ Dad? ’Cause Sarah’s hair’s all tangled and stickin’ out, and Daniel’s got oatmeal down his pants and all over his face and hands.”

“Any minute,” Charles repeated, more to reassure himself than Christopher, since their fill-in nanny was already fifteen minutes late. But sticky oatmeal down Daniel’s pants and on various parts of his body didn’t seem to be keeping him from enjoying watching The Lion King with Sarah in the family room just down the hall, so there was probably no rush. In fact, Daniel would probably squawk if Charles interrupted one of his favorite scenes in the movie to haul him off for a bath. And as for Sarah’s hair, he’d probably do more harm than good if he took a brush to those fine, tangled curls of hers.

Still…where was the nanny?

The temporary nanny service, Nanny on the Spot, had come highly recommended by his permanent nanny, Mrs. Butters, who had had to dash out of the house early that morning to catch a plane. Her father had died unexpectedly the day before, and Mrs. Butters was going to New Orleans to attend the funeral and be with family for a week. Charles had called the agency at seven o’clock, and was promised a nanny by nine.