He didnât even bat an eye. âOnly when it counts.â
âWhy do I get the feeling it counts a lot?â
âI play to win.â
âThis isnât a game, Lucas.â A little girlâs future was on the line. Amelia wasnât some pawn to be passed around at the whim and convenience of the adults in her life.
He paused for a moment, expression hardening, obviously taking offense at Devinâs candor. âThatâs why it counts.â He rapped his knuckles decisively on the tabletop. âHow long will it take you to move in?â
Dear Reader,
One of the greatest things about writing a baby book is the chance to relive cherished memories. Thereâs nothing quite like bringing that first wee one home from the hospital, then muddling your way through feeding, diapering and sleep schedules. The idea for Billionaire Baby Dilemma came from remembering all those new dads valiantly learning the ropes.
In Billionaire Baby Dilemma, Lucas Demarco is thrown reluctantly into the role of daddy. Where mothering comes naturally to Devin Hartley, at first all Lucas can see is a smelly, sticky, squirmy little package of noise. That is, until baby Amelia weaves her way into his heart.
I hope you enjoy Billionaire Baby Dilemma. It was a pleasure to write!
Happy reading,
Barbara Dunlop
Billionaire Baby Dilemma
Barbara Dunlop
writes romantic stories while curled up in a log cabin in Canadaâs far north, where bears outnumber people and it snows six months of the year. Fortunately she has a brawny husband and two teenage children to haul firewood and clear the driveway while she sips cocoa and muses about her upcoming chapters. Barbara loves to hear from readers. You can contact her through her website at www.barbaradunlop.com.
Dear Reader,
Yes, itâs true. Weâre changing our name! After more than twenty-five years of being part of Harlequin Enterprises, Silhouette Books will officially seal the merger by taking the companyâs name.
So if you notice a few changes on the covers starting April 2011âSilhouette Special Edition becoming Harlequin Special Edition, Silhouette Desire becoming Harlequin Desire, and Silhouette Romantic Suspense becoming Harlequin Romantic Suspenseâdonât be concerned.
Weâll continue to have the same fantastic authors, wonderful stories, eye-catching covers and emotional, compelling reads. Weâre just going to be moving under the overall company name, which will make us even easier for you to see in the stores, on the internet and wherever you usually find us!
So look for the new logo, but remember, beneath the image will be the same promise of romantic stories of love, passion, adventure, family and a whole lot more. Just the way you like them!
Sincerely,
The Editors at Harlequin Books
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Lucas Demarco was a man who liked certainty. He liked concretes, and he liked control. What his cousin Steve Foster was proposing lacked every one of those essential elements.
âPrimarily Brazil,â Steve was saying. âBut East Palites is a free trade zone for all of South America. Pacific Robotics would be in on the ground floor for high tech.â
Lucas hoisted his dripping wet sea kayak and paddle over his head and started back up the short path from the familyâs private dock on Puget Sound to their boathouse. âThe political situation is far too unstable.â
âTheyâre not going to nationalize the high-tech sector,â Steve countered, as he followed along in business suit and a pair of loafers. âThat would be suicide.â
Lucas flipped the kayak onto the grass outside the boathouse and uncoiled a garden hose. âRight. Because lunatic dictators always make rational decisions.â
âIf we donât do this, Lucas, somebody else will.â
âLet them,â said Lucas, unzipping his life jacket and slipping it off over his wet suit. It was a warm May evening, but the ocean temperature was still cold enough to turn a person hypothermic. âI donât mind being second into a market like that.â
Steveâs hands went to his hips, wrinkling his dark suit jacket. âThis isnât your decision.â
âIt isnât yours, either. And a stalemate means we stick with the status quo.â And that was fine for this particular stalemate. But Lucas knew they had to resolve the situation around his orphaned, baby niece Amelia, and theyâd have to do it very soon.
He and Steve each owned forty-five percent of Pacific Robotics, making Ameliaâs ten percent the key to the corporation.
Lucas knew it, and Steve knew it, and so did several dozen lawyers, company executives and competitors. Whoever controlled Amelia was the swing vote in every Pacific Robotics corporate decision from here on in.
Both Lucas and his brother Konrad had put their hearts and souls into the billion dollar corporation. As long as Konrad was alive and in control of his daughterâs shares, both Amelia and the corporation were safe. But with Konradâs death, Lucas needed permanent guardianship of the baby girl in order to have deciding control. It was the only way to protect her from outside corporate vultures whoâd try to use her, and the only way to ensure the future of Pacific Robotics.