He took a deep breath and lowered the pen to sign the contract, the ballpoint hovering just above the surface of the paper.
Do it, son, he seemed to hear his father’s voice say. You owe her at least this much. Be a giver, not a taker.
David was lucky. He had so much. A good career, a trusted SEAL team who would lay down their lives for him just like David would do for them. A nice apartment here in Chicago to stay in when he was in town on leave. It wasn’t like this would cost him anything, not even child support.
Ele had made it painfully clear she only wanted his sperm.
A weird aching knot formed in his chest at that thought, but David forced himself to shake it off and jotted his name on the contract. When he’d finished, he pushed the paperwork back across the desk to the attorney. “There. Done.”
“Excellent,” Mr. Swinhart said, stacking the papers neatly. “I’ll just get these notarized and be right back.”
So now all that was left was…
An image of him in bed with Ele flashed through his brain—the two of them entwined in the sheets of his bed as he kissed and licked and caressed every inch of her, making her cry out his name as he brought her to climax again and again and…
David inhaled deeply then exhaled slowly, doing his best to remember this was about the contract and not a night of wild passion. Yes, it would happen, and soon—deliciously soon—but it wasn’t going to happen right now, and he needed to get himself back under control before the lawyer returned. He got up to pace the office, concentrating on the contract, the details. Moving around always helped to soothe him when he was anxious, like now.
“Hey,” Ele said, giving him her full attention. “Don’t get all worked up on me here. Honestly, this is fine. Everything will be fine. This is what I want.”
“I know,” he said, stopping near the windows on the other side of the room. Through the glass, he had a good view of the Chicago River lined with skyscrapers and Lake Michigan beyond. “I’m glad we have the contract. Rules make things easier.”
Especially when the lines for him could be so easily blurred with Ele. The last thing he wanted was for any of this to affect their friendship. It was hard enough keeping in touch with her as it was with his travels and confidential missions.
Grab your copy of The SEAL’s Baby Deal
Available February 20, 2020
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BLURB
When Maria asked Navy SEAL Trevor Daniels to father her child—no strings attached—the hardened SEAL had no idea just how explosive their chemistry would be. As part of their arrangement, he vowed never to contact her again after the positive pregnancy test, but he never stopped thinking about the fiery woman who had captured his heart. A year later, when one of Trevor’s dark ops missions ends with the death of his captain and suspicions aimed at him, Maria’s the only investigator he knows who can help him crack the case.
Maria Blanchard had been raised to be a proper Southern Belle—an stereotype so completely wrong for her she’d retreated into books during her high school years. When the police academy finally gave her the guts to be the woman she’d always desired, she realized she didn’t need anyone to achieve her dreams. Not to get her dream job, and certainly not to get her dream baby. Still, when her childhood crush agreed to father her baby, she never expected to fall for the hunky SEAL.
When Trevor shows up on Maria’s doorstep in need of her help, he calls in his favor. But being wanted for a military crime means that Maria won’t just be helping Trevor, she’ll be harboring a fugitive, and the father of her child. Unable to say no, with her pride and her heart screaming yes, Maria agrees to help Trevor before they break ties forever.
But as their bond grows stronger and love ignites, it becomes a rush to save Trevor’s life before they lose out on a future they could only dream of…
Grab your copy of The SEAL’s Baby Arrangement here.
* * *
EXCERPT
Chapter One
If pre-baby Maria Blanchard could’ve seen her post-baby self now, she’d have been horrified.
Gone were her carefully dyed and pampered platinum blonde locks and perfectly applied makeup, her designer clothes and slick, sophisticated demeanor. In their place was long ombré-effect brown hair (well, more like missing-a-few-color-appointments-until-your-natural-color-grew-out effect hair), minimal makeup (and by minimal, she meant mascara only), and a top and pants she’d bought online during a late-night breastfeeding session. At least the color of her top was nice, a sort of teal-green that brought out the gold in her eyes. And the fit hid the last of the weight she’d gained during her pregnancy that never seemed to go away, no matter how much she dieted and exercised.
Yep. Things were definitely different. But she wouldn’t change it for the world.
