Meet the Mommies-To-Be
Liz Van Zandt
My twin sis Bridget and I are so much alikeeven our biological clocks are synchronized! As girls, we made a deal to start our families, regardless of our marital status, at age 30. Well, here we are at the big 3-0 and all I need is a fine male specimen to offer up his DNA. But how am I ever going to make my baby dreams come true when I keep finding myself lip-locked with the fabulously wealthy, utterly masculine Eric Statler?
Hey
Bridget Van Zandt
My sister Liz may have entered this world four minutes before me, but this time I got the jump on her. While shes scrambling for a suitable donor, Im basking in full-fledged pregnancy. Who needs modern man when youve got modern science! Still, one gorgeous guy has blipped across my husband-radarblack sheep bachelor Nick Raines. And one lightning-bolt kiss from Nick and Im suddenly wishing Id waited to make my little darling the old-fashioned way!
Dear Reader,
Harlequin American Romance is celebrating the holidays with four wonderful books for you to treasure all season long, starting with the latest installment in the RETURN TO TYLER series. Bestselling author Judy Christenberry charms us with her delightful story of a sought-after bachelor who finds himself falling for a single mother and longing to become part of her Patchwork Family.
In Pamela Brownings Baby Christmas, soon after a department store Santa urges a lovely woman to make a wish on Christmas Eve, she finds a baby on her doorstep and meets a handsome handyman. To win custody of her nephew, a loving aunt decides her only resource is to pretend to be engaged to a Daddy, M.D. Dont miss this engaging story from Jacqueline Diamond.
Rounding out the month is Harlequin American Romances innovative story, Twin Expectations by Kara Lennox. In this engaging volume, identical twin sisters pledge to become motherswith or without husbandsby their thirtieth birthday. As the baby hunt heats up, the sisters unexpectedly find love with two gorgeous half brothers.
I hope you enjoy all our romance novels this month. All of us at Harlequin Books wish you a wonderful holiday season!
Melissa Jeglinski
Associate Senior Editor
Harlequin American Romance
Twin Expectations
Kara Lennox
www.millsandboon.co.uk
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Texas native Kara Lennox has been an art director, typesetter, advertising copy writer, textbook editor and reporter. Shes worked in a boutique, a health club and has conducted telephone surveys. Shes been an antiques dealer and briefly ran a clipping service. But no work has made her happier than writing romance novels.
When Kara isnt writing, she indulges in an ever-changing array of weird hobbies, from rock-climbing to crystal digging. But her mind is never far from her stories. Just about anything can send her running to her computer to jot down a new idea for some future novel.
Books by Kara Lennox
HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE
840VIRGIN PROMISE
856TWIN EXPECTATIONS
THE OFFICIAL BIOLOGICAL CLOCK PLEDGE
We, Bridget Van Zandt and Elizabeth Van Zandt, being of sane, sound minds, want to someday raise families. However, families usually require husbands, which neither of us haveyet. Should we reach the age of thirty and still be unmarried, un-engaged and with no serious boyfriends, we hereby solemnly swear, pledge, promise and affirm that we will attempt to have babies anyway, using whatever means we feel is appropriate.
Signed,
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Epilogue
Prologue
So, do you feel any different? Liz Van Zandt asked her twin sister, Bridget. They sat in the front seat of Lizs shiny new Miata in the parking lot of the Statler Clinic.
Bridget fidgeted with the hem of her denim skirt. No. Do you think I should?
How should I know? Liz said. Ive never been pregnant. But it probably hasnt happened yet. Ive read that it can take hours, even days, for those little suckers to swim to the target.
Bridget felt light-headed. She placed a protective hand over her abdomen, knowing Liz was just trying to rattle her cage. Liz, older by four minutes, was all in favor of Bridget having a baby. She just didnt entirely approve of Bridgets methods.
Youre not having second thoughts, are you, Bridge? Liz asked.
Its a little late for those. No, she wasnt having second thoughts. She and Liz had always agreed that if they hit thirty and were unmarried, they would attempt motherhood anyway. Together. Still, itd be nice if there was a father in the picture.
Lizs eyes sparkled with mischief. You might as well give up that notion. Men run from single moms as if they have leprosy.
I dont care, Bridget said defiantly. In twenty-one days, Ill come back to the Statler Clinic and find out whether Im pregnant.
Liz sagged against the leather seat. I guess its my turn. Id better get cracking.
Oh, Liz, you arent really going to carry through with your harebrained plan, are you?
Its not harebrained. I want to know exactly what kind of genetic material my baby is getting.
You cant just tackle some man on the street and say, Hey, could you give me some of your DNA?
I plan to be a little more subtle. If I can even find a suitabledonor Lizs eyes glazed over, and she stared at something in the distance. Oo-la-la, theres one now.
Bridget gasped as she realized the subject of her sisters appraisal. Is that who I think it is?
Its him, all right. He was on the cover of Inside Texas a couple of months ago. I recognize every blue-blood inch of him. And hes even more gorgeous in person.
The man in question, J. Eric Statler III, had just come waltzing out of the clinic that bore his name.
What the heck is he doing here? Liz asked.
He does own the clinic, Bridget pointed out.
