A billionaire, a baby and a bride of convenience?

Oil baron Nick Duncan swore off entanglements of the heart after his wife’s and son’s untimely death. So when Talia Barton introduces him to his orphaned daughter from a grief-fueled fling, he knows he’s in trouble. Talia won’t let the motherless child she’s been caring for become a ward of the state. But she never expects the handsome Texan to propose marriage...and actually mean it!

SARA ORWIG, from Oklahoma, loves family, friends, dogs, books, long walks, sunny beaches and palm trees. She is married to and in love with the guy she met in college. They have three children and six grandchildren. Sara’s one hundredth published novel was a July 2016 release. With a master’s degree in English, Sara has written historical romance, mainstream fiction and contemporary romance. Sara welcomes readers on Facebook or at www.saraorwig.com.

Also By Sara Orwig

Expecting the Rancher’s Child

The Rancher’s Baby Bargain

The Rancher’s Cinderella Bride

The Texan’s Baby Proposal

Expecting a Lone Star Heir

Married for His Heir

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Married for His Heir

Sara Orwig

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-07624-1

MARRIED FOR HIS HEIR

© 2018 Sara Orwig

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

With thanks to Stacy Boyd, who made this book possible.

Thank you to Tahra Seplowin for fixing things and answering questions.

With thanks always to Maureen Walters.

Also, with love to my family, who fill my days with joy.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Extract

Extract

One

“Just remember, curiosity killed the cat.” Nick Duncan shot his brother a narrow-eyed look, as if willing him to lay off.

But Stan didn’t take the hint. He merely shook his head and continued. “What do you expect, Nick? A woman you don’t know is coming by to tell you about an inheritance you didn’t know you had. Of course I’m curious.”

Nick had to agree, the man had a point.

He stepped off the porch into the front yard of his cattle ranch, the ND Ranch, taking a moment to let his gaze sweep over the landscaped front yard, green from the constant watering. But nothing could distract his thoughts. An inheritance?

“And you say our attorney told you to accept the appointment with her?” Stan asked, stepping up beside his oldest brother.

“Yeah. Apparently, she went to Horace and talked to him instead of calling me. How she found him, I don’t know. That should be personal information.” He swiped a hand across his neck. “I’ve been racking my brain, but heck, I don’t know any Talia Barton, not in the oil business, not from ranching, not socially. And I’m sure I’d remember. Since I stepped down as CEO at Duncan Energy, I don’t stay in Dallas. Only when I have to go to board meetings or something special. This ranch is where I live. I can’t think of any woman named Talia. There have been so damn few women in my life since I became a widower.”

“You mean no one that you’ve been interested in,” Stan clarified. “You have a steady stream of women coming to see you, bringing you enough casseroles and desserts to open a restaurant out here. I’ll bet you have a fridge filled with food in your Dallas house, too.”

“Oh, yeah. The ladies don’t want me to starve. They’ve got good intentions, but I’m not interested.” He hadn’t been interested in a woman in three years—and he didn’t figure he ever would be again.

He took off his Stetson and swiped it across his jean-clad thigh, as if he could banish the memories as easily as he did the dust on his hat. All this time and thoughts of Regina could creep up on him at the oddest times.

He squared his shoulders and replaced the hat. “Well, no matter who she is, this Talia Barton can come out here to see me. I’m not driving to Dallas. I told Horace.”

He’d also asked the attorney questions. Lots of them. But he hadn’t gotten any answers. Whatever this mystery woman had told Horace, he wouldn’t say. He’d merely insisted Nick make an appointment to meet her.

“Is Horace coming to the ranch?”

“No, I told him he didn’t need to. Whatever she intends to do, this meeting should be short.” Nick turned to his brother, looking into eyes that were as green as his own, and flecked with gold. “Come to think of it, Stan, you might as well stay. Whatever inheritance I’m getting, it may eventually involve you.”

“Oh, no,” Stan said, grinning. “I have my new horse loaded into my trailer and I’m taking him home. I’ll hear later what the mysterious Ms. Barton is giving you. And, by the way, have you told Grandmother?”

Nick rolled his eyes. “Are you kidding? Of course not. At least not until I know why we’re meeting.”

Stan laughed. “No, I guess not. I sure as hell wouldn’t tell her until I knew and maybe not even then.”

Nick clapped his brother on the back. “Come on—let’s go inside. I’m not waiting out here to greet Ms. Barton,” he said, turning for his ranch home.

“No, no.” Stan shook his head. “I told you, I’m leaving. This appointment is for you and it’s private. You can call and tell me what the hell a woman you don’t even know has for you.”

“I’m still tempted to ignore Horace and refuse to see her.”

“Horace has been our family attorney for years and your attorney since you turned twenty-one. You do what he says and meet with her. You know he’s not giving you bad advice.”

“I don’t know. Any attorney who won’t confide in his own client whom he has known since I was five years old is a damn poor attorney, if you ask me.”

“You know Horace has to have a good reason for not telling you what’s involved.” Stan started to leave, his wavy brown hair tangling in the breeze. “And it must be something good.”

“If it isn’t, I’m getting a new attorney,” Nick grumbled, gazing down the long ranch drive that disappeared around a curve where a tall cottonwood’s leaves fluttered in the wind.

Stan left, his boots clicking on the brick walk as he headed to his shiny black pickup with a horse trailer hitched to it.

While he rubbed the brown stubble covering his jaw, Nick watched the plume of gray dust Stan’s truck stirred as he drove away. In minutes the dust settled and he went inside to wait in the study. He only wished his thoughts could settle just as easily. But he couldn’t still the questions that swirled in his mind.

Talia Barton...

Since he had become a widower, he’d had a few one-nighters, all meaningless encounters, but not many of them and not in a long time. He had been working late hours to wear himself out, and working out before and after handling ranch tasks. He didn’t date and he didn’t want to. So how did he know Talia Barton?

It was fifteen anguishing minutes later when he heard a car pull up the ranch drive. He went to the window and watched as a black car slowed and stopped in front of the house.

In minutes the driver emerged from the car and Nick’s interest increased a fraction as he viewed a tall, leggy blonde in high heels, a navy suit and a white blouse. Looking as if she had just stepped out of an office or a photo shoot, she would turn heads wherever she went. If she had any persuasive abilities, he could see why Horace had told him to meet her.

He forced himself to stand still. His house manager served as a butler, and since Royce knew she was coming, he would bring her to the study. Instead, Nick watched her come up the steps and his pulse jumped. The woman was gorgeous.

He walked across the room to the open door. In seconds he heard Royce talking to her, and when they came into sight, Nick stepped forward. “Thanks, Royce.” He extended his hand to the woman. “Ms. Barton, I’m Nick Duncan,” he said as Royce left them.

The moment he wrapped his hand around her soft, warm hand, he felt a sizzling jolt of awareness, something that hadn’t happened since his wife. The reaction startled him and he looked more closely at her.

He saw a flicker in her thickly lashed blue eyes that caused his pulse to jump another notch. She felt something, too, and that knowledge fueled his reaction.

She cleared her throat and withdrew her hand. “I’m Talia Barton. Please call me Talia,” she said in a soft voice. There was a directness about her that made him feel she was a no-nonsense person, and once again, he thought that people probably did what she wanted.

“Come have a seat where we can talk,” he urged, motioning her into the study. “I’m curious what it is that you couldn’t tell me about by phone,” he said, his interest growing because he was absolutely certain he had never seen this woman in his life before now. He would not forget her. “My attorney has urged me to see you, so whatever it is, you’ve certainly convinced him.”

