Michelle Celmer - The Tycoon's Paternity Agenda / High-Society Seduction - The Tycoon's Paternity Agenda / High-Society Seduction

The Tycoon’s Paternity Agenda

Michelle Celmer

And

High-Society Seduction

Maxine Sullivan

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To my dad

The Tycoon’s Paternity Agenda

Michelle Celmer

“If this is unsuccessful, are you still willing to try again?”

“Of course! I’m in this for the long haul.” She yawned deeply, her eyes overflowing with tears. “Well, goodness, all of a sudden I feel exhausted.”

She must have slept as poorly as he had last night. Plus she’d had that long drive this morning. “Why don’t you close your eyes and rest.”

“Maybe just for a minute,” she said, her eyes slipping closed. Within minutes her breathing became slow and deep and her lips parted slightly. He sat there looking at her and had the strangest urge to touch her face. To run his finger across her full bottom lip …

He shook away the thought. He hoped this was a one-shot deal. He hoped the test came up positive, not only because he wanted a child, but because he wanted to get the emotionally taxing part of the process out of the way. This entire experience was doing strange things to his head.

Dear Reader,

Welcome to book one of my BLACK GOLD BILLIONAIRES series!

I’ve probably said this before, and at the risk of repeating myself, I just love writing billionaire heroes. But not for the reason you may think. Yes, they’re sexy and charming and, yes, they have unlimited resources, but it’s more than that. I love that when you peel back the layers, and break down the defenses, they’re really just regular guys. They want what everyone wants. Love, acceptance … even if they’re too tough or too stubborn to admit it!

That’s never been truer than with Adam Blair. He’s got it all figured out. He thinks having a child will complete him, fill the hole in his life that has been there since he lost first his mother, then his wife to cancer. What he never counted on was his ex sister-in-law, Katy Huntly, coming into his life. Not only do opposites attract, they practically combust! But how could two people with practically nothing in common, who want totally different things from life, expect to make a relationship work?

I guess you’ll just have to read the book to find out …

Best,

Michelle

Bestselling author MICHELLE CELMER lives in southeastern Michigan with her husband, their three children, two dogs and two cats. When she’s not writing or busy being a mom, you can find her in the garden or curled up with a romance novel. And if you twist her arm really hard you can usually persuade her into a day of power shopping.

Michelle loves to hear from readers. Visit her website, www.michellecelmer.com, or write her at PO Box 300, Clawson, MI 48017, USA.

There was no doubt about it, the man was insufferable.

Yet here she was sitting in her pickup truck in the visitors’ lot of the Western Oil headquarters building in El Paso, the ruthless, Texas-afternoon sun scorching her face through the windshield.

Katherine Huntley hadn’t seen her brother-in-law, Adam Blair, CEO of Western Oil, since her sister’s funeral three years ago. His call asking to meet her had come as something of a surprise. It was no shock, however, that he’d had the gall to say he was too busy to meet on her own turf in Peckins, two hours north, and asked her to come to him. But he was the billionaire oil tycoon and she was a lowly cattle rancher, and she was guessing that he was used to people doing things his way.

But that’s not why she agreed to come. She was long past overdue for a trip to the warehouse store for supplies anyway, and it gave her the chance to visit the cemetery. Something she did far too infrequently these days. But seeing Rebecca’s grave this morning, being reminded once again that Katy had gone from baby sister to only child, brought back the familiar grief. It simply wasn’t fair that Becca, who’d had so much to live for, had been taken so young. That her parents had to know the excruciating pain of losing a child.

Katy glanced at the clock on the dash and realized she was about to be late, and since she prided herself on always being punctual, she shoved open her door and stepped out into the blistering heat. It was so hot the soles of her boots stuck to the blacktop. She swiftly crossed the lot to the front entrance, and the rush of icy air as she pushed through the double glass doors into the lobby actually made her shiver.

Considering the suspicious looks the security guards gave her as she walked through the metal detector, they must not have gotten many women dressed in jeans and work shirts visiting. And, of course, because she was wearing her steel-toe boots, the alarm began to wail.

“Empty your pockets, please,” one of them told her.

She was about to explain that her pockets were already empty, when a deep voice ordered, “Let her through.”

She looked up to find her brother-in-law waiting just past the security stand, and her heart took a quick dive downward.

Ex -brother-in-law.

Without question the security guards ushered her past, and Adam stepped forward to greet her.

“It’s good to see you again, Katy.”

“You, too.” She wondered if she should hug him, but figured this situation was awkward enough without the bur den of unnecessary physical contact, and settled for a handshake instead. But as his hand folded around her own, she wondered if he noticed the calluses and rough skin, not to mention the short, unpainted fingernails. She was sure he was used to women like Rebecca, who spent hours in the salon getting pedicures and manicures, and all the other beauty treatments she neither had time nor the inclination for.

Not that it made a difference what he thought of her nails. But when he released her hand, she stuck them both in her jeans pockets.

In contrast, Adam looked every bit the billionaire CEO that he was. She had nearly forgotten how big he was. Not only did he look as though he spent a lot of time in the weight room, he was above average in height. At five feet nine inches, few men towered over her, but Adam was at least six-four.

He wore his dark hair in the same closely cropped style, although she could see strands of gray peppering his temples now. Of course, as was the case with men like him, it only made him look more distinguished. There were also worry lines at the corners of his eyes and across his forehead that hadn’t been there before. Probably from the stress of dealing with Rebecca’s illness.

Despite that, he looked good for a man of forty.

Katy was only seventeen when her sister married Adam ten years ago, and though she had never admitted it to a soul, she’d had a mild adolescent crush on her gorgeous new brother-in-law. But neither she nor her parents would have guessed that the charming, handsome man intended to steal Rebecca away from them.

“How was your trip down?” he asked.

She shrugged. “The same as it always is.”

She waited for him to explain what she was doing there, or at the very least thank her for making the long drive to see him. Instead he gestured to the shop across the lobby. “Can I buy you a cup of coffee?”

“Sure. Why not?”

Other than the shop employees, everyone seated inside wore business attire, and most had their nose buried in a laptop computer, or a cell phone stuck to their ear. But when Adam entered, everyone stopped what they were doing to nod, or greet him.

Good Lord. When the man entered a room, he owned it. But he was the boss, and it was obvious people respected him. Or feared him.

She followed him to the counter and he spouted some long, complicated-sounding drink to the clerk, then turned to Katy and asked, “What would you like?”