A Diamond for the Single Mom Read online

  From billionaire bachelor

  To doting daddy?

  In this Manhattan Babies story, Seth McCallan is committed to being a bachelor until his best friend’s widow, Harper, crashes into his world. Discovering Harper has been left with nothing, Seth resolves to put things right. Even if that means Harper—and her baby daughter—moving in. Even if that means a pram in his penthouse. Even if that means awakening a dangerous longing to stand by her side, now and always...

  Manhattan Babies

  Three wealthy New York siblings go from boardroom to baby!

  The McCallans are one of the richest families in New York.

  Elder brother Jacob, rebel Seth and free-spirited Sabrina know all about family ties and the responsibilities that come with running a business.

  But now they’re all about to have their lives turned upside down by three tiny surprises!

  Read Jake’s story in

  Carrying the Billionaire’s Baby

  Discover Seth’s story in

  A Diamond for the Single Mom

  Both available now!

  And look out for Sabrina’s story

  Coming soon!

  Dear Reader,

  The Manhattan Babies project has been nothing but fun for me. First Avery and Jake in Carrying the Billionaire’s Baby gave me the chance to create Avery, one of the strongest, smartest women I’ve ever created and Jake...one of the sexiest.

  Now Jake’s brother, Seth, has taken in his first love—who’d married his best friend. He doesn’t merely have a crisis of conscience because he’s as attracted to her now as he was when he met her. But she’s a widow with a baby. He also knows he’s broken. Wounded by a childhood spent listening to his parents fight and enduring his dad’s emotional abuse, he decided not to settle down and is now one of the richest, most popular bachelors in Manhattan.

  With money and any woman he wants at his door, he’s a poor bet as a match for sweet, sincere Harper. Especially since he owes a debt of honor to Clark, the guy who took him in when he needed to leave his home. He couldn’t resist Harper when he met her ten years before, and it takes a fight to keep his wits about him now...if he can.

  Harper is pretty, funny and determined to support her baby on her own, and Seth may just discover she holds the key to the healing he’s been looking for all along. I think you’re going to like Seth and Harper.

  Happy reading,

  Susan Meier

  A Diamond for the Single Mom

  Susan Meier

  Susan Meier is the author of over fifty books for Harlequin. The Tycoon’s Secret Daughter was a Romance Writers of America RITA® Award finalist, and Nanny for the Millionaire’s Twins won the Book Buyers Best Award and was a finalist in the National Readers’ Choice Awards. Susan is married and has three children. One of eleven children herself, she loves to write about the complexity of families and totally believes in the power of love.

  Books by Susan Meier

  Harlequin Romance

  Manhattan Babies

  Carrying the Billionaire’s Baby

  The Princes of Xaviera

  Pregnant with a Royal Baby!

  Wedded for His Royal Duty

  The Vineyards of Calanetti

  A Bride for the Italian Boss

  Mothers in a Million

  A Father for Her Triplets

  Single Dad’s Christmas Miracle

  Daring to Trust the Boss

  The Twelve Dates of Christmas

  Her Brooding Italian Boss

  A Mistletoe Kiss with the Boss

  The Boss’s Fake Fiancée

  The Spanish Millionaire’s Runaway Bride

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

  Join Harlequin My Rewards today and earn a FREE ebook!

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  For my son, Michael. I’ll probably miss you forever.

  Praise for

  Susan Meier

  “Meier sucked me into this remarkable love story from the first page and I could not put it down...a captivating love story.”

  —Goodreads on A Mistletoe Kiss with the Boss

  Contents

  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

  EPILOGUE

  EXCERPT FROM SECRET MILLIONAIRE FOR THE SURROGATE BY DONNA ALWARD

  CHAPTER ONE

  HARPER SLOAN HARGRAVES looked up at the condo building looming before her. Nestled in the heart of Manhattan, the tall structure gleamed in the early morning sun of a warm September day. Black trim enhanced the grey brick exterior. Leafy green trees decorated the courtyard, along with topiary roses in enormous ceramic pots.

  Well-dressed men and women ambled out of the wide, tinted-glass door and bobbed along the street on their way to undoubtedly prestigious jobs. Taxis, town cars and limos rolled by—quietly, to match the clean, subdued area around her.

  Fighting the urge to glance down at her torn jeans and simple T-shirt, Harper tightened her fingers on the handle of her daughter’s stroller and gave it a quick push toward the door. It opened automatically, revealing the kind of lobby typically reserved for luxury resorts but borrowed for the rarefied world of New York City’s upwardly mobile. The tinkling of the falling-rain fountain in the center of the room greeted her. Gray-and-white-print area rugs highlighted black slate floors. A stainless-steel banister on the ultramodern stairway, steel elevator doors and steel window frames sharpened gray walls. Green plants sat discreetly in corners, while vases of red and purple flowers added pops of color.

  “Can I help you?”

