BEVERLY BARTON - Nine Months Part 2

36 Hours Serial

As a devastating summer storm hits Grand Springs, Colorado, the next thirty-six hours will change the town and its residents forever….

Nine Months Part 2

Paige Summers’s life hasn’t been the same since she started her new job—and accidentally had sex with her boss during the night of the storm! She's always wanted a baby, and J. L. Montgomery might be the perfect husband and father—if he loves her.

Jared is used to getting what he wants, so he can’t understand Paige’s reluctance to marry him. Is she just a gold digger hoping to make him want her more by playing it cool? Or the most independent—and sexy—woman he’s ever met?

What will it take for Jared to see Paige as more than an acquisition, and for Paige to get her elevator cowboy back?

The story concludes in Nine Months Part 3.

Dear Reader,

In the town of Grand Springs, Colorado, a devastating summer storm sets off a string of events that changes the lives of the residents forever….

Welcome to Mills & Boon exciting new digital serial, 36 Hours! In this thirty-six part serial share the stories of the residents of Grand Springs, Colorado, in the wake of a deadly storm.

With the power knocked out and mudslides washing over the roads, the town is plunged into darkness and the residents are forced to face their biggest fears—and find love against all odds.

Each week features a new story written by a variety of bestselling authors like Susan Mallery and Sharon Sala. The stories are published in three segments, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and the first segment of every three-part book is free, so you can get caught up in the mystery and drama of Grand Springs. And you can get to know a new set of characters every week. You can read just one, but as the lives and stories of each intertwine in surprising ways, you’ll want to read them all!

Join Mills & Boon E every week as we bring you excitement, mystery, fun and romance in 36 Hours!

Happy reading!

Movies fascinated Beverly Barton from an early age, and by the time she was seven she was rewriting the movies she saw to give them all happy endings. After her marriage and the births of her children, Beverly continued to be a voracious reader and a devoted moviegoer, but she put her writing aspirations on hold. Now, after writing over seventy books, receiving numerous awards and becoming a New York Times bestselling author, Beverly's career has become her dream come true.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Who knew that one brief encounter could leave such a lasting impression? Being stuck in an elevator with a gorgeous cowboy could do that to a woman. With the storm raging outside, and not knowing if this would be their last night on earth, it was no wonder they got hot and heavy. So what are the odds that he’d turn out to be her boss? Awkward! Even worse than facing him in the office each day, knowing that he’s seen her naked, is the fact that Paige soon discovers that she’s having his baby. Paige Summers would marry Jared in a heartbeat—if only he loved her. Too bad that Jared Montgomery doesn’t believe in love.

Paige Summers couldn’t wait to get to her parents’ home on Juniper Lane, a neat two-story frame they’d bought shortly after her father’s retirement. She’d show her mother the sonogram pictures before dinner, and then afterward, they’d watch the video. Accepting the fact that his unmarried daughter was pregnant was difficult for her father, but he loved her and she knew she could count on his support during the months and years ahead. She didn’t think she’d ever be able to bring herself to tell him that she’d gotten pregnant by a stranger the night of the horrible June rainstorm when she’d been trapped in the Wellman Building elevator. Walt Summers was far too old-fashioned. If he had any idea about the identity of the man who had fathered Paige’s child, he’d go after the guy with a shotgun.

Paige giggled when she pictured her father holding a shotgun on L. J. Montgomery and demanding the man marry his daughter. But the image of her walking down the aisle with Jared quickly wiped the smile off her face. Nothing short of a wedding would satisfy her father or Jared.

If circumstances were different, if Paige thought there was a chance Jared might learn to love her and accept her for the woman she was, she’d willingly marry her baby’s father. If they loved each other, they could find a way to overcome their many differences. But any man who could map out his personal life the way he planned his business ventures wasn’t capable of real love. If Jared loved her, he wouldn’t be so concerned about her being such an unsuitable mate.

And even if she loved Jared—and that was a big if—her romantic heart would wither and die without having her love returned in full measure. Her soul needed a soul mate. Although she couldn’t deny that she was physically attracted to Jared, that she found him downright irresistible, she wasn’t sure whether what she felt for him was just infatuation or real love.

Perhaps she had been trying to convince herself that she’d fallen in love with Jared at first sight because loving him would justify her pregnancy. After all, what woman would want to admit that she’d done something so monumentally foolish for any other reason than love?

Maybe she had fallen for the cowboy stranger she’d made love with in the elevator, but L. J. Montgomery was a different man. He was her boss! How could she possibly love someone so domineering and arrogant?

She turned her white Chevy Malibu into her parents’ drive, directly behind her brother Austen’s mud-splattered Chevy pickup. The front porch light shone brightly, casting a creamy glow over the wide front yard filled with neatly trimmed shrubs and barren flower beds. Paige dropped her keys into her shoulder bag, double-checked the zippered side pouch to make sure the sonogram pictures and video were still there and got out of the car.

The moment she opened the door, the cool October wind chilled her to the bone. Adjusting her shoulder bag, Paige buttoned her wool jacket before she hurried up the drive and onto the porch.

Apparently her mother had been watching for her. Dora Summers flung open the front door, reached out and pulled Paige inside, then closed the door quietly.

“Mama—”

“Shh!” Dora put a finger to her lips, then yanked Paige into a corner of the foyer. “He’s here!”

“Who’s here?” Paige asked.

“Him.”

“Mama, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Who’s here?”

“Your fiancé, of course.”

“My what?”

“L. J. Montgomery,” Dora replied, her brown eyes huge as saucers. “Your daddy was fit to be tied when he told us that he was your baby’s father—”

“He did what?”

“But it’s all right now. The minute he showed us the diamond ring he’s going to give you and told your daddy that he wanted to ask his permission before y’all made it official, Walt’s attitude changed completely. Land sakes, they’re in the den now with Austen, the three of them talking about football and skiing and the army. You know, all that man stuff.”

Paige had noticed over the years that whenever her mother got excited, her Mississippi accent became more pronounced. And Dora was quite excited now. Happily excited. But why shouldn’t she be? Why shouldn’t her entire family be delighted? After all, they’d been told that their unmarried, pregnant daughter was engaged to one of the wealthiest men in the Southwest.