by Louise Bay
“This one needs a little brother to take care of her,” Ryder said.
“God, please, we need some more testosterone around here,” Max said.
“Are you having another girl?” I asked.
“We don’t know yet, but seriously, if it’s another girl, you can have it.”
I smacked my brother on the arm as Ryder chuckled. “You don’t mean that,” I said.
“I don’t. But I’d really like a son.”
“I don’t mind what we have as long as all twelve of them are healthy,” Ryder said.
“Twelve?” Max gasped. “Well, when you’ve had three daughters, tell me again that you don’t want a son. All that pink. It gets to be too much.”
Ryder shrugged. I really wasn’t sure whether he would ever mind having all daughters. “I’m not committing to anything more than two at the moment,” I said.
“Two what?”
I turned to find Grace and Sam approaching.
“I’m so pleased you made it; how’s the house?” Max asked.
“Oh my God, we’re buried in boxes and contractors. Who knew a nineteenth century farmhouse would be so much work?” Grace sank to the grass on a sigh. “I’m so glad I hired people to decorate. We turned up with our suitcases last night. I can’t take any credit. Apart from the art. We have the most beautiful Chagall in the dining room.”
“It’s colorful, that’s for sure,” Sam said with a grimace.
Grace started to laugh. “It will grow on you, my love. I promise.”
“It better, Grace Astor,” he replied as he kissed her on the head.
“Lauren loves her bedroom but insisted that I put Miles’s cot in her room so he doesn’t get lonely,” Sam said and Grace shook her head.
“Something tells me it’s not her baby brother she’s worried about. But she’ll be fine.” Grace beamed. “And we’re only up here on weekends. You’re next,” she said, lifting her chin toward Ryder and me.
“I love it up here,” Ryder said.
I turned to him as Gwendoline clambered up his chest. “Really?”
“Of course. It’s nice to get out of the city without having to fly to England.”
“Yes, the trip’s shorter.”
“What trip?” Harper called out as she joined us and Max pulled her onto his lap. “You know we have a thousand square feet of patio to socialize on with enough chairs for everyone, right?”
“We’re trying to convince Ryder and Scarlett to buy a place up here,” Max said. “You interrupted our sales pitch.” He stood, wrapping his arms around her. “Now that we’re all here, let’s go get some beers.”
I glanced up at Ryder as he slid his arm around my waist and we headed back to the house behind everyone else. “You want a place in Connecticut?”
He blew a raspberry on Gwendoline’s neck and she covered his lips with her chubby fingers as she giggled. “Yeah, I think it would be nice to have a place up here with your family. But I know that it’s maybe not what you want.”
I’d been dead set against a place in Connecticut after my divorce—there were too many memories and broken promises—but now all that felt redundant. Life before Ryder was forgotten. I wanted what was best for my family and my future.
“I think it would be great,” I said. The way Ryder’s lips started to twitch at the edges gave away how happy he was. “You don’t mind not going back to Britain so often?”
“My life is here with you and our family. We’ll still visit and Darcy can come over and stay. I actually saw a plot of land a couple of weeks ago that might be perfect.”
“Land?” How long had he been thinking about this?
“About a mile from here. Maybe we can go and take a look tomorrow.”
“Okay. But there’s something we have to do before that. And we have to be home to prepare for the party.”
“What?”
I shrugged. “Just a pregnancy test.”
Ryder stopped with a jolt and turned toward me, our baby in his arms between us. “You’re pregnant?” he whispered, his head dipping to take in my face.
“I don’t know. That’s why we need to take a test.”
“You’re pregnant,” he said. “Gwendoline, did you hear that? You’re going to have a baby brother.”
“Shhh,” I said as he kissed my forehead and then our daughter’s crown. “We don’t know anything and we certainly don’t know if it’s going to be a boy.”
“I know,” he said. “I know because I’m the luckiest guy on earth. I’ve done nothing to deserve it, but the best things keep on happening to me.”
What he didn’t realize was I was the luckiest woman on earth. I had everything I’d ever thought possible and more. He might be British aristocracy, a duke and one of the most powerful men in Manhattan—what was more important was he was the best man I knew, my lover and my best friend.
The most incredible things kept on happening to us and, pregnant or not, I had everything I’d ever dared wish for.
Other Books by Louise Bay
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Park Avenue Prince
THE PRINCE OF PARK AVENUE FINALLY MEETS HIS MATCH IN A FEISTY MANHATTAN PRINCESS.
