Katherine Garbera - Her Baby's Father

“Yes,” Sabrina said with no hesitation.

Reese’s body screamed, Take this woman, now! But his mind cautioned him to warn her. She was the kind of woman who deserved a devoted guy and a wedding. He wasn’t that man.

“It can only be for tonight.”

“I know. I want to be with you,” she said.

Then Sabrina moved forward and touched his cheek. No one had ever touched him with such tenderness, such exquisite sweetness. And Reese knew instantly that he’d never be satisfied with just one night….

Dear Reader,

This April of our 20th anniversary year, Silhouette will continue to shower you with powerful, passionate, provocative love stories!

Cait London offers an irresistible MAN OF THE MONTH, Last Dance, which also launches her brand-new miniseries FREEDOM VALLEY. Sparks fly when a strong woman tries to fight her feelings for the rugged man who’s returned from her past. Night Music is another winner from BJ James’s popular BLACK WATCH series. Read this touching story about two wounded souls who find redeeming love in each other’s arms.

Anne Marie Winston returns to Desire with her emotionally provocative Seduction, Cowboy Style, about an alpha male cowboy who seeks revenge by seducing his enemy’s sister. In The Barons of Texas: Jill by Fayrene Preston, THE BARONS OF TEXAS miniseries offers another feisty sister, and the sexy Texan who claims her.

Desire’s theme promotion THE BABY BANK, in which interesting events occur on the way to the sperm bank, continues with Katherine Garbera’s Her Baby’s Father. And Barbara McCauley’s scandalously sexy miniseries SECRETS! offers another tantalizing tale with Callan’s Proposition, featuring a boss who masquerades as his secretary’s fiancé.

Please join in the celebration of Silhouette’s 20th anniversary by indulging in all six Desire titles—which will fulfill your every desire!

Enjoy!

Joan Marlow Golan

Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Writing romance novels is a dream come true for Katherine Garbera. As a child she was never without a book and once gave up pleasure reading for Lent—“It was the longest forty days of my life.” She wrote her first novel to prove to herself that she could do it, and was hooked on writing. She is a past winner of the Georgia Romance Writers Maggie Award and a member of Romance Writers of America. When she is not writing, Katherine spends time with her husband of ten years and their two children. She also enjoys counted cross-stitch, playing the flute, swimming and tae kwon do, which she does with her seven-year-old daughter. She loves to hear from her readers, and you can write to her at P.O. Box 1806, Davenport, FL 33836.

This book is dedicated to the memory of Rose Wilkinson, my grandmother. Thanks for sharing your love of the past and of our heritage with me. Thanks for making me feel like the most beautiful girl in the world, even though I’m not, and mostly thank you for your love. I miss you!

Thanks to Bob Allen for sharing his knowledge of boats with me and taking time out of his busy schedule to answer all of my questions. Any errors in nautical terms are my own.

Because this story is at its heart about family, I want to thank mine for all the gifts they’ve given me. My parents, who’ve given me the gift of time to write by watching my children. My sisters for giving me the gifts of love and support and reminding me why we need our family around us always. My grandfather, who is my connection with the past and a great lover of all sports. My paternal grandmother, who has given me a friend to share reading with. Lastly, my husband, who reminds me every day why the love of a good man is important to all of us.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Epilogue

She was late. Reese Howard was punctual to a fault. He’d grown up always missing appointments and being left behind, so it was a passion of his. In fact, it was a pet peeve and it added fuel to the simmering fire he felt toward this assignment.

All his life he’d worked to break out of the mold his childhood had shaped for him. Though he hadn’t been destined for success, success had become his. But at what price?

Not even thirty-five, and he had chronic high blood pressure; his doctor had recommended retirement due to a history of heart disease in his family and his workaholic habits. Instead of retiring, he’d changed career paths midstream, leaving a primo job at the Los Angeles Times as an investigative reporter. Going from a man in the thick of things to a fluff-article writer.

This new assignment for the Life-styles section of California Magazine, a lame story series titled “Artificial Insemination—Wave of the Future,” made him wince.

He glanced again at his watch, cursing this ridiculous assignment. He knew his anger was directed more toward himself and the circumstances that had led him here than at the late Ms. MacFadden.

It was a hot summer day. He wanted to be out on the Time Lapse, his thirty-foot yacht, skimming San Francisco Bay instead of lurking outside an artificial insemination clinic. The breeze blew across the bay, stirring the hair at the back of his neck. Reese leaned his head against the sun-warmed stone wall. Feeling older than he had a right to, he breathed deeply and tried to relax.

But he couldn’t relax. He felt like a pervert—afraid someone would see him and think he was a donor.

It grated on him in a core way that sperm banks existed for single women. He understood how a couple experiencing infertility might need to visit a place like this, but a woman on her own—never. A man’s duty was to get his mate pregnant.

Even as the thought rolled through his mind, he knew it was chauvinistic. But there was a reason why God had created two sexes and put them on Earth together, and it wasn’t so that they could procreate without ever touching.

Though he wasn’t domesticated and would probably never have any offspring, his male pride chafed at the idea of a woman having a child on her own. He knew a lot of men dropped the ball on the fatherhood front, but that didn’t mean there weren’t a lot of stand-up guys ready to sign on for the long haul. There were enough guys that sperm banks weren’t necessary.

His magazine had arranged to pay for the procedure for a woman, Sabrina MacFadden, to ensure that she’d tell them all the details of her decision. She must be desperate—probably thirty-eight, never been with a man and looked as appealing as a tight end after a particularly grueling play-off game.

He’d left L.A. for this?

Squinting against the late-afternoon sun, he propped himself against the side of the building to wait for the MacFadden woman. A loud thumping beat of music drew his attention to the parking lot. A classic ’69 Mustang convertible pulled neatly into a front parking spot.

The top was down and the driver wore a bright red scarf tied around her hair and big, flashy sunglasses. She stepped out of the car and removed the covering from her head. Long reddish-brown hair fell in waves around her shoulders. He wanted to bury his hands in her thick curls.