Karen Smith: His Daughter...Their Child

“No. I’ve just told you how I feel.”

“Maybe I should show you what I’m feeling.” He gave her a few moments to run. She knew he expected her to run.

But she held steadfast. “What are you feeling, Clay?”

His arms circled her, his lips came down on hers, and her breath became trapped in her chest along with the knowledge that he was trying to prove a point. She was unclear about that point, though, as his lips sealed to hers…as she kissed him back, bringing her hands to his shoulders, gripping him tightly so her knees wouldn’t buckle.

Dear Reader,

At my high-school reunion, I reconnected with women I’d once confided in as we attended classes and dances and shared dreams. Guys who’d once seemed unapproachable were now easy to converse with. Time and experience seemed to have given most of us a kinder perspective. That reunion gave me the idea for my REUNION BRIDES miniseries.

High-school classmates Celeste, Jenny and Mikala have stayed in touch. In His Daughter … Their Child , Celeste’s friends watch as a spark ignites between her and Clay Sullivan at the reunion. Once a surrogate for Clay and her twin sister, Celeste is now determined to become a mother to the child her sister abandoned. Will attraction between Clay and Celeste ruin that possibility or give it wings?

Of course, I will be writing romances for Jenny and Mikala, too. Readers can follow my progress on my fan page at Facebook and visit my website at www.karenrosesmith.com for updates and excerpts.

Have a wonderful, romance-filled year.

All my best,

Karen Rose Smith

KAREN ROSE SMITHis the award-winning, best-selling novelist of over seventy published romances. Her latest miniseries, REUNION BRIDES, is set near Flagstaff, Arizona in Miners Bluff, the fictional town she created. After visiting Flagstaff, the Grand Canyon and Sedona, Karen thought the scenery was so awe-inspiring that she had to set books there. When not writing, she likes to garden, growing herbs, vegetables and flowers. She lives with her husband—her college sweetheart—and their two cats in Pennsylvania. Readers may e-mail her through her website at www.karenrosesmith.com or write to her at PO Box 1545, Hanover, PA 17331, USA.

His Daughter … Their Child

Karen Rose Smith

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To Mike and M. R.

Thanks for the inspiration

Clay Sullivan strode into the cafeteria of his old high school. He hadn’t even wanted to come to his fifteen-year reunion, yet he knew the confrontation he was going to have with Celeste Wells tonight was inevitable.

He hardly noticed the blue and yellow streamers that zigzagged across the ceiling, and ignored the classmates mingling and huddling around their old yearbooks. Catching sight of Celeste talking with a group of friends, a feeling of dread pulled tight across his chest.

Celeste rose when she saw him. Her light brown hair shimmered with highlights from the summer sun. The strapless white dress with pastel flowers decorating the full skirt showed off her creamy shoulders to perfection. She looked like his ex-wife—her fraternal twin sister—and at first glance he’d almost mistaken her for Zoie.

That was one mistake he couldn’t afford to make.

“How are you?” Celeste asked as he approached her table. Her wide green eyes showed compassion. Was that an act? Like the one Zoie had put on for so long?

“I’m here because you emailed that you wanted to see me,” he responded, his voice gruff. “How long are you staying in Miners Bluff? Just tonight? Through the weekend?”

Celeste’s cheeks flushed as she seemed to think over what she wanted to say.

Before she could answer him, music began to play at the other side of the room.

Celeste asked hopefully, “Do you want to go somewhere else and talk?”

He intended to keep this short and sweet. He didn’t want to give Celeste an inch. He thought about his three-and-a-half-year-old daughter at home in her pj’s, playing with her dollhouse. Abby was the sole reason he got up each morning. She was the last person he thought of before he went to sleep each night. Zoie had signed away her rights, and he had sole custody. That was the way it was going to stay.

“We can talk here. I don’t think anyone’s going to interrupt us.” Not with the tension buzzing around them like a force field ready to singe anyone who came too close.

Celeste had always been the quiet, understated twin—in the way she dressed, the way she moved and the way she spoke. But now he saw something new come over her … something that put fire in those green eyes and a determined set to her pretty mouth.

She took a step closer to him, and the scent of honeysuckle titillated his senses. He wondered crazily if his large hands would span her slim waist. He stopped the thought before it had a chance to tickle his libido.

“Have you heard from Zoie recently?” she asked in a low voice.

He caught the note of worry and felt his heart soften a bit.

“Not since she signed the divorce papers a year ago. The last I heard she was traveling through France.”

“You mean she hasn’t contacted you at all about Abby?” Celeste sounded shocked, and he had to wonder if she really knew her sister.

“Are you so surprised? She’s wanted to escape responsibility for a long time.”

Celeste clasped his forearm in obvious sympathy and said softly, “Clay.”

He felt unexpected heat on his skin, and he pulled away, startled by it. He and Celeste had never been more than friends. He shouldn’t feel heat where she was concerned. “It’s over, Celeste. I should have realized that before we had Abby.”

He wanted to walk away, go back to his house in the foothills of Moonshadow Mountain where he could wall out everything but his daughter. Yet he couldn’t look away from the compassion in Celeste’s eyes. He couldn’t look away from the understanding only she could have because she knew his history with Zoie from the beginning to the end—and she had played her own role in their drama.

Suddenly the music from the speakers blared louder. The DJ called, “Everybody find a partner.”

Jenny Farber, one of the women Celeste had been conversing with when he’d walked in, came up to them and tapped both of their shoulders. “Come on, you two. Join in.”

Clay had heard Jenny had helped organize this reunion. She was the manager of the Rocky D, a big spread outside of the town limits. He used their horses for his wilderness excursions. He liked Jenny and knew she was trying to lighten up the atmosphere between him and Celeste. But he doubted if anything could do that.

“Come on,” Jenny encouraged them again. “It’s nineties music at its best.”

Maybe dancing with Celeste would throw her off her game … would divert her attention … would transport them into small talk instead of conversation about her and Abby.

“Do you want to dance?” he suggested. Yet as soon as he asked, the thought of holding Celeste in his arms made his gut clench. What had he gotten himself into?

As Celeste gazed at Clay’s ruggedly chiseled face, his unruly dark brown hair, her stomach almost did backflips. He’d never known it, but he’d been her one and only crush until her extroverted sister had swept him away. Celeste hadn’t had a chance. She’d made peace with that fact a long time ago. But tonight wasn’t about the past. It was about her future with Abby.