She checked her watch, then walked into the living room to grab her phone. Tonight, she was going on a date, for the first time since her three-month-old daughter, Camille, had been born. A mix of excitement and nervousness swirled in her stomach. John was an attorney who worked in the law firm down the street from the offices she rented for her PI business. She’d been pleased when he had asked her out, finally, after months of casual hellos and conversations as they’d waited in line at the deli between their workplaces. He was smart, funny, and seemed like a genuinely nice person. And yeah, maybe he wasn’t heart-stoppingly gorgeous. She’d been with a man like that before and look what that had gotten her.
The child of her dreams. That’s what.
Now, she wanted stable, kind, safe. Those things were best for Camille’s future. Best for Maria’s future too. She’d gotten exactly what she’d wanted out of her affair with Trevor. No sense reconsidering her choices now. Even if he had offered her more then, she would’ve turned him down. Besides, she and Trevor Daniels had had a deal. A contract. He had given her a baby and she had given him his freedom. They’d both fulfilled their parts.
End of story.
Maria searched through the clean onesies piled on the couch in search of her phone. It had to be here somewhere. The babysitter she’d hired should’ve been here by now and she was going to be late meeting John if she didn’t leave soon. Thankfully, Camille was fully fed and sound asleep in her crib, so that was one less thing to worry about.
Near the bottom of a stack of pink and yellow cotton outfits, she found her phone and pulled it out, clicking it on only to see her screen flooded with text messages from Cindy, her office assistant, whose daughter was supposed to be babysitting Camille tonight. Apparently, Cindy’s daughter had come down with the flu and wouldn’t be able to make it.
Maria didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Part of her was disappointed that she’d miss out on some adult conversation and food she didn’t cook herself for a change. But another part of her was guiltily relieved that she could stay home and just rest, not have to put on her best manners and her prettiest smile because of a man she may or may not want to take things further with.
With a sigh, she flopped down amongst the fluffy cloud of onesies, the scent of fabric softener wafting around her, and called John to let him know the news. Of course, he was nice as could be about it, which made her feel even worse for being such a slug about her socializing.
Back in high school, she’d been little miss popular. The girl everybody knew and liked.
These days, she was Camille’s mom. Period.
Of course, her daughter wasn’t the sole focus of her life. She had her career, and she loved her work as a private investigator. But when it came to social interaction, there really was no one she’d rather be with at any given moment than her baby. Motherhood was everything she’d hoped it would be and more. A lot more. An occasionally exhausting amount of more.
After ending the call, Maria stared up at the ceiling, the sounds of some reality show on TV droning low in the background as she contemplated her choices for the night. She could do the responsible thing and fold all these onesies and
put them away before washing her face, changing her clothes, and going to bed at a decent hour. She could lie there amongst the laundry and fall asleep in her makeup and clothes. Or she could leave the onesies, make a sandwich, watch a movie, maybe actually read a book again.
Ugh.
At thirty-one, she’d figured life would be more exciting than this, even with a kid.
Then her stomach growled and made the decision for her. Sandwich it was.
She’d just started to sit up when a knock at the door derailed her plans.
Her pulse quickened, and her muscles tensed. Her date was canceled. So was her babysitter. So who could it be?
Being a private investigator meant she made a living out of exposing the secrets of people who didn’t necessarily want to be exposed. As a result, she took her safety very seriously. Her home address was as off the record as she could make it, and anyone who knew her knew better than to drop by unannounced. Maria stared at the front door as a second knock came. She wasn’t expecting anyone else that night. Whoever it was, they were persistent too. Her gaze flicked over to the locked drawer in her desk where she kept her Glock. While there wasn’t any one she could think of as being a threat at the moment, being a woman in her line of work was to live with the constant fear of revenge.
Slowly, Maria edged toward the front door, praying that the knocking didn’t wake up Camille. The last thing she wanted was to clue in whoever was on her doorstep that she had an infant in here. Risking her own life on a daily basis was one thing. Risking the life of her child was something else entirely.
She hugged the wall and lifted the edge of the curtain covering the window closest to the door, hoping for a chance to ID her unexpected guest. As she peered out into the shadows, Maria saw the last person on earth she ever expected to see again.
With a curse, she unbolted and unchained the door, then whipped it open, lowering her voice to a harsh whisper. “Trevor Daniels, what the hell are you doing here?
Grab your copy of The SEAL’s Baby Arrangement here.
The SEAL’s Unexpected Triplets Page 21
