THE DADDY PLAN by Karen Rose Smith Silhouette Special Edition Harlequin Silhouette Category Romance Contemporary Romance

May 24th - June 20th
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The Daddy Plan
Karen Rose Smith
Silhouette Special Edition, Dads in Progress series, Book 2
037324908X

Veterinarian Sam Barclay's broken heart hasn't yet mended from his last serious relationship. His ex-fiancee had an abortion without telling him she was pregnant. Sam found out and was devastated. His father had raised Sam and his two brothers on his own. Sam has always respected and admired his father, wanting to be a dad himself some day. But those dreams ended with his ex-fiancee's betrayal.

Dependable, stay-in-the-background veterinary assistant Corrie Edwards has flown under Sam's radar except for one stunning New Year's Eve kiss a few months before he met his fiancee. Now when Corrie appears at his retreat in the Minnesota woods where he is trying to get perspective on his life and asks him to become a sperm donor, Sam has to make a decision. If Corrie does becomes pregnant, he definitely is not going to walk away from his child. But Sam has to put betrayal in the past to find happily-ever-after with Corrie.

For all the sweetness and warmth in THE DADDY DILEMMA, there is plenty of spice in the form of awakening passions. The well written plot, character development and interactions, as well as natural dialogue make for a tale sure to stir readers' emotions. What's more intriguing than watching testosterone-laden males turn into devoted daddies? (Jane Bowers, Romance Reviews Today)

"Will you donate your sperm so I can have a baby?" Corrie Edwards asked her boss.

At his family's cabin in Minnesota's snowy woods, Sam Barclay didn't know whether to laugh out loud or head to the lake for ice fishing.

Six weeks ago, he'd driven to the cabin to escape the holidays, take a vacation from his veterinary practice, forget his broken engagement, and get perspective on his life.

"You are kidding, right?" His veterinary assistant couldn't understand how much the question unsettled him. He'd called off his wedding because his fiancé had hidden her abortion from him.

"I'm serious, Sam," Corrie answered with a determined look. "I didn't drive four hours in this weather without a good reason."

She was still dressed in a yellow parka, snowflakes melting in her curly red-brown hair. He and his partner had hired her three years ago as a veterinary assistant after they bought the clinic.

Studying the brightness of her blue eyes, the dance of freckles across her nose, he felt a tightening in his gut he didn't want to recognize. This was Corrie for heck sake! He was her boss. They talked about animals, the weather, and life in Rapid Creek. They'd never had a "personal" conversation.

But you shared one, out-of-this world, earth-shaking kiss, a nudging voice inside his head reminded him.

"Take off your coat and tell me what this is all about. I'll make a pot of coffee."

As Corrie slipped off her parka and hung it over a straight-backed chair, Sam noticed the way her blue sweater fell over her breasts, how the fabric hung free of her very slim waist. Her legs were long in her stretch leggings and high boots.

Desire kicked him and forced him to concentrate on making coffee in the galley kitchen. Still, he was aware of Corrie gravitating toward Patches. His brown and black mutt had distinguishing attributes of a Labrador, but about ten other breeds mixed in, too. Jasper, a small buff-colored cocker spaniel who had trailed into the cabin with Corrie, had settled in Patches' big bed. His dog didn't seem to mind. Patches flopped down in front of Corrie, thrilled to have her scratch his ears.

For some insane reason, Sam suddenly wondered what Corrie's touch might feel like--

"Something wrong?" she asked, glancing toward him. The cabin was too small to hide a sound or much of anything else.

As her eyes roamed over his face, dropped to his flannel shirt and jeans, he had the feeling she was sizing him up...or else his genes?

He felt heat crawl up under his scruffy week-old beard. "Nothing's wrong. The coffee will be ready in a few minutes."

As he lowered himself beside her on the sofa, he felt her tense, saw her shoulders square a bit, her chin go up as if she were ready for a fight or an argument.

It was as if her question had unlocked a box that he'd always designated for steady, melt-into-the-background Corrie Edwards and someone else had popped out.

When she looked at him, her eyes were shiny with emotion. "I've always wanted to be a mother. I've just never met the right man. I don't think I ever will. I'm not getting any younger."