“I think you’ll agree after you hear me out,” she said, following him into the room. She took the leather chair he indicated and sat facing him.

Nick couldn’t resist looking when she crossed her long, shapely legs. His reaction to her startled him again. He hadn’t had this kind of response to a woman since his wife’s death almost three years ago. The anniversary of the plane crash that had taken his wife and baby would be in August. Since his loss, it was as if he had become numb, half dead himself and oblivious of women, except for a few one-nighters at parties far from the ranch.

Why was he having this reaction to this mystery woman?

* * *

Talia looked into green eyes flecked with gold and realized there would be nothing easy about this meeting. To add to her jittery nerves, Nick Duncan was not only handsome and appealing, but there was some kind of vibrant chemistry between them.

In every way she possibly could, including hiring a private investigator to get information on Nick, Talia had checked into his life. To her relief, all sources reported that Nick Duncan was intelligent, reliable, capable, confident, successful and tough when he needed to be. From all that she could find out, he had been a good husband and father, even though he’d had his son for only a brief time.

Once he’d checked out, she’d gone ahead with her plans to meet him and lay out her problem for him. But she hadn’t planned on this volatile chemistry that had simmered between them from the moment she had walked into the room.

When they had shaken hands the sizzle had startled her. So had the tingles when she’d met his gaze. It wouldn’t matter, though, she told herself, because they would never mean anything to each other. Still, she had been surprised. Since her disastrous marriage while still in college and then divorce, she hadn’t been drawn to any man. Besides, there was too much upheaval in her life now. But somehow, with a mere touch, Nick Duncan broke through all that. He was far more handsome and sexy in person than his pictures indicated. It wasn’t even his personality because he was being polite, cautious and reserved. She knew he wondered why she was there and what she wanted. She might as well tell him and get this over with.

Nothing in her life—not the deaths in her family or her broken marriage—had hurt as much as this. Tears threatened, uncustomary for her, and she swallowed, looking around the room as she fought to get her emotions under control. She had rehearsed what she would say to him, but now that the moment had come and she was actually facing him, she wanted to run to her car and drive home.

And then what? she asked herself. If she didn’t talk to him, the alternative was worse. Nick Duncan had checked out as a successful, intelligent, family-oriented man. A billionaire, owner of the ND Ranch, part owner of Duncan Energy, a company started by his father and now run by the two youngest Duncan brothers with Nick and his brother Stan on the board. Nick was a good rancher, a good businessman, a man who had had his own terrible loss. She had no choice but to do what she’d come here to do. She squared her shoulders and sat up straight, but before she could speak, he broke the awkward silence.

“Do you live around here?” he asked.

“I live in Dallas. I teach art in a two-year college.”

He didn’t know it, but his question gave her the opening she needed. She took a breath and gave him a faint smile.

“Mr. Duncan, I’m—”

“Nick, please,” he prompted her.

“Yes, well, Nick, I’m sure you’re curious as to why I wanted to see you...and there’s no need to wait. I want your help about something belonging to you.”

He leaned in closer, resting his hands on his knees as he looked at her intently.

“I’ve had a neighbor whose niece, Madeline Prentiss, inherited her house and Madeline and I became friends. Neither of us have any family, so we were drawn together. She had a degree and internship in landscape architecture. She worked for a landscape company and took a night art class I taught because she drew landscape plans for clients. We rode to class together that year and became even closer friends.”

She related the facts, the history that he needed to know, but the whole time she spoke, all she wanted to do was leave. She didn’t want to ask his help or ask him to do anything. She took a deep breath, looking into those curious green-gold eyes that made her heart beat faster, and suddenly she couldn’t go on. They stared at each other.

“I had this all rehearsed,” she said finally as she rose abruptly, “but it isn’t easy. Just give me a minute.”

“Sure. Take your time. Let me get you a glass of water,” he said, getting up and leaving the room. She suspected he did it to give her a moment to get herself composed. She knew what she had to do. When he returned, he held a tray with a pitcher and two glasses of ice and water. He handed her one, and when their fingers brushed, for just an instant, she felt another flash of intense awareness of him as an appealing man. While she sipped the icy water, her gaze locked with his. The look in his eyes made her heartbeat quicken.

“Want to have a seat?” he said, setting the tray on a table. As they sat down again, she noticed his gaze on her as she crossed her legs. She placed her glass on a coaster on a small table beside her chair and adjusted her skirt.

“This is hard for me, Mr. Dunc—er, Nick—but it is definitely overdue. I was telling you about a friend of mine, Madeline Prentiss.”

He nodded. “Is there a reason you’re telling me all this about this particular person?”

“Yes. I’m here because of Madeline. You see, almost two years ago when Madeline was at a party in Austin, she had a romantic night with a man she met there but she never saw him again.”

“I take it Madeline thinks I’m that man?”

“Yes. You were that man. That’s definite, and in the past, she told me about the night you two had.” She leaned in and had no choice but to gather her courage and blurt it out. “And there’s a baby from that encounter.”

* * *

Stunned, Nick felt as if ice water had been poured over him.

“You’re saying that I fathered a baby with this woman? And I’ve never heard a word from her about it? Why did she wait until now and why send you? Where is Madeline now?” He couldn’t stop the questions that spilled from his lips. Though part of him was in shock, the other part was in overdrive, and he wanted—no, needed—answers.

“Madeline didn’t want to inform you of her pregnancy because that night, you spent a long time telling her how much you loved your wife. You told her about losing your little two-month-old son and your wife in a plane crash. You also convinced her that you missed your wife and you weren’t ready to go out with anyone else. She told me you actually cried over your loss. Besides, she knew that you weren’t in love with her and probably never would be.”

“You’re using the past tense.” A chill skittered up his spine.

“That’s right,” Talia acknowledged. But she didn’t elaborate. Instead she said, “Madeline had a talent. She could sing and she had gotten auditions and began to get bookings that paid more than the landscape business.”

He suddenly remembered Madeline, because she had sung at the party the night he met her. Talia was right: she had talent.

“You remember her,” Talia said, startling him that she guessed his thoughts so easily.

“It’s a little blurry, but I do. I don’t go out much, so there aren’t many occasions to even try to recall, but I remember her because she was beautiful and talented. She sang for everyone that night.”

“Madeline was on the way to a successful singing career, until several months ago when she was killed in a car wreck. She was young and she didn’t leave a will. Since her death I’ve been caring for her baby, and now I’m in a fight with the state, which wants to take her precious baby away. I’ve pulled every string I can, but I’m not a relative nor the legal guardian of Madeline’s baby. Madeline left no directive, nothing to indicate that she would want to appoint me guardian of her baby. She had no family, either. You, on the other hand, are her baby’s blood father.”

He barely heard what she went on to say to him. His mind was stuck on one phrase. ...baby’s blood father...

He was the father of a baby.

A baby he didn’t know with a deceased mother he barely remembered.

“Sorry, give me a second. This is a shock.” He reached for his water and took a gulp. What he really needed was something far stronger. “When you said you needed to see me, I didn’t dream it would be about a baby. My baby. A baby that’s an orphan.”

“Not really an orphan,” Talia said, looking intently at him. “She has a living blood relative—her father. You. I’ve checked you out and you have high recommendations as to your character.” She paused a second. Then her gaze seemed to deepen as she continued. “I need your help, Nick.”

“How’s that?” he asked, trying to pay attention and listen to what she was saying, but the shock of learning he had a baby still dominated his attention.

“You can keep the state from taking her.”

“Her? A little girl?” he asked, his shock increasing. “I don’t know one thing about little girls.”

