Dad for Charlie & the Sergeant's Temptation & the Alaskan Catch & New Year's Wedding (9781488015687)

by Stewart, Anna J. ; Sasson, Sophia; Carpenter, Beth; Jensen, Muriel

  She blinked. It was all happening so fast. If quitting her job to start teaching in Alaska seemed like a leap of faith, marrying Sam and moving to London was like jumping out of an airplane. But if it meant she could be with Sam… “The sooner, the better.”

  Sam squeezed her hands. “Let’s go home.”

  * * *

  ONCE THEY WERE inside the house, Sam led his lovely fiancée to the couch and pulled her onto his lap. He was going to have a wife, the most wonderful wife in the world. He pulled her against his chest and nuzzled her silky hair. “I love you.”

  “I love you.” She cuddled even closer. “So,” she murmured, “how will this work, exactly? With the company, I mean?”

  “I’m not sure, but I suspect once I officially accept the position, they’ll want me as soon as they can arrange for a work visa. That will give us time to get you on my health plan and everything, and arrange for an apartment.”

  “Oh.” Her hand went to her mouth. “I just remembered—I don’t have a passport.”

  “Then we’ll get you one. We can get it expedited.”

  She traced a finger along his arm. “Tell me about your new job. What will you be doing in London? Do they have oil wells there?”

  “It’s advising. I’ll be consulting with the various assets around the world. When they’re implementing new technology or having complications, I’ll be there to support them. Sometimes, I’ll be working from the office in London, but a good part of the time, I’ll be flying to different places around the world, helping with problems.”

  “I see.” She nodded slowly. “But you’ll be coming back to London in between? Kind of like with your Siberian rotations?”

  “I’m supposed to be in London about half the time. And I should have most weekends off to spend with my wife.” Of course, he’d assured Ethan he had no wife, no ties, that he was free to travel. But Ethan would just have to adjust his expectations.

  “Okay.” Dana paused and looked thoughtful. “I guess while you’re gone, I can explore. They have all kinds of museums and things there, right? It will be like a really long vacation.”

  “Yeah, it will be great.” He tried to sound confident, but the more he thought about it, the worse this idea seemed. How much fun could it be for her, living alone in a busy city where she didn’t know a soul, waiting around for him to get home from work or from a trip, where he’d stay just long enough to repack his suitcase and head out again?

  Dana went on, gamely making plans. “So, I guess I’d better contact UAA tomorrow and drop my classes. I’m still within the refund period. And I’ll give notice on the job so they can give it to someone else.”

  This wasn’t right. It was beyond selfish to expect her to drop everything to go with him. Dana deserved better. “No. Don’t give notice. Don’t drop out.”

  “No?” Her eyes opened in alarm. “You’ve changed your mind?”

  “Yes, I have. This isn’t fair. You’ve wanted to teach your whole life, but you gave up your own ambitions to meet your father’s expectations. I won’t ask you to do that for me.”

  “But, Sam, I want to be with you. You’re more important than any job, including teaching. I’m sure I could be happy in London. Lots of people would give anything for a chance to live in London.”

  “Maybe someday we’ll decide to do that, but not now. Right now, you need to go to college and get your career started.”

  “But—”

  “I’ll turn down the assignment. There’s a job opening on the North Slope I think I might be good at. Walt Chrism, a supervisor in Prudhoe Bay, is retiring. It’s a two-week-on, two-off position, so I’d still be away half the time, but during the two weeks I am home, I’d be free to spend it all with you. Not like London, where I’d be in the office every weekday when I wasn’t traveling.”

  “What if you don’t get it?”

  “Then I’ll find something else.”

  “Are you sure about this? Sam, I know how important it is to you to advance in the company. If you turn down a promotion, you might never have another chance.”

  He thought about that. “You know the idea doesn’t upset me nearly as much as it would have a few months ago.” He put his finger on her chin and tipped her face so she was looking into his eyes. “Do you love me?”

  Her eyes softened. “Yes, I love you.”

  “Then marry me. Make your home here. Let me share Alaska with you.”

  “When you put it like that, how can I refuse?”

