Amanda Renee - The Bull Rider's Baby Bombshell

About the Author AMANDA RENEE was raised in the northeast and now wriggles her toes in the warm coastal Carolina sands. Her career began when she was discovered through Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write contest. When not creating stories about love and laughter, she enjoys the company of her schnoodle, Duffy, as well as camping, playing guitar and piano, photography and anything involving animals. You can visit her at amandarenee.com .

Booklist Also By Amanda Renee Contents Cover Back Cover Text About the Author Booklist Title Page Copyright Introduction Dear Reader Dedication Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Extract About the Publisher Saddle Ridge, Montana The Lawman’s Rebel Bride A Snowbound Cowboy Christmas Wrangling Cupid’s Cowboy Welcome to Ramblewood Betting on Texas Home to the Cowboy Blame It on the Rodeo A Texan for Hire Back to Texas Mistletoe Rodeo The Trouble with Cowgirls A Bull Rider’s Pride Twins for Christmas Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Title Page The Bull Rider’s Baby Bombshell Amanda Renee www.millsandboon.co.uk

Copyright ISBN: 978-1-474-08473-4 THE BULL RIDER’S BABY BOMBSHELL © 2018 Amanda Renee Published in Great Britain 2018 by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental. By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher. ® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries. www.millsandboon.co.uk Version: 2020-03-02

Introduction “Wes, meet Audra.” She held the infant out to him. “Please help me.” The weight of Audra in his arms made her all the more real. Her cries stopped as a soft mew emanated from the tiny bundle. He didn’t want to look. But he couldn’t not look. He needed to see his daughter. “Oh, my God.” His heart sprang back to life. “What is it?” Jade frantically asked. “She’s beautiful,” he whispered. “They all are. We made quite the heartbreakers.” He lifted his gaze to hers. The edginess had faded to a gentle softness. Even with her stained blouse and what appeared to be a black marker streak across her left cheek, she exuded beauty. “I guess we did.” He lowered his eyes to the other two girls contentedly sucking on the bottles Jade held for them. And then he saw more black marker. “Did you write on their feet?”

Dear Reader Dear Reader Contents Cover Back Cover Text About the Author Booklist Title Page Copyright Introduction Dear Reader Dedication Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Extract About the Publisher , Welcome to the fourth book in my Saddle Ridge, Montana series! The Bull Rider’s Baby Bombshell came together during one of my “thinking” car rides. Most of my brainstorming occurs on the road alongside Duffy—my four-legged sidekick. The changing scenery never fails to spark ideas. When I drove past a woman pushing one of those three-across triplet strollers down the main street of a little country town, Wes and Jade’s story immediately began churning in my brain. I love characters who share a past, but not necessarily a romantic one. And Wes and Jade’s acrimonious history definitely gives them reason to keep their distance from one another...until they find themselves temporarily parenting six-week-old triplets. I’ve always envisioned actress Kat Dennings as Jade Scott. Her take-no-prisoners attitude is a perfect match for a stubborn Slade man. And when I first saw fitness model Parker Hurley astride a steel horse in the pages of a fashion magazine, I knew he was my Wes. I hope you enjoy The Bull Rider’s Baby Bombshell. Feel free to stop in and visit me at amandarenee.com . I’d love to hear from you. Happy reading! Amanda Renee

Dedication For Brad. Thank you for the inspiration.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Extract

About the Publisher

Chapter One

Call Jade.

I can’t do this.

Please forgive me.

Jade Scott read her sister’s note for the tenth time since arriving in Saddle Ridge. Almost an entire day had passed since Liv had vanished, leaving behind her month-and-a-half-old triplets. Jade would’ve arrived sooner if there had been more flights out of Los Angeles to the middle-of-nowhere Montana. She’d ditched the godforsaken town eleven years ago and had sworn never to return. But her sister’s children had annihilated that plan. Especially since Jade had been partially responsible for their existence.

“I didn’t call the police like you asked, but now that you’re here, I think we should.”

“No!” Jade spun to face Maddie Winters, her sister’s best friend and the woman who had taken care of the children for the past twenty hours. “As soon as we do, Liv’s labeled a bad parent and those girls go in the system.”

“Nobody will take them away with you here.” Maddie checked to see if there were any new messages on her phone. “I’m really worried about her.”

Jade scanned the small living room. A month ago, it looked like a baby—or three—lived there. Today it looked cold and sterile, devoid of any signs of the triplets. The crocheted baby blankets and baskets of pastel yarn were gone from the corner. Once covered with stacks of photo albums her sister couldn’t wait to fill, the coffee table now sat bare. Embroidered pillows with their cute mommy and baby sayings no longer littered the couch. Her sister had even removed the framed pictures of the girls along with their plaster hand-and footprints from the mantel. Except for the video baby monitor, nothing baby related remained in sight. Why? She knew Liv’s desire for order was strong thanks to their chaotic upbringing, but she’d never thought her sister would wipe away all visible traces of her children.

“I’m worried too. We don’t need to involve the police though. She wasn’t kidnapped.” Liv was a chronic planner and everything about the situation felt deliberate. “She made a conscious decision to walk away. She wrote a note, she called you to babysit and then left on her own accord. If we call the police, the girls go into the system. Hell will freeze over before I let that happen.”