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A Daddy for Her Sons
Raye Morgan
When bona fide playboy Connor McNair watched his best friend marry Jill Darling, he never expected a second chance with the girl who got away.Now she’s a single mother and he’s back to persuade her to give up her pastry company. It’s just business…until Jill’s sweet smile has Connor thinking about fatherhood and forever. But that’s against all the rules…
THE SINGLE MOM DIARIES:
First comes baby, then comes happily-ever-after.
The Darling sisters, both single moms, have always supported each other through the ups and downs of life and love. But they’ll need each other’s advice more than ever when the possibility of true love comes knocking!
Playboy Connor McNair thinks life behind a picket fence isn’t his speed—until Jill Darling, the girl he secretly loves, traps him with kisses and Bundt cake. How can he turn away from the woman he’s always wanted and her twin baby boys?
Don’t miss:
A DADDY FOR HER SONS
Sara Darling’s joy at adopting her deceased half-sister’s baby turns into a bad dream when she realises that the rough, handsome man she’s just met has come to claim that same child. Could a marriage of convenience with Sara be exactly the medicine the tortured Jake Martin needs?
Find out in
MARRIAGE FOR HER BABY
Dear Reader,
This story is about a woman who bakes such lovely Bundt cakes she’s hoping to build a business on it. What a fun way to make a living! Personally, I’m pretty much a disaster in the baking department, but I do have one favorite Bundt cake that makes friends ooh and aah. Hope it works for you!
Measurements are according to US custom. I grew up with Dutch cookbooks, but converting recipes to metrics is just too risky for me. Sorry!
Chocolate Overload Bundt Cake
1 package chocolate cake mix
1 small package instant chocolate pudding
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
¼ cup cold coffee
¼ cup water
12 ounces fine-quality semi-sweet chocolate chips
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Beat eggs until well mixed, add sour cream, then water and coffee, and mix thoroughly. Add cake mix, beating in slowly, then the pudding. Mix the same way. When smooth, fold in chocolate chips and pour it all into a prepared Bundt pan.
Bake for about one hour. Test with pick and take out when pick comes clean. Cool, but glaze while still somewhat warm.
Rum Glaze (a chocolate or coffee glaze will do as well)
Mix together in a saucepan:
½ cup butter
1 cup white sugar
¼ cup white rum
¼ cup water
Bring to boil and simmer for 2 minutes, then pour over warm cake that has been poked all over with a toothpick.
You don’t want to think about the calories, carbs and fat per slice. If you let that bother you, you wouldn’t bake this in the first place!
Eating Bundt cake goes perfectly with reading romances! Enjoy!
Raye Morgan
About the Author
RAYE MORGAN has been a nursery school teacher, a travel agent, a clerk and a business editor, but her best job ever has been writing romances—and fostering romance in her own family at the same time. Current score: two boys married, two more to go. Raye has published more than seventy romance novels, and claims to have many more waiting in the wings. She lives in Southern California, with her husband and whichever son happens to be staying at home at the moment.
A Daddy
for Her Sons
Raye Morgan
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
This is dedicated to Lauri, for everything wonderful
that comes out of her oven!
CHAPTER ONE
A NIGHTMARE. That was what this had to be. She must be dreaming. But what had she expected from a blind date?
Jill Darling was no shy innocent, but her face was blazing. She could feel it. The man was trying to … Ugh, it was just too creepy to even try to name what he was doing. She couldn’t really be sure unless she took a look under the table. And that would cause a scene. She couldn’t do that. She knew people in this restaurant.
But … was that really his foot sliding up and down her leg?
He was leaning close, talking on and on, his breath hot on her neck. Okay, maybe that was all in the game. But what the heck was that foot doing?
She tried to move away, but she was trapped, huddled right up against the edge of the planter that sat right beside their table, tickling her nose with its palm fronds. They were eating in the restaurant of the nicest hotel in this part of town. It had Irish linen tablecloths, real sterling silverware and a small combo playing for dancers on a tiny dance floor to the side.
She took a long drink from her water glass, then looked over at him. She tried to smile, but she knew it was wobbly and pretty darn unconvincing if he should happen to actually notice it.
Karl Attkins was his name. Her friend’s brother. He was good looking enough, but somehow cold, as though she could have been anyone with an “available female” label stamped on her forehead. Should she ask him about the foot? And maybe warn him not to lose sight of his shoe. It wouldn’t be easy to replace that here in this crowded restaurant.
Oh, Lord, he was using his toes now. She was going to have to say something. If she didn’t, her nice steak dinner just might come back up. And all that wine she drank, trying to keep busy. This just wasn’t cool. She took a deep breath and tried to think of a way to say it without being insulting.
But then he gave her the out she needed.
“Would you like to dance?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow as though he knew she must consider him quite debonair.
Dance. No, not at all. But she steeled herself to the effort. Dancing ought to give him a reason to put his shoe back on, and if so, it would all be worth it.
“Sure,” she said breathlessly. “Why not?”
Well, the fact that they were playing a tango at that very moment might have been a reason to sit this one out. But it hardly mattered. At least the man was shod once more. She tried to keep the electric smile painted on her face as he led her to the proper position. And then she glanced at her watch and wondered how much longer she was going to have to endure this torture. She had to put in a good chunk of time or the friends who’d got her into this wouldn’t believe she’d really tried.
Oh, Mary Ellen, she groaned silently as Karl pushed her to and fro dramatically across the dancing floor, leaving her to lunge about like a puppet with its strings cut. I love you dearly, but this is just too high a price to pay for your friendship.
