Bound by the Baby
Singer Melody Caldwell has given guarded entrepreneur Kyle Tailor months to take their relationship from casual to seriousâand run smack into the wall around his heart. But fate has intervenedâbecause Melodyâs pregnant.
Jealousy. Fear. Amazement. Kyle doesnât know how to feel about Melodyâs news. Heâs been holding back to protect himself. But when a mysterious someone takes too great an interest in Kyleâs woman and unborn child, it forces Kyleâs hand. If the millionaire hopes to keep whatâs his, he has to stake his claim now...with all his heart and soul.
The Heir Affair is part of the Las Vegas Nights series.
âMy feelings for you havenât changed.â
âYou canât seriously believe thatâs true,â Melody said.
âI want you in my life. I want to be there for our baby. How do you see your future?â
âHonestly, I sort of go back and forthâwanting us to be a happy family but thinking it might be better if I raise this baby on my own.â
âBecause...â If he asked her whether she was in love with someone else and she told him yes, Kyle wasnât sure what heâd do.
âBecause it hurts too much when I think how much I love you and wonder if youâll ever feel the same about me.â
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The Heir Affair is part of the Las Vegas Nights series: An exclusive club for men who have it all and want more.
CAT SCHIELD has been reading and writing romance since high school. Although she graduated from college with a BA in business, her idea of a perfect career was writing books for Mills & Boon. And now, after winning the Romance Writers of America 2010 Golden Heart® Award for Best Contemporary Series Romance, that dream has come true. Cat lives in Minnesota with her daughter, Emily, and their Burmese cat. When sheâs not writing sexy, romantic stories for Mills & Boon, she can be found sailing with friends on the St. Croix River, or in more exotic locales, like the Caribbean and Europe. She loves to hear from readers. Find her at www.catschield.net and follow her on Twitter, @catschield.
One
Kyle Tailor sat on the couch beside his business partner and best friend from high school, Trent Caldwell. It was Thanksgiving. On the great roomâs sixty-inch television, an interdivisional grudge match was happening between the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings. Kyle wasnât following the action. His gaze was locked on Trentâs sister.
Until she came along, solitude had never bothered him. In most ways it was simpler to live on his own without someone elseâs physical or emotional clutter. To find himself needing Melody had been a shock to his system.
Now, he didnât sleep well without her beside him. Since sheâd been gone, he slogged through business meetings and routine activities in a foggy daze, unable to concentrate or care. He missed her hugs. Her way of teasing him. Heâd lost weight, had stopped working out and lost an unacceptable amount of money in the casinos in the month since heâd come to Las Vegas to temporarily take over the management of Club Tâs.
Trent elbowed him in his ribs.
Kyle ripped his gaze from Melody and arched an eyebrow at his business partner. âWhat?â
âGo talk to her.â
âI tried earlier.â When heâd first arrived, theyâd exchanged a stilted âHappy Thanksgivingâ and an awkward half hug. âSheâs avoiding me.â
âDid you perfect your world-famous curveball on your first attempt?â Trent countered. âTry again.â
âSheâs on the phone.â
Trent grunted and returned his attention to the television. His infant son sat on his lap. His matching blue eyes were on the screen and every time the Lions scored and Trent cheered, Dylan would respond to his fatherâs enthusiasm with clapping. From the love seat, the childâs mother watched the pair with such fondness Kyleâs gut twisted.
Laughter rose from the kitchen. Nate Tucker, the third partner in their Las Vegas nightclub, was in the process of putting away the leftovers from dinner, helped by Mia Navarro, a fellow songwriter heâd been dating for several months.
Thanksgiving was a day for families. A chance to celebrate what they had. Nate had Mia. Trent had Savannah and Dylan.
Frustration ate at him. Kyle should have had Melody except five months ago the paparazzi had captured her and famous DJ/music producer Hunter Graves coming out of a New York City nightclub hand-in-hand. The way Melody and her former flame had been smiling at each other had eaten at Kyle day and night until heâd accused her of cheating on him. Although sheâd denied it, Kyle couldnât find a way to believe her.
After all, hadnât it been Hunter with whom sheâd been so deeply in love that she was prepared to do almost anything to get him to love her back? Even engage in a crazy scheme to make Hunter realize he was taking her for granted. But playing like she was in love with Kyle to make Hunter jealous had become real awfully fast. That was probably why the plan had worked so well.