I wrote this one about six years ago and it was published by Samhain in September 2006. I’m Blasting the Past with it today because to my complete shock, it’s #2 overall bestseller at Fictionwise. I even took the screen grab hehe. So here’s the blurb and a snippet of Buying Mackenzie’s Baby.
Flat broke and desperate, Kate Hartley runs to her ex-husband for help. However, his help comes with a high price. One she can’t refuse.
The morning after a high society party finds Kate Hartley in her ex-husband’s bed. Just a stupid mistake; something to put behind her… Until she discovers that she is pregnant.
Mack had never wanted children; had only married her in a rush of lust. Kate knows this. Nothing would drive her to ask anything of him. Nothing. But she’s homeless and flat broke. And it isn’t only her welfare now.
However, Mack has his own agenda. Kate had fooled him once; married him for his money. Whored herself… It was why he had divorced her. But now his grandfather has threatened his mother’s home if Mack doesn’t marry and produce an heir.
He had vowed never to marry again. But Kate Hartley is his only choice.
And pay back can be sweet…
Excerpt
The sudden fury in his face stopped the rest of her sentence. “Don’t even think of telling her.”
“I just thought–“
“Do I have to buy your silence? Is that what this is about?” Mack stood and began to pace. “I should have known better than to trust you with that information. But then I keep forgetting what kind of woman you are.”
Anger made her hands clench. Muscles tight, she rose from the sofa. “And what am I?” she demanded.
Mack raked his dark gaze over her and her skin flushed. “The colour fits.” She held down a shiver at the icy burn of his eyes. “A siren, a demon. Tormenting me.”
She couldn’t help the bark of laughter that escaped her. “Hardly.”
Her amusement made something harden in Mack’s face, intensified the fire in his eyes. “Playing innocent?” The softness of his voice sent prickles over her skin. He moved closer and Kate had to stop herself from backing away. Her heart hammered. “And all the while, scheming, finding weaknesses.”
His thumb traced the thin strap of her dress, followed it down over her breast. His touch on her bare skin, smooth, skimming, made her head light. Kate had to remember to breathe. “I should have realised what a formidable opponent you were, from the very beginning.”
“Mack.”
“But you had a veneer of fragility. So beguiling.”
Circling her, his fingertips stroked her skin. His mouth close to her ear, the heat of his breath, the almost press of his lips. Kate’s legs ran liquid. Damn it, he could not do this to her. She couldn’t let him create this need, this ache to have him. Right there. He traced the shell of her ear with his tongue. Kate gasped.
“But so wanton.” His fingers tugged at the zip low on her back.
Rational thought burst back into her brain with the cool wash of air over exposed skin. “Mack, this is wrong.” She pulled free, desperate to hold the loosened dress. Something still burned in him and it made her take a nervous back step. “You know that.”
“Since when has that stopped me?” His smile was wicked and his dark gaze slid over her legs, over her hips and stomach, narrowing on the hands that clung to her dress. Finally, it reached her face. Her skin had scorched in his wake and now she met his fiery gaze. Kate tried to deny what it did to her, the rush of heat under her skin, the sudden need pulsing through her veins. She tried to deny it. And failed.
The red silk of her dress slipped from her fingers.
Thank you for reading!