“I need a temporary wife.”
Logan McLaughlin can’t lose his Scottish family estate. But to rescue it, his grandfather’s will demands he wed! Logan avoids real relationships, having failed so significantly at love before. So when housemaid Layla suggests he take a convenient wife, he’s intrigued…
Untouched Layla never imagined Logan would choose her! With her scars, she feels far from the perfect bride. Yet to protect the only home she’s ever known, she’ll wear Logan’s ring… But can she ignore the burning connection threatening to destroy their paper-only arrangement?
MELANIE MILBURNE read her first Mills & Boon novel at the age of seventeen, in between studying for her final exams. After completing a master’s degree in education, she decided to write a novel, and thus her career as a romance author was born. Melanie is an ambassador for the Australian Childhood Foundation and a keen dog-lover and trainer. She enjoys long walks in the Tasmanian bush. In 2015 Melanie won the HOLT Medallion, a prestigious award honouring outstanding literary talent.
Also by Melanie Milburne
The Temporary Mrs Marchetti
Wedding Night with Her Enemy
A Ring for the Greek’s Baby
The Tycoon’s Marriage Deal
A Virgin for a Vow
Blackmailed into the Marriage Bed
Tycoon’s Forbidden Cinderella
Bound by a One-Night Vow
Penniless Virgin to Sicilian’s Bride
Cinderella’s Scandalous Secret
The Scandal Before the Wedding miniseries
Claimed for the Billionaire’s Convenience
The Venetian One-Night Baby
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.
ISBN: 978-1-474-09786-4
BILLIONAIRE’S WIFE ON PAPER
© 2019 Melanie Milburne
Published in Great Britain 2019
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
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To my darling little black poodle Gonzo,
who sadly passed away during the writing of this
novel. I miss you sleeping on the sofa behind me in
my office while I write. I miss your ebullient nature
and zest for life—as if you always knew, like us, that
it wasn’t going to be a long one. Your life may have
been short but you have left love footprints all over
our hearts. Rest in peace. No more seizures now.
LAYLA CAMPBELL WAS placing dust sheets on the furniture in the now deserted northern wing of Bellbrae Castle when she heard the sound of a firm footfall on the stairs. Goosebumps peppered her skin like Braille and a cold draught of air circled her ankles like the ghost of a long-dead cat.
No such thingsas ghosts. No such things as ghosts.
Her old childhood chant wasn’t working any better than when she had first come to live in the Scottish Highlands castle as a frightened and lonely twelve-year-old orphan. Taken in by her great-aunt, who had worked as housekeeper for the super-wealthy aristocratic McLaughlin family, Layla had been raised in the kitchen and corridors of the castle. In the early days, downstairs had been her only domain, upstairs out of bounds. And not just because of her limp. Upstairs had been another world—a world in which she did not and could not ever belong.