I’ve made every one of my billions of dollars myself—I’m calculating, astute and the best at what I do. It takes drive and dedication to build what I have. And it leaves no time for love or girlfriends or relationships.
But don’t get me wrong, I’m not a monk.
I understand the attention and focus it takes to seduce a beautiful woman. They’re the same skills I use to close business deals. But one night is where it begins and ends. I’m not the guy who sends flowers. I’m not the guy who calls the next day.
Or so I thought before an impatient, smart-talking, beyond beautiful heiress bursts into my world.
When Grace Astor rolls her eyes at me—I want to hold her against me and show her what she’s been missing.
When she makes a joke at my expense—I want to silence her sassy mouth with my tongue.
And when she leaves straight after we f*ck with barely a goodbye—it makes me want to pin her down and remind her of the three orgasms she just had.
She might be a princess but I’m going to show her who rules in this Park Avenue bedroom.
A stand-alone novel.
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King of Wall Street
THE KING OF WALL STREET IS BROUGHT TO HIS KNEES BY AN AMBITIOUS BOMBSHELL.
I keep my two worlds separate.
At work, I’m King of Wall Street. The heaviest hitters in Manhattan come to me to make money. They do whatever I say because I’m always right. I’m shrewd. Exacting. Some say ruthless.
At home, I’m a single dad trying to keep his fourteen year old daughter a kid for as long as possible. If my daughter does what I say, somewhere there’s a snowball surviving in hell. And nothing I say is ever right.
When Harper Jayne starts as a junior researcher at my firm, the barriers between my worlds begin to dissolve. She’s the most infuriating woman I’ve ever worked with.
I don’t like the way she bends over the photocopier—it makes my mouth water.
I hate the way she’s so eager to do a good job—it makes my dick twitch.
And I can’t stand the way she wears her hair up exposing her long neck. It makes me want to strip her naked, bend her over my desk and trail my tongue all over her body.
If my two worlds are going to collide, Harper Jayne will have to learn that I don’t just rule the boardroom. I’m in charge of the bedroom, too.
A stand-alone novel.
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Parisian Nights
The moment I laid eyes on the new photographer at work, I had his number. Cocky, arrogant and super wealthy—women were eating out of his hand as soon as his tight ass crossed the threshold of our office.
When we were forced to go to Paris together for an assignment, I wasn’t inte
rested in his seductive smile, his sexy accent or his dirty laugh. I wasn’t falling for his charms.
Until I did.
Until Paris.
Until he was kissing me and I was wondering how it happened. Until he was dragging his lips across my skin and I was hoping for more. Paris does funny things to a girl and he might have gotten me naked.
But Paris couldn’t last forever.
Previously called What the Lightning Sees
A stand-alone novel.
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Promised Nights
I’ve been in love with Luke Daniels since, well, forever. As his sister’s best friend, I’ve spent over a decade living in the friend zone, watching from the sidelines hoping he would notice me, pick me, love me.
I want the fairy tale and Luke is my Prince Charming. He’s tall, with shoulders so broad he blocks out the sun. He’s kind with a smile so dazzling he makes me forget everything that’s wrong in the world. And he’s the only man that can make me laugh until my cheeks hurt and my stomach cramps.
But he’ll never be mine.
So I’ve decided to get on with my life and find the next best thing.
Until a Wonder Woman costume, a bottle of tequila and a game of truth or dare happened.
Then Luke’s licking salt from my wrist and telling me I’m beautiful.
Then he’s peeling off my clothes and pressing his lips against mine.
Then what? Is this the start of my happily ever after or the beginning of a tragedy?
Previously called Calling Me
A stand-alone novel.
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Indigo Nights
The only thing better than cake is cake with a side of orgasms.
Dylan James has no expectations when it comes to relationships. He uses women for sex and they use him for his money and power. It’s quid pro quo and he’s good with that. It works.
Beth Harrison has been burned. She’s tired of the lies and the game playing that men bring and has buried herself in her passion—baking which keeps her out of the reach of heartbreak. As she begins her career as a TV baker, a new world opens up to her.
Dylan and Beth both know that casual sex is all about giving what you need to get what you want.
Except that sometimes you give more than you need to and get everything you ever wanted.
A stand-alone novel.
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The Empire State Series
Anna Kirby is sick of dating. She’s tired of heartbreak. Despite being smart, sexy, and funny, she’s a magnet for men who don’t deserve her.
