Lynda Sandoval - Daddy on Demand / Déjà You - Daddy on Demand / Déjà You

He couldn’t bear the raw, naked emotion of need.

Despite weeks of iron will and brutal lectures to keep his hands to himself, he crushed her to him and hid his face in the fragrance and silkiness of her hair.

Collin swallowed painfully. “Thank you for being here…for doing this. I couldn’t – ”

He kissed her as he had in a dream, with tenderness and care, and sighed with relief when she opened to him. When his tongue touched hers, she murmured softly and let herself lean against him.

“Brina…I gotta go potty.”

It was Sabrina who eased back and called down the hall, “I’ll be right there.” Then she looked at Collin and asked softly, “Are you OK?”

He could only offer a barely perceptible nod, and then she was off.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be OK again,” he finally replied to the empty room.

“Just lie here with me?”

Surprise riddled through him.

Erin’s complexion blazed red. “I know it seems weird, but…”

Don’t be an idiot , Nate’s brain warned. Do not get in bed with this woman. “If you’re sure.”

“I’m not sure of anything. Except that I don’t feel like being alone right now.” Fumbling and formal, they moved side by side on the bed, her beneath the covers, him on top. For a few agonising moments, they remained that way.

Erin cleared her throat. “May I…may I put my head on your shoulder? Oh, God. Never mind. This was an idiotic idea.”

“Shh.” Nate slid his arm beneath her and urged her head onto his shoulder. “It’s OK. Friends, right?”

“Right.”

He felt her nod, closed his eyes. They might be strangers, and their meeting unconventional, but damned if she didn’t feel absolutely perfect in his arms.

by

by

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Daddy on Demand

by Helen R Myers &

DÉJÀ You

by Lynda Sandoval

A Father for Danny

by Janice Carter &

Baby Be Mine

by Eve Gaddy

The Mummy Makeover

by Kristi Gold &

Mummy for Hire

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

The Pregnant Bride Wore White

by Susan Crosby

Sophie’s Secret

by Tara Taylor Quinn

Her So-Called Fiancé

by Abby Gaines

Diagnosis: Daddy

by Gina Wilkins

by

HELEN R MYERSlives deep in the Piney Woods of East Texas. She cites cello music and bonsai gardening as favourite relaxation pastimes, and still edits in her sleep – an accident, learned while writing her first book. A bestselling author of diverse themes and focus, she is a three-time RITA ®Award nominee, winning in 1993.

To dear friend and former neighbour

Donna Danley

of

Backwoods Farm

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

You know all of the reasons why.

“Are you alone?”

The tender yet suggestive question posed by the female calling on his cell phone would have put a wicked grin on Collin Masters’s face if he didn’t immediately recognize that it was his sister. Watching elevator floor numbers light up as he descended from his high-rise condo, he replied, “Not for long if there’s any justice in this world. I’m in the elevator on my way to meet someone who has legs more fabulous than her red hair and an appetite for champagne and yours truly.”

“Cancel,” Cassidy Masters replied, all semblance of gentleness vanishing from her voice. “I’m on my way over there.”

Collin adored his kid sister and only sibling, but he didn’t appreciate her ordering him as though he was a member of her USAF chopper crew. “Not remotely funny, Captain Masters. You stay in San Antonio at—” He never could remember which of the Texas bases she was currently stationed at.

“I’m within ten minutes of your building. I borrowed one of the club planes and flew into Addison Airport.”

Although it gave him pause that she was only a few miles north of his location in Dallas, Collin opted for humor. “For your information, this is the first date I’ve been on in weeks. Catch my drift? Lonely boy needs some TLC.”

“Keep Lonely Boy zipped away for another hour or two. This is important.”

“But—”

“Darn your hide—don’t make me say this over the phone!” Cassidy sighed. “I’m being deployed, Collin.”

The news hit him with such a jolt, he thought the elevator had abruptly jerked to a halt between floors. When instead it settled calmly on the ground level and the doors opened, his stomach eased back in place with the rest of his anatomy, but not without aftershocklike jitters.

“Crap. Sis, I’m sorry.”

“It comes with the wings…and it’s not like we didn’t know this could happen.”

A million and one questions flooded Collin’s mind. He allowed only one to be voiced. “When do you leave?”

“Six weeks. Eight tops. Just long enough to get through the training classes I’m not current on, update my shots and get my personal business in order.”

Uh-oh, Collin thought, beginning to feel a new queasiness in his belly. Yes, they had covered this subject before, but that was conveniently tucked away in the part of his brain labeled Denial.

“I take it by your silence that you’re putting two and two together,” Cassidy drawled. “Make the call or calls you need to and I’ll see you at 1850 give or take some traffic.”

She disconnected, successfully avoiding his com-plaint about not understanding military counting any better than he remembered base names. No, he amended, she was just guaranteeing that he wouldn’t have a chance to back out of their deal. He loved her with all of his heart—save what portion wasn’t owned by her precocious daughters, his nieces—but how could he do what she was about to ask of him?

A movement across the lobby caught his attention and he realized that he was standing in the open elevator probably looking like he’d free-fallen down the shaft. Across the lobby, a sweet-faced giant named Sonny—the lobby security guard—watched him with perplexed amusement.

Offering back a sickly smile and weak wave, Collin shut his phone and hit the button that would return him to his floor.

It was closer to twenty minutes before Sonny announced Cassidy’s arrival. By then Collin had called Nicole, canceled their dinner reservations and downed a chilled shot of Grey Goose. Scotch would have been the shock absorber of choice, but he knew it would take more than one to see him through this meeting, and then there was the breath test concern. Cass had the olfactory senses of a bloodhound and he didn’t want her thinking she was leaving her precious three-year-olds in the hands of an irresponsible drunk.

“Oh, who are you kidding?” he muttered catching sight of himself in the hallway mirror with his hair and tie already askew from anxious yanking and raking.

Deployed…his kid sister was heading off to war. This is what he deserved for assuring her that, “You can be anything you want to be,” some four years ago upon learning that she was pregnant. The lowlife sperm donor that she’d called boyfriend at the time had been urging her to have an abortion because the would-be rock star thought kids would be a turnoff to fans. It sure hadn’t hurt legends like Mick, Ozzie and McCartney, but afraid to test that theory, Dave from Denton had fled to parts unknown.