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Caroselli's Accidental Heir (The Caroselli Inheritance, Band 2302) - Softcover

Buch 3 von 3: The Caroselli Inheritance

Celmer, Michelle

 
9780373733156: Caroselli's Accidental Heir (The Caroselli Inheritance, Band 2302)
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0373733151 ISBN 13: 9780373733156
Verlag: Harlequin Desire, 2014

Inhaltsangabe

Stop the wedding—she's pregnant! 

When Lucy Bates caught herself falling too hard for Chicago businessman Tony Caroselli, she ran. How could she measure up to his wealthy family's standards? But now she's pregnant and back to tell the truth…only to see Tony marrying another woman before her very eyes! 

Lucy always had impeccable timing—especially interrupting a wedding Tony never wanted. And if she produces a male heir, Tony stands to inherit a fortune. Plus, the real payoff is having Lucy back where she belongs—with him. But when she finds out about his inheritance, will she feel like a pawn and run again?

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

USA Today Bestseller Michelle Celmer is the author of more than 40 books for Harlequin and Silhouette. You can usually find her in her office with her laptop loving the fact that she gets to work in her pajamas.Michelle loves to hear from her readers!  Visit Michelle on Facebook at Michelle Celmer Author,  or email at michelle@michellecelmer.com

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In twenty-three years, nine months and sixteen days, Lucy Bates had made her fair share of questionable choices. Due to her impulsive nature, her guileless curiosity-and an occasional lack of basic common sense- she'd found herself in more than a few…complicated situations. But her current predicament topped them all.

Note to self: The next time you have the bright idea to leave a man and move across country in the hopes that he 'll follow you, don't bother.

Not only had Tony not followed her, he'd gone out and found someone new. After nearly a year of casually dating Lucy, and not a single mention of taking their relationship to the next level, he was marrying a virtual stranger.

Not only had he been dating this new woman a measly two months, she wasn't pregnant with his baby. Lucy was.

She was a stereotype.

The poor girl who fell for the rich guy and got knocked up. And though there was a whole lot more to it than that, she knew that was all anyone would see. Including Tony.

"This is it," the cab driver announced as he pulled up to the house. Lucy peered out the window. Located in one of the oldest and most prestigious neighborhoods in Chicago, the Caroselli mansion put the neighboring homes to shame. It was old, and a little gaudy for her taste. But very grand.

The street was lined with luxury cars and SUVs, and children were playing in the park directly across the street. Tony once told her that his grandfather, the founder of Caroselli chocolate, liked to sit in his study, in his favorite chair, and watch the kids play. He said it reminded him of home. Home being Italy.

She handed the driver the last of her cash and climbed out of the cab. The sun was shining, but there was a chill in the air.

She'd blown her entire savings account on a roundtrip plane ticket from Florida to Chicago, paying the exorbitant Sunday rates, so from here on in she would have to rely on her credit card. If she maxed that out…well, she would think of something. She always did.

But it wasn't just about her anymore. She needed to start thinking like a mother, putting the baby first.

She laid a hand on her swollen belly, felt the thump thump of itty bitty feet against her palm, never so confused, or terrified, or content in her whole life.

She promised herself right then that if she could just figure this mess out, she would never do another impulsive thing for as long as she lived.

And this time she meant it.

"You've got him right where you want him," her mom had told her on the way to the airport that morning in her clunker of a car that always seemed to be one repair away from the junkyard. "Whatever he offers you to keep this quiet, you ask for double."

And that was her mom in a nutshell.

"I'm not looking for hush money," Lucy said. "I don't want anything from him. I just think he should know about the baby before he gets married."

"That's what the phone is for."

"I need to do this face-to-face." She owed him that much after the way she'd behaved. He didn't want Lucy, that much was obvious, but this was his baby, too. She had no right to keep this from him.

"By crashing his engagement party?"

"I am not crashing anything. I'm going to talk to him before the party."

What she hadn't counted on was her flight being two hours late, which gave her only about two hours to get to Tony then get back to the airport for her return flight. Now she had no choice but to talk to him at the party. But she had no intention of making a scene. With any luck, people would just assume that she was another guest. A friend of the bride perhaps.

All she needed was five minutes of his time, and then they could both get on with their lives. If he wanted to be a part of the baby's life, that would be wonderful. If he tossed a dollar or two her way every so often to help with expenses, she would be eternally grateful. If he didn't, if he wanted nothing to do with her and the baby, she would be disappointed, but she would understand. After all, hadn't she been the one to insist that they keep it casual? No obligations, no expectations. How could she then turn around and expect him to take responsibility for a child he never wanted?

Nope, nothing suspicious about that.

"Even if he wasn't engaged, baby or no baby, that man would never marry you," her mom had told her. "Men like that only keep women like us around for one reason."

A fact she loved to remind Lucy of every chance she got. And she was right. Lucy had told herself a million times that Tony was too good for her, that even if he did want to settle down someday, it would be with someone from his own side of the street. And that's exactly what he'd done.

She and Tony were from two very different worlds, and she had been a fool to ever believe that he would follow her to Florida and beg her to come back, to hope that he would miss her. All she could do now was try to pick up the pieces of the mess she had created. Which meant shelving her pride and accepting his financial help if he offered it.

Well, she thought, the mansion looming ahead of her, it's now or never.

Heart in her throat, and before she lost her nerve, Lucy rushed up to the front porch and knocked on the door. Her knees felt squishy and her heart was pounding, but after a minute or so no one answered, so she knocked again.

She waited, but still no answer.

She was already off to a rip-roaring start. Could the individual who sent her the email have been wrong about the date of the party? Or the time? Or even the location?

And what woman in her right mind would take the word of a typed letter from an anonymous "friend"?

This one would. And it was too late to turn back now.

She tried the knob and found it unlocked. Why not add breaking and entering to her list of transgressions?

She eased the front door open, peering inside. There was no one in sight, so she stepped in, snapping the door quietly closed behind her. The foyer and adjacent living room were elegantly decorated and showplace-perfect. And too quiet. Where the heck was everyone? Maybe it really was the wrong day, and the cars outside were for another house, and a different party.

She was about to turn around and slip back out the door when she heard faint music from the rear of the house. String instruments. Maybe a quartet? She couldn't make out the melody.

Thinking she might actually have a chance to slip into the party unnoticed, she followed the sound of the music, passing a spectacular dining room decorated in deep hues of red and gold with a table long enough to accommodate a small army.

The music stopped abruptly and she turned. Across from the dining room was an enormous family room with a stone fireplace that kissed the peak of a cathedral ceiling. Rows of chairs lined either side of a silk runner….

Oh. My. God.

This was no engagement party. It was a wedding!

What struck her immediately was the normalcy of it all. The tradition. The handful of wedding guests perched on satin-covered folding chairs. The bride with her long, elegant neck and blade-like cheekbones. Her dress, an off-white shift, was as simple as it was stylish, while showing off a pair of legs so slender and long, they brought her nearly to eye level with Tony, who at six feet two inches was in no way lacking height.

Speaking of Tony.

Lucy's heart lifted the instant she laid eyes on him, then slammed to the pit of her stomach. In a tailored suit, his jet-black hair combed back off his forehead, he looked as if...

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Verlag
Harlequin Desire
Erscheinungsdatum
2014
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0373733151
ISBN 13 
9780373733156
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
192
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Nicht verfügbar
Verantwortliche Person
HarperCollins Publishers
enquiries@harpercollins.ie

Fullham Palace Road 77-85
London
W6 JB
Vereinigtes Königreich

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