A week’s vacation in New York is the ultimate distraction from her most recent breakup, as well as a great place to meet a stranger and have some summer fun. But to protect her still-bruised heart, fun comes with rules. There will be no sharing stories, no swapping numbers, and no real names. Just one night of uncomplicated fun.
Super-successful serial seducer Ethan Scott has some rules of his own. He doesn’t date, he doesn’t stay the night, and he doesn’t make any promises.
It should be a match made in heaven. But rules are made to be broken.
The Empire State Series is a series of three novellas.
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Hopeful
Guys like Joel Wentworth weren’t supposed to fall in love with girls like me. He could have had his pick of girls, but somehow the laws of nature were defied and we fell crazy in love.
After graduation, Joel left for New York. And, despite him wanting me to go with him, I’d refused, unwilling to disappoint my parents and risk the judgment of my friends. I hadn’t seen him again. Never even spoken to him.
I’ve spent the last eight years working hard to put my career front and center in my life, dodging any personal complications. I have a strict no-dating policy. I’ve managed to piece together a reality that works for me.
Until now.
Now, Joel’s coming back to London.
And I need to get over him before he gets over here.
A stand-alone novel.
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Love Unexpected
When the fierce redhead with the beautiful ass walks into the local bar, I can tell she’s passing through. And I’m looking for distraction while I’m in town—a hot hook-up and nothing more before I head back to the city.
If she has secrets, I don’t want to know them.
If she feels good underneath me, I don’t want to think about it too hard.
If she’s my future, I don’t want to see it.
I’m Blake McKenna and I’m about to teach this Boston socialite how to forget every man who came before me.
When the future I had always imagined crumbles before my very eyes. I grab my two best friends and take a much needed vacation to the country.
My plan of swearing off men gets railroaded when on my first night of my vacation, I meet the hottest guy on the planet.
I’m not going to consider that he could be a gorgeous distraction.
I’m certainly not going to reveal my deepest secrets to him as we steal away each night hoping no one will notice.
And the last thing I’m going to do is fall in love for the first time in my life.
My name is Mackenzie Locke and I haven’t got a handle on men. Not even a little bit.
Not until Blake.
A stand-alone novel.
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Faithful
Leah Thompson’s life in London is everything she’s supposed to want: a successful career, the best girlfriends a bottle of sauvignon blanc can buy, and a wealthy boyfriend who has just proposed. But something doesn’t feel right. Is it simply a case of ‘be careful what you wish for’?
Uncertain about her future, Leah looks to her past, where she finds her high school crush, Daniel Armitage, online. Daniel is one of London’s most eligible bachelors. He knows what and who he wants, and he wants Leah. Leah resists Daniel’s advances as she concentrates on being the perfect fiancé.
She soon finds that she should have trusted her instincts when she realises she’s been betrayed by the men and women in her life.
Leah’s heart has been crushed. Will ever be able to trust again? And will Daniel be there when she is?
A stand-alone novel.
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Acknowledgments
I’ve loved the characters in this series. The epilogue was particularly lovely to write as a goodbye—either a temporary or a permanent one. Maybe I’ll tell Violet or Darcy’s story one day. There’s plenty to tell. Thank you all for reading. I know I say it all the time but being a part of your world, even in the smallest of ways, is such an honour. Thank you.
Elizabeth – Thank you for saving me from my own asshole. I think that’s what you told me to write wasn’t it? And as you know, I always do as I’m told. As ever, thank you!
Nina – Thank you for all that you do and for all your support. Let’s kick some ass!
Karen Booth—Thank you for being in my world and for your help with blurb, again. I swear it’s the worst part of the whole process.
To all the incredible authors that constantly give me help and support as well as amazing stories—I love this community and I’m so proud to be a member.
Najla Qamber – Everytime I think you can’t get better, you do! You’re amazing.
Jules Rapley Collins—Thank you for your support babycakes. Megan Fields I’m so pleased you like Ryder. And to my proofreading team – Sally, Charity and Peggy - I’m delighted you enjoyed Ryder as much as I did!
Thank you mummy for pushing me, for supporting me, for telling me how proud you are. Thank you for showing me what bravery is. I’m off to go and earn money for shoes. I love you.
Thank you to all of you who blog, tweet, share, like and help spread the word about my books. I couldn’t do it without you!