"Thirty-three might be young as far as the rest of my lifetime goes, but in child bearing years--"She shook her head. "I have a classmate in Minneapolis who's thirty-eight. She got pregnant and was doing just fine, then all of a sudden she developed pre-eclampsia. She almost died. I have another friend in St. Paul who's thirty-five. She just had her first baby. Her daughter is six months old, but she never imagined raising her would be so difficult--that she wouldn't have the energy she used to have. She's so exhausted day after day."

"I know. But I really want to be a mother, Sam. A mom like my mother was to me. Each year that passes my eggs are getting older and I'm not as fertile. I don't want to end up childless because I didn't do this soon enough."

"And my sperm qualify because..." He waited, needing to know why she'd come to him.

She laid her hand on his arm. "You're..." She paused and flushed a bit. "You're great-looking. You're a good age. And you're wonderful with Kyle. I've seen you with him."

His nephew Kyle, who was five, was one of his favorite people. In fact he liked kids as much as animals. They didn't have ulterior motives and their reactions were honest.

"I'm flattered, Corrie, really I am. But becoming a father this way--" Her hand on his arm was damn distracting. He had the feeling she didn't even know it was there. After all, they were just boss-employee. They'd always pretended that kiss had never happened.

She removed her hand from his forearm. "You don't have to be a father in the real sense. I mean, this could just be a business arrangement. You donate your sperm and that's that."

He'd donate his sperm and that was that? "If you got pregnant and I had a child, don't you think I'd want to be in his life?"

He thought about Alicia, what she'd done, the sorrow he'd felt, the absolute sense of betrayal. He couldn't imagine having a child and not wanting to be part of his or her life. "Do you know how sticky this could get?"

"Or not." She put the emphasis on the not. "If I became pregnant, if I have a baby, I would want a male role model in his or her life. You could fit in that way. As I said, I've seen you with Kyle. You'd be great. But I also know your brother Nathan said you're researching setting up veterinary clinics in foreign countries. If you decide that's something you want to do, you wouldn't have any strings tying you here."

Corrie studied him. "I thought men just wanted to donate their sperm then shirk responsibility."

Corrie's cheeks reddened. "It doesn't matter where my opinion comes from, does it? I just don't believe becoming a father is on most men's agendas when they have sex. They walk away as soon as something goes wrong...as soon as they see someone else they'd rather be with."

Sam wanted to shout, that's not true. My mother was the one who walked away. But he didn't. Corrie's opinion was Corrie's opinion. Something obviously had happened to her to make her believe it. Hadn't he himself concluded in the past few weeks that he was destined to be a bachelor? His father had trusted a woman and she'd walked out on her husband and kids. Sam had taken a chance on love and had been hurt just as badly.

"Let me tell you something, Corrie. If I would father a child, I would not shirk my responsibility. That's something you'd have to decide whether you could live with or not."

Because after their kiss in the tavern that New Year's Eve they'd ignored the chemistry, ignored the possibility of connection? Why had he ignored it?

The answer came swiftly. He'd sensed Corrie had walls he'd have difficulty breaking down. Besides neither of them had wanted to tamper with a boss-employee relationship that worked. Apparently neither of them had been ready for a relationship much more intimate than that.

He was aware of a pleasant scent that always seemed to surround Corrie, something like peaches and vanilla. It must be a lotion she used or a shampoo. Right now, inhaling it, studying her heart-shaped face, the wild mass of auburn curls, the scent wrapped itself around him.

Needing that cup of coffee, he rose to his feet and went to the kitchen. Her gaze followed him, and he found himself unnerved by her proposition. He should just say no. Why was he even considering it?

Because becoming a dad, even in this way, could give purpose to his life? A purpose it didn't have now?

Jasper suddenly decided he'd had enough of a nap. He stood, shook himself, and came trotting over to Sam, looking up at him expectantly.

"What can I do for you?" Sam asked, eager to change the subject, at least for a little while until he got his thoughts together.

"Whenever I go to my kitchen, he wants a treat. I have a few in my coat pocket."

Before Corrie could rise from the sofa, Sam said, "I'll get them." He went to her coat and found a bag. He took out a treat. The pup stood up on hind legs and danced around Sam until Sam dropped it into his mouth.

