Harlequin Presents January 2015 Box Set 1 of 2(66)

His hot urgent mouth swooped down on hers and he feasted on her parted lips with fiery enthusiasm, plundering and ravishing with a hunger she had never forgotten. Electrifying excitement shot through Billie like a lightning bolt to stimulate every skin cell in her body. The erotic thrust of his tongue into her mouth consumed her with burning heat and a crazy urge to get even closer to that lean, virile body of his. Wild hunger started a glow of warmth in her pelvis and made her nipples tighten and strain. She wanted, she wanted...and then sanity returned like a cold drop of water on her overheated skin when Theo wailed from the kitchen, jarring every maternal sense she possessed back to wakefulness.

Wrenching her mouth free of his, Billie looked up into the smouldering dark golden eyes that had once broken her heart and said what she needed to say, what she owed it to herself to say. ‘Please leave, Gio...’

Billie stood at the window watching Gio climb into his long black limousine on the street outside, her fingernails biting into her palms like sharp-pointed knives. Without even trying he had torn her in two, teaching her that her recovery was not as complete as she had imagined. Letting Gio walk away from her had almost killed her and there was still a weak, wicked part of her that longed to snatch him back with both hands. But she knew it was pointless, because Gio would be furious if he ever found out that Theo was his child.

Right from the start, Billie had known and accepted that truth when, finding herself accidentally pregnant, she had chosen to give birth to a baby fathered by a male who had only wanted her for her body. There would be no support or understanding from Gio on the score of an illegitimate child, whom he would prefer not to have been born. She had only been with him a few weeks when he had told her that if she ever fell pregnant he would regard it as a disaster and that it would destroy their relationship, so she couldn’t say she hadn’t been warned. She had finally decided that what he didn’t know about wouldn’t hurt him and she had so much love to give their son that she had convinced herself that Theo would not suffer from the lack of a father.

Or so she had thought...until after Theo’s birth when concerns began to steadily nibble gaping holes in her one-time conviction that she had made the right decision. Then she had guiltily asked herself if she was the most selfish woman alive to have chosen to have a child in secrecy who would never have a father and she had worried even more about how Theo might react when he was older to what little she would have to tell him.

Would her son despise her some day for the role she had played in Gio’s bed? Would Theo resent the fact that although his father was rich he had grown up in comparative poverty? Would he blame her then for having brought him into the world on such terms?

Copyright © 2015 by Lynne Graham





WELCOME TO





Dear Ms Yates,

We are delighted that you have booked your rooms to stay at The Chatsfield. And because we pride ourselves on creating the most unique and bespoke services during your stay, we have a few questions that we’d like to ask.

What time will you be checking in? I’d like an early check in, since my plane lands in the morning.

Will you be checking in alone? No, I’ll be with my fabulously handsome husband.

What morning paper would you like delivered?

Financial Times

Hello

InStyle

The Guardian

The Times

We would like to arrange some music for your listening pleasure. Is there a particular album or selection of music you would like to listen to in your room during your stay?

     “Sophie” by Bear’s Den

    “Samson” by Regina Spektor

    “Kiss Me” by Ed Sheeran

    “One Night Town” by Ingrid Michaelson

    “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons

    “Devils’ Backbone” by the Civil Wars

    “Broken” by Seether and Amy Lee



As we know that you may be working during your stay, we are aware how important it is for you to have all your creature comforts around you. In order to ensure that your stay is as fulfilling as possible...

We have a wide selection of food available for room service delivery. What would your most decadent meal be that you would have delivered and why?

I want the hummus platter, with roasted vegetables and lots of bread, olives and cheese! And then an array of mini cupcakes. One must be salted caramel, and another pumpkin spice.

Do you have any special requests for your stay at our hotel?

Slippers and a robe. I’m always cold!

What is your worst habit when writing?