  A doorman. Of course. She hadn’t expected otherwise. At one time, Harper had belonged in a building like this one. She’d grown up in an area so lush she’d taken luxury for granted and had rejected it. Then she’d married Clark Hargraves and fallen into the lap of luxury again, only to lose it all when he’d died.

  She’d been rich, then poor, then rich again. Now, she had no idea who or what she was.

  She walked up to the shiny black desk where the doorman stood staring at her. “I’m here to see Seth McCallan.”

  Wearing a red sweater with the gray building logo in the upper left-hand corner, the doorman straightened. “Mr. McCallan will be leaving for work in a few minutes. Is he expecting you?”

  She’d known seeing Seth wouldn’t be easy. He was one of the McCallans. Owners of enough Manhattan real estate to be unofficial royalty, though he’d been a penniless student when he’d met Clark. He’d renounced his family and their money and had been forced to move into Clark’s run-down apartment with him. Two years after they’d graduated, Seth had persuaded him to start an investment firm together. Five successful years later, he’d gotten Clark accustomed to being somebody, then decided to help his brother with the family’s business and sold his share of the investment firm to Clark.

  It all seemed so generous, except Clark had spent every cent he’d made keeping up the facade that he and Harper were as wealthy as Seth. He didn’t have the money to buy Seth’s share, so he’d leveraged the firm. And mortgaged their condo.


  She’d had to sell both after he’d died to pay off the bank.

  “He’s not expecting me, but I’m a personal friend.”

  And he owes me, she thought, her chin raising. If he’d kept his share of their investment firm, not forced Clark to mortgage everything they owned, she wouldn’t be desperate right now.

  Keeping his eyes on her, the doorman picked up his house phone.

  “Mr. McCallan, you have a visitor. Harper Hargraves.” A pause. “Yes. I’ll be happy to send her up.”

  The doorman motioned to the elevator. She headed to the shiny steel door, and he followed her. When the door opened, he directed her to go inside and walked in with her.

  He was keeping tabs on her. Making sure the scraggly woman with the baby didn’t go anywhere else in the building.

  Humiliation burned through her.

  When the car stopped at the ninth floor, he didn’t accompany her out, but stood waiting in the elevator as she rolled her stroller to Seth’s door, then knocked.

  The door opened, and Harper forgot all about the doorman watching her. Her husband’s former best friend stood before her in a pair of gray sweatpants that hung low on his hips, as he wrestled a T-shirt over his head. He yanked the thing down his torso, but it was too late. She’d seen the rippling muscles of his chest and stomach.

  Shell-shocked, she stared at him. He was taller, sleeker, more muscular than he had been five years ago. But with his perpetual smile and tousled black hair, he was the same heart-stopping handsome he’d been when they lived in side-by-side apartments. And those eyes of his. As black as the soul of a condemned man, they nonetheless had a strange light. Almost a knowing. As if the years had taught him to be careful...wise. Though he’d been a nervous nerd when he’d lived with Clark, he seemed to have found his confidence as a man.

  It was easy to see why the tabloids gossiped about him being with a different woman every few weeks. Confident. Rich. Handsome. Built. He had everything—

  Which she shouldn’t be noticing. She’d had the love of her life. Their marriage had been fun, perfect. She missed Clark with every fiber of her being.

  “Hey, Seth.”

  His gaze ran from her short cap of black hair down her simple T-shirt, along her worn jeans and back up again.

  “Harper?”

  She tried to smile. “It’s me. I know I look a little different.”

  “A little different” didn’t hit the tip of the iceberg. Since Clark’s funeral, she’d had a baby, cut her long black hair and lost weight. She was suddenly grateful for the supercilious doorman. If he hadn’t announced her, Seth might not have recognized her.

  He gestured awkwardly. “I’ve never seen the baby.”

  “Her name is Crystal.” Her words came out on a shaky breath, and she knew she had to get this over with before she lost her courage. “I need some help.”

  “I guessed that from the fact that you’re here at eight o’clock on a Tuesday.” He stepped back so she could enter. “Come in.”

  He held the door for the stroller. As Harper slipped by, her gaze flicked down his torso again. He looked so good in T-shirt and sweats. Fit. Agile.

  Maybe a little intimidating.

  That was probably why she kept noticing. Not interest. Fear. She’d never asked anyone for help. Never. She’d always made it on her own.

  She pushed the stroller into the living room of the sophisticated open-floorplan condo. Motioning to the aqua sofa, Seth indicated she should sit, as he lowered himself to the matching trellis-print chair. She could see the white cabinets in the kitchen, along with a restored wood dining table surrounded by six tufted chairs the same color as the sofa, with a modern chandelier hanging overhead. Simple, but luxurious. Rich fabrics. Expensive wood. Even when a McCallan lived simply, he did it with understated elegance.

  “I’m sorry to bother you, but I’m in a bit of a bind. I sold my condo yesterday, but the buyer wants it on Monday.”

  “That’s great? Good? Awful?” He shook his head. “It’s been too long. I’m not sure what to say.”

  She laughed, so nervous she couldn’t even react normally around him. “It would be great, except I don’t have another place to move into.”