“There was a time you didn’t know anything about running a ranch or about baby boys, either.”

They stared at each other and he could feel an invisible ripple of conflict. He ignored it.

He had a baby girl whom he’d never seen. That was the only thought that dominated his mind. “How old is she?” he asked her.

“Fourteen months.”

“I had a baby boy for two months. He would be two years, nine months old now.” Trying to push aside a familiar dull ache at the thought of Regina and Artie, Nick took a deep breath. “Beyond the two months with Artie, I have no experience being a father. It was different when I had a wife and we wanted a family, but... I don’t know anything about babies. I don’t know anything about little girls...”

His hand practically shook as he put his glass down on the table. The next thought struck him like a raging bull. “You’re sure this is my baby?”

Talia showed no reaction. She maintained her composure as she replied. “Yes, Madeline was sure. You can get a DNA test if you’d like. Hattie is her name.”

“Hattie’s her name?” He liked the way it sounded.

She nodded. “I don’t have any doubt about the outcome, but no doubt you’ll be reassured when the DNA results prove that Hattie is your little girl.”

For a moment they sat in silence as he gazed out the window at his land spreading off in the distance. Was this true? Was he a father again? Even though he had been a father for two months, he couldn’t see himself as a dad to a little girl who was over one year old.

He looked back at Talia and met a cool, blue-eyed stare. She impressed him because in her quiet way, even when she didn’t want to break the news, she had taken charge of this meeting, something that didn’t happen to him with women, except for his grandmother.

“You’ve been caring for this baby?”

“Yes, I’ve been keeping Hattie since Madeline’s death. I watched Hattie often before Madeline died. As I said, she had no family and I was like a second mama for Hattie. Hattie has been in day care and I pick her up when I leave school. In a few weeks, the spring session will be over and I’m not teaching this summer. I’ll take her out of day care and be home with her.”

He sat quietly, mulling over all he had learned. How was he going to deal with this? He was a parent who didn’t know anything about babies or little girls and he wanted solid proof that this was actually his child.

“I want the DNA test,” he said. “Until I have proof, I don’t want to do anything.”

“I can understand that and I expected you to want confirmation. But you must understand, time is an issue here. However, if I tell the state agents that you’re looking into gaining custody of your child, they’ll probably back off for a while, especially long enough for you to get a DNA test.”

“If they don’t, I’ll talk to my attorney and we’ll deal with them.”

She opened her purse, pulled out an envelope and handed it to him. “Here’s the name, a number to call and the address for the DNA test. It takes time, but it will prove Hattie is your baby girl. My number is there also.”

Nick took the envelope, turning it over in his hand.

“In the meantime,” Talia added, “so we don’t waste time, I think you should meet Hattie.”

Maybe she was right.

He looked up at her. “You sound certain about my parentage. If I get this little child, if she is mine and the state backs off, where do you come in? You’ve been caring for her.”

She shook her head and looked away, and to his shock it looked as if her eyes filled with tears. “I love Hattie like she’s my own, but I know I have to give her up. She’s your baby. You’re young and you’ll marry again. I’m realistic enough to know there won’t be a place in her life for me once I turn her over to you.”

She ran her fingers over her eyes and he knew she wiped away tears. He thought about his own loss. He only knew his son two months, but he had loved him beyond measure, so he could understand her feelings. She’d loved this baby for fourteen months and a lot of that time she had been the sole parent with only the help of the day care. He was sorry that she hurt and he knew the hurt would only grow.

“It’s amazing how babies can wrap around your heart and steal it away,” he said gently and she gave him a startled glance. “If you live in the area, perhaps we can work something out where you can see her. We’ll talk about it after the DNA result is in,” he added.

“Thank you. That’s nice if it works out,” she said, still staring at him as if reassessing her opinion about him. She brushed her fingers over her eyes again and took a deep breath before she spoke. “You’re very doubtful this is your baby. I can understand that but—”

“You’re certain that Madeline gave you the straight story?” he interrupted to ask her. “I mean, if I am the father, she had almost two years to tell me about the baby.”

“I encouraged her to, but in the beginning, she worried that you might try to take Hattie from her. When her music career was beginning to take off she expected to leave Texas and move to New York or California or maybe Nashville, and she figured you’d never cross paths again.”

And if that had come to pass, he’d never have known about Hattie. If she was indeed his.

Talia must have read his thoughts because she said, “You get your DNA test and we’ll talk.” As she stood, he came to his feet immediately. “Unless you have some questions, I think we’re finished for now.”

“You don’t have a doubt, do you?” he asked and looked into her big blue eyes that made him draw a deep breath again and almost forget his question.

“No, I don’t. I do want you to know the truth and the DNA should convince you. That and Hattie’s looks.”

Startled, he stopped thinking about Talia’s blue eyes and stared at her. “You think Hattie looks like me?”

“You can decide when you see her,” she said, smiling faintly.

Her smile couldn’t hide the hurt that he saw in her eyes. She didn’t want to give up the baby she’d come to love. He could see that. He also saw the toll this meeting was taking on her. It was time to end it.

“I’ll get the DNA test and we’ll get back together,” he said as he led her out of the study. “I just can’t fully accept this until I have some proof. I’m glad you understand that.”

“Yes, I do.” She stopped at the front door and turned to him. “You have my name, address and phone number in that envelope. I’ll expect to hear from you.”

There was authority in her tone that reminded him of his grandmother and he almost felt he should promptly answer, “Yes, ma’am.” Instead, as he caught the scent of her perfume and looked into the depths of her eyes, he wanted to ask her out. The idea surprised him, and as fast as it came, he dismissed it. This woman had already complicated his life, and whatever happened, he needed to keep his wits about him and not get emotionally—or physically—involved with her. He wasn’t going to consider dealing with Talia if Hattie turned out not to be his baby, either. Too bad, really. He suspected she was as strong-willed as he was, and under other circumstances he would have liked to get to know her.

Talia reached for the doorknob the instant he did, and instead of the cold metal handle, his hand touched the warm softness of her wrist. Instantly, his heartbeat sped up and he was aware that mere inches separated them. Her skin was smooth and flawless; her rosy mouth was as captivating as her gorgeous blue eyes. When he couldn’t get his breath, the reaction she caused in him astonished him. Seconds after he’d lectured himself to resist her appeal, he reacted to it.

His eyes left her lips and traveled to her eyes when her voice broke the silence. “Nick,” she said, “I may not have the right to ask you but...” He saw her throat tighten as she swallowed back tears. “If she is your baby and you don’t want her, please don’t abandon her and let her become a ward of the state. Surely there’s room in your life and your heart for a child you’ve fathered.”

“If this is my child, I’ll take responsibility,” Nick said. He couldn’t help wondering if he was making a colossal mistake in committing himself, yet he wouldn’t abandon a baby that was his own.

“I’ll count on that. You won’t regret it. She is an adorable, happy baby,” she said, and he heard the wistful note in her voice.

Something hurt deep inside him as he once again thought of his own little boy, who came into his life and then went out too fast. Even though it was approaching three years since he last held Artie, he still hurt badly. “I’ll get the DNA and contact you whatever the answer.”

She nodded. “I’ll be waiting and we can go from there. Thank you for telling me that Hattie can rely on you.”

He opened the door and Talia stepped away, but he saw tears in her eyes again. “I’ll wait to hear from you.”

He watched her walk to her car, her hips swaying slightly with a poised, purposeful walk. She was one good-looking woman, but she had come into his life with potential news that would change it forever. So why the physical reaction to her? Maybe he was coming back to life and would have that reaction with any other attractive woman.

