Terry Essig - The Baby Magnet

He needed somebody who knew anything about children—young girl children to be specific.

From what he’d seen so far, Marie fit the bill. Serendipity had brought them together and Luke was determined it would take them a whole heck of a lot farther. He was going to pick her brain until he knew everything she knew about kids. Then he’d walk away. Because getting involved with someone like Marie would be complicated. And he didn’t need complicated.

Decision made, Luke picked up his daughter and held her in his arms to keep himself from grabbing Marie and repeating the kiss.

Kissing Marie was dangerous, he’d just discovered. And he was not above using the child to help him keep sight of his goals.

Dear Reader,

March roars in in grand style at Silhouette Romance, as we continue to celebrate twenty years of publishing the best in contemporary category romance fiction. And the new millennium boasts several new miniseries and promotions…such as ROYALLY WED, a three-book spinoff of the cross-line series that concluded last month in Special Edition Arlene James launches the new limited series with A Royal Masquerade, featuring a romance between would-be enemies, in which appearances are definitely deceiving….

Susan Meier’s adorable BREWSTER BABY BOOM series concludes this month with Oh, Babies! The last Brewster bachelor had best beware—but the warning may be too late! Karen Rose Smith graces the lineup with the story of a very pregnant single mom who finds Just the Man She Needed in her lonesome cowboy boarder whose plans had never included staying. The delightful Terry Essig will touch your heart and tickle your funny bone with The Baby Magnet, in which a hunky single dad discovers his toddler is more of an attraction than him—till he meets a woman who proves his ultimate distraction.

A confirmed bachelor finds himself the solution to the command: Callie, Get Your Groom as Julianna Morris unveils her new miniseries BRIDAL FEVER! And could love be What the Cowboy Prescribes… in Mary Starleigh’s charming debut Romance novel?

Happy Reading!

Mary-Theresa Hussey

Senior Editor

www.millsandboon.co.uk

For my father, who actually read encyclopedias for entertainment.

Silhouette Romance

House Calls #552

The Wedding March #662

Fearless Father #725

Housemates #1015

Hardheaded Woman #1044

Daddy on Board #1114

Mad for the Dad #1198

What the Nursery Needs… #1272

The Baby Magnet #1435

Silhouette Special Edition

Father of the Brood #796

says that her writing is her escape valve from a life that leaves very little time for recreation or hobbies. With a husband and six children, Terry works on her stories a little at a time, between seeing to her children’s piano, sax and trombone lessons, their gymnastics, ice skating and swim team practices, and her own activities of leading a Brownie troop, participating in a car pool and attending organic chemistry classes. Her ideas, she says, come from her imagination and her life—neither one of which is lacking!

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

“All right now, let’s go through this once verbally before you actually try it.”

“Will you quit treating me like a baby?”

“I’m not treating you like a baby. I would never let a baby behind the wheel of a car. Trust me on that. Now backing out of a parking spot can be tricky. If you turn your wheel too soon you can sideswipe the car next to you. You have to back straight out for—”

Rolling his eyes impatiently, Marie Ferguson’s nine-years-younger-than-herself but still uncle Jason turned the key in the ignition and ground the engine. “I know how to do this, Marie. I’ve done it a million times before.”

“You’ve only had your permit for a month and to date have only had a handful of behind-the-wheel opportunities at your driver’s ed class. I sincerely doubt you’ve done this a million—Wait! No! Don’t gun it! Look out!” A sickening crunch accompanied Marie’s warning. “Oh my God, you didn’t check behind you. You hit somebody!”

Jason slammed his hand on the wheel and, in the manner of adolescents around the globe, prepared to defend himself by casting blame on the nearest adult. “It’s not my fault. If Dad didn’t have such a boat maybe I could maneuver it a little better. I told you to talk to him about trading this thing in. It’s a dinosaur. An antique. The driver’s ed car at school is this cool little—”

Marie sighed and tiredly massaged the ache in her temples with her fingertips. Pain had become her constant companion since taking over Jason’s care for her ailing grandfather. “You can harp on Grandpa’s choice in automobiles later. Right now we’re going to have to get out and exchange insurance information with whomever you just walloped.” Marie unlatched her door and struggled out of her safety belt. Then she prayed—out loud so the Almighty would be sure to hear.

“God, please don’t let this be somebody with a temper. The day’s not even half over and I simply cannot handle any more abuse, verbal or otherwise.”

Marie grimaced to herself as she stepped out on the heated blacktop and then concentrated on reversing her frown, doing her best to change it into an apologetic smile which she aimed in the direction of the car behind them. Her smile died before being truly born and Marie cringed at the sight of the ugly dent in the side of Jason’s victim’s car. The overall visual effect of the scene was greatly worsened by the fact that her grandfather’s rear fender was virtually embedded in the other auto’s side.

“Lord,” she moaned quietly to herself. There was a lot of damage and Marie doubted the recipient of all that damage would be willing to write it off as crash testing. The fact that his car was made of a metal that crushed easily was his problem but Marie didn’t think she should even bother bringing that up.

A man climbed out of the injured auto. A very large man, Marie couldn’t help but notice. An oversize intimidating male specimen hewn from granite by the looks of him. The sun was still on the ascendant. It had now reached a position directly behind Jason’s victim, making it impossible to distinguish facial features. Marie could, however, tell that his hair was both thick and dark. The mirrored aviator sunglasses he wore and his slightly overlong locks were paired with perfectly fitted good quality dress black, or maybe navy—it was hard to tell with the glaring nimbus behind him—pleated slacks, a white shirt that was crisp-looking even in this heat that stretched over yard-wide shoulders, and a red power tie. A modern-day pirate. Oh, God. “Jason,” she hissed. “Get out of the car and make nice to the man. Apologize. Grovel. Promise him your firstborn child. Do whatever you have to do to get us out of here alive.”

Oh, why couldn’t it have been a sweet, understanding, grandmotherly type? Somebody who’d raised children and understood what she was going through. If it had to be a guy, why couldn’t it have been somebody wimpy? Anybody other than this body-by-Schwarzenegger type with a face that looked like it would break if he attempted a smile.