Victoria Pade - For Love and Family

“Now, that’s a pipe dream,” she muttered to herself. And no one knew it better than Terese.

Because Hunter Coltrane was handsome enough to stop traffic, leaving her with little doubt that she wasn’t the kind of woman who would so much as turn his head.

Plain—that’s what she was. It was an irrefutable fact—Terese Warwick was a plain Jane. The kind of plain Jane who didn’t draw even moderately attractive men on her own merits, let alone men like Hunter Coltrane.

“And don’t you forget it!” she commanded her reflection as if it were another person.

Then she told herself to just be glad she was going to get to meet her nephew.

She’d have to work on erasing the lingering mental image of her nephew’s father. The mental image that had things inside her sitting up and taking notice.

Just the way the man himself had…

is a USA TODAY bestselling author of numerous romance novels. She has two beautiful and talented daughters—Cori and Erin—and is a native of Colorado, where she lives and writes. A devoted chocolate lover, she’s in search of the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. For information about her latest and upcoming releases, and to find recipes for some of the decadent desserts her characters enjoy, log on to www.vikkipade.com.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Be a part of

Because birthright has its privileges and family ties run deep.

When a shy but beautiful teacher fell for him, he had to decide whether he was ready to love again….

Hunter Coltrane: A widower with a sick little boy, Hunter was reluctant to open his heart to love. But then sweet and beautiful Terese entered his life, and he couldn’t deny the feeling growing inside him. Maybe he could give love a second chance….

Terese Warwick: Terese hadn’t had much luck with men until she met Hunter and his adorable son and instantly warmed to them. They were the loving family she’d always wanted. But Hunter had a damaged heart—could she break through his old wounds and find love?

Bachelors galore!

With the upcoming charity bachelor auction, love was in the air at Portland General, but did someone want to ruin The Children’s Connection’s good name?

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

“I don’t have the time to explain it to you, mister. Eve Warwick—that’s who I need. And come hell or high water, I’m going to see her and I’m going to see her now.”

After a full ten minutes of going round and round with the Warwick butler, who was blocking the doorway of the sprawling Warwick family mansion, Hunter Coltrane had reached the limits of his patience. He had the man by the shirtfront, his face no more than an inch from the butler’s nose.

Hunter could see that the much smaller man’s features were tightened into a mask of abject fear. But at that moment the butler’s fear was nothing compared to the fear Hunter felt, and he was too desperate to care that he was scaring the man. If scaring him was what it took, he’d terrify the guy.

“She’s about to leave for an appointment and she’ll fire me if I let you or anyone else delay her,” the butler informed him in a strained whisper.

“Then how about if you don’t let me delay her? How about if you just tell me where in this damn mausoleum she is and I go find her for myself?”

“What do you think you’re doing?” a grating female voice demanded from inside the house just then.

Without breaking eye contact with the butler, Hunter recognized the speaker. That voice belonged to Eve Warwick. He ungently moved the other man out of his way, stepped across the threshold and went into the foyer of the imposing residence that he and his late wife had visited on only one occasion a little over four years ago.

Eve Warwick was standing at the top of a grand staircase that curved in a full half-circle sweep to the second level of the three-story structure. She looked as outraged as she sounded, but Hunter would suffer that outrage and anything else she wanted to dish out to get what he’d come for.

He consciously tried to calm the unusual flare of temper that frustration had raised and forced himself to speak civilly.

“I don’t know if you remember me or not. I’m Hunter Coltrane,” he said. “My wife and I adopted your baby—”

“I know who you are and you have no business here,” Eve Warwick decreed imperiously.

“It isn’t ‘business’ I’m here for. I’m here for Johnny. He’s—”

“I don’t care what you’re here for. You just need to leave. Now,” she ordered.

Hunter ignored it. “Johnny—that’s what we named him—needs your blood,” he informed her.

But not even blurting that out had an impact on the perfectly coiffed woman in the haute couture pink suit. Her only response was to transfer her gaze to the butler and say, “Pixley, call security.”

“Just hear me out,” Hunter implored. “Johnny is in the Portland General Hospital emergency room and he needs blood. Your blood. You know he has AB negative—your rare type. There was a bus accident yesterday and a whole family with that blood was hurt. They depleted all the blood bank had stored. But Johnny needs a transfusion in a hurry, so you have to come with me to the hospital. Right now!”

Hunter realized that his voice rang with his own worry for his son, but he didn’t care.

“I did the open adoption through the Children’s Connection to be sure the child went to the right people,” Eve said. “Not so that I could be bothered by those people at any time afterward. If you’ll recall, you signed an agreement to that effect. I’m sorry your son is ill, but it has nothing to do with me. So please leave.”

She didn’t sound sorry. She sounded cold, aloof and absolutely unconcerned.

“Did you not understand?” Hunter said, his voice raising an octave all on its own. “I’m not here to bother you and under any other circumstances I would have abided by that agreement and we wouldn’t have ever seen each other again. But my son is in danger if he doesn’t get the blood he needs. Immediately!”

Eve Warwick again turned a hard, demanding eye to the butler who was still standing where Hunter had left him. “Pixley?” she said snidely, “You can’t call security as you were told to do if you’re standing there eavesdropping.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the butler answered, pivoting on his heels and hurrying out of the foyer.

“Look,” Hunter said, trying to reason with the woman. “I’m no happier to be here than you are to have me here. I guarantee that it was as much my goal as yours for us never to have contact again. But my son is in trouble and he needs your help. All you have to do is come with me to the hospital and give blood.”