As fast as that thought came, he rejected it. He saw attractive women almost daily and had no such reaction. Not only attractive women, but friends, women who should stir the kind of response that this one had, but they didn’t.

He headed to his kitchen to get a cold beer and get Talia Barton’s big blue eyes and million-dollar legs out of his thoughts.

He opened his refrigerator and looked at all the casseroles, desserts and salads the local bachelorettes had brought. He wasn’t aware he even knew this many women. With a sigh he retrieved a beer, sat at the table and opened the envelope Talia had given him. He read the notes she’d jotted in her neat teacher’s handwriting. Then he called to make an appointment for tomorrow with the DNA people.

He took a long pull on his beer and stared into space, thinking about Regina and little Arthur. He wondered if he would ever stop hurting, ever stop missing them. How was he going to love a little girl he didn’t know when longing for Artie and Regina filled his heart?

Artie had been so tiny. Nick had rocked him, talked to him, sang to him, bathed and dressed him and carried him around when he cried. Occasionally, he gave him a bottle, but he hadn’t been fully responsible for his son’s care, and he never worried about what to do because if he had a question, Regina was there to answer it.

A fourteen-month-old baby girl would be another matter. She needed a mother who would shower her with love. The thought worried him until he shrugged it away. There was no reason to worry until he knew without any doubt that this little child was his.

And if Hattie was his child—how much would that bring Talia into his life?

Two

Talia Barton drove away from Nick Duncan’s ranch house. She could barely see for her tears, so she pulled over and tried to get a grip on her emotions. She loved Hattie and felt as if she was a second mother to the little girl. It had hurt terribly to try to get Nick to realize he had a responsibility to take Hattie. She had lived with a chilling panic since people from the state agency had stepped in and said Hattie should be a ward of the state because there was nothing official to indicate the mother had wanted Talia to raise Hattie.

Madeline’s life had been filled with joy, excitement and the promise of a glittering future in the music world. She had talked about seeing an attorney and getting papers drawn up to make Talia Hattie’s guardian, but hadn’t gotten around to it. Madeline had been so busy with her career, so filled with a love of life and her baby, that she hadn’t considered anything happening to take that life away. It hadn’t occurred to Talia to worry about the possibility, either. The accident had been a painful, numbing shock that still was a raw hurt.

Thinking about parting with Hattie hurt and Talia cried quietly. Finally she dried her eyes. She prayed Nick would want his baby and would come forward to claim her. Talia knew that, whatever happened, she would not get to keep Hattie as her own. She had to accept that. If she couldn’t raise Hattie herself, then she wanted the best possible outcome and right now there were only two solutions: Nick Duncan would claim his baby or the state would take Hattie. Talia didn’t want the latter to happen.

Thinking about Hattie and wanting to get home to see her, Talia gripped the steering wheel tightly and pulled onto the road.

Her thoughts shifted to Nick and the moment she had first met him. The first time they had touched, the mere handshake had sent tingles radiating through her and made breathing difficult. What shocked her was that he had felt the electricity, too. She’d seen it in the look he gave her, felt it as he took her hand lightly, a slight, impersonal touch, yet it hadn’t been impersonal. She had tingled to her toes, and she knew he reacted, as well. Another twist she couldn’t worry about. Right now she was focused on getting him to become the dad for Hattie that he truly was, and as soon as possible. Hopefully, Nick would let her stay part of Hattie’s life. Was that asking so much?

Yet she didn’t know Nick and he didn’t know her. What if someday he married again and his wife didn’t want Talia in their lives? Would Nick keep Hattie from her?

She didn’t want to think what would happen if Nick wouldn’t claim Hattie. First he needed proof that he was her dad. The minute she’d seen him, Talia had noticed the family resemblance. Hattie had Nick’s green eyes with little flecks of gold, his tangled brown hair and the same facial structure.

Talia shook her head. How was she going to go about work and keep focused on what she needed to do? All she could think about was Hattie every minute. She pulled into the day-care parking lot, climbed out of the car and went inside to find her little charge.

Hattie saw her coming and held out her arms. Talia picked her up, smiling at her and kissing her cheek as she squeezed her close. “Hi, sweetie,” she said, smiling at the baby, feeling warmth and love pour over her. She loved this child with all her heart. If only Nick would love Hattie, too. She told herself he would, once he was certain she was his. Surely he wouldn’t want the state to take her.

“How’s my girl?” she asked, snuggling close and inhaling the sweet scent of baby powder. Then she leaned back to look at Hattie, who smiled and patted Talia’s cheek. “I love you,” Talia said.

“Wuv you,” Hattie replied softly in her childish voice, but the words thrilled Talia even when it was wuv instead of love.

“I’m taking you home now,” Talia said, getting Hattie’s bag, gathering up her other things. She talked to two of the women who ran the day care and then signed out and left with Hattie.

“Once he sees you, I don’t see how your daddy can resist you,” Talia said as she buckled the child into the car seat.

“Da,” Hattie repeated.

“That’s right,” Talia said, brightening. “Daddy. We’ll work on that one. Da-dee,” she said, drawing out the word. Hattie giggled.

“I hope he makes you laugh. Da-dee,” Talia repeated, hoping Hattie would pick up the sounds and learn the word.

“We’ll keep trying. I want your daddy to be unable to resist you. I don’t want him to take you from me, but if he doesn’t, the state will, so better your daddy, who might let me see you occasionally.”

* * *

The first week of May, Nick was in his office on the ranch, staring at the document in his hand. The results of the DNA test. Absolute proof that he was Hattie’s father. He mulled over the news when Stan knocked and entered the open door.

“I needed to drive into town and thought I’d stop to see you. Are you doing okay with this?”

“That I’m a dad? Hell, no, I’m not.” He’d told his brother the DNA test results as soon as they’d arrived. Over the last few hours he’d read them a dozen times. He dropped the report back on his desk. “Talia Barton is bringing Hattie to my Dallas house tomorrow so I can meet her. We’re both trying to ease into this. Talia is hurting over losing her charge and I can’t imagine becoming a parent to a fourteen-month-old little girl. I don’t know how to cope with a baby girl.”

Stan stared at him with his brow furrowed as he pushed his hat back on his head. “You want to let the state take her?”

Startled, Nick looked up at his brother, his brows rising.

“Sorry,” Stan said. “I know you don’t want to do that and I wouldn’t want to, either. I’m sorry I even asked you a question like that.”

“Forget it. She’s mine and I’ll take the responsibility that I should, though this deal just tears at me. I didn’t even know the mother. I feel like every time I look at that little girl, I’ll want her to be Artie.”

“Sorry, Nick. You’ll get used to her. I’ll help any way I can.”

Nick heard the earnest note in his brother’s voice and he smiled. “Thanks, Stan. That offer means a lot,” he said, suddenly feeling proud of his younger brother for volunteering to help.

“I’ve got to run. I just stopped for a minute. When tomorrow is Ms. Barton coming to see you and bringing the baby?”

“In the afternoon. In the morning I’ll go to Dallas and she’ll bring Hattie by after her last class.”

“You’re a dad and I’m an uncle to a baby girl. Wow. That does take some getting used to.” His wistful look was replaced by a serious one. “I’m surprised the state hasn’t already stepped in and taken the baby from Ms. Barton. She doesn’t have legal rights.”

“She’s a teacher in a community college and she has a quiet, take-charge manner that probably makes people do what she wants.”

“A battle-ax?”

Smiling, Nick shook his head. “Trust me, you’ll never use those words again after you see her.”