The expression on Corrie's face changed and her voice lowered. "Shirley passed on two weeks ago."

"Oh, Corrie, I'm sorry." He knew Corrie and the older woman had gotten close. Shirley's old farmhouse on the outskirts of town had been too much for her to handle and had fallen into disrepair. Shirley had no relatives in town and Sam knew Corrie had stopped in at least once a week to check on her and help out.

"Her lawyer called me after she was taken to the hospital and said he had instructions to bring Jasper to me if anything happened to her...at least until her estate is settled. Apparently she made some kind of arrangement for Jasper in her will. I said I'd take care of him, of course."

As soon as Jasper finished crunching on his treat, he ran over to Corrie and jumped up onto the sofa beside her. She laughed and hugged him and Sam felt himself touched in some way. Oh, he saw Corrie with animals every day. She handled them confidently and expertly. But seeing her with Jasper now...was different somehow. In his mind, he imagined her growing large with child, cuddling the baby after it was born, chasing after a toddler. The Corrie Edwards he was seeing today was very different from the one he'd summarily dismissed the past few years.

Or had the question she'd asked him changed his perception of her? Maybe that question had made him see her as a woman rather than an employee.

"You're going to be snowed in. The crews won't clear this road until the snowplows take care of the interstate."

"Be realistic, Corrie. It's already getting dark. What if you get stranded? There's no cell phone reception. You couldn't even call me."

She looked down at the little cocker spaniel and he knew she was thinking about Jasper, too. She wouldn't do anything to put that animal in harm's way. "I didn't plan on staying. I didn't bring extra clothes--"

"Or a toothbrush?" he teased. "What? You were planning to run in here, drop that question on me, then run out again? Why didn't you just wait until I came back? Nathan and Sara's wedding is next weekend, and I can't miss it."

"I heard about the wedding. But honestly, that's another reason I drove up here today. I thought it might be awkward working together until you gave me an answer. I didn't want you to feel...pressured."

In other words, Corrie wanted him to give this plan of hers serious thought without any distractions.

Sam's knee brushed hers as he shifted toward her. "You want me to consider your idea seriously."

He knew Corrie had lost her mom shortly before taking the job with him and Eric, but he didn't know much else about her background. "Do you have brothers or sisters...family?"

"I have a dad in Minneapolis. But we're...not close. I always wanted brothers and sisters. You're lucky to have two brothers." Corrie sounded wistful.

"Nathan and Ben are great when they mind their own business. But every once in a while, they're not busy enough with their own lives and think they have to poke into mine." Sam was the youngest, Nathan the eldest. Soon to be a newlywed, these days Nathan's fiancée, Sara, and his son Kyle were his sole focus. Ben was the middle brother, an Assistant District Attorney in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and a cynic about women and life.

"When I was a kid, Ben, Nathan and I were like three Musketeers. One for all and all for one. I can't imagine not having that support. Were you lonely?"

"Sometimes," she admitted. "But that's why I took in strays and found them homes."

He'd always known Corrie was a woman who cared deeply. He could tell because of the way she handled animals. Now he saw there was a depth to her he'd never noticed before. Depth and natural beauty.

The thought was running around in his head as if it might want to find a permanent place there. So close to Corrie, he had the sudden desire to stroke her hair behind her ear, to taste her pretty pink lips--

"We should probably take the dogs out before the snow gets any deeper and the temperature drops for the night," he decided gruffly.

As he went to the hook beside the door for his ski jacket to brave the January night, he couldn't help thinking about the fact that Corrie wanted to have his baby. The idea definitely fed his ego.

Spend the night with Sam Barclay in his cabin? She'd never imagined that in her wildest dreams. Well, maybe she had. Maybe that was the problem.

She felt Sam's gaze on her as she pretended to watch Jasper romp in the snow. After Patches chased him, the smaller dog returned the favor. All the while, she knew Sam was trying to figure out exactly who she was.

She was a woman who'd had a crush on her boss since she'd been hired. She was a woman who didn't really attract men because she didn't want to...with good reason. Her father had been unfaithful to her mother. Corrie would never forget the day she had walked in on him and witnessed that infidelity firsthand. It had changed her relationship with her parents forever. When she'd fallen in love in college, she'd learned the guy hadn't been in love with her. After they'd made love, he'd moved on to the next challenge, and she'd learned she'd been a dare and a notch on his belt. That experience had set her up to steer clear of any romantic entanglement.

