Cathy Thacker - My Secret Wife

Sperm donor?

She’s lost her mind if she thinks I would just stand by and let her use the services of an anonymous sperm donor! A beautiful gal like Maggie deserves to know her baby’s father. Maggie should be loved and cherished by a good man worthy of her love, one who has won her heart.

Maggie is as stubborn as she is lovely. So it’s going to take a bit of strategizing to convince her to change her mind. I am more than willing to be her baby’s father. Only, there’s no way that the birth of any child of mine would be the direct result of my utilizing something as sterile and impersonal as a sperm bank!

We’re going to have to do this the old-fashioned way.

Dear Reader,

Millionaire. Prince. Secret agent. Doctor. If any—or all—of these men strike your fancy, well…you’re in luck! These fabulous guys are waiting for you in the pages of this month’s offerings from Harlequin American Romance.

His best friend’s request to father her child leads millionaire Gabe Deveraux to offer a bold marriage proposal in My Secret Wife by Cathy Gillen Thacker, the latest installment of THE DEVERAUX LEGACY series. A royal request makes Prince Jace Carradigne heir to a throne—and in search of his missing fiancée—in Mindy Neff’s The Inconveniently Engaged Prince, part of our ongoing series THE CARRADIGNES: AMERICAN ROYALTY. (And there are royals galore to be found when the series comes to a sensational ending in Heir to the Throne, a special two-in-one collection by Kasey Michaels and Carolyn Davidson, available next month wherever Harlequin books are sold.)

Kids, kangaroos and a kindhearted woman are all in a day’s work for cool and collected secret agent Mike Wheeler in Secret Service Dad, the second book in Mollie Molay’s GROOMS IN UNIFORM series. And a big-city doctor attempts to hide his true identity—and his affections—for a Montana beauty in The Doctor Wore Boots by Debra Webb, the conclusion to the TRADING PLACES duo.

So be sure to catch all of these wonderful men this month—and every month—as you enjoy their wonderful love stories from Harlequin American Romance.

Happy reading,

Melissa Jeglinski

Associate Senior Editor

Harlequin American Romance

This book is for my mom and dad, who, in the last year, have shown me what courage, determination and the power of love are all about.

Cathy Gillen Thacker married her high school sweetheart and hasn’t had a dull moment since. Why, you ask? Well, there were three kids, various pets, any number of automobiles, several moves across the country, his and her careers, and sundry other experiences. But mostly, there was love and friendship and laughter, and lots of experiences she wouldn’t trade for the world.

You can find out more about Cathy and her books at www.cathygillenthacker.com, and you can write her c/o Harlequin Books, 300 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017.

Tom Deveraux—The head of the family and CEO of the Deveraux shipping empire that has been handed down through the generations.

Grace Deveraux—Estranged from Tom for years, but back in town—after a personal tragedy—for some much-needed family support.

Chase Deveraux—The eldest son and the biggest playboy in the greater Charleston area.

Mitch Deveraux—A chip off the old block and about to double the size of the family business via a business/marriage arrangement.

Dr. Gabe Deveraux—The “Goodest” Samaritan around. Any damsels in distress in need of the good doctor’s assistance…?

Amy Deveraux—The baby sister. She’s determined to reunite her parents.

Winnifred Deveraux Smith—Tom’s widowed sister. The social doyenne of Charleston, she’s determined never to marry. That’s not what she has in mind for her niece and nephews, though.

Herry Bowles—The butler. Distinguished, indispensable and devoted to his boss, Winnifred.

Eleanor—The Deveraux ancestor with whom the legacy of ill-fated love began.

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

Gabe Deveraux met Maggie Callaway halfway down the steps to his beach house and regarded her with embarrassment. “Thanks for coming,” he said, waving as the last of the Isle of Palms fire trucks drove away.

“You said it was an emergency.” Maggie looked at the charred interior of the rear of his house, then turned back to him. She was dressed as she always was when working—in work boots, nice-fitting jeans, a long-sleeved cotton shirt and an open khaki vest with multiple pockets. Her honey-blond hair framed her piquant face in tousled waves. Her kissable lips were softly glossed, her lively light-green eyes alight with interest as she looked him over from head to toe. “What happened here?” she asked, her gaze roving the wrinkled state of his clothes before returning once again to his unshaven jaw and weary eyes. At five foot five, she was some seven inches shorter than he was. “Did you finally decide to learn how to cook?”

Gabe grimaced and shoved a hand through the short layers of his hair as he led Maggie all the way inside. “Actually, I’m not really sure how it happened,” he admitted.

“Well, I am.” Penny Stringfield emerged from the master bedroom on the second floor and walked down the hallway overlooking the first floor to the stairs. The petite redhead was dressed in a hospital nurse’s uniform and carried a suitcase in one hand, a smaller toiletries bag in the other. “I put some soup on to boil and then forgot about it,” Penny explained to both Maggie and Gabe as she came down the staircase and walked over to them. “The pan boiled dry and the wallpaper caught fire, and the next thing I knew it was time to dial 911.”

Her face filled with regret, Penny set her things down, propelled herself into Gabe’s arms and hugged him fiercely. Over the top of her head, Gabe saw Maggie’s faintly disapproving expression as she watched what was going on between him and his houseguest.

“I’m so sorry, Gabe,” Penny said, in a voice still scratchy from the voluminous tears she had shed the night before. “I never meant to set your kitchen on fire while you were at the hospital. Especially after last night. If you hadn’t been here for me, well, I don’t know what I would have done.”

“I was glad to help,” Gabe said, knowing even as he spoke the soothing words how they would likely be misinterpreted by Maggie. He grasped Penny’s shoulders and drew her back so she had no choice but to look into his face. “You know that. But—”

“But nothing,” Penny sniffed indignantly. “I’m moving to a hotel now.”

“You don’t have to do that,” he said firmly. Recalling how devastated Penny had been the night before, when she had first showed up on his doorstep, Gabe’s heart went out to her. Although why Penny felt that Lane Stringfield was about to stop loving her, Gabe still didn’t know, because she hadn’t explained. All he knew for sure was that Penny was very upset, very frightened and agitated, and still very in love with Lane. People in that condition needed a friend. And since he was the one Penny had turned to, he felt bound to do whatever was necessary to help her.