“A hottie?”

“She’s stunning. You’ll see. In addition, she has that authoritative manner, in a quieter way, that our grandmother does.”

“No kidding. I can’t wait to meet her.”

Nick didn’t reply, but he looked forward to seeing her again himself and that shocked him. He didn’t want to have that reaction to her because she had upended his life.

He walked out with Stan. “I don’t want to tell Grandmother until I have everything lined up. I don’t want her trying to move into my house.”

“What a thought. Of course, if you let Grandmother move in, you won’t ever have to make another decision. You can just drift.”

“You know better than that. She’d make all the decisions but she’d keep me hopping every second. No, she doesn’t know until I’m ready. You go ahead and tell Blake and Adam and I’ll call them or text.” He knew he’d have better luck with his other two brothers than his grandmother.

“Good deal.”

“Talia said Hattie looks like me. We’ll see.”

Stan shot him a horrified look. “I’m afraid I can’t imagine a little baby girl looking like you.” Then he smiled.

“Frankly, I can’t, either,” Nick said, running his hand over the brown stubble on his jaw.

“Even if you try to keep her out of your hair, Grandmother will want to approve of the nanny you hire. And I’m sure you’re hiring a nanny.”

“I don’t know what I’ll do.” Nick couldn’t stop his fears from surfacing again. He’d been fighting them for the last few hours. “I don’t even know this little girl, much less love her. I keep thinking how she won’t have anyone who loves her here. Talia Barton adores her. She’ll go from having love poured out to her to a bunch of strangers. That’s not good and it’s worrying me.”

“We’re not a bunch of ogres, Nick, but I see what you mean. She’ll need someone to love her. It may not help her disposition, either,” Stan said.

Nick had already thought of that, but he was more worried about having a little baby who wasn’t loved.

“If she’s that good-looking, marry this Talia person,” Stan said, breaking into his thoughts.

“Stan!” Nick said, annoyed and amused at the same time.

“I’m kidding. I wouldn’t worry, Nick. Babies adapt and we’ll all be here to help. You know Grandmother is going to love this baby. She adored Artie. And pretty soon, we’ll all love her, too.”

“You’re right, I suppose. Grandmother is going to have to cooperate on this one. I can’t deal with a hassle from her.”

“Send me a picture of the teacher,” Stan said, going down the porch steps. He glanced over his shoulder. “I might want to propose. Then I’d be daddy and uncle to your little girl.” He laughed at his own joke and Nick shook his head.

“You’re hopeless, Stan. Take your suggestions and go,” Nick said, laughing with his brother.

“Seriously, I’ll help if you need me, although I don’t know as much about babies as you do. My expertise ends with colts and calves.”

“Thanks, Stan,” Nick said, feeling a bond with his brother.

As Stan drove away, Nick returned to his office, but he couldn’t get his mind to focus on the ranch work in front of him. He remembered Madeline. Since meeting Talia, he recalled everything about that night. He was sure he had used protection, yet here was this little baby and the DNA definitely made her his baby. He couldn’t get accustomed to the idea, and guilt swamped him at the thought he would have to take her away from someone who poured out love to her and place her in a family of strangers.

Enough, he told himself. It’d work out. It had to.

He picked up the leather-bound ledger but the figures swam before his eyes. All he could think about was his new status as a daddy...and his electrifying attraction to Talia Barton.

* * *

Late the following sunny May afternoon Nick paced back and forth. He was in his mansion in a gated community of Dallas, waiting for Talia to arrive, and then he would meet his daughter. That still didn’t seem possible. A night at a party—when he’d had too much to drink, been too long alone, hurting over his loss and trying to overcome the grief and desperation he felt—he’d had sex with a woman he’d barely known. Now he had a daughter for the rest of his life. A little girl who was going to move in with a father who was a total stranger. He knew that was better than the state and they would probably all grow to love her, but it was going to be rough for the little girl for a time and he hated that. And it was breaking Talia’s heart, something he could understand all too well because of the loss of his son.

When he heard a car, he glanced at his watch. Talia was on time. He thought about seeing her again and that was one bit of this whole thing that he looked forward to, even though he shouldn’t because she had already complicated his life beyond measure.

He hurried to the front door. When he reached for the door, he glanced out and saw Talia coming up the walk carrying a little girl in her arms. His pulse jumped as his glance swept over Talia’s high heels and her deep blue sleeveless dress. Her hair was high, pinned on the sides of her head, and fell in spiral curls over her shoulders. The curls bounced slightly with each step she took. His gaze shifted to the baby in her arms. The little girl had one thin arm on Talia’s shoulder with her fingers wound in Talia’s long curls. Her other arm hung at her side. She had wispy, tangled brown hair, and from a distance she looked like a pretty child. He couldn’t imagine that this was his baby, but she was. It was a shock each time he thought about it, and seeing her didn’t make it any more real to him.

A little girl he didn’t know in the arms of a woman he would like to know if circumstances were different. His life was going to change forever and he couldn’t even imagine how.

He opened the door. “Come in. You and Hattie.”

“Thank you,” Talia said in a tight voice. From the sound of it, he was sure she was hurting. If she felt this bad just introducing him to his daughter, how much worse was it going to get for her?

He looked down at the baby in her arms, gazing into wide green eyes with gold flecks that were like his own and ran in his family. Hattie had the same color hair he did, the same facial features, but slightly darker skin. As if sensing something was wrong with the adults around her, she gazed solemnly up at him.

He stepped back so Talia could enter and closed the door behind her, catching up with them, his gaze lingering briefly on the sexy sway of Talia’s hips as she walked. Hattie twisted around to stare at him, studying him intently.

“Let’s go to the family room. It’s probably the most childproof room in the house. Arthur wasn’t toddling around or even crawling, so we didn’t get anything ready for a baby to explore.”

“I’ll watch her and she’ll go home with me until you’re ready to take her,” Talia said. “Unless you have other plans.”

“Plans? I’m just trying to get a grip on my new status.”

She glanced up with worry in her big eyes.

“You’re worrying about me taking her from you,” he said.

She shook her head. “I’m worrying you won’t take her and the state will get her.”

He caught Talia’s arm lightly, instantly having that startling awareness from the physical contact. He heard her breath catch and realized she felt something, too. Why did sparks fly between them when they didn’t even know each other? Looking intently at her, he released her just as quickly. Standing so close, he was acutely aware of her while he tried to focus on the problem.

“Let’s settle that one right now. I have the DNA and Hattie is my baby. I’m not giving my baby to the state to try to place in foster homes or wherever they can find. I’ll take Hattie and you’ll get to see her. You have my promise,” he said, emotions tearing at him because he was making a huge commitment that he didn’t even know if he could live up to. He had been tossed into fatherhood abruptly and it brought back memories of his baby boy and of his wife, of being in love and happy and filled with plans for a future that vanished in a crushing blow when their private plane went down in a storm. He hadn’t ever expected to raise a little girl he didn’t even know, a child born to a mother he was with for only a few hours. As he looked down into Talia’s wide, frightened eyes, his insides churned and he wondered if he could possibly keep the promise he was making to her. This promise was monumental and a life-changer. Along with tremendous responsibility, it brought heartache. Every time he looked at this child he’d be reminded of what he had lost in the past.

As she searched his gaze, tears filled Talia’s eyes. She brushed away her tears hastily. “You really mean that, don’t you?” she asked softly.

“Yes, I do,” he said. “Don’t cry. I’ll take Hattie because she’s my child and you’ll get to see her. We’ll figure something out.”

