Baby Before Business (Silhouette Romance) Read online

  Ty caught her upper arm, hauled her up, spun her around and pressed his mouth to hers.

  Madelyn knew if she were ever going to faint in her life, this would be the minute. His mouth rubbed solidly against her lips to disarm her, then parted her lips and absolutely annihilated her.

  As quickly as he grabbed her, though, Ty let her loose and he stepped back. Madelyn gazed up at him, too startled by the power of his kiss to breathe, let alone speak.

  But Ty didn’t seem to have the same problem. “Watch yourself, Miss Maddy,” he warned. “I’m a man who sees what he wants and takes it. If you’re going to work for me, you either have to stop flirting with me or accept the consequences.”

  Baby Before Business

  Prince Baby

  Snowbound Baby

  Dear Reader,

  It’s two days before Christmas, and while the streets of New York City are teeming with all the sights and sounds of the holiday, here at Silhouette Romance we’re putting the finishing touches on our July schedule. In case you’re not familiar with publishing, we need that much lead time to produce the romances you enjoy.

  And, of course, I can’t help boasting already about the great lineup we’ve planned for you. Popular author Susan Meier heads the month with Baby Before Business (SR #1774), in which an all-work Scrooge gets his priorities in order when he discovers love with his PR executive-turned-nanny. The romance kicks off the author’s new baby-themed trilogy, BRYANT BABY BONANZA. Carol Grace continues FAIRY-TALE BRIDES with Cinderellie! (SR #1775), in which a millionaire goes in search of the beautiful caterer who’s left her slipper behind in his mansion. A Bride for a Blue-Ribbon Cowboy (SR #1776) introduces Silhouette Special Edition author Judy Duarte to the line. Part of the new BLOSSOM COUNTY FAIR miniseries, this romance involves a tomboy’s transformation to win the cowboy of her dreams. Finally, Holly Jacobs continues her PERRY SQUARE miniseries with Once Upon a Prince (SR #1777), featuring the town’s beloved redheaded rebel and a royal determined to woo and win her!

  And don’t miss next month’s selection led by reader favorites Judy Christenberry and Patricia Thayer.

  Happy reading!

  Ann Leslie Tuttle

  Associate Senior Editor

  SUSAN MEIER

  Baby Before Business

  Bryant Baby Bonanza

  Books by Susan Meier

  Silhouette Romance

  Stand-in Mom #1022

  Temporarily Hers #1109

  Wife in Training #1184

  Merry Christmas, Daddy #1192

  *In Care of the Sheriff #1283

  *Guess What? We’re Married! #1338

  Husband from 9 to 5 #1354

  *The Rancher and the Heiress #1374

  †The Baby Bequest #1420

  †Bringing up Babies #1427

  †Oh, Babies! #1433

  His Expectant Neighbor #1468

  Hunter’s Vow #1487

  Cinderella and the CEO #1498

  Marrying Money #1519

  The Boss’s Urgent Proposal #1566

  Married Right Away #1579

  Married in the Morning #1601

  **Baby on Board #1639

  **The Tycoon’s Double Trouble #1650

  **The Nanny Solution #1662

  Love, Your Secret Admirer #1684

  Twice a Princess #1758

  ††Baby Before Business #1774

  Silhouette Desire

  Take the Risk #567

  SUSAN MEIER

  is one of eleven children, and though she has yet to write a book about a big family, many of her books explore the dynamics of “unusual” family situations, such as large work “families,” bosses who behave like overprotective fathers, or “sister” bonds created between friends. Because she has more than twenty nieces and nephews, children also are always popping up in her stories. Many of the funny scenes in her books are based on experiences raising her own children or interacting with her nieces and nephews.

  She was born and raised in western Pennsylvania and continues to live in Pennsylvania.

  THE SWAP

  His Turn: Ty’s Rules for Madelyn

  Keep the baby clean and happy.

  Hire a nanny so you can return to your job as my PR executive.

  Keep your parents out of my house.

