Sarah Anderson - Pride And Pregnancy

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of good sense must not mix business with passion.

Like that will keep Tom Yellow Bird from pursuing the woman who shocked his senses at first sight. Yes, the wealthy FBI special agent’s job is to work a case involving the Honorable Caroline Jennings. It is his duty to protect the beautiful judge. Yet nothing stops him from acting on the attraction between them. And once he discovers Caroline is pregnant...any good sense he’s ever had completely vanishes.

But when a secret Caroline is keeping is finally revealed, will Tom’s pride become his ultimate undoing?

He stepped in closer and whispered in her ear, “Outside.”

For a second, neither of them moved. She could feel the heat of his body and she had an almost overwhelming urge to kiss the finger resting against her lips.

What was it about this man that turned her into a schoolgirl with a crush? She still had no idea what he did in his spare time or whether or not it broke any state or federal laws. And there was the unavoidable fact that acting on any lust would be a conflict of interest.

They were actively on a case, for crying out loud.

So instead of leaning into his touch or wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling him in tight, she nodded and pulled away.

It was harder than she thought it would be.

Pride and Pregnancy

Sarah M. Anderson

www.millsandboon.co.uk

SARAH M. ANDERSONmay live east of the Mississippi River, but her heart lies out west. A Man of Privilege won an RT Book Reviews 2012 Reviewers’ Choice Best Book Award. The Nanny Plan was a 2016 RITA® Award winner for Contemporary Romance: Short.

Sarah spends her days talking with imaginary cowboys and billionaires. Find out more about Sarah’s heroes at www.sarahmanderson.comand sign up for the new-release newsletter at www.eepurl.com/nv39b.

To Dorliss Jones and Lynn Orr,

who were wonderful next-door neighbors

to my grandmother and have read every book.

You’ve been asking for Yellow Bird

for years—so here he is!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of good sense must not mix business with passion. Like that will keep Tom Yellow Bird from pursuing the woman who shocked his senses at first sight. Yes, the wealthy FBI special agent’s job is to work a case involving the Honorable Caroline Jennings. It is his duty to protect the beautiful judge. Yet nothing stops him from acting on the attraction between them. And once he discovers Caroline is pregnant...any good sense he’s ever had completely vanishes. But when a secret Caroline is keeping is finally revealed, will Tom’s pride become his ultimate undoing?

Introduction He stepped in closer and whispered in her ear, “Outside.” For a second, neither of them moved. She could feel the heat of his body and she had an almost overwhelming urge to kiss the finger resting against her lips. What was it about this man that turned her into a schoolgirl with a crush? She still had no idea what he did in his spare time or whether or not it broke any state or federal laws. And there was the unavoidable fact that acting on any lust would be a conflict of interest. They were actively on a case, for crying out loud. So instead of leaning into his touch or wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling him in tight, she nodded and pulled away. It was harder than she thought it would be.

Title Page Pride and Pregnancy Sarah M. Anderson www.millsandboon.co.uk

About the Author SARAH M. ANDERSON may live east of the Mississippi River, but her heart lies out west. A Man of Privilege won an RT Book Reviews 2012 Reviewers’ Choice Best Book Award. The Nanny Plan was a 2016 RITA® Award winner for Contemporary Romance: Short. Sarah spends her days talking with imaginary cowboys and billionaires. Find out more about Sarah’s heroes at www.sarahmanderson.com and sign up for the new-release newsletter at www.eepurl.com/nv39b .

Dedication To Dorliss Jones and Lynn Orr, who were wonderful next-door neighbors to my grandmother and have read every book. You’ve been asking for Yellow Bird for years—so here he is!

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Epilogue

Extract

Copyright

One

“Judge Jennings?”

Caroline looked up, but instead of seeing her clerk, Andrea, she saw a huge bouquet of flowers.

“Good Lord,” Caroline said, standing to take in the magnitude of the bouquet. Andrea was completely invisible behind the mass of roses and lilies and carnations and Caroline couldn’t even tell what else. It was, hands-down, the biggest bunch of flowers she’d ever seen. Andrea needed two hands to carry it. “Where did those come from?”

Because Caroline couldn’t imagine anyone sending her flowers. She’d only been at her position as a judge in the Eighth Circuit Court in Pierre, South Dakota, for two months. She had made friends with her staff—Leland, the gruff bailiff; Andrea, her perky clerk; Cheryl, the court reporter who rarely smiled. Caroline had met her neighbors—nice folks who kept to themselves. But at no time had she come into contact with anyone who would send her this.

In fact, now that she thought about it, she couldn’t imagine anyone sending her flowers, period. She hadn’t left behind a boyfriend in Minneapolis who missed her. She hadn’t had a serious relationship in...okay, she wasn’t going to go into that right now.

For a frivolous moment, she wished the flowers were from a lover. But a lover would be a distraction from the job and she was still establishing herself here.

“It took two men to deliver,” Andrea said, her voice muffled by the sheer number of blooms. “Can I set it down?”

“Oh! Of course,” Caroline said, clearing off a spot on her desk. The vase was massive—the size of a dinner plate in circumference. Caroline hadn’t gotten a lot of flowers over the course of her life. So she could say with reasonable confidence that the arrangement Andrea was carefully lowering onto her desk was more flowers than she had ever seen in one place—excepting her parents’ funerals, of course.

She knew her mouth had flopped open, but she seemed powerless to get it closed. “Tell me there was a card.”

Andrea disappeared back into the antechamber before returning with a card. “It’s addressed to you,” the clerk said, clearly not believing Caroline would receive these flowers, either.

Caroline was too stunned to be insulted. “Are you sure? There has to have been a mistake.” What other explanation could there be?

She took the card from Andrea and opened the envelope. The flowers had been ordered from an internet company and the message was typed. “Judge Jennings—I look forward to working with you. An admirer,” was all it said.

Caroline stared at the message, a sinking feeling of dread creeping over her. An unsolicited gift from a secret admirer was creepy enough. But that’s not what this was, and she knew it.

Caroline took her job as a judge seriously. She did not make mistakes. Or, at the very least, she rarely made mistakes. Perfectionism might be a character flaw, but it also had made her a fine lawyer and now made her a good judge.

Once she’d found her footing as a prosecutor, she’d had an impeccable record. When she’d been promoted to judge, she prided herself on being fair in her dealings on the bench, and she was pleased that others seemed to agree with her. The promotion that had brought her to Pierre was a vote of confidence she did not take lightly.