The Baby Arrangement

A nine-month business deal

Bree Tucker’s company is her everything. So when she becomes pregnant after a fling, she knows she can’t be a mother. She has no room for a baby in her life and zero maternal instinct. But the father, Nick Harmon, vows to raise the child on his own. Fine by Bree. Thing is, he wants to be right by her side for the next nine months. That can only mean trouble. Nick makes her feel things no other man has. Surely her growing attraction to Nick is pregnancy hormones and not the idea that he’d make a wonderful dad...

“You’re asking me why I want to make you dinner?”

Bree nodded. “Yes. Why do you want to have anything to do with me? All I’ve done is turn your world upside down. You should be enjoying this time before you have all the responsibilities of fatherhood.”

Nick hadn’t thought about it that way, and he didn’t want to think about it that way. “I’m just as responsible for this situation as you are.” He turned off the engine and opened the car door. “Now, come on. Let’s go see what’s in my fridge to eat.”

He came around to her side of the car and opened her door. He reached in to give her a hand as she got out and then, as if completely natural, she leaned into him and their lips met in a kiss.

A kiss filled with promise for things to come.

Dear Reader,

Everyone has had those days. The ones where things don’t go as planned. A flat tire on the way to work. You need to pick up your sick child from school, so lunch with friends is out. A flight delay. But what if that unplanned event didn’t just shake up your day but your entire life?

That’s what happens to Bree in The Baby Arrangement. She sees her life one way, with no possibility of straying from her plan to put all her energy into her expanding company. And then she meets Nick...

I hope you enjoy this first book in my new series. Stay tuned for more stories about Bree’s friends. Visit lisadyson.com to find out when they’ll be released.

I love hearing from readers. Please email me at [email protected].

Wishing you the very best of days,

Lisa Dyson

The Baby Arrangement

Lisa Dyson

www.millsandboon.co.uk

LISA DYSON has been creating stories ever since getting an A on a fifth-grade writing assignment. She lives near Washington, DC, with her husband and their rescue dog with a blue tongue, aptly named Blue. She has three grown sons, a daughter-in-law and four adorable grandchildren. When not writing, reading or spending time with family, Lisa enjoys traveling, volunteering and rooting for her favorite sports teams.

For Lila, one of the many strong women in my life

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

EPILOGUE

Extract

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

HOW WAS BREE TUCKER supposed to relax and kick back when she’d been so obviously abandoned?

She couldn’t figure out where the heck her friend Roxie had gone. She scanned the other people around the tiki bar once more with no luck. She and Roxie had come over to order drinks, and now she was nowhere in sight.

Thinking she’d walk around the bar to the other side, Bree took a step back from the bar without looking. She immediately tripped over something and gasped as she fell backward. Somehow she ended up in someone’s strong arms instead of butt-first in the sand.

Her gasp had heads turning in her direction. Great. She’d managed to attract unwanted attention from the mostly men around the bar. She turned her head to see who’d caught her, and her gaze collided with a pair of deep brown eyes with long, dark lashes. She blinked and slowly disengaged herself from him.

“Are you okay?” He was probably the nicest-looking man she’d seen since arriving on Isla de la Blanca earlier in the week for a working vacation with her girlfriends slash coworkers.

“Yes, I’m fine. And thank you for catching me. I’m sorry about that.” She straightened her bright blue romper and tossed back her long hair. “I’m not usually that clumsy.”

Her rescuer smiled, his eyes twinkling. A neatly trimmed dark beard set off perfectly straight white teeth. “It was my fault. I wasn’t paying attention, and my legs got in your way. I’m the one who should apologize.”

“But I shouldn’t have stepped back without looking.”

“Let’s call it a draw,” he suggested.

“Deal,” she said, then looked around again for her friend. “Have you seen a redhead? I’ve misplaced my friend Roxie.”

He shook his head. “I haven’t seen her.”

She whirled around as she checked out the nearby area again. She shielded her eyes from the glare of the setting sun off the clear azure water of the Caribbean Sea. “Did anyone see where my friend went?” she asked the men around the bar. “She’s got red hair and is wearing a dark green top with white shorts.”