Bonnie Winn - The Mommy Makeover

“You’re beautiful, Katie.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“Yes, I do. I’ve always thought so. Since the first moment I saw you. But I know you can’t see me as someone on your level,” Finn said.

She laid her hand on his arm, the movement gentle and the touch uncharacteristically intimate. “Don’t say that. I’m not what you think I am. I want to be like everybody else, to get married and have children. I want what everyone else has….”

“You can have it.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Yes, it is. Or it could be. It’s a beautiful night, you’re a beautiful woman and I’m asking.”

“Asking?”

“You to marry me.” Finn held his breath. “I want you to be my wife….”

Dear Reader,

Welcome to another month of wonderful books from Harlequin American Romance! We’ve rounded up the best stories by your favorite authors, with the hope that you will enjoy reading them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you.

Kick-start a relaxing weekend with the continuation of our fabulous miniseries, THE DADDY CLUB. The hero of Mindy Neff’s A Pregnancy and a Proposal is one romantic daddy who knows how to sweep a woman off her feet!

Beloved historical author Millie Criswell makes her contemporary romance debut with The Wedding Planner. We are thrilled to bring you this compelling story of a wealthy bachelor out to find himself a bride…with a little help from the wedding consultant who wishes she were his only choice!

We’ve also got the best surprises and secrets. Bailey Dixon has a double surprise for Michael Wade in Tina Leonard’s delightful new Western, Cowboy Be Mine. And in Bonnie K. Winn’s The Mommy Makeover, a dedicated career woman is suddenly longing for marriage—what is her handsome groom’s secret?

With best wishes for happy reading from Harlequin American Romance…

Melissa Jeglinski

Associate Senior Editor

The Mommy Makeover

Bonnie K. Winn

www.millsandboon.co.uk

A hopeless romantic, Bonnie K. Winn naturally turned to romance writing. This seasoned author of historical and contemporary romance has won numerous awards, including having been voted one of the Top Ten Romance Authors in America, according to Affaire de Coeur.

Living in the foothills of the Rockies gives Bonnie plenty of inspiration and a touch of whimsy, as well. She shares her life with her husband, son and spunky Westie terrier.

Bonnie welcomes mail from her readers. You can write to her c/o Harlequin Books, 300 E. 42nd St., New York, NY 10017.

HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE

624—THE NEWLYWED GAME

646—WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN

680—THE DADDY FACTOR

720—HIS-AND-HERS FAMILY

775—THE ACCIDENTAL MRS. MACKENZIE

812—THE MOMMY MAKEOVER

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Epilogue

The incomparable Houston skyline dazzled beneath the mammoth windows of the sixtieth-floor office. Resembling glitzy, gift-wrapped packages, the tall glass skyscrapers mingled with older, more stately stone buildings. Like the city itself, it was a courtship of old and new. But Katelyn Amhurst had little time to dwell on the dynamic view, even less to consider courtships.

She glanced skeptically at her longtime assistant, Daniel. They had gone beyond “boss” and “employee” years earlier. Daniel saw himself as a cross between mother confessor and drill sergeant. While Katelyn viewed him with tolerant affection, she often wished he would ease up on his compulsive need for control. “I want to stop smoking,” she told him, “but—”

“I thought you wanted to beat this thing,” Daniel interrupted persuasively, flipping back his precision-cut blond hair. It was his one vanity. Katelyn knew Daniel was currently pursuing a cute brunette in accounting. No doubt the extra grooming was for her benefit.

Katelyn concealed a grin. She wished someone would keep his attention so he would quit harping about her love live. Or rather lack of it. “I don’t know, Daniel. Subliminal tapes? Isn’t that a little simplistic?”

Offended indignation gripped his thin features. “When have you ever known me to be simple?”

“Point taken. Not that I haven’t hoped…”

He took a deep breath as a long-suffering expression descended on his face. “The tape will do wonders for you. In fact, I’d say it’ll turn your life around.”

“It’s a subliminal tape, not a brain transplant,” she replied, still not reaching for the cassette.

Daniel anticipated her next request and handed her the day planner, which had been buried beneath a foot-high stack of folders. “Or a personality transplant,” he muttered beneath his breath.

“What? Oh, thanks. I was looking for that.”

He sighed quietly. “I know.”

She flipped open to the mind-boggling schedule of meetings, appointments and other commitments. “I have the Franklin dinner tonight. Did you hire a new limo service?”

“Yesterday,” he replied, rolling his eyes. “Now, are you going to let a pack of cigarettes control you, or do you want the tape?”

Katelyn frowned. She’d mapped out her life with the precision of a Rand McNally atlas. From her Ivy League education and brilliant advertising career to her equally well-thought-out decision to skip both marriage and children. Despite Daniel’s efforts to convince her otherwise, she knew that latter decision was wise. She had everything in her life under total control. Except the one habit she couldn’t quite kick—smoking. If Daniel’s tape might work…why not? Casually, she took the tape and tossed it on top of her desk.

Head bent, she missed the smirk on Daniel’s face. When she glanced up, she met guileless blue eyes. “You won’t regret this, Katelyn.” He slipped the tape into a Walkman. “Just be sure to listen to it.”

“I’m not in the habit of forgetting things,” she reminded him, putting the tape player in her purse. Her razor-sharp mind was legend—terrifying her underlings and impressing her superiors. But she and Daniel had worked together too long for him to be intimidated.

“No, but you are in the habit of resisting doing what you don’t want to do,” he retorted.

She squared her shoulders. “You make me sound like a willful child.”

“I’d rather think of you as an intelligent adult.”

“Ahem.” She studied his expression, searching for sarcasm. “Well, thanks. I think.”

“And, Katelyn?”

“Yes?”

“The tape only works if you really want it to.”

“I really, really want to quit smoking. Okay? Now, I’d better run. I’m meeting with Grayco in…” She glanced at her wristwatch and let out an uncharacteristic oath. “Fifteen minutes. I’ll take a cab, but tell the new driver to pick me up there after the meeting.”

“Your wish is my command,” Daniel replied as she gathered everything in an efficient flurry and headed to the door.

She glanced back. “I don’t know about that. Sometimes I’m not sure just who’s in charge.”

DANIEL MERELY smiled in reply, watching the whirlwind of contained energy she created as she issued orders, signed documents thrust at her and kept a constant path to the elevator.