Katie stepped into the back of the Rolls-Royce…and came face-to-face with Adam Braddock
What was he doing here? And what would she say when he demanded to know why a waitress was climbing into his Rolls-Royce?
“Ms. Canton? I’m Adam Braddock,” he said, extending his hand over his laptop computer.
“Hello,” she said, realizing he hadn’t recognized her. Yet.
A phone rang—conveniently positioned in a door console—and Adam picked it up. Katie could feel the energy in his conversation. There was frustration beneath his incredibly perfect surface. She’d thought him attractive in the restaurant, but here in his natural habitat, he was quite extraordinarily handsome. Katie leaned back against the supple leather seat and watched him in profile. What would it be like, she wondered, to have Adam Braddock focus that same intensity on her?
When he realized she was the waitress he’d met at the Torrid Tomato restaurant, and not the fancy events coordinator he thought he’d hired, she just might find out.
Dear Reader,
Harlequin American Romance has rounded up the best romantic reading to help you celebrate Valentine’s Day. Start off with the final installment in the MAITLAND MATERNITY: TRIPLETS, QUADS & QUINTS series. The McCallum Quintuplets is a special three-in-one volume featuring New York Times bestselling author Kasey Michaels, Mindy Neff and Mary Anne Wilson.
BILLION-DOLLAR BRADDOCKS, Karen Toller Whittenburg’s new family-connected miniseries, premiers this month with The C. E. O.’s Unplanned Proposal. In this Cinderella story, a small-town waitress is swept into the Braddock world of wealth and power and puts eldest brother Adam Braddock’s bachelor status to the test. Next, in Bonnie Gardner’s Sgt. Billy’s Bride, an air force controller is in desperate need of a fiancée to appease his beloved, ailing mother, so he asks a beautiful stranger to become his wife. Can love bloom and turn their pretend engagement into wedded bliss? Finally, we welcome another new author to the Harlequin American family. Sharon Swan makes her irresistible debut with Cowboys and Cradles.
Enjoy this month’s offerings, and be sure to return next month when Harlequin American Romance launches a new cross-line continuity, THE CARRADIGNES: AMERICAN ROYALTY, with The Improperly Pregnant Princess by Jacqueline Diamond.
Wishing you happy reading,
Melissa Jeglinski
Associate Senior Editor
Harlequin American Romance
The C.E.O.’s Unplanned Proposal
Karen Toller Whittenburg
To Paula and Genell, my companions on the journey.
And to Cathy Gillen Thacker, for encouragement above and beyond. Thanks, Cathy!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Karen Toller Whittenburg is a native Oklahoman who fell in love with books the moment she learned to read and has been addicted to the written word ever since. She wrote stories as a child, but it wasn’t until she discovered romance fiction that she felt compelled to write, fascinated by the chance to explore the positive power of love in people’s lives. She grew up in Sand Springs (an historic town on the Arkansas River), attended Oklahoma State University and now lives in Tulsa with her husband, a professional photographer.
Books by Karen Toller Whittenburg
HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE
197—SUMMER CHARADE
249—MATCHED SET
294—PEPPERMINT KISSES
356—HAPPY MEDIUM
375—DAY DREAMER
400—A PERFECT PAIR
424—FOR THE FUN OF IT
475—BACHELOR FATHER
528—WEDDING OF HER DREAMS
552—THE PAUPER AND THE PRINCESS
572—NANNY ANGEL
621—MILLION-DOLLAR BRIDE*
630—THE FIFTY-CENT GROOM*
648—TWO-PENNY WEDDING*
698—PLEASE SAY “I DO”
708—THE SANTA SUIT
727—A BACHELOR FALLS
745—IF WISHES WERE…WEDDINGS
772—HOW TO CATCH A COWBOY
794—BABY BY MIDNIGHT?
822—LAST-MINUTE MARRIAGE
877—HIS SHOTGUN PROPOSAL
910—THE C. E. O.’S UNPLANNED PROPOSAL†
Contents
Prologue
Archer Braddock beat the rain to the top of the steps of Number 37 Lancashire and raised his cane to rap smartly on the front door. He liked the sound of wood on wood, found the cheerful chiming of a doorbell both annoying and intrusive, but a knock…ah, a knock was resonant discourse, an “I-have-business-within” announcement. Hadn’t he always told Janey he could tell as much about a man by his knock on the door as by his handshake? If she were here now, she’d remind him that using a cane instead of his knuckles was cheating somewhat on that theory, but arthritis had long since taken the strength from his hands, and death had stolen away his Janey. Still, she was the reason he was outside this particular door on this particular day, waiting to be admitted. “Ah, Janey, Janey,” he murmured softly. “Happy Anniversary, my dear.”
The door swung open just as the cold, January rain started in earnest and without waiting for a formal invitation, he stepped into the sheltered entryway. “Archer Braddock,” he announced himself to the crisp, somber-faced butler. “I have a two o’clock appointment with Mrs. Fairchild.”
“Yes,