Читать онлайн «That's My Baby!»
Автор Vicki Lewis Thompson
Cowboys.
Every boy’s hero…every woman’s fantasy.
They can rope, they can ride…
But can they change a diaper?
In Vicki Lewis Thompson’s bestselling miniseries,
we discovered what happened when three intrepid cowpokes bravely ventured where none of them had ever gone before—the nursery!
But now that they’re there—and discover they like it!—they’re in for an even bigger surprise!
Because a fourth strapping cowboy has just stepped forward and announced…
Dear Reader,
It’s time to pop the cork on the bubbly and break out the fireworks! I’m celebrating the grand finale of my THREE COWBOYS & A BABY miniseries and my first-ever single title release!
I hope you’ve stayed with me through the series. If not, I’ll wait while you catch up. In Harlequin Temptation #780, The Colorado Kid, rancher Sebastian Daniels was sure baby Elizabeth belonged to him. Wrangler Travis Evans had a different idea and laid claim to the little girl he called Lizzie in Two in the Saddle (#784). While these two cowboys were busy sorting out their paternity issues, Boone Connor showed up in Boone’s Bounty (#788), and insisted the child belonged to him.
All three of these books were published in the Harlequin Temptation series, but the rip-roaring conclusion needed more room. More specifically, my hero, Nat Grady, needed more room—especially considering the shock he’s in for. Raised by an abusive father, wary of emotional entanglements, he has no intention of ever becoming a daddy. But Mother Nature has other ideas….
Writing this single title has made me as excited as a cowpoke headed into town after his first trail drive.
So here’s That’s My Baby! If I were a smoker, I’d be passing out cigars!Warmly,
That’s My Baby!
Vicki Lewis Thompson
With love to my husband Larry,
whose faith in me has never dimmed.
CONTENTS
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
CHAPTER ONE
JESSICA FRANKLIN’S STOMACH gurgled with anxiety as she waited at JFK for the 5:45 flight from London. After seventeen months apart, she had to meet Nat Grady, the man she’d loved—still loved, damn it—disguised as a bag lady. Then she had to tell him about Elizabeth, the baby he had no idea they’d conceived, the baby she’d left in Colorado to keep her safe.
The embarrassing truth was, Jessica had picked up a stalker. She thought of it like that, as if she’d contracted a deadly disease and was no longer fit to be a mother. Growing up, she’d felt stifled by her wealthy father’s attempts to protect her from kidnappers. She’d left home, spurning a life of bulletproof cars and bodyguards, insisting she could live quietly and anonymously without all that. It infuriated her to be wrong.