She hadn't wanted to be attracted to Sam Barclay after his partner had hired her. But there was something about his grin, something about his gentle eyes, something about the way he talked to animals that had gotten to her. And then there had been that New Year's Eve kiss almost two years ago. But afterward, he'd never looked her way again. He'd been too busy making a success of the clinic with Eric. And then, last year, he'd fallen hard for travel agent Alicia Walker whom he met when he was planning a trip to Africa to a game preserve. He and Alicia had been an item until this past August.

No one seemed to know why the couple had broken up, but Corrie had seen how devastated Sam was. She'd worried about him when he'd left for these woods before Thanksgiving, but she'd also realized she had to make something happen in her own life. That had been her New Year's resolution. It had taken her the past two weeks to find the courage to drive up here.

She'd kept asking herself--What's the worse that can happen? He could say no.

The wind was picking up. Shivering, Corrie headed for the cabin with Jasper following. "See you inside," she said brightly as if spending the night with Sam was no big deal, as if the quiet of the cabin wouldn't have to be filled with conversation, as if she wouldn't be aware of every move he made, every word he uttered, every glance he cast her way.

Sam was her boss. She had to play this right because whether he said yes or no, she didn't want to get fired.

Just as he called to her--"Watch out, that bottom step gets slippery"--she found out for herself. Her boot slipped and she would have ended up as a pile in the snow if Sam hadn't been right there, his arms circling her, his cheek almost brushing hers.

"Are you okay?" His voice was low and husky, his breath warm against her skin. "You didn't turn your ankle did you?"

Because Sam hadn't shaved in a couple of days, the stubble on his jaw was as dark as his brown hair. He was so sexy that even with the temperature dropping, hers was warming up.

"I'll help you up the steps." He was still looking at her, and she had the weird sensation he was really seeing her for the first time. They'd worked around each other for three years yet this awareness hadn't been there before. Maybe it was all on her part. After all, she'd always hidden her attraction to him, never let it peek out.

His large hand under her elbow, Sam made sure her footing was secure and steered her to the door. As she opened it and stepped inside, he whistled to Patches and the big dog came running.

"Do you have a towel I can use on Jasper?" Corrie asked Sam. "I don't want his fur to get all matted."

"No need," he said with a shrug. "I have a flannel shirt that will probably fall to your knees."

When Corrie thought about undressing, wearing one of Sam's shirts, she felt all goose-bumpy. The reaction wasn't from being outside.

After Sam brought her the towel and laid the shirt on the sofa, she rubbed down Jasper but she could feel Sam's attention focused on her.

He looked uncomfortable and she saw an expression cross his face that she couldn't read. It looked like sadness. Maybe something even deeper than sadness. "I think you'll be good at it."

His words should give her confidence. They were a compliment. But she sensed something was troubling him and she didn't know what it was. She wasn't sure they knew each other well enough for him to confide in her. Did his thoughts have something to do with Alicia? Promises they'd made...hopes they'd had?

She'd come to Sam because he had so many qualities she admired–-compassion and gentleness at the top of the list. He really was wonderful with his nephew and seemed to like children as much as animals. That's why she'd imagined he might be open to this idea.

Suddenly, Sam muttered in a low voice, "Being a mother is a twenty-four hour a day job."

"Some women don't realize how much of a commitment that is. I guess that's why they get depressed after they have a baby."

"I know how much of a commitment motherhood is. I watched my mom raise me by herself after my dad divorced her. I know first-hand what being a single parent is all about." She also knew what betrayal was all about and infidelity and the inability to keep the most important promise a man ever made. When she looked at Sam and felt a pull toward him, she had to remember that. She had to remember that attraction didn't go very far, and neither did the first couple of years of wedded bliss. All she had to do was envision her mother's tears and she could separate Sam the father-to-be, from Sam the attractive hunk.