  “Then it’s settled. Tomorrow I’ll decline the offer in London and apply for the job on the slope.” He kissed the top of her head. “And then we’ll find out how to get a marriage license.”

  “Perfect.”

  Sam, picturing their future, could see nothing but happiness. “We’ll raise our kids here and teach them all the things Tommy and Ursula taught me. You do want kids, don’t you?” Because he did. Suddenly, he wanted the whole package, a wife and a kid or two, or three or four. Whatever Dana wanted.

  She gave him a slow grin. “I do.”

  “You’re going to be a fantastic mother.” He nuzzled against her hair. “And teacher.” He brushed his lips against the corner of her eyebrow. “And wife.”

  She turned her face up to receive his kiss. He leaned in, but instead of a kiss, he rubbed his nose against hers.

  She giggled. “Eskimo kisses.”

  “By definition, all my kisses are part Eskimo.”

  She slipped her hands behind his head. “Is that what makes your kisses so good?”

  “No. You’re what makes my kisses so good.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “So am I going to get one or not?”

  Sam chuckled. “It’s going to be hard to stop at one.”

  Dana tightened her arms around his neck. “I’m counting on it.”

  * * * * *

  We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Heartwarming title.

  You’ve got to have heart…. Harlequin Heartwarming celebrates wholesome, heartfelt relationships imbued with the traditional values so important to you: home, family, community and love.

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  ISBN-13: 9781488012358

  The Alaskan Catch

  Copyright © 2017 by Lisa Deckert

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, M3B 3K9 Canada.

 
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

  ® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.

  www.Harlequin.com

  Fairy tales do come true.

  She seemed to have it all: a fabulous career as a supermodel, a dad who dotes on her and a home in Paris. And now Cassie’s rediscovered the Manning half brother and sister she barely remembered since she was split up from them as a toddler. But none of that excuses her bad behavior on a photo shoot that hit all the tabloids and sent her running from the media. With the help of family friend Grady Nelson, she’s able to lie low in his secluded cabin so she can be part of the New Year’s wedding of her long-lost sister. Cassie’s just beginning to believe she might really have it all—including the heart of this independent bachelor—when she accidentally sets fire to Grady’s house… Then all bets are off.

  “Hold the elevator!”

  “Grady…” Cassie stumbled.

  “Come on!” he encouraged her, running. “If we get there first, I can tell the waiter Ben’s paying. He has a tab here.”

  The man held the door from closing as Grady ran in, drawing Cassie in with him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she struggled to catch her breath. The man let the door go and the elevator began to rise.

  Grady was completely unprepared for what happened next. Cassie’s hands caught his in a biting grip, her fingernails drawing blood as she let out a high-pitched, ear-splitting scream. She began to shake him and point to the door.

  “Cassie—”

  “No!”

  The other man’s eyes widened as they reached the third floor and the doors parted.

  Cassie gasped and ran out into a hallway that spilled into the restaurant, only feet from the hostess’s podium. She stopped and drew in air, her arms wrapped around herself, her cheeks red.

  She looked mortified and somehow isolated. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, then added grimly, “Remember that issue from my childhood I mentioned that I still deal with?”

  “Yeah?”

  “It’s claustrophobia.”

  “Yeah,” he said. An inch of skin was scraped off his left hand. “I guessed that.”

  Dear Reader,

  I was a pudgy little kid, and all these years later, nothing much has changed. I’ve tried every diet out there with various levels of temporary success. Having a sedentary job doesn’t help, nor does the propensity to sit and read a book when everyone else is playing tennis.

  The real boon of that sedentary job, though, is that I can create and spend time with a heroine who has a perfect body. I know a great body doesn’t make a better person, but I’ve always wanted one anyway. I make no apologies.

  When Cassidy Chapman formed in my mind, the third child in my Manning Family Reunion series, she was beautiful and looked perfect, but I didn’t know what she did for a living. Then I thought about the perfect job for a woman with a perfect body and I let out all the stops. She’s a supermodel with a great life, but she has a past she knows little about since she and her siblings were separated as children.

  As New Year’s Wedding opens, the paparazzi are on her trail after an embarrassing episode on a photo shoot, and she’s running to escape them with Grady Nelson—Ben’s police department partner from To Love and Protect.

