Barbara McMahon - She's Expecting

Maybe she was too good to be true. She had done nothing except do the work for which she’d been hired. No tricks, no flirting, no promising anything she hadn’t delivered.

He had to come to terms with his growing awareness of Mandy Parkerson before he could do anything else.

She was an employee only. Nothing more.

But the memory of her sparkling eyes seemed to tease him, the curiosity about how her hair would feel continued to plague him until he could hardly keep his hands to himself.

He wasn’t ready to deal with this. Maybe never would be. It was time to focus on the job and keep his distance from Mandy Parkerson and the disturbing thoughts that haunted him whenever he looked at her.

Dear Reader,

Step into warm and wonderful July with six emotional stories from Silhouette Special Edition. This month is full of heart-thumping drama, healing love and plenty of babies!

I’m thrilled to feature our READERS’ RING selection, Balancing Act (SE#1552), by veteran Mills & Boon and Silhouette Romance author Lilian Darcy. This talented Australian writer delights us with a complex tale of a couple marrying for the sake of their twin daughters, who were separated at birth. The twins and parents are newly reunited in this tender and thought-provoking read. Don’t miss it!

Sherryl Woods hooks readers with this next romance from her miniseries, THE DEVANEYS. In Patrick’s Destiny (SE#1549), an embittered hero falls in love with a gentle woman who helps him heal a rift with his family. Return to the latest branch of popular miniseries, MONTANA MAVERICKS: THE KINGSLEYS, with Moon Over Montana (SE#1550) by Jackie Merritt. Here, an art teacher can’t help but moon over a rugged carpenter who renovates her apartment—and happens to be good with his hands!

We are happy to introduce a multiple-baby-focused series, MANHATTAN MULTIPLES, launched by Marie Ferrarella with And Babies Make Four (SE#1551), which relates how a hardheaded businessman and a sweet-natured assistant, who loved each other in high school, reunite many years later and dive into parenthood. His Brother’s Baby (SE#1553) by Laurie Campbell is the dramatic tale of a woman determined to take care of herself and her baby girl, but what happens when her baby’s handsome uncle falls onto her path? In She’s Expecting (SE#1554) by Barbara McMahon, an ambitious hero is wildly attracted to his new secretary—his new pregnant secretary—but steels himself from mixing business with pleasure.

As you can see, we have a lively batch of stories, delivering the very best in page-turning romance. Happy reading!

Sincerely,

Karen Taylor Richman

Senior Editor

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To Renee and Patti, best friends forever!

Many thanks for always being there.

has made California her home since she graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, way back when! She’s convinced she now has the perfect life, living on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains sipping lattes on her front porch while she watches the deer graze nearby and playing “what if” with different story ideas. Even though she has sold over three dozen books, she says she still has another hundred tales to tell. Barbara also writes for Harlequin Romance. Readers can write Barbara at P.O. Box 977, Pioneer, CA 95666-0777.

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

Epilogue

“I know he said the place was located in a pristine wilderness, but this is ridiculous!” Mandy Parkerson mumbled aloud as her car continued to barrel along the gravel road. She hadn’t seen another vehicle heading in either direction since she’d left the small town of Julian, Colorado, forty minutes ago.

“If they don’t do some serious improvement to this road, they’ll never have repeat guests. And those who come for the first time might turn around halfway. Especially in winter.”

The car bumped and skidded, gravel spewing. The road had obviously been graded at some point, and gravel laid down. But it was already showing ruts from heavy traffic. She didn’t even want to speculate what it would be like in rain or a snowstorm. Thank heaven for good weather.

She gripped the steering wheel tighter, easing up on the accelerator. “Hang on, babykins, it can’t be that much farther. He said thirty miles from town, and we’ve gone at least that.”

Six months pregnant, Mandy constantly talked to her baby. She’d read somewhere that children recognized their mother’s voice from their time in the womb. So she talked frequently, wanting her infant to know her from the first moment. To know she loved it completely no matter what happened. That she was a mother to be counted on, and she would never desert her child—not as her father had. Or her mother. Or her baby’s father.

“At least I think it can’t be much farther,” she murmured, peering into the distance. It wasn’t an easy feat with soaring lodgepole pines lining both sides of the road. The long-range view was where the road cut a swath through the tall timber as it crested a hill. Beyond was the endless blue of a clear autumn sky.

She felt a hint of trepidation as she surveyed the wilderness, but pushed it away. She needed this job. It had sounded perfect when she’d heard about it in the employment agency in Denver—a temporary secretary’s position for two months. One that paid almost twice what she’d been earning in the city, with accommodations included. It would tap into her expertise in the building industry, as well. It was the perfect job, even if it was clear across the state from where she lived.

The remote construction site would be in operation only another six to eight weeks before winter closed in and made further work impossible until next spring.

The timing had been perfect. Getting away from Denver had seemed perfect. But now reality began to seep in. Julian was a quaint little mountain town, with one main street and two secondary streets lined with small shops and businesses—and the county’s hospital. Mandy didn’t want to forget about medical facilities, not that she expected to need them. She had plenty of time to decide on and settle into a new place before the baby was due. But it didn’t hurt to know where the nearest medical assistance was—just in case.

“I sure hope it’s not much farther, because if I don’t find that construction site soon, I’ll have to find a convenient tree!”

One of the definite downsides to pregnancy was the frequent need for rest-room facilities—which weren’t available along the side of this excuse for a road.

Cresting the hill a few moments later, Mandy slowed, a smile lighting her features. “Hallelujah! Bathroom here we come.”

Spread before her was the construction site she’d traveled two hundred miles to reach. Making her way down the sweep of gravel road, she tried to take in everything, from the tall crane swinging a long piling, to the heavy earthmovers parked on the far side of the mammoth clearing, to the sparkling water of the high Alpine lake, part of the spectacular view beyond.