“I wanted so badly to adopt her and be her mother. My attorney said I’d have to go through the state to apply.” Shaking her head, Talia turned away, carrying the baby to the window and talking softly to her. He let her go so she could get herself pulled together while he tried to calm his own nerves.

A few minutes later he glanced around and saw Talia was standing a few feet behind him, holding out Hattie to place her in his arms. As their hands brushed, he felt a frisson of electricity shoot up his arm. He inhaled her perfume, an enticing scent. As he took Hattie, his gaze met Talia’s, and if he let himself, he could drown in the blue depths of her eyes.

His heart pounding, he forced himself to step back slightly, and his gaze was captured by the baby, who stared at him with huge eyes.

She was soft, warm and smelled of soap and lotion. She wore a white blouse and a pink jumper.

“Hi, Hattie,” he said quietly.

She touched a button on his shirt and then touched his chin.

He felt little fingers moving over the stubble on his chin while he gazed at her as solemnly as she looked at him. She ran her tiny fingers over his face. “I’ll contact the state human services and let them know that I have my baby. I think that will take her name off any list they have.”

“It will as soon as you’ve notified them that you’re taking her permanently. My attorney checked and I can’t just come calling and then take her home with me. I have a friend who is an attorney and he’s been keeping up with this. When you step in and actually take care of her and she lives with you, they have to back off and leave you alone unless they get a complaint about the way she’s being raised, which they won’t. Since Madeline’s death, Hattie hasn’t had any family except me. There’s no one else who cares about her except the women at the day care. They think she’s sweet and adorable.”

“So except for those ladies, you’re her whole world. We’ll definitely have to work something out so you can come see her.”

Her blue eyes widened and he saw hope blossom in them. Then she turned them to the child he held.

“Hattie, this is your daddy. Daddy,” she repeated distinctly and looked at Nick. He looked down at her, and for a few seconds all he could think about was Talia and how close she stood, how tempting she smelled. She looked back at Hattie. “Daddy,” Talia repeated.

“Da,” Hattie said, running her fingers on Nick’s jaw again.

“God love the little children,” Nick said softly and turned away. Emotions tore at him when she ran her tiny fingers over his chin because Hattie made him think about Artie. He would never hear Artie say “Daddy,” and it hurt. He missed his son and felt conflicted over the little girl in his arms. He pulled out his handkerchief and wiped away tears, trying to get a better grip on his emotions.

“Do you want me to take her?” Talia asked.

“No. I’ll pull myself together. Sometimes it just hits me out of the blue and I miss Artie.”

“That’s the way I’m going to feel about Hattie,” Talia said so softly, he didn’t think she was even talking to him.

He heard her and knew she was right, and that disturbed him. “At least you can come visit and I’ll let her visit you,” he said, making another commitment that might be difficult.

Hattie’s little fingers ran over his cheek, her mouth turned down, and she looked worried by his tears. He smiled at her and she stared for a few seconds and then smiled.

“Da,” she repeated. He looked into her big green eyes and they stared at each other. Could he be a real dad to her? Would he grow to love her the way he had loved Artie? Right now, he felt at a loss and he hurt. Guilt rocked him for missing Artie each time he looked at Hattie. It wasn’t right, but he couldn’t help himself because he longed for his little son. Hattie was a little girl he didn’t know.

“One thing’s for sure,” he said. “She’s related to me. She has the Duncan hair and eyes. I’m glad I have the DNA results, but this child is a Duncan.”

Holding Hattie, Nick walked across the room with her. He wasn’t sure what to do next. At a store specializing in babies, he had bought a small stuffed pink bunny for Hattie. The bunny was in a gift sack with pink tissue paper covering it and he had placed it on a game table.

He picked up the small sack and held it in front of her. “Hattie, this is for you from me. It’s your present,” he said quietly.

She looked up at him and then down at the sack. He held it closer in front of her. “This is for you.”

She looked at the sack and at him in uncertainty, but then she pulled one of the pieces of tissue paper. As it came out of the sack, Nick smiled encouragement. “A bunny.”

“Bun,” she repeated and retrieved the small pink stuffed rabbit. He took the sack from her to set it on a table. “Mine,” she said, hugging the bunny, making him smile.

“That was sweet, Nick,” Talia said softly. “She likes you. She hasn’t protested going to you or wanted me to take her. That’s good.”

He walked to Talia and held out Hattie. “I’ll give her to you.”

“Of course,” she said, taking Hattie from him, their hands and arms brushing and bringing that same electric awareness of touching Talia that he felt each time they had contact. He glanced at her as he stood so close and she looked up, their gazes meeting. For another moment he was more aware of Talia than of Hattie. He couldn’t understand the physical attraction, especially at a time when they both were torn up emotionally.

Moving away, he didn’t want to pursue the feelings she stirred. His life was tangled enough already and he didn’t need one more emotional pull. He suspected she wasn’t any more enthused about the sparks flying between them than he was, but he couldn’t figure how there could be one little glimmer of appeal under their current circumstances. She had brought him a monumental problem, changing his life, demolishing the little calm and peace he was beginning to get back after losing Regina and Artie. Talia was awakening feelings he hadn’t experienced in a long time and he wasn’t ready to deal with them. He didn’t want to complicate his life with Talia as well as Hattie. Hattie was all he could deal with at present. A baby girl who needed two loving parents and siblings, but that wasn’t possible.

He stared at her and thought about Stan telling him to marry Talia. “My brothers are filled with curiosity and eventually I’ll have to tell my grandmother.”

Talia’s expression changed and she looked stricken. “You don’t think your grandmother will like Hattie?”

“Talia, relax,” he said patiently. “My brothers will be in awe because they’re uncles now. My grandmother likes babies and was devastated by the loss of Regina and Artie. The reason I said I’d tell her eventually is because my grandmother is a take-charge person and she will be all over me with ideas about what I need to do. I can handle that, but it’s tedious because I don’t want to hurt her feelings.”

Talia ran her hand across her forehead. “I know your mother is deceased and your dad lives in Palm Beach. You’re the oldest son at thirty-four. Your brother Stan is thirty-three, Adam is thirty-one, and the youngest, Blake, is twenty-nine. Your dad started Duncan Energy. You took over later and then stepped down, and Adam is CEO. Blake works for him while you, as well as Stan, are on the board.”

Startled, he looked up again. “How do you know all that?”

“I hired a PI to find out about you before I contacted you. I’m sorry that I pried into your life but I wanted to know what kind of person I would be dealing with.”

He nodded. “I don’t blame you. My dad will have no interest in Hattie one way or another. He’s into his own life and we don’t see him. He was a good dad and we loved him and everything was fine until Mom died when I was sixteen. Dad never has recovered. He drinks and he’s married to his fifth wife. He doesn’t come home to Texas, and when he does come back, my grandmother ties into him. She’s my maternal grandmother and those two don’t get along.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t have family, so family seems special and important to me, something valuable to be cherished.”

He nodded. “That’s a good outlook.”

She blushed. “Well, again, I’m sorry for prying into your life. By the way, I know your age, so if you want to know mine, I’m twenty-nine. Madeline was twenty-eight when she was killed in the car wreck.”

“She was beautiful and talented. I remember that much. Talia, forget hiring a PI. You had a good reason. That’s how you found my attorney, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” she admitted.

“I wondered.” Hattie chose that moment to let out a shrill giggle as she played with her bunny, eliciting a smile from Nick. “She is a happy little girl, isn’t she?”