  In Beggar’s Bay she finds family, answers to questions that have plagued her for a long time and love. But Grady has his own issues, so finding solutions that will allow them to build a life together isn’t easy. But is it ever?

  While it’s true that her model’s body didn’t simplify her life, she looked wonderful while she struggled. I loved that.

  Thank you for buying my book!

  New Year’s Wedding

  Muriel Jensen

  Muriel Jensen lives with her husband, Ron, in a simple old Victorian looking down on the Columbia River in Astoria, Oregon. They share the space with a wild West Highland white terrier mix and two eccentric tabbies. They have three children, nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Their neighborhood is charmed, populated with the kindest people who are also the best cooks. Life is so good.

  Books by Muriel Jensen

  Harlequin Heartwarming

  Always Florence

  Manning Family Reunion

  In My Dreams

  To Love and Protect

  New Year’s Wedding

  Harlequin Superromance

  All Summer Long

  “Home, Hearth and Hayley”

  Man with a Mission

  Man with a Message

  Man with a Miracle

  Man in a Million

  The Man She Married

  The Man under the Mistletoe

  Harlequin American Romance

  Daddy to Be Determined

  Jackpot Baby

  That Summer in Maine

  His Baby

  His Wife

  His Family

  His Wedding

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

  Join Harlequin My Rewards today and earn a FREE ebook!

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  To the Seattle Mariners and the Seattle Seahawks to whom my husband is devoted. Their games gave me uninterrupted time to write. They’re also quite a gorgeous group, so my “heroes” folder is full of their photos.

  Contents

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  PROLOGUE

  THE COLD, CRISP night had begun so well. Despite the last-minute schedule change just days before Christmas, the crew had rallied for the flight from Paris to Ireland. They would make this photo shoot work. The only hitch had been Maggie, the makeup artist, who had already left on her Christmas holiday. But a replacement had been found and everyone approached the Heart and Soul perfume shoot with the enthusiasm required for success.

  The palatial country home where they were being allowed to set up lights and cameras had a pillared portico outlined with Christmas lights and a tall, decorated oak by the front steps.

  Cassie Chapman was cold. Her filmy red, off-the-shoulder gown was intended to contribute to the glamour of the scene, but someone stood just yards away with a warm coat to wrap around her during breaks.

  She was excited and edgy. Work always revved her body and her brain, but that wasn’t all. That morning, she’d learned that the brother and sister she hadn’t seen since she was two years old had found her and invited her to join them in Texas for the holidays. Though feeling like a lit firecracker inside, she tried to focus on the work at hand, knowing the entire crew was as anxious to
finish the night’s work as she was.

  The shoot began to go bad when the woman who had replaced Maggie kept running in between shots to reset the combs that held Cassie’s thick hair back. Her movements were quick and understandably nervous. She was very young and it was the first time she’d worked with this crew. She jabbed blush on Cassie’s cheekbones with a finger that felt like an auger, and fussed with eyelashes she’d applied earlier and that now drooped slightly on the outside edge.

  Cassie had stood quietly while the woman tried to fix it, apparently not achieving the look she wanted. The stars and the lights began to spin a little, her breath coming as though having to fight its way out. Oh, no. Those symptoms usually preceded an event. She told herself firmly, “Not. Now.”

  But rough, anxious hands were all over her face, pushing and smoothing, reattaching a comb and scraping her scalp.

  Cassie remained still. She had a reputation as a consummate professional whether she was in water, on a camel or in a tree. Discomfort meant nothing as long as they got just the right shot.

  Panic began, anyway. It was mild at first because she tried to work the behavior strategy. Breathe deeply, think about wide, open spaces and put yourself there.

  Her favorite place was Paloma Beach on the Riviera. She struggled to remember the feel of the warm breeze on her face and the sun on her limbs, to hear the surf and the laughter of other bathers.

  She was anxious, though, about meeting her siblings. She could miss her flight, and travel was crazy at this time of year. And the strategy required focus and not distraction to work well.

  She finally said politely, “Please stop. I need a minute to…”

  But the woman went on as though Cassie hadn’t spoken, determined to fix the troublesome eyelashes.