  Don’t think you can change me, even if we’ve shared a kiss or two!

  Her Turn: Madelyn’s Rules for Ty

  Leave work early so you can spend some time with the baby.

  Donate playground equipment.

  Start saying hello to your employees!

  Note to self: Now that you’ve seen him outside the office, try to ignore the fact that this all-work Scrooge is sexy…and truly good at heart!

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter One

  “You sent for me?”

  Madelyn Gentry entered Ty Bryant’s executive office, and when he looked up from the paper he was reading she just barely suppressed a gasp. He was gorgeous. Thick black hair perfectly matched his onyx eyes and accented his character-filled, strong-boned face. His impeccable black suit, white shirt and silver tie spoke of elegance and sophistication—the kind of elegance and sophistication she didn’t expect to find in a scrooge or ogre, as his employees referred to him.

  “Are you the PR woman my brother hired?”

  “Yes, I’m Madelyn Gentry,” she said, ignoring the slight in the way he said “woman” as she extended her hand to shake his, but Ty Bryant acted as if he didn’t see the gesture and tossed the paper he’d been reviewing across his desk.

  “What’s this?”

  Madelyn picked up the sheet and glanced at it. “It’s the details of your PR event,” she said, smiling as she sat on one of his two guest chairs.

  But Ty’s livid expression caused her smile to fade. He might be one of the most attractive men on the planet, but he could be pretty darned scary-looking. If nothing else, he was intimidating.

  Still, that didn’t surprise her. His employees had complained about him all three days he had been away from the office for his cousin’s funeral. Plus, Ty’s brother Seth had filled Madelyn in on Ty’s background. She knew the Bryant brothers had lost their parents when Ty was twenty and Ty had taken responsibility for his fifteen-and eighteen-year-old siblings. He had struggled to support them with the family’s ailing construction company and, against the odds, had transformed the local contractor into a supersuccessful development business.

  It was a no-brainer to realize Ty’s difficult life had made him somewhat harsh. But, justifiably grouchy or not, the guy had to clean up his act. That was why his much nicer brother Seth had hired her.

  “You need to get out into the community—”

  “Cancel it.”

  Madelyn took a silent breath, remembering how Ty’s employees had called him Tyrant Ty, the boss from hell. As far as Madelyn was concerned, if his employees couldn’t even be kind to him while he was away for a funeral, there was no telling what they would say to the Wall Street Journal reporter scheduled to arrive in three weeks. Madelyn couldn’t let a member of the media anywhere near the unhappy residents of Porter, Arkansas, until Ty’s employees at least stopped name-calling.

  “I can’t. It’s all arranged. Besides, you—”

  “I said cancel it. I will give the Wall Street Journal an interview because Seth thinks it’s ne
cessary to get our company name in a newspaper with national circulation so we’re recognized when we begin bidding on federal projects. But I won’t participate in a sap fest.”

  Madelyn gasped. “This isn’t a sap fest! You’re presenting playground equipment to a day care! You need this event to soften your reputation in the community.”

  That made him laugh. “Ms. Gentry, I spent fifteen years getting this reputation, there’s no way in hell I want it softened.”

  So, he was an ogre by choice. Great. There was no way she could repair his image. The best she could hope for was that his employees would feel better about him after he gave the gym sets to the day care, and pray the afterglow from his donation lingered at least until the reporter came to Porter.

  “I understand that, but…”

  “And I’m not giving away thirty thousand dollars.”

  “You’re not giving away thirty thousand dollars. You’re donating equipment to the day care that babysits most of your employees’ children. Think of it as thirty thousand dollars of goodwill.”

  “Baloney. Swings and gym sets and volleyballs—”

  “Will win over parents,” she interrupted, finding the perfect opening to get her point across, but Ty didn’t let her finish.

  “And that’s another thing,” he said, rising and tossing a second piece of paper at her. “Who wrote this speech? It’s the most disgusting piece of drivel I’ve ever read. Giving some kid a swing does not turn him into a leader.”