Talia put the baby on the floor so she could play. “She’s a sweetheart. She’s had a big loss in her life but she’s still happy. I’ve tried to make up for the loss of her mother as best I can, which just means being there for her and showering her with love.”

“You’ve done a good job and I’m grateful.” He looked at Talia again. Her long blond curls framed her face and he realized he could spend the day looking at her. His gaze lowered to her mouth and he wondered what it would be like to kiss her. When he realized the drift of his thoughts, he tried to shift his focus. He reached down and ruffled Hattie’s brown hair, which earned another giggle.

“She’s been around a lot of kids at the day care and her mother used to take her to music tryouts and rehearsals,” Talia said, “so she’s comfortable with people. You’ll see.”

“Artie was happy, too. He was so easy.”

Hattie was busy with her new bunny, making sounds as she played with it. She was a beautiful baby but he couldn’t feel like she was his yet. Nor could he keep from wanting Artie and Regina.

Talia watched Hattie, another of those concerned looks on her face. He knew what she was thinking about—that moment when she would have to give up little Hattie, when she would have to hand her over to Nick forever. He ached for her because he knew how she felt. He missed his own little boy, the baby he had rocked, kissed, fed and held. Hattie and Talia were bringing back memories that ripped him apart.

“Aw, hell, Talia, this is tearing us both up,” he said, turning to her. “Let’s figure where we’ll go from here, what we’ll do next and get this over with. I have to take her, but not today. We’ll continue to send her to day care until we work out what we’ll do. Then I’ll take Hattie, so the state will have to back off and get the hell out of our lives.”

He glanced at the child. “Thank goodness she doesn’t know what’s going on. She’s going to miss you like hell.” Talia had become mama to her. When they loved each other, a mother and child formed the tightest possible bond. Nick rubbed his forehead as he thought about what he was doing—taking a baby from the only mother she now knew. When Hattie woke crying in the night and he came to comfort her, would she be scared?

He looked intently at Talia and she stared at him.

“What?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”

“As far as she knows now, you’re her mother,” he said.

“Yes, but you’ll be her daddy before you know it,” Talia answered solemnly. “And suddenly you’ll be a family. You’re bound to marry again and then she’ll have a mama who loves her.”

Talia looked away and he knew she was fighting tears again and he couldn’t blame her.

He barely knew her, yet he ached for her. He wanted to put his arms around her and try to comfort her and to calm his own nerves and feelings of loss, but they had a fiery chemistry between them that he didn’t want to ignite. He didn’t know why sparks flared when they touched, but he didn’t want the physical attraction to escalate. He didn’t need that to complicate his thinking. He had to avoid crossing a line where they had more emotional problems between them to deal with, but it was a strain to keep from reaching out and comforting her. He fought the urge and stood facing her as he said, “Talia, you should raise her.”

She turned her back to him and he suspected she lost the battle to try to avoid crying. “That was my biggest fantasy, that I was a stay-at-home mom and with her every day,” she said in a soft voice as if talking to herself. After a moment she wiped her eyes while her back was still turned. “This is hard, Nick. It hurts because I love her as if she was my own baby. I’ve had two miscarriages, so I’ve lost two babies and I’m going to lose another one now—one that I love with all my heart.”

This time he couldn’t keep from stepping up close to her to pat her on the shoulder, and even that touch just made him want to pull her into his arms and hold her. “Shh, Talia,” he whispered. He looked at the baby seated on the floor, still playing with her new bunny. She looked up at him and smiled, holding out her arms.

“Talia, she wants to be picked up,” he said.

Glancing over her shoulder, Talia moved instantly, wiping away tears as she turned to get Hattie before he did. She scooped her into her arms and held her, hugging her and kissing her cheek. Hattie smiled and held Talia.

And Nick hurt for them and for himself.

Talia sat on the floor with her, doubling her long legs under her. He couldn’t keep from letting his gaze sweep over her gorgeous, long shapely legs. As he watched them play, he couldn’t deny his attraction. She was a beautiful woman.

Again, he thought Talia knew how to take care of Hattie better than anyone else on earth. She stood and faced him while Hattie curled up on the floor and played with her bunny.

“She’s getting sleepy, so we should go. You’ve got your DNA results and you’ve met your baby girl. I’ll take her home with me tonight. You plan what you’ll do, get baby equipment—and I will be happy to help with any or all of that if you want me to—and then I’ll turn Hattie over to you. It really shouldn’t take you long. I can give you a list of baby furniture she’ll need. I don’t want to give mine up because I hope you’ll let her stay with me sometimes.”

“Of course she can stay with you. She can stay a lot. Talia, she’ll be lost without you,” he said.

“She’ll adapt. Children do adapt,” she said and he heard the strain in her voice. “Whatever help you need, let me know.”

“I’m letting you know right now,” he said, suddenly wanting her help and knowing Hattie needed someone who loved her to be with her. If this were Artie, Nick absolutely wouldn’t want him handed over to a house of strangers. Talia was the one person Hattie would know and love. And who would love Hattie with all her heart in return. Babies thrived on love. Talia would be the most possible help because she was already parenting Hattie.

The thought struck him like a lightning bolt. Suddenly he knew exactly what he had to do.

“I need your help,” he said. “Move in here while we work this out. You don’t have to tonight, but soon. I can have someone drive you to school and pick up you and Hattie.”

“In a limo?” she said, smiling and shaking her head. “I’m almost tempted to answer yes just to see everyone’s reactions. I would be the most famous person in the school. No, Nick, thanks. I can’t move in with you. We’ll get this over and done with without me moving in because all too soon, I’d have to move out again. I’d cry over her every day.”

“Okay. Come over for dinner tomorrow night, bring Hattie, and I’ll have my first questions and problems lined up. And I will need the list of baby furniture. I got rid of the baby furniture that I had because I couldn’t see any point in keeping it.”

“If you want me to go shopping with you, I will.”

He looked into wide eyes that made him momentarily forget baby furniture. “I won’t go shopping,” he said. “I’ll hire someone to buy everything. You can earn some money on the side if you want to do it.”

“I’ll get it but you don’t have to pay me. Just pay for the furniture. Where do you want it delivered? Here or the ranch?”

“I’ll need it at both places. I live here and I live there. She’s so little and yet she needs enough things to fill a big truck.” He let out a deep sigh. “I need a wife.”

“I’m sure you can find a wife easily enough,” she said. “But please get one who really likes Hattie and means what she says.”

He meant his comment as a joke, but he saw the sincerity in Talia’s eyes. They were filled with worry and he was part of the problem. He stepped close, placing his hands on her shoulders, feeling her warm, smooth skin where her dress was sleeveless.

“I can’t tell you to stop worrying because I know this hurts, but you’ll always get to see Hattie. You’ll get to be with her. She isn’t going out of your life. Hang on to that. I’d give anything if I could see Artie.”

She blinked and her eyebrows arched. “Oh, Nick. I’m sorry. I’ve probably been making things worse for you.”

“We both hurt.”

“Just love Hattie. She’s going to need your love. She lost her mother, never knew her grandparents and now she’s losing me. She’ll need your love.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “Sorry, Nick, sometimes I just can’t avoid crying. I love her so much.”

“I understand. I’ll love her because she’s my child. I only knew Artie two months, but I loved him beyond measure,” he said so quietly, he didn’t know whether she heard, but it didn’t matter.

“There’s just no way I can be her mother in the eyes of the state,” Talia said, looking at Hattie. “Love doesn’t even fit into their equation.” Talia looked up to find Nick studying her intently.

He gazed at her in silence so long that she focused on him, frowning when she studied him. “What, Nick? What’s wrong?”