“But, Jill,” all her friends had counseled solemnly, “you’ve got to do it. You’ve got to get back into the swim of things. It’s been over a year since Brad … well, since you’ve been alone.” The timing had helped make her receptive. Changes were making her feel vulnerable. Her sister was probably moving away, and her younger half-sister had recently died. Loneliness was looming large in her life. “Time is streaking by,” another friend lectured. “Don’t let it leave you behind. Don’t be a coward. Get out there and fight!”
Fight? For what?
“A man, of course,” said Mary Ellen. “Once you hit your age, they don’t come a dime a dozen any more. You’ve got competition.”
“But, what if I …?”
“No! You can’t give up!” her friend Crystal had chimed in. “Your kids need a father figure in the home.”
Mary Ellen had fixed her with a steely stare. “And you want to show old Brad, don’t you?”
Show old Brad. The need to do just that surged in her. Of course she wanted to show old Brad. Sure. She would date. If he could do it, so could she. Stand back. She was ready for the challenge.
But where would she find someone to date? Mary Ellen knew just the man for her.
“My brother Karl is a real player,” she said airily. “He’ll get you back into the swing of things in no time. He has so many friends. You’ll be dating like crazy before you know it.”
Dating. She remembered dating. The way your heart raced as you waited for him to come to the door, the shy pauses, the way your eyes met his and then looked quickly away. Would he kiss you on the doorstep? Were you really going to let him?
Fun!
But that was then. This was a completely different thing, seemingly from a galaxy far, far away. She was older now. She’d been married and she had two kids. She knew how things worked. She could handle it. Or so she thought.
No. This was a nightmare.
At least her dress was pretty, and she didn’t get many chances to wear something like this anymore. A sleek shift dress in teal-blue, it was covered with sequins and glistened as she walked, making her feel sexy and pretty and nice. Too bad she was wasting that on a man who spent more time looking at himself in the mirror than she did.
The tango was over. She turned back toward the table in relief, but Karl grabbed her free hand and twirled her around to face him. The band was playing a cha cha. He grinned. “Hey mambo!” he cried out and began to sway. He seemed to consider himself quite the ballroom dancer, even if he couldn’t tell one Latin dance from another.
Jill had a decision to make. Would she rather dance, or go back to playing footsie? She wasn’t sure she knew how to cha cha. But she knew she didn’t want to feel that foot on her leg again.
What the hell.
“Everybody loves to cha-cha-cha,” she murmured as she let him twirl her again.
And then she looked up and saw Connor McNair staring at her in horror.
Her blood ran cold. She was still moving, but no one could accuse her of dancing at this point. The music didn’t mean a thing.
Connor. Oh, no.
First, it appalled her to think that anyone she knew might see her here like this. But close on that thought came the shock question—was Brad with him?
No. She glanced around quickly and didn’t see any sign of her ex-husband at all. Thank heaven for small blessings. Connor must have come to town and was staying here at the hotel—alone. But still, it was Connor, Brad’s best friend, the one person most likely to report to him. She could hardly stand it.
He was mouthing something to her. She squinted, trying to make it out. What was he trying to say?
She couldn’t tell, but he was coming out onto the dance floor. Why? She looked around, feeling wild, wanting to run. What was he going to do?
“May I cut in?” he asked Karl.
He was polite, but unsmiling, and Karl didn’t seem to be in a friendly mood.
“What? No. Go get your own girl,” Karl told him, frowning fiercely. And just to prove his point, he grabbed Jill and pulled her close.
She looked over his shoulder at Connor. He offered a safe harbor of sorts, but there was danger there, too. She didn’t want to talk to Connor. She didn’t want to have anyone close to Brad anywhere near. The pain of Brad’s desertion still ached inside her like an open wound and she didn’t want anyone from his side of the rift to see her like this—much less talk to her.
So she glared at Connor. Let him know she didn’t need him or his rescue. She was doing fine. She was here enjoying herself. Sort of.
She got back to dancing, swaying her hips, making her sequins sparkle, and trying hard to smile at Karl. Let Connor see that she was having the time of her life. Let him take that bit of news back to Brad, if that was what he was after.
“Mambo!” she cried out, echoing Karl. Why the heck not?
Connor gave her a look of disbelief as he stepped back to the sidelines, but he didn’t leave. The next dance was a simple two-step, but that meant Karl’s arms around her again, and she couldn’t disguise the shudder that gave her.
And there was Connor, taking in every nuance. She glowered at him. He was very handsome in his crisp white shirt with the dark slacks that looked tailor-made. But that was beside the point. Didn’t he have a table to go to? What gave him the right to stand there and watch her? Biting her lip, she tried to keep him out of her line of vision and blot him out of her head.
But then he was back, right at Karl’s elbow again, stopping them in their tracks.
“Excuse me,” he said, looking very serious. “Listen, do you have a silver BMW in the parking lot?”
Karl blinked. His eyes narrowed suspiciously, but he couldn’t resist the question. “Why, yes I do. What about it?”
Connor’s brows came together in a look of sorrow. “I’m afraid your car’s on fire.”
Karl dropped Jill like a hot potato and whirled to face Connor. “What?” he cried, anguish contorting his face.
Connor was all sympathy. “I think they’ve called the fire department, but you might want to get out there and …”
No more words were necessary. He was already gone.
Connor took Jill by the arm, looking annoyed when she balked and tried to pull away.