  “It’s not the swing. It’s the sense of community…”

  “Elitist liberal crap,” Ty said, walking to the wall of window behind his desk and looking out at the rural Arkansas town that housed his company. Tall and broad-shouldered, he stood ramrod straight. His dark hair gleamed in the late-afternoon sun. Madelyn couldn’t help noticing again that the man was hot, but it was too bad all those good looks were wasted on a grouch.

  “The last thing kids need is to be mollycoddled. What they really should learn is to earn what they get and to pull their own weight. If you think otherwise, you’re certainly not the person to be doing Bryant Development’s public relations. You’re fired.”

  Madelyn blinked, stunned. “What?”

  He faced her. His dark eyes were cold and serious. “You…are…fired,” he said, enunciating each word as if he were speaking to a slow-witted child. “Pack your things and go.”

  Madelyn’s mouth fell open in complete shock. Suddenly grouch, ogre, scrooge and troll seemed too kind to describe Ty Bryant. Even tyrannical dictator didn’t hit the mark. He was the coldest man she had ever met. He was, quite simply, a public relations nightmare and she realized nobody was going to clean up this guy’s image—not even somebody who desperately needed to.

  She was at the end of the money she’d saved while working for a high-powered PR firm in Atlanta. Her father had recovered from the heart attack that had brought her home the year before, but she still didn’t feel right about leaving. She and her sister and their two brothers had all moved to other parts of the country to find work, and her parents were alone. Arlene sold medical supplies in the northwest and couldn’t live in Arkansas. Jeff and Marty both worked for big corporations that didn’t have offices anywhere near Porter. Madelyn was the logical choice to return to their hometown.

  She’d tried drumming up consulting jobs, but in little Porter she didn’t get much work. She wrote a few press releases for local politicians and helped some people enhance their résumés, but that had been about it.

  Seth Bryant had dangled two enticing possibilities when he offered her this assignment. First, working for Bryant Development would give her exposure enough to get new clients—maybe not in Porter but close enough that she could still live in Porter. And second, Seth planned to talk Ty into creating a permanent PR department. If she succeeded in cleaning up Ty’s image, she would be the logical choice to head it.

  But after meeting Ty Bryant she had to be realistic. He wasn’t the kind of guy positive PR could change overnight—or even in the three weeks she had before the reporter arrived—and there was a bigger chance she would fail than succeed. Then there would be no job at Bryant Development. Plus, if word leaked that she’d failed, she wouldn’t attract new individual assignments. She might even lose the résumé business she had. Either way, she would be returning to Atlanta.

  “Excuse me?” Joni O’Brien, Ty’s secretary, poked her head into Ty’s office doorway, and Madelyn and Ty’s attention turned to the petite brunette.

  Clearly annoyed, Ty said, “Joni, I’m meeting with someone. You know better than to disturb me.”

  “Well, okay. Then I won’t tell you that I’m leaving to take my kids to the dentist or that the attorney for your cousin Scotty’s estate is here to see you.”

  “Why is Scotty’s attorney here?” Ty asked, obviously surprised by the visit.

  “I think I’d better let him answer that.” Joni turned toward the reception area and said, “Mr. Hauser, why don’t you go ahead in?”

  “Joni! I can’t see him…” Ty began, going from annoyed to furious in under five seconds, but when Pete Hauser, one of only two attorneys who had offices in Porter, stepped into the doorway, Ty stopped talking.

  Madelyn’s face scrunched in confusion. Pete held two diaper bags and a car seat. His secretary, Renee Brown, stood beside him, holding a little girl Madelyn guessed was about six months old. Wearing a pretty pink dress, white ruffle tights and black buckle shoes, the baby was adorable.

  “Sorry about this,” Pete said as he and Renee entered Ty’s office. “But as you can see, we’re really not in a position to wait.”