"My parents divorced, too," Sam admitted. "But my dad raised us. My mother walked out because she wanted other things. Having a family was a commitment that took too much out of her. I guess what I'm saying, Corrie, is that you have to be absolutely sure about this, sure it's what you want. If you make this decision, you can never go back."

"I'm not impulsive, Sam," she argued, while at the same time realizing how hurt Sam must have been by his mother leaving.

He came a few steps closer to her. "It's just with this, the idea might be a lot more rewarding than the actual reality. Having a baby isn't easy and raising one is even harder."

"I can't let fear hold me back from doing something I've wanted my entire adult life. Sure, I love animals, but I want kids, Sam."

She put her hand up in front of her and almost touched his chest. Almost. "Stop! Just stop. I didn't come here to ask your permission to have a child. Whether you're willing to donate your sperm or not, I'm going to do this. It's not a debate, it's a dream I'm going to make come true." She rarely showed her temper to Sam, if ever, but he was making her mad--as if he knew best...as if he were so much more experienced.

Although she thought he might back away, he didn't. He studied her with his steady brown eyes and she felt all trembly inside. She just wanted his sperm. She didn't want to feel...attracted. She didn't even want to think about them parenting together. She knew she couldn't count on Sam, just as she couldn't count on any male. She'd thought he'd be good father material, but who actually knew? She was going to be the constant in her child's life. She was going to make the important decisions. If Sam was the father, well, she'd just see how much he'd stick around. But the bottom line was, she didn't expect him to.

Because looking into Sam's eyes gave her an almost breathless feeling, she snatched up his shirt from the sofa. "I'll change."

She felt like a fool. "I'm really not hungry. I'll change and then just curl up on the sofa." Under the afghan. So Sam's eyes on her wouldn't make her feel self-conscious.

Sam nodded to his bedroom. "You can sleep in there if you'd like, but it will be warmer out here if I keep the stove stoked. The sofa's lumpy--"

She'd rather be warm than sleep in Sam's bedroom. If she slept in Sam's bedroom, she knew exactly what scenes would invade her dreams. She wanted no part of imagining him in bed with her. The reality of Sam Barclay was much different than daydream musings she might have entertained while working for him. She wanted to have his baby but in a nonpersonal way.

"A little." He wasn't wearing a shirt, just gray sweat pants. Her eyes followed the curly path of his chest hair down to the drawstring. She jerked her gaze up to his eyes again.

In the hushed shadows of night and the silence broken only by the snores of the dogs cuddled in the dog bed beside the sofa, something primitive and powerful vibrated between her and Sam. Because it was the middle of the night? Because he was shirtless? Because she thought he was the sexiest man she had ever known?

Breaking the spell, he turned away from her and went to the fireplace. "I'll have this stoked up again in a minute."

She couldn't unglue her gaze from his bare back, his muscled arms and shoulders. "Do you cut your own firewood?"

"Whoever uses the stove has to replace what they use. So, yes, I've been using and replacing since I've been here. Why? Are you interested in learning how to split logs?" He glanced over his shoulder at her and his smile was teasing.

"I know for a fact you're stronger than you look. You lifted Mr. Huff's basset hound. He had to weigh forty pounds."

After Sam closed the door to the wood-stove insert in the fireplace, he brushed his hands against his thighs.

Corrie's stomach grumbled and Sam heard it. "You've got to be hungry. You hardly ate any supper."

That's because she'd felt like an idiot. After she'd taken Sam's shirt and changed in the bathroom, she'd returned to the living room realizing the darkness outside didn't mean it was time for bed. She'd been so rattled by their conversation and just being alone with him, that she'd forgotten all sense of time and place. He'd warmed cans of soup. Wrapped in the blanket on the sofa, she'd eaten some, just praying the hours would pass quickly.

While she'd leafed through magazines, Sam had worked at his laptop. Later he'd insisted he'd take the dogs out. It had been too cold and too snowy for them to stay out long and within fifteen minutes, they were all getting ready for bed.

"How about Oreos and hot chocolate?" he asked her now, looking like a kid who knew better but wanted to have a treat anyway.

"No, but our sweet tooth will be satisfied and I bet your stomach will stop growling."

The room was warming already. Letting the blanket fall, she stood. She hadn't taken off her socks. She felt a bit ridiculous with his shirt on, which stopped just below her knees, and her knee socks which came up to her shins.