He owns half of Oaksboro, Liz said, which was almost true. The Statler Clinic was only a tiny piece of the Statler empire, which included hospitals, oil companies, newspapers, restaurants and a tennis-shoe manufacturing plant. He had businesses scattered throughout north Texas. He even owned the ad agency where Liz worked.
Liz sighed. Hes rich and good-looking, but nice, too. In that magazine article, it says he donates a lot of money to several local charities.
That doesnt mean hell donate his DNA, Bridget said. And if hes so perfect, then why hasnt he ever married?
Hasnt found the right woman, so I hear. Liz got a thoughtful look on her face. Maybe hes waiting for me.
Dream on, sister.
Now, wait a minute. Im a successful account executive at Oaksboros biggest ad agency, I can eat fettuccini without making a mess, and Im a darn nice person. Are you saying I wouldnt be a good match for Eric Statler?
Uh-oh. Bridget recognized that gleam in Lizs eye.
All right, maybe he wouldnt marry me, Liz continued, but hes good father material.
Liz, you dont even know him.
I could meet him. It would be easy. I have contacts.
Bridget laughed. Youre nuts. But she could tell Liz was warming to this idea, another one of her crazy schemes.
Suddenly Liz focused her sea-blue eyes on Bridget with the force of double laser beams. Hey, Bridge, will you help me?
Bridget cringed. When Liz got that light of zeal in her eyes, nothing could stop her. I have a few contacts I could tap, I suppose, she agreed reluctantly. She decided shed better keep an eye on her competitive sister. If Bridgets artificial insemination worked and she ended up pregnant, Liz would be desperate to keep up. And no telling what she might do in her quest for, as she so elegantly put it, a donor.
Chapter One
Bridget sipped her club soda nervously as she surveyed the jewel-and tux-bedecked crowd around her. Normally she favored a little something with the soda. But now that she was pregnant
She paused in her thoughts, savoring the word. Pregnant. Today shed had her official pregnancy test at the Statler Clinic. The results had only confirmed what shed already known. At just three weeks from conception, her body was changing in some slight, indefinable way.
In a few months she would start expanding like a dashboard airbag. The prospect was scary but kind of exciting, too.
See anyone we can mingle with? asked Liz, standing beside her. Theyd wangled invitations to the Oilmans Ball from a dry-cleaning baroness, a family friend whose portrait Bridget had painted. The ball was Oaksboros social event of the season, and Eric Statler was guaranteed to be in attendance. But now that theyd arrived, the hard work beganfinding someone who would provide Liz with a personal introduction to Statler.
Ive never been that great at mingling, Bridget replied. Waitover there. Are those Eric Statlers parents? She nodded toward a distinguished-looking couple who appeared to be holding court.
Thats them, all right, Liz said. Geraldine and Eric Statler, Jr. Everyone calls Mr. Statler Two, you know. Because he didnt like Junior.
And the son? Bridget wanted to know. Do they call him Three?
They call him just plain Eric, Liz said, her eyes scanning the crowd.
How do you know so much about the Statlers?
The Internet. Wait, I see one of our agencys clients, Liz said. Lets split up. We can cover more territory that way.
Bridget nodded, only too happy to step away from Liz. Theyd foolishly forgotten to check with each other beforehand, and theyd worn nearly identical dresses. Even their shoulder-length blond hair was styled in a similar fashion. That was one of the hazards of being a psychically attuned twin.
Liz winked at Bridget, then took off, leaving Bridget to find someone of her own to mingle with. Fortunately, she spotted Mrs. Hampton, the dry-cleaning baroness.
Bridget, Im so pleased you could make it, the stylish silver-haired matron said as Bridget approached. Theres a lovely couple I want you to meet. I bet theyre in the market for a portrait.
Though she was booked through the summer, Bridget was always pleased at the prospect of new business. And, who could tell, maybe this couple knew Eric Statler.
Shed thought this romantic goal of Lizs was crazy at first. But the more shed thought about it, the more shed come to realize that Liz would make a good match for Statler. She had the social skills, the assertiveness, the self-confidence to keep up with someone who moved in his circles, whereas Bridget, while appreciating the mans finer qualities, knew she would prefer aquieter marriage.
Mrs. Hampton trundled off, dragging Bridget gamely behind her.
NICHOLAS RAINES drained his second gin-and-tonic and stifled a yawn. He despised these functions, but his mother had laid a guilt trip on him about attending. It was for charity, shed said. It was a chance to see and be seen, make important business contacts, blah-blah-blah. Shed even hinted that he might meet a woman, as if he had time for a relationship. Still, if a mother couldnt count on her own son to buy a ticket to a charity ball when she was on the committee, who could she count on?
He hoped the charitya womens shelterraked in a bundle. But hed yet to meet anyone this evening with whom he had the slightest interest in doing business. As for running into an appealing woman, what a joke. Practically every woman here was either over sixty, married or both.
He wondered how long he had to stay. Till the auction, he supposed. If he didnt bid on something, hed never hear the end of it from his mother. He was already in trouble because he hadnt worn a tux. Maybe he could hide behind one of those big potted trees until the
His thoughts froze. Who was that? She was under sixty, that was for sure. Maybe even under thirty. She wasnt wearing a wedding ring, he noticed right away. And hed never laid eyes on her before, because he would have remembered that face. So she wasnt a regular among this crowd. They had that in common to start with.