Janice Kay - The Baby He Wanted

It’s a dream come true...if only she’ll say yes

He doesn’t believe in love, but Detective Bran Murphy does want a wife and family, which seem unattainable when his fiancée breaks it off. Drowning his sorrows the night before what was supposed to be the big day, he finds comfort in Lina Jurick, a woman with a sad story of her own. And then, inexplicably, she disappears without a word the next morning.

It’s a good half a year before Bran runs into Lina again, during a murder investigation. Lina is the key witness. In fact, she’s the only witness, and she becomes the killer’s next target.

She’s also six months pregnant.

The look she gave him held such misery.

“Oh, hell, Lina,” he said and rose, pulling her to her feet and into his arms. For a moment she stood stiff. He was about to release her when she made a muffled sound, leaned on him and seemed to go boneless. They stood like that for a long time. Inhaling her scent, he cradled the back of her head with one hand while he held her up with his other arm.

The hard mound of her belly felt odd wedged between them. It was like a purse or a—no, not a basketball—a soccer ball. Maybe one of those kid-sized ones. Then he had the dazed thought that what he felt between them wasn’t kid-sized—it was a kid. A whole, complete person in the making.

The fact that this particular baby might be his was something he couldn’t let himself think about, not yet.

Dear Reader Dear Reader Title Page About the Author 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 CHAPTER FOURTEEN CHAPTER FIFTEEN CHAPTER SIXTEEN CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Extract Copyright ,

As you may have noticed by now, I have a thing about men who have trouble admitting to the softer emotions. Of course, many of my heroes are cops, who have to be tough guys. How else can they protect themselves from the awful things they see every day? But honestly, as with so many of the themes I come back to over and over, I suspect this one has to do with my own family and childhood.

I remember meeting my paternal grandfather, who was probably a good man but was cold enough to make you shiver. I’m willing to bet that man never in his life told a woman he loved her, never mind his two sons. Dad grew up in the Depression in the worst of poverty, his mother an invalid, his father trying to keep them together. Result: a man who cared deeply, but had a really hard time issuing compliments or saying such simple words as I love you. Dad has been gone for fifteen years now, but I still sometimes think I hear his truck coming down the hill to my house. He’d show up, mow my lawn or clean my gutters, and leave, sometimes even without stopping in the house to say hi. But I always knew that was love in action.

My heroine in this book, Lina Jurick, was betrayed by a man once and doesn’t know how to trust Bran Murphy, emotionally remote. I hope you enjoy their struggle—his to accept what he feels and articulate it, hers to understand that love can be expressed in many ways.

Janice Kay Johnson

www.millsandboon.co.uk

An author of more than ninety books for children and adults, JANICE KAY JOHNSONwrites about love and family—about the way generations connect and the power our earliest experiences have on us throughout life. An eight-time finalist for a Romance Writers of America RITA® Award, she won a RITA® Award in 2008 for her Harlequin Superromance novel Snowbound. A former librarian, Janice raised two daughters in a small town north of Seattle, Washington.

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Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text It’s a dream come true...if only she’ll say yes He doesn’t believe in love, but Detective Bran Murphy does want a wife and family, which seem unattainable when his fiancée breaks it off. Drowning his sorrows the night before what was supposed to be the big day, he finds comfort in Lina Jurick, a woman with a sad story of her own. And then, inexplicably, she disappears without a word the next morning. It’s a good half a year before Bran runs into Lina again, during a murder investigation. Lina is the key witness. In fact, she’s the only witness, and she becomes the killer’s next target. She’s also six months pregnant.

Introduction The look she gave him held such misery. “Oh, hell, Lina,” he said and rose, pulling her to her feet and into his arms. For a moment she stood stiff. He was about to release her when she made a muffled sound, leaned on him and seemed to go boneless. They stood like that for a long time. Inhaling her scent, he cradled the back of her head with one hand while he held her up with his other arm. The hard mound of her belly felt odd wedged between them. It was like a purse or a—no, not a basketball—a soccer ball. Maybe one of those kid-sized ones. Then he had the dazed thought that what he felt between them wasn’t kid-sized—it was a kid. A whole, complete person in the making. The fact that this particular baby might be his was something he couldn’t let himself think about, not yet.

Dear Reader Dear Reader Dear Reader Title Page About the Author 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 CHAPTER FOURTEEN CHAPTER FIFTEEN CHAPTER SIXTEEN CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Extract Copyright , As you may have noticed by now, I have a thing about men who have trouble admitting to the softer emotions. Of course, many of my heroes are cops, who have to be tough guys. How else can they protect themselves from the awful things they see every day? But honestly, as with so many of the themes I come back to over and over, I suspect this one has to do with my own family and childhood. I remember meeting my paternal grandfather, who was probably a good man but was cold enough to make you shiver. I’m willing to bet that man never in his life told a woman he loved her, never mind his two sons. Dad grew up in the Depression in the worst of poverty, his mother an invalid, his father trying to keep them together. Result: a man who cared deeply, but had a really hard time issuing compliments or saying such simple words as I love you. Dad has been gone for fifteen years now, but I still sometimes think I hear his truck coming down the hill to my house. He’d show up, mow my lawn or clean my gutters, and leave, sometimes even without stopping in the house to say hi. But I always knew that was love in action. My heroine in this book, Lina Jurick, was betrayed by a man once and doesn’t know how to trust Bran Murphy, emotionally remote. I hope you enjoy their struggle—his to accept what he feels and articulate it, hers to understand that love can be expressed in many ways. Janice Kay Johnson

Title Page The Baby He Wanted Janice Kay Johnson www.millsandboon.co.uk

About the Author An author of more than ninety books for children and adults, JANICE KAY JOHNSON writes about love and family—about the way generations connect and the power our earliest experiences have on us throughout life. An eight-time finalist for a Romance Writers of America RITA® Award, she won a RITA® Award in 2008 for her Harlequin Superromance novel Snowbound. A former librarian, Janice raised two daughters in a small town north of Seattle, Washington.