Kathie DeNosky - Maternally Yours

AROUND CHI-TOWN

News flash!

February: Even though new King Daniel is thoroughly ensconced in Altaria’s royal palace, the Connelly family is once again making Chicago headlines. Informed sources tell me that a female Special Investigative Unit detective has been seen in and around the Connelly offices and lakeside retreat. And she’s being squired about by Brett Connelly himself.

Does Chicago’s newest most eligible bachelor need a bodyguard? And just how much protection can the dainty Detective Delgado provide, anyway?

Emma Rosemere Connelly, the former princess of Altaria, denies reports that the investigation is somehow connected to the new royal family in her island homeland. But this reporter will search the globe to bring you the truth.

In another mystery, yours truly has been baffled that man-about-town Brett has been absent from the social scene of late. Well, now rumor has it that he bagged last night’s gala for a trip to Baby World, the area’s largest baby-supply store.

For a man who’s sported the city’s most glamorous women on his arm, he sure looks odd holding a gingham teddy bear. What gives, Brett? Is someone hiding your little secret?

Now there’s a case Detective Delgado can investigate!

Dear Reader,

Escape the winter doldrums by reading six new passionate, powerful and provocative romances from Silhouette Desire!

Start with our MAN OF THE MONTH, The Playboy Sheikh, the latest SONS OF THE DESERT love story by bestselling author Alexandra Sellers. Also thrilling is the second title in our yearlong continuity series DYNASTIES: THE CONNELLYS. In Maternally Yours by Kathie DeNosky, a pleasure-seeking tycoon falls for a soon-to-be mom.

All you readers who’ve requested more titles in Cait London’s beloved TALLCHIEFS miniseries will delight in her smoldering Tallchief: The Hunter. And more great news for our loyal Desire readers—a brand-new five-book series featuring THE TEXAS CATTLEMAN’S CLUB, subtitled THE LAST BACHELOR, launches this month. In The Millionaire’s Pregnant Bride by Dixie Browning, passion erupts between an oil executive and secretary who marry for the sake of her unborn child.

A single-dad surgeon meets his match in Dr. Desirable, the second book of Kristi Gold’s MARRYING AN M.D. miniseries. And Kate Little’s Tall, Dark & Cranky is an enchanting contemporary version of Beauty and the Beast.

Indulge yourself with all six of these exhilarating love stories from Silhouette Desire!

Enjoy!

Joan Marlow Golan

Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

www.millsandboon.co.uk

lives in deep southern Illinois with her husband and three children. After reading and enjoying Silhouette books for many years, she is ecstatic about being able to share her stories with others as a Silhouette Desire author. Writing highly sensual stories with a generous amount of humor, Kathie’s books have appeared on the Waldenbooks bestseller list. She enjoys going to rodeos, traveling to research settings for her books and listening to country music. She often starts her day at 2:00 a.m. so she can write without interruption, before the rest of the family is up and about. You may write to Kathie at: P.O. Box 2064, Herrin, Il 62948-5264.

MEET THE CONNELLYS

Wealthy, Powerful and Rocked by Scandal, Betrayal…and Passion!

Who’s Who in Maternally Yours

Brett Connelly—This playboy’s not ready for the wife, 2.2 kids, the minivan and the white picket fence…or is he?

Elena Delgado—She’ll do anything to protect her unborn child.

Drew Connelly—Brett’s older twin—by fifteen minutes. He’s taught his younger bro a thing or two about life…and love.

Seth Connelly—He can argue any position in a court of law, but what’s this half brother’s place in the Connelly clan?

Emma and Grant Connelly—The former princess and brash American beat the odds. Their love match is thirty-five years old…and still going strong.

Jennifer Anderson—Emma’s personal secretary. She gives Elena a crash course on single motherhood.

Princess Catherine—Events in her kingdom of Altaria prevent her from visiting her American cousins.

Albert Dessage—Elena’s European counterpart; he’ll stop at nothing till he uncovers the betrayal and scandal in Altaria.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Elena Delgado pressed a shaky hand to her stomach, took a deep breath and slowly got to her feet. She closed her eyes and leaned against the side of the rest room stall. The nausea wasn’t supposed to last all day. If it was, they would have called it something besides morning sickness. But she’d been ill almost from the instant the test stick turned blue.

She didn’t mind in the least. She’d gladly go through whatever it took to complete this pregnancy successfully. She bit her lower lip and took another deep breath. This was her last hope of having her own child, of holding it and loving it with every fiber of her being—she simply couldn’t afford another trip to the sperm bank. Not financially. Not emotionally.

When her stomach finally settled down, she pulled the door open and walked over to the vanity. The click of her black medium-heeled pumps striking the tiled floor echoed through the empty room. She shivered at the hollow loneliness of the sound.

Tears filled her eyes as she looked at herself in the mirror above the bank of sinks. She’d been alone all of her life. So why was she feeling so lonely now?

Disgusted with herself, Elena jerked paper towels from the dispenser on the wall and held them under the faucet, then pressed the cool wetness to her flushed cheeks. Her unstable emotions had to be caused by the hormonal changes from her pregnancy. That was the only thing it could be.

Otherwise Elena Delgado never cried. Ever.

She finished wiping away the last of the tears, draped her coat over her arm, then checked her watch. Groaning, she quickly grabbed her shoulder bag, said a silent prayer that her queasy stomach would remain calm for the next hour and walked out into the stylish reception area of Connelly Tower.

Heading for the elevators, she shook her head. She hated to be late for anything. It was rude and inconsiderate to keep people waiting. She shifted from one foot to the other as she impatiently waited for an elevator. Just one more slowdown in a day that had been filled with a series of delays and frustrations.

She’d awakened this morning to find that sometime during the night the ancient furnace in her building had finally given up the fight against Chicago’s cold, hard winters and died. It had taken her twice as long to get ready for work because she couldn’t stop shivering. Then she’d gone out to find that her car wouldn’t start, forcing her to walk six blocks in the frigid February temperature to catch the L.

The polished brass doors of the elevator finally swished open and Elena hurriedly stepped inside. She pressed the button to the seventeenth floor, and as it began to move, she closed her eyes against a wave of nausea. Express elevators should be outlawed, she decided as the rapid ascent played havoc with her already iffy stomach.

When it eased to a stop a few seconds later and the doors opened, she stepped out into the plushly carpeted corridor on shaky legs. After she met with Brett Connelly to arrange interviews with the rest of the Connelly family, she would spend the weekend trying to feel human again. But when she left, she would take the stairs.