Lost in his thoughts, he blinked. “I’m thinking. There’s one way you can become her mother as far as the state is concerned. It would be legal and binding.”

Frowning, she shook her head. “I don’t think so. We don’t have any—” She broke off to stare at him while her frown deepened.

“We can marry,” he said.

Three

“Excuse me—did I hear you propose marriage?” she asked, her heart thumping wildly. “Did you just propose to me?” Shocked, she stared at him and he gazed steadily back.

“Yes, I did,” he replied, sounding surprised, as if he were telling himself as well as her.

“Oh, my heavens.” Her head swam and she gulped for breath while she stared at him. “I may faint. I’m not going to,” she added hastily. “I’ve never fainted.”

“Hattie needs someone with her who loves her. I’m a stranger and so is my whole family. Anyone I’d hire would be even less concerned with her welfare. You love her and shower her with love and she loves you. Hattie needs someone to love her. You and I can have a marriage of convenience.”

Talia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She would get to be with Hattie. She turned to look at the baby playing on the floor. She would get to be Hattie’s real mother. “Nick, if we married, I could adopt Hattie. She would really be my baby, my daughter. Actually, our baby.” Her hands flew to her chest. “I feel as if I’m in a dream. A dream come true. Do you really mean that? You’re actually proposing marriage?”

“A marriage of convenience. We’ll both benefit. I know we’re not in love. I can’t love again and we don’t even know each other. But it’d be a legal marriage to keep Hattie happy and help us both out.” He grasped her hands and asked her again. “Will you marry me in a marriage of convenience?”

“I don’t think you know what you’re doing, Nick. How happy I am.” Excitement made her shake. “I can adopt her legally and Hattie would really be my little girl.”

“That’s right. You could adopt her.”

She held back a gasp when it finally all sank in. “But you’re right, Nick. We don’t even know each other. Are you sure?”

“Yes, I am,” he said quietly, looking as if he was still giving it thought.

“Nick,” she gushed and stepped closer to throw her arms around him.

He caught her, slipping one strong arm around her waist while he laughed softly.

Smiling at him, she felt light-headed and giddy. “Oh, my. You just made my biggest, deepest wish come true—to get to be Hattie’s legal mother. I get to watch her grow up. You just gave me the world.” She leaned back to look at him, gazing into green eyes that hid whatever he was thinking or feeling. Then she hugged him tightly.

“So... I take it your answer is—”

She stepped back to laugh. “Yes. My answer is yes. I’ll marry you, Nick Duncan.”

“You do realize I mean a legal marriage, but not a real marriage. That wasn’t what I had in mind,” he said. “You’ve heard of a marriage of convenience, right?” He didn’t wait for her response. “We can marry and work out how we’ll live. If we marry legally, the state can’t touch us and you can legally adopt Hattie.”

“I understand, Nick. Your proposal is still a dream come true. I love Hattie more than anyone or anything else and you are enabling me to keep her, to raise her, to love her and be with her. You have my forever thanks.”

“There’s no need to thank me,” he said. “We’ll be helping each other out.” He gestured to the sofa and they both sat. “You’ll have to get me up-to-date about your life and your history. You seem to know mine sufficiently.”

That part was true, she silently acknowledged. She stared at him. She could easily see that Nick Duncan was a sexy, good-looking man, but her research had told her a lot about him. He was a billionaire oilman, rancher, widower with three brothers. He had a father he rarely saw and a grandmother living on his ranch. The Duncans were part of Texas history because it was a generations-old ranching family with immense wealth and political influence partially because his great-grandfather had been in the Texas Senate.

And here he was, offering her a marriage of convenience.

She looked at Hattie and couldn’t get her breath. She hadn’t imagined there was any way on earth to get to keep Hattie, and yet Nick was holding one out to her. While she couldn’t imagine marrying a man she didn’t know, that was what she was going to do. But she wasn’t worried. The PI hadn’t turned up anything bad about Nick. If she married him, she would always have Hattie. She could barely think beyond that point. She would become Hattie’s legal mother, and as long as they both lived, Hattie would be part of her life.

Her gaze went from Hattie to Nick and she was suddenly overwhelmed by emotion. “Nick—” She broke off, placing her hands over her face.

In seconds, she felt his hands on her upper arms, gently holding her. “Talia, don’t cry.”

“I can’t keep from it. I’m sorry. It’s just so overwhelming.” She fumbled in a pocket to pull out a dainty handkerchief and wipe her eyes.

“Talia, if you need them, I can give you references. I promise you, I’m a good guy. I—”

She looked up at Nick, her brows knitted. Why was he talking about references? Then it hit her, and she smiled. “I don’t need references, Nick. I’m crying for joy. Because it’s too miraculous to be possible that I might get to keep Hattie.”

“Oh.” He smiled sheepishly.

“You just thought that up, didn’t you? The whole marriage-of-convenience idea.”

“Yes, but the more I think about it, the more I think it will work.” He stood up, walked to Hattie and picked her up.

“Talia, this is my child. I don’t want to take her from someone she loves and trusts and thrust her into a houseful of strangers, most of us men. She needs a loving mother. I couldn’t bear to have had Artie put into a home of strangers. She’s only fourteen months old and I know she’ll adjust, but if we marry, she will go right along being the happy little child she is and she won’t have a big adjustment to make. I’ll have someone I think I’ll like to love and take care of Hattie and help me raise her. And you’ll be with Hattie and be her legal mother.”

Her thoughts swirled and she looked at Hattie in the crook of his arm, which looked so natural.

Nick sat with her on his lap and Hattie immediately climbed down. Holding to his knee, she reached for a small table and then moved to plop down on the floor in front of a brass box filled with magazines. Hattie pulled one out to toss it behind her and Talia hurried toward her.

“Let her play with the magazines unless she’ll get paper cuts,” Nick said. “She’s not going to hurt anything in that box. Those magazines will be recycled whenever Tina and her cleaning crew get to them.”

“Cleaning crew, a limo, two mansions... Nick, I don’t have that kind of life.” Under normal circumstances she didn’t think it would ever work out between her and someone like Nick. But this was a marriage of convenience. “But I can’t get beyond the realization that now I get to keep Hattie and I’ll become her mother. I can hardly sit still. I feel like dancing around the room. I feel as if I could dance all night and shout for joy.”

He smiled. “I’m glad. I think this will be good for both of us. It lifts a ton of worries off my shoulders.”

She sat down beside him. “The biggest thing is that we don’t know each other at all.”

“We’ll get to know each other and you can adjust to the other stuff. Riding in a limo is not that different from riding in a car,” he added and she shook her head. He sat back, placing one booted foot on his knee. He looked handsome, sexy, strong, and she realized she could easily fall in love with him, but he would never love her in return. They already had lightning streaking between them if they barely touched. How could she marry him, be around him constantly and keep from falling in love? She didn’t think he ever would because all he had talked about since she met him was how much he missed his wife and baby. Was she willing to risk falling in love with him to get to be Hattie’s mother? That was her fantasy, and now it was coming true. Yes, falling in love with Nick was worth the risk.

“Why don’t you tell me about yourself,” he suggested.

“I’ve had a very ordinary life in many ways. I don’t have much family. I’m an only child and my mother died of breast cancer when I was a freshman in college. My father died suddenly from a heart attack when I was fifteen. He had insurance and he’d had a good job in the insurance business, so I was financially okay. I invested most of my inheritance and have done pretty well with it. I went to college on part of it, and I had scholarships for the rest of it.” She stopped and stared at him. “I can’t believe we’re doing this, Nick.”

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