His Accidental Heir. Joanne Rock
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The Boss’s Baby Bargain
When resort developer Cameron McNeill goes undercover to root out problems at his prized island property, his first discovery is the irresistible concierge, Maresa Delphine. Her business smarts are vital to his mission. But the struggling single mom could help with his personal mission, too: fulfilling the marriage terms of his grandfather’s will.
Maresa is overwhelmed caring for her infant niece and tending to the demands of the resort’s sexy mystery guest. When he reveals himself as the owner, she’s thrown for a loop. But when he proposes...can she resist his brand of trouble in paradise?
“Maresa.”
Her name on his lips was a warning. A chance to change her mind.
She understood that she was pushing a boundary. Recognized that he’d just drawn a line in the sand.
“I didn’t mind giving up my dream job in Paris to care for Rafe and help my mother recover,” she confided, giving him absolutely no context for her comment and hoping he understood what she was saying. “And I will gladly give eighteen years to raise my niece as my own daughter.” She’d known it without question the moment Jaden had handed her Isla. “But I’m not sure I can sacrifice the chance to have this kiss.”
She’d crossed the boundary. Straight into “certifiable” territory. She must have cried out all her good sense.
His blue eyes simmered with more heat than a St. Thomas summer. He cupped her chin, cradling her face like she was something precious.
“If I thought you wouldn’t regret it tomorrow, I’d give you all the kisses you could handle.”
* * *
His Accidental Heir is part of Mills & Boon Desire’s No.1 bestselling series, Billionaires and Babies: Powerful men...wrapped around their babies’ little fingers.
His Accidental Heir
Joanne Rock
Four-time RITA® Award nominee JOANNE ROCK has penned over seventy stories for Mills & Boon. An optimist by nature and a perpetual seeker of silver linings, Joanne finds romance fits her life outlook perfectly—love is worth fighting for. A former Golden Heart® Award recipient, she has won numerous awards for her stories. Learn more about Joanne’s imaginative Muse by visiting her website, www.joannerock.com, or following @joannerock6 on Twitter.
For Barbara Jean Thomas,
an early mentor and role model of hard work.
Thank you, Barbara, for teaching me the value of
keeping my chin up and having faith in myself.
During my teens, you were so much more than a boss...
You were a friend, a cheerleader and a sometimes mom
on those weekend trips with the crew. I’ll never forget
my visit to New York to see Oprah, courtesy of you!
Much love to you, always.
Contents
“Rafe, I need you in the Antilles Suite today.” Maresa Delphine handed her younger brother a gallon jug of bubble bath. “I have a guest checking in who needs a hot bath on arrival, but he isn’t sure what time he’ll get here.”
Her twenty-one-year-old sibling—who’d recently suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car accident—didn’t reach to take the jug. Instead, his hazel eyes tracked the movements of a friendly barmaid currently serving a guest a Blackbeard’s Revenge specialty drink on the patio just outside the lobby. The Carib Grand Hotel’s floor-to-ceiling windows allowed for views of the tiki bar on Barefoot Beach and the glittering Caribbean Sea beyond. Inside the hotel, the afternoon activity had picked up since Maresa’s mad dash to the island’s sundries shop for the bath products. All of her runners had been busy fulfilling other duties for guests, so she’d made the trip herself. She had no idea what her newest runner—her recovering brother who still needed to work in a monitored environment—had been doing at that hour. He hadn’t answered his radio and he needed to get with the program if he wanted to remain employed. Not to mention, Maria might be blamed for his slipups. She was supporting her family, and couldn’t afford to lose her job as concierge for this exclusive hotel on a private island off Saint Thomas.
And she really, really needed him to remain employed where she could watch over him. Where he was eligible for better insurance benefits that could give him the long-term follow-up care he would need for years. She knew she