Daddy By Design?: Daddy By Design? / Her Perfect Wife
Daddy By Design? by Cheryl Anne PorterA funny thing happened on the way to the delivery room…Mechanic Trey Cooper has been in some tight spots before–but he's never been stuck in an elevator with a woman about to give birth! Luckily they're rescued before he discovers if changing diapers is anything like changing tires. Still, beautiful Cinda Cavenaugh and her little daughter suddenly make Trey wish he had a family–and little does he guess how soon he's going to need one….Her Perfect Wife by Kate ThomasHunk for hire!Busy Dr. Melinda Burke requires more than a housekeeper to get her hectic life in order. She needs a stay-at-home wife! But she never expects a stud like Jack Halloran to sign up to do her dirty work. The only hitch: Marry him! That's because Jack needs medical coverage so he can quit his job and plan his own company. The sexy doc offers him the perfect out. Besides, how hard can cooking and cleaning be? The toughest part is keeping his oven mitts off his new boss…
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Duets™
Two brand-new stories in every volume…twice a month!
Duets Vol. #69
Popular Barbara Daly serves up a delightful Double Duets this month featuring the smart, sexy, sassy Sumner sisters, Faith and Charity. The Telegraph Herald says this about Barbara’s books. Look for “…a delicious blend of humor, seduction and romance as refreshing as a day in New England.”
Duets Vol. #70
Cheryl Anne Porter returns with the second book in her humorous miniseries A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE DELIVERY ROOM. This talented writer always delivers “a funny ride—a roller coaster of fun and adventure.” Joining her is Silhouette author Kate Thomas with a neat premise. What does an overburdened working woman need these days? A stay-at-home “wife!”—in the form of the sexy, ever helpful hero!
Be sure to pick up both Duets volumes today!
Contents
Daddy by Design?
Cheryl Anne Porter
The elevator stopped with a sick, grinding crunch.
“This is not happening.” Trey turned toward the panel of buttons, pushing every one. Nothing happened. He muttered beneath his breath then started beating on the door with a fist. “Hey, out there! We need help. There’s a woman in labor in here—and a man about to have a heart attack. Can anybody hear me?”
Apparently nobody could. Trey turned to Cinda, eyeing her as if he’d known all along that she’d be trouble. “So, how are you feeling right now?” he asked.
“Fine.” Trey gave her a doubting stare and Cinda caved. “Okay, so I could explode any minute here. I’m not any happier about this than you are.” She bit down on her bottom lip. “Oh, God. A labor pain. I don’t think I can hold on. You have to do something.”
His eyes widened. “Got any suggestions?”
Was she not busy enough already? Did she have to do everything? Cinda breathed through her physical pain and pointed to the emergency phone behind its glass case. “Try calling someone, Mr. Cooper. Because if my labor progresses much further, the two of us are quickly going to become the three of us….”
Dear Reader,
I always love writing books set in the South, because the stories seem to take on a life of their own. The sultry climate and the slow pace of living offer great potential for plot, character and conflict. And with all that in place, all I have to do is write what I know! See, I’m a Southern girl myself, born in Savannah, Georgia. So when I was thinking about writing my second book in the A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE DELIVERY ROOM miniseries, how could I set it anywhere else?
All I had to come up with was a fictitious small town, a couple of transplanted Yankees, a stuck elevator, a cute baby…and, well, you can read for yourself! I hope you have as much fun reading this story as I did creating it.
Enjoy!
Cheryl Anne Porter
Books by Cheryl Anne Porter
HARLEQUIN DUETS
12—PUPPY LOVE
21—DRIVE-BY DADDY
35—SITTING PRETTY
HARLEQUIN TEMPTATION
818—HER ONLY CHANCE
To my sweet baby girl, MacKenzie.
Love you, “Macaroon.”
And to all my relatives in Georgia
(about half the state at last count),
but most especially to my cousin Joyce Colbaugh
for her unflagging efforts to promote my books
in her neck of the woods!
1
IT WAS JANUARY 2. A gray and sleety New York City day, full of traffic gridlock, honking car horns, and short tempers. A day of overworked people in a hurry to get home. What a time for Cinda Cavanaugh to be waiting for the cranky elevator outside her obstetrician’s office. She’d just been given the news that she was about to become a mother—soon. Not that she didn’t know that. She was, after all, more or less nine months pregnant, the key words being “more or less.”
It turned out it was going to be “more.” Her routine appointment had suddenly become anything but. In her mind, Cinda could still hear Dr. Butler confirming that Cinda, after many false alarms, was now truly in the early stages of real labor. Only the baby was still in a breach position. So the doctor had promptly sent Cinda on her way to the hospital, promising to follow her as soon as she rearranged her other appointments.
“Ha,” Cinda muttered, standing there alone in the long hallway, “I should have taken a rolled-up magazine to those other women and chased them away myself.”
Though Cinda felt a little bad about her self-centered, mean-spirited thoughts, she reminded herself that she wasn’t always this testy. It was just today. She’d heard that women in labor had a different set of rules. She squeezed her eyes shut and put a hand to her forehead. “So, what made me think I could do this alone?” She opened her eyes, grimacing. “Better yet, what made Dr. Butler think I really needed to be enlightened as to what actually goes on during a Caesarean-section delivery? God, just do it. Don’t tell me about it. Ick.”
