The Surprise Christmas Bride

Maureen Child

Литагент HarperCollins EUR

On the first day of Christmas…Finding herself in bed with her childhood love after being jilted at the altar by another man wasn't exactly Casey Oakes's idea of a merry Christmas. But she knew she wouldn't have wanted to spend her "wedding" night alone–even if Jake didn't love her.He got a wife… After he and Casey were caught in compromising positions, Jake had proposed. But love had made a fool out of him once, so he told himself that it was only lust his new bride inspired… And a surprise! Until the stick turned pink and Casey was congratulating him on his impending fatherhood!

“White, no. Pink, yes,” Casey announced.

“What did you say?” Jake asked.

“White, no. Pink, yes.”

Casey’s eyes were fixed on the plastic stick in front of her as if it meant life or death. Irritation simmered inside him. He glanced around the room, looking for clues. Suddenly his gaze landed on an unfolded set of instructions lying half in the sink. Frowning, he reached for them at the same moment she spoke again.

“Since it’s pink, do you suppose that means it’s a girl? No,” she continued, “pink just means pregnant. It could be a boy.”

Girl? Boy? Jake’s mouth went dry and his brain blanked out. Was she saying what he thought she was saying? No. Of course not.

But when she lifted her head and met his gaze through wide teary eyes, he knew it was true.

“Congratulations, Jake. We’re pregnant….”

The Surprise Christmas Bride

Maureen Child

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

MAUREEN CHILD

Maureen Child is a California native who loves to travel. Every chance they get, she and her husband are taking off on another research trip. The author of more than sixty books, Maureen loves a happy ending and still swears that she has the best job in the world. She lives in Southern California with her husband, two children and a golden retriever with delusions of grandeur.

You can contact Maureen via her Web site: www.maureenchild.com.

To the gang at Sunshine Books: Nita, Betty and Ron.

You guys are the best.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Epilogue

One

“Maybe I should put the top up before I drown.”

Casey Oakes pushed wet hair out of her eyes and squinted into the freezing rain. A deep hard shiver rippled through her. “Too late now to bother,” she grumbled, and told herself that maybe it would be a blessing if she did drown. At least then she would have done something no other Oakes had ever managed. Drowning in a convertible while cruising the back roads outside Simpson, California, wasn’t, as her mother would say, “what society expects of an Oakes.”

Accomplishing that feat in a wedding gown would only add to the myth, she told herself. A few years from now, her little ride would probably become the stuff of local folklore. People would tell the story of Cassandra Oakes in hushed tones around campfires. Parents would discipline misbehaving children with the threat of a nighttime visit from the Drowned Bride.

Still smiling to herself, Casey flinched when her soggy veil flew in front of her face and blocked her view of the road. She slammed on the brakes, heard something under her car snap, then came to a shuddering halt.

She cut the engine, and when that powerful noise disappeared, all that was left was the sound of the heavy rain pelting on and all around her. The windshield wipers continued to slap rhythmically as they futilely tried to do battle with the downpour. Nearly an inch of water covered the floorboards, no doubt ruining the plush scarlet carpet. Casey winced as she realized that the leather seats probably weren’t faring any better.

“Well, hell,” she muttered to no one, “who expected rain?” But then, with the way the rest of