In the small kitchen, they couldn't turn around without bumping hips, rubbing elbows, or standing practically toe to toe. She put two mugs of water in the microwave while he pulled the bag of Oreos from the back of the cupboard.

The silence between them grew too full of everything they were both thinking and not saying. Corrie asked, "Did you really come out here to stoke up the stove?"

"I knew the cabin would get cold if I didn't, but... My mind won't stop circling around what you asked me. I mean, it's not like I'm dating you and one night foolishly you're not protected and suddenly we're having a baby. That's all together different from what you're planning."

"Don't you see, Sam, this is so much better than the scenario you just described? We're both deciding if this is what we want. We're planning. If you would tell me you don't want to be involved at all, that would be fine. I'll take full responsibility for this baby. That's what I want."

"Alone isn't so bad. Alone, I don't have anyone else to answer to. Alone, I can make decisions for my child based on what I think's best. Alone, I don't have to worry about what someone else is going to do or say or think."

His question took her aback and she couldn't just laugh it off. But she couldn't confide in him, either. They didn't really know each other that well. "I told you, my mom and dad divorced."

"There's more to it than that. You're a caregiver. You don't hesitate to jump in and take care of a sick animal, to keep someone like Shirley company when she was lonely. What made you this way?"

If she clammed up and shut down, Sam would just turn away from her request as if it was a whim on her part. After thinking about Sam's question, she finally answered, "When my dad left, my mom and I took care of each other. She was a very loving person and didn't hesitate to help someone else when she could. I guess I just picked up on that. When she got sick--" She hadn't meant to say that. She hadn't meant to go into that.

The microwave beeped and she was glad for the interruption. Turning, she took the mugs of hot water from the small oven.

But Sam was right there, snagging the mugs from her, setting them on the counter. He towered over her while his bare skin, his male scent and his muscled arms seemed to surround her. "When did your mother get sick?"

"I had graduated from college and was in my second year of veterinary school when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She had no one but me. So I quit school to move back home and take care of her."

Corrie nodded, a huge lump in her throat, not because she had to quit school, but because she still missed her mother. She could feel the heat of Sam's hands through his flannel shirt. She wanted to reach out and touch the stubble on his jaw. She wanted to let him hold her until his strength became hers and the missing and the loneliness went away.

She remembered how her mother wouldn't take any help from her father. They had both cut him out of their lives because he'd hurt them so badly. When a girl saw her dad with another woman, when he seemed to care more about that woman than about being a father and a husband, the pain of rejection cut deep. He'd made half-hearted attempts to see Corrie after he and her mother divorced, but Corrie hadn't wanted to see him. The visits had been too awkward because Corrie had just wanted him to go away. Except, she really hadn't. She'd just wanted her dad back--the dad he'd been before she'd caught him with a woman who wasn't her mother.

"I didn't go back to school because I'd used up my money paying for nursing care for Mom. I'm saving again. I'm still hoping to finish."

"I don't have all the answers yet, Sam, but having a baby doesn't mean I can't finish school some day."

He released her shoulders and stepped away, putting more than physical distance between them. "Better mix in the chocolate or the water will get cold."

She wasn't sure what had just happened, but something had. She might not be the only one unwilling to confide her secrets.

When they'd settled on the sofa, Patches raised his head but then went back to sleep, his nose close to Jasper's.

Sam dipped his Oreos into his hot chocolate and didn't seem bothered when they disintegrated into it. She took hers apart and ate one half at a time. As she did, she noticed Sam watching her.

"A few." His voice was low and husky. With his thumb, he wiped the corner of her mouth.

She went very still. Time seemed to stop. Her breathing became shallower and faster.

Sam set his mug down on the coffee table. "I think I've had enough. I'm going to try to sleep again. You should, too."

If she slept, she knew what fantasies would invade her dreams--Sam kissing her...Sam making love to her.

Indulging in fantasies would throw her off course. She wouldn't let a man do that to her.

THE DADDY PLAN by Karen Rose Smith, Silhouette Special Edition, June 2008, ISBN:978--0-373-24908-4, Copyyright: 2008 Karen Rose Smith

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