Kate Carlisle - Sweet Surrender, Baby Surprise / The Secretary's Bossman Bargain

Sweet

Surrender,

Baby Surprise

Kate Carlisle

The Secretary’s

Bossman Bargain

Red Garnier

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Sweet

Surrender,

Baby Surprise

Kate Carlisle

“We can talk about sleeping arrangements later,” he said easily, moving closer. “It’s great to see you, Julia.”

Smiling tentatively, she said, “Really?”

He skimmed his lips along her hairline and breathed in her fresh scent. “Yeah.”

She sighed and closed her eyes, clearly swayed. “But what about your rule?”

Watching her closely, he lowered his head toward hers. “What rule is that?”

Her eyes fluttered open as she whispered, “Once you’ve finished with a woman, you never go back.”

Cameron frowned. “I told you that?”

Nodding solemnly, she said, “It was the last time I saw you. You said you had a great time but you wouldn’t call. You said you didn’t want me to get the wrong idea.” Her voice quavered as his lips hovered within millimeters of hers.

“I’m an idiot,” he said, cupping the nape of her neck in his hand.

With a smile, she gazed into his eyes. “You said it’s a long-standing rule of yours.”

“Rules are made to be broken,” he murmured, and covered her mouth with his.

Dear Reader,

Years ago, wealthy young widow Sally Duke adopted three troubled boys, Adam, Cameron and Brandon. She gave them love and affection, strong values and a sense of family they’d never had before, and they grew up to be confident, handsome and powerful businessmen.

Now it’s payback time. Sally Duke wants grandbabies and she’s willing to play hardball to get them! You may have already read Adam Duke’s story. Now, in Sweet Surrender, Baby Surprise, it’s Cameron’s turn to face his mother’s matchmaking machinations. When he runs into lovely pastry chef Julia Parrish, he has no idea that their last romantic tryst resulted in the birth of a darling baby boy—but Sally knows!

The dramatic central California coast is the setting for my Duke brothers stories. As a California girl myself, I’ve grown up spellbound by the rugged beauty of the cliffs, the Zen-like dignity of the singular palm tree wavering in the wind, the power of the ocean waves pounding against the shore. But mixed in with all that power and ruggedness is the laid-back relaxation that California is famous for. My three handsome heroes have their own easygoing style and it works well for them— until they’re confronted by love!

I hope you enjoy Cameron and Julia’s story. Please stop by my website at www.katecarlisle.com and let me know.

Happy reading!

Kate

New York Times bestselling author KATE CARLISLEwas born and raised by the beach in Southern California. After more than twenty years in television production, Kate turned to writing the types of mysteries and romance novels she always loved to read. She still lives by the beach in Southern California with her husband, and when they’re not taking long walks in the sand or cooking or reading or painting or taking bookbinding classes or trying to learn a new language, they’re traveling the world, visiting family and friends in the strangest places. Kate loves to hear from readers. Visit her website at www.katecarlisle.com.

To the wonderful Susan Mallery, with love and thanks for being a true and generous friend. Drinks are on me!

All Cameron Duke wanted to do was rip off his tie, grab a beer and get laid, not necessarily in that order. He’d been working too hard for way too long on the current Duke Development project and he was damn tired of living in a hotel suite.

On the other hand, he reasoned as he slid his key card into the door slot, he couldn’t really complain about it. After all, he owned the hotel. And the owner’s suite of the Monarch Dunes resort hotel was two thousand square feet of luxury: all the comforts of home with a wide terrace, fantastic ocean views and room service. Nope, he couldn’t complain about that.

As he stepped inside the foyer of his suite, Cameron vowed that as soon as the hotel’s international catering conference was over, he would go fishing. The resort was up and running to capacity, so it was time for him to take off for a few weeks, get away and do nothing. Maybe he’d rent a houseboat up on Lake Shasta, or grab a raft and float down the King River. Or maybe he’d just make a few calls….

Not to put too fine a point on it, he definitely needed to get laid.

Pulling his tie loose, he dropped his keys on the foyer side table, placed his briefcase on the marble floor and stepped into the living room, where every light in the room was turned on.

“Now, what’s wrong with this picture?” he muttered, knowing he’d switched the lights off when he left two days ago.

Not only was every light on in the suite, but the drapes were all closed. Housekeeping knew he preferred the drapes to stay open in order to take advantage of the incredible Pacific view. The room was on the top floor of the Craftsman-style hotel, and the double-paned windows were tempered glass and lightly tinted. It wasn’t as if anyone could see inside.

He shrugged out of his suit jacket. Maybe there was someone new working in Housekeeping. They must’ve left the lights on and closed the drapes without knowing his preferences. It could happen. But it wouldn’t happen again.

Taking a few steps into the room, he saw a strange paperback book, opened and facedown on the coffee table. Then his gaze focused in on another foreign object draped over the arm of the couch.

Moving closer, he carefully picked up the soft bit of fabric. Pink, trimmed with paler pink lace around the edges. Lingerie. Expensive. Absurdly feminine. He fingered the fancy silk and the lightest scent of orange blossoms and spice wafted up and enveloped him. The fragrance was vaguely familiar and his groin tightened as an inexplicable need arose in the pit of his stomach.

“What the hell?” He tossed the camisole back on the couch. Not that he didn’t appreciate a nice bit of feminine adornment as much as the next guy, but right now he was more concerned with how in the world it got in here.

“Beer first,” he decided, and cut through the spacious dining room to get to the kitchen. That’s when he saw the high heels. Sexy ones. Red. Tucked under the dining room table.

He hated to repeat himself, but what the hell?

Red high heels? It had to be a joke. Something like this was right up his brother Brandon’s alley. And if Cameron hadn’t already been annoyed at having his quiet evening interrupted, he might’ve managed to laugh about it.

He moved cautiously past the bar into the kitchen. No, Brandon wasn’t hiding there, waiting to jump out and yell that Cameron had been Punk’d. But that didn’t mean his brother wasn’t around somewhere. Cameron grabbed a beer from the refrigerator, twisted the cap off, took a long, slow drink, then stared at the row of empty baby bottles lined up next to the sink.