His Temptation, Her Secret

“Marry me.”

He’ll do anything to save his son...

After high school, TJ Bauer and Sage Costas went their separate ways. Now a life-and-death crisis reunites the international banker with the woman who kept their child a secret for a decade. But TJ won’t be a part-time father. Marriage is the only solution...until reignited desire for his wife in name only completely changes the stakes.

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author BARBARA DUNLOP has written more than forty novels for Mills & Boon, including the acclaimed Chicago Sons series for Mills & Boon Desire. Her sexy, lighthearted stories regularly hit bestseller lists. Barbara is a threetime finalist for the Romance Writers of America’s RITA® Award.

Also available by Barbara Dunlop

Sex, Lies and the CEO

Seduced by the CEO A Bargain with the Boss His Stolen Bride From Temptation to Twins Twelve Nights of Temptation

Visit millsandboon.co.uk for more information

His Temptation, Her Secret

Barbara Dunlop

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-07620-3

HIS TEMPTATION, HER SECRET

© 2018 Barbara Dunlop

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.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

For CJ Carmichael

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Extract

Extract

One

As the bride and groom whirled into the first dance at the sumptuously decorated Beacon Hill Crystal Club, TJ Bauer struggled to block memories of his own wedding. It had been more than two years since Lauren had died, and there were days when he was at relative peace with her loss. But there were also days like this when the ache was so acute that his chest balled into a painful knot of loneliness.

“Doing okay?” Caleb Watford approached, handing TJ a glass of single malt, one ice cube, just the way TJ liked it.

“I’m fine.”

“Liar.”

TJ had no intention of getting into it, so he nodded to the dance floor instead. “Matt’s one lucky man.”

Caleb watched TJ’s expression closely, as if he was debating whether or not to let the topic drop. “I’ll agree to that.”

“It was touch and go there for a while.” TJ forced his mind away from the memory of Lauren, reliving his good friend Matt Emerson’s frantic, ring-less marriage proposal to Tasha, her packed suitcases at her feet. “I thought she was going to say no.”

Caleb cracked a grin. “It all turned out in the end.”

TJ found his own smile for Matt’s good fortune. He was genuinely happy that his friend had found love. Tasha was smart, beautiful and completely down-to-earth. She was exactly what Matt needed in his life.

Caleb clapped a hand on TJ’s shoulder. “You’ll be next.”

“Not.” The cloud moved back over TJ’s emotions.

“You need to keep an open mind.”

“Would you replace Jules?”

The question brought silence.

TJ took a swallow of his drink. “That’s what I thought.”

“It’s easy to say never when she’s right here in front of me.”

Both men shifted their gazes to Caleb’s wife, Jules. She was radiant following the birth of her twin girls three months ago. Right now, she laughed at something her brother-in-law Noah said.

“It’s hard to get past the never part,” TJ said, struggling to put his feelings into words. He liked facts, not emotions. Emotions always tripped him up. “It’s not that I’m not trying. I am. But it always cycles back to Lauren.”