The Boss's Baby Arrangement

A boss’s marriage of convenience for his daughter’s sake. Only from USA TODAY bestselling author Catherine Mann!

Widower Xander Lourdes will do anything for his toddler daughter. But in a high-profile custody battle, his millions only go so far. What he really needs is a wife, in name only. And he has just the woman in mind...if only he weren’t so drawn to the beautiful redhead!

Zoologist Maureen Burke is still reeling from a painful past, but her boss’s proposal comes just as her work visa is expiring. If they’re not careful, the heat between her and Xander may destroy the no-strings situation they’re both counting on...

Maureen Burke danced with abandon.

Throwing herself into this pocket of time, matching the steps of this leanly athletic man with charismatic blue eyes and a sexual intensity as potent as his handsome face.

Brains. Brilliance. A body to die for and a loyal love of family.

Xander Lourdes was a good man.

But not her man. Only her boss.

And too soon, her work visa was due to expire. And officials had thus far denied her requests to extend it. She would have to go home to Ireland. To face all she’d run from, to leave this amazing place.

So Maureen breathed in the salty air mixed with the scent of burning wood from the bonfire and allowed herself to be swept away by the dance. By the look of this man with coal-black hair that spiked with the sea breeze and a hint of sweat. His square jaw was peppered with a five-o’clock shadow, his shoulders broad in his tuxedo, broad enough to carry the weight of the world.

Shivering with warm tingles that had nothing to do with any bonfire or humid night, she felt the attraction radiating off him the same way it heated her. She’d sensed the draw before, but his grief was so well-known she hadn’t wanted to wade into those complicated waters.

Maureen wasn’t interested in a relationship, but maybe if she was leaving she could indulge . . .

* * *

The Boss’s Baby Arrangement is part of Mills & Boon Desire’s No.1 bestselling series, Billionaires and Babies: Powerful men...wrapped around their babies’ little fingers.

Dear Reader,

I am an animal rescuer. It’s not something I do. It’s who I am. For years, I’ve been active in volunteering at local shelters, but only in the past couple of years realized the time had come to be a part of starting a 501(c)(3) animal rescue. Little did I realize what an exciting, overwhelming, sometimes heartbreaking, but ultimately rewarding adventure that would be.

Needless to say, my work in animal rescue and my years in Florida inspired The Boss’s Baby Arrangement. A long drive through the magnificently exotic Florida Keys had me quickly convinced I absolutely had to set some stories there. And from that came the idea for the Lourdes Brothers of Key Largo, a family dedicated to saving and expanding a Florida wildlife preserve.

As my fingers flew across the keyboard, I soon found the animals weren’t the only wild creatures to be found in Key Largo! I hope you enjoy the sexy Lourdes brothers and each man’s journey to find the right woman.

Cheers,

www.CatherineMann.com

The Boss’s Baby Arrangement

Catherine Mann

www.millsandboon.co.uk

USA TODAY bestseller and RITA® Award winner CATHERINE MANN has penned over fifty novels, released in more than twenty countries. After years as a military spouse bringing up four children, Catherine is now a snowbird—sorta—splitting time between the Florida beach and somewhat chillier beach in her home state of South Carolina. The nest didn’t stay empty long, though, as Catherine is an active board member for the Sunshine State Animal Rescue. www.CatherineMann.com

To Jeanette Vigliotti, a brilliant professor and a dear friend. So happy you are an unofficial part of our family!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Extract

Copyright

One

Xander Lourdes had loved and lost his soul mate.

Parked in an Adirondack chair by the Gulf waters, he knew deep in his gut he wouldn’t find that again. Even after a year, his wife’s death from an aneurysm cut Xander to the core, but he’d been working like hell to find solace as best he could in honoring her memory every way possible.

By parenting their baby girl.

And by revitalizing a wildlife refuge in his dead wife’s beloved Florida Keys. He’d invested half of his personal fortune to revitalize this place. No great hardship as far as the executive angle went. He thrived on that part.

Although the fundraising parties? Like tonight? The endless schmoozing? A real stick in the eye. His preferred way to spend an evening was with his daughter, Rose, or in the office. These social gatherings tried his patience. For a moment his mind wandered back to how his wife had always stabilized and smoothed functions like this for him. She’d been a natural complement for him.

For his wife’s memory, he endured the beachside gala.

Xander drank tonic water, half listening to the state politician rambling beside him about a childhood pet parakeet. Small talk had never been Xander’s thing.