  Ty Bryant cast a quick glance at Madelyn Gentry. Medium height and thin, with no-nonsense straight red hair that fell to her shoulders, she didn’t look like the perky Pollyanna his brother had described. Though she was only twenty-five, in her green skirt and simple beige top she looked professional and businesslike. But that didn’t change the fact that her job was fluff. Unnecessary fluff. More akin to Gossip Grid and Night Life magazines than actual work. Though Ty really didn’t know why Pete and his assistant Renee had brought Scotty’s daughter to his office, he didn’t want anything personal witnessed by a recently fired woman with contacts at all the newspapers on the eastern half of the United States.

  After nodding an acknowledgment to Pete, Ty faced Madelyn. “Ms. Gentry, I think our discussion is over, but you look like you want to argue. You’re not going to change my mind, but if you still wish to duke it out, you can wait in my secretary’s office until I’m finished with Mr. Hauser.”

  Ty watched Madelyn glance from the baby to Pete and then back to him again. Her bright green eyes displayed confusion. She licked her full, perfect lips as she assessed the situation, but she didn’t say a word. She simply rose and left the room.

  Ty walked to his office door and closed it. “What’s up?” he asked, striding back to his desk.

  Pete dropped the two heavy-looking diaper bags onto a convenient chair. “We found Scotty’s will today, Ty, and he names you as Sabrina’s guardian.”

  Ty shook his head. “Sorry. Can’t do it.”

  “I don’t think you heard me,” Pete said. “Scotty’s will names you as guardian. It’s my responsibility to give you the baby, that’s it.”

  “Oh, come on, Pete, you can’t just barge into my office and drop off a child!”

  “Yes, I can. As administrator of an estate I do what the will says and the will says you get the baby.”

  Ty gaped at him. “You’re kidding!”

  “No.” Pete paused, then added, “I assumed Scotty and Misty had spoken with you about this.”

  “They hadn’t.” Ty glanced at the little girl in Renee’s arms. With her curly blond hair, pink dress and tiny black shoes, Sabrina looked like an angel, but Ty knew better. Kids were work, but Sabrina was a baby. There were years of trouble in this kid’s future. He wouldn’t start with high school as he had with Seth or even college as he had with Cooper.
He would start with bottles and diapers and sandboxes and preschool, and build up to cars and proms.

  No way he was doing this.

  “Here, take her,” Renee suggested with a smile, offering the baby to Ty.

  Eyes wide with horror, Ty stepped back.

  “Oh, come on,” Renee cajoled. “She’s a sweetie. You’ll be fine,” she insisted, forcing Sabrina into Ty’s arms.

  He had no choice but to catch the baby as Renee let go. He awkwardly juggled Sabrina into the crook of his elbow, then peered down at her as she raised her gaze to meet his. For ten seconds, she looked at him as he studied her. Then, without a sniff of warning, her lips puckered, her eyes filled with tears and she issued a blistering wail that would have singed off his hair if she had been closer.

  “What about Misty’s parents?” Ty asked, shifting her over his shoulder and patting her back in a clumsy attempt to quiet her while he stalled Pete long enough to find a way out of this.

  “Scotty and Misty’s wills both give you custody, but even if they didn’t Misty’s dad is in remission from cancer,” Pete shouted because Ty’s back-patting wasn’t calming Sabrina down. If anything, her crying seemed to get louder. “Given the state of his health, Misty’s parents didn’t think they were capable of dealing with a baby. They were relieved this afternoon when we read the wills and saw you got custody.”

  That information poured over Ty like cement, freezing him in place and numbing his brain. Because Scotty’s parents had been killed in the same accident that took Ty’s parents, and both Misty and Scotty were only children, Misty’s parents were Ty’s only hope. There wasn’t going to be a way out of this. Sabrina screamed all the louder.

  Pete pointed to the first of two diaper bags he had deposited on the chair in front of Ty’s desk and yelled, “Bottles are in there.”

  Ty cast a baffled look at the brightly printed container and shouted, “Bottles?”

  Renee removed the diaper bag hanging on her shoulder and set it beside the other two. “And this one is full of disposable diapers,” she said, also loud enough to be heard over Sabrina’s crying.