The Double Deal

Snowbound with a sexy stranger...

Will sharing his bed destroy her plans or lead to forever?

Naomi Steele knows it’s sneaky to sleep with Royce Miller without revealing her true identity. So is neglecting to mention she’s pregnant. Still, being stranded with the reclusive scientist provides the perfect opportunity to convince him to work for her family’s company. Yet once the snow melts and the truth is revealed, Naomi could be dealing with double the trouble...

USA TODAY bestselling author CATHERINE MANN has won numerous awards for her novels, including both a prestigious RITA® Award and an RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Award. After years of moving around the country bringing up four children, Catherine has settled in her home state of South Carolina, where she’s active in animal rescue. For more information, visit her website, www.catherinemann.com.

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Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

The Double Deal

Catherine Mann

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-07629-6

THE DOUBLE DEAL

© 2018 Catherine Mann

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.

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To my sisters, Julie and Beth

“A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life.”

—Isadora James

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Prologue

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Epilogue

Extract

Extract

Prologue

Naomi Steele wasn’t naive.

Her life had brought enough challenges to make her wise—if not jaded. She’d expected pregnancy to bring changes too. Yes, hormonal upheaval. But also miraculous transformations, full of shimmering emotions and realized dreams.

She just hadn’t expected to feel such a ferocious internal roar—a primal drive—to protect her child at all costs.

Or possibly children. Plural? Twins ran in her family and having used in vitro increased her odds of fraternal twins. A wave of nerves—and nausea—hit her.

Breathe. Breathe. Focus.

With a report from the private investigator to her left and her computer screen to her right, she compared notes on the world-famous research scientist who could bring her the business coup—the security—she needed for her child. Sure, she had a large, wealthy family, and she lived in the confines of their estate outside of Anchorage, Alaska. Her suite was large. The enclosed balcony offered her magnificent views of both the bay and the mountains.

But none of that helped her feel as though she had a real stake in the family business. A legacy to share with her child. And since her pregnancy had been accomplished by in vitro fertilization with a sperm donor, she was utterly on her own to create that legacy. That lasting piece of the Steele portfolio that couldn’t be taken away.

Her family was in a state of upheaval. Her father’s upcoming marriage to a former business rival and the resulting merger of their two oil empires meant everyone in both families were fighting for roles in the new company—Alaska Oil Barons, Incorporated. Naomi needed to contribute to the business in a way that was undeniably hers.

And research scientist Royce Miller was her ticket to making that happen.