  “Oh.”

  “The buyer paid cash and getting the place in a week was a condition of the sale and I really needed the sale...so I took the offer.”

  “You need money?” He frowned. “You own an investment firm.”

  And here was the tough part. Her wonderful, funny, smart husband had done what he’d had to do to buy Seth’s share. Had he lived, that loan would have been a footnote in his life story. As it was, it had all but destroyed his legacy. The last thing in the world she wanted to do was tell Clark’s best friend that he’d failed—

  No, the last thing in the world she wanted to do was tell her parents Clark had failed. Seth, at least, would give Clark the benefit of the doubt. Her parents—her mother—would have a royal fit, then belittle Clark every time Harper mentioned his name.

  “I had to sell the firm. Clark had leveraged it to get the money to buy your share and the market plummeted. It was like a perfect storm, Seth. I couldn’t pay the loan and I couldn’t sell the firm until I dropped the price to a few hundred thousand dollars over the amount we owed.” She shifted the focus of Seth’s disappointment from Clark to her. “And that money’s almost gone because I needed it for living expenses while I had the baby and waited to sell the condo.”

  A hush fell over the room. Harper refused to say anything more. He might not belittle Clark the way her mom would when Harper finally told her parents she was broke, but Seth was an entitled rich kid. He’d dropped out of his family for a while, but when he and Clark had graduated university, Seth had used his connections to land them jobs in an investment firm. He’d gotten family friends to pony up the starting funds when he and Clark wanted to open their own company. When the business was more than on its feet, he’d found the money to buy out their investors. And when he needed to go to work for his family’s company, after his dad’s death, he’d easily handed over the firm’s reins to Clark, not caring that he was giving up what could have been a gold mine if he and Clark had stayed around to run it.

  Seth might have lived poor for a few years while he finished school, but he had no concept of genuine, lifelong struggle. And Harper wouldn’t let him think less of Clark because he’d lost what he and Seth had built.

  After a few seconds, Seth sighed. “And you sold your condo because that was mortgaged, too?”

  “I didn’t realize until after Clark died that we’d spent every penny he’d earned.” She gave him time to digest that, then added, “He really liked you. He liked the life you brought him into. I know why he overextended us financially. And I’m not sorry he lived the way he wanted to while he had a chance. I’m not asking for anything except some help figuring my way out of this. Some advice.”

  “Even if you rent, you’re going to need more than a week to find a place.”

  “I know.”

  Three-month-old Crystal stretched. Her head rose above the bundle of blankets she’d been snuggled into, revealing a tiny pixie face and a head full of short, shaggy black hair. Realizing the baby was waking from the stroller-induced nap, Harper slid the diaper bag out of the bin behind the seat. “I’m going to have to warm a bottle.”

  Seth looked at Crystal. “Is she waking up?”

  “Yes. She won’t fuss if I have a bottle ready.”

  He rose, as if confused. “Okay.”

  “Just let me warm the bottle and I’ll be all set.”

  She took the diaper bag into the kitchen and removed a bottle. As she opened the cupboard door to get something to hold enough water to warm it, she watched Seth peer into the stroller from about six feet away.

  “You can actually get close enough to look at her.”

&
nbsp; Seth grimaced. “Not on your life. I have a niece a few months older than she is and I’ve never even held her.”

  Harper clicked her tongue. “Seth! Babies are wonderful.”

  “They look like they are. And my brother absolutely adores his. But they’re small and fragile and they frequently leak bodily fluids. I’m keeping my distance.”

  She nodded, grateful for the small reprieve in talking about the mess she’d gotten herself into. She filled a mug with hot water and slid the bottle inside. Knowing it would take a few minutes to warm the formula that way, she walked back into the living room.

  Seth said, “She’s pretty. Looks a lot like my niece. Dark hair. Pale eyes.”

  “Sounds like your brother.”

  He laughed. “He has a talent for getting his own way about things.” But Seth’s laughter quickly died. His solemn dark eyes met hers. “You do realize how much trouble you’re in.”

  “And you’re about to tell me the only answer is to go back to my parents.” She shook her head. “That has to be my last resort. My mother was abysmal to Clark until he started that business with you. Then she was constantly on his back to be more, to push for more, to have more. If I go home now and tell her that I not only sold the investment firm, I sold the condo to get out from under loans, she’ll lose all respect for him.”

  * * *

  Seth silently studied Harper. Still beautiful. Still tempting. And in so much trouble financially he wasn’t even sure how to counsel her.

  He spent his days haggling with contractors, hammering out contracts with some of the savviest businessmen in the world and fighting to make sure McCallan, Inc. stayed at the top of its industry. Yet he had absolutely no idea what to say to one little woman.

  If she were anybody else, he’d easily tell her, “Suck it up, Buttercup. You’ve got no option but to move back in with your parents.”

  Except, she wasn’t staying away from them for herself. She was holding back, probably waiting until she had herself on solid ground, before she had to tell her parents her husband had put her into debt. She was protecting Clark.