The Paternity Pact (Texas Cattleman's Club: Rags To Riches Book 3) Read online

  Reunited with his forbidden lover,

  and her explosive secret...

  His unforgettable one-night stand is back in town.

  And she’s not alone...

  Five years ago, Grant Everett and Harley Wingate waltzed out of the Texas Cattleman’s Club ball and into Grant’s bed. Now an international philanthropist, the beautiful young woman has returned to Royal—with their secret son in tow. Grant wants answers—and Harley in his bed. But with scandal swirling around her family, can he stop Harley from running all over again?

  A low female voice spoke his name.

  He felt the lightest of pressure on his left sleeve and turned toward the source.

  Harley Wingate stood beside him, her mesmerizing green eyes dominating her face. She arched her lips into an enigmatic smile as her hand fell away. Although he’d braced himself to run into her tonight, his thoughts short-circuited at the shock of her sudden nearness. His gaze swept over her. She bore his scrutiny, showing more poise than five years earlier.

  “Hello, Harley.”

  “Wow. You do recognize me.” The breathy chuckle she released betrayed that she wasn’t as calm as she appeared. “I wasn’t sure you would.”

  Was she crazy? Did she not understand how memorable their weekend together had been? For months after she’d left town, he’d replayed their time together and debated if pushing her away had been the right move.

  “You know perfectly well that I recognize you.” The cacophony in his chest settled as the initial surprise of their reunion faded.

  “Do I?” She cocked her head. “It has been five years.”

  Five long years.

  * * *

  The Paternity Pact by Cat Schield is part of the

  Texas Cattleman’s Club: Rags to Riches series.

  Dear Reader,

  I know you all love reading the Texas Cattleman’s Club series as much as I love writing them. Returning to the town of Royal, Texas, always feels like coming home. My book in this Rags to Riches series was particularly fun for me because it’s both a reunion and a secret baby story. And as if that wasn’t enough, I got to explore the issues of a thirteen-year age gap between my hero and heroine.

  What a joy to write a character like Dr. Grant Everett. He’s a scientist, grounded in facts, who isn’t ready for his world to be turned upside down when his former lover returns to town after being gone for five years. Harley Wingate is the perfect woman to drive him wild. Impulsive and expressive, she is forced to choose between her head and her heart when it comes to Grant. Guiding these two characters to their happily-ever-after was an emotional ride.

  Happy reading,

  Cat Schield

  Cat Schield

  The Paternity Pact

  Cat Schield is an award-winning author of contemporary romances for Harlequin Desire. She likes her heroines spunky and her heroes swoonworthy. While her jet-setting characters live all over the globe, Cat makes her home in Minnesota with her daughter, two opinionated Burmese cats and a goofy Doberman. When she’s not writing or walking dogs, she’s searching for the perfect cocktail or traveling to visit friends and family. Contact her at www.catschield.com.

  Books by Cat Schield

  Harlequin Desire

  Las Vegas Nights

  The Black Sheep’s Secret Child

  Little Secret, Red Hot Scandal

  The Heir Affair

  Sweet Tea and Scandal

  Upstairs Downstairs Baby

  Substitute Seduction

  Revenge with Benefits

  Seductive Secrets

  Texas Cattleman’s Club: Rags to Riches

  The Paternity Pact

  Visit her Author Profile page at Harlequin.com, or catschield.com, for more titles!

  You can also find Cat Schield on Facebook, along with other Harlequin Desire authors, at Facebook.com/harlequindesireauthors!

  To Nancy Holland,

  my Golden Heart® sister and wonderful friend.

  My world is less bright without you in it.

  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

  Excerpt from Hidden Ambition by Jules Bennett

  One

  “Well, I must say,” declared Rose Everett-Schuster, “I’m shocked to see you here tonight.”

  The evening’s wine tasting, silent auction and fashion show at Spoon and Stable, a French-inspired café on Royal’s main square, had been organized by Beth Wingate in support of her younger sister Harley’s nonprofit organization, Zest, which operated in various overseas countries.

  “I donated a case of 2014 Château Pierre de Dupré Medoc for the tasting,” Grant Everett replied, knowing that offering his sister, Rose, a deliberate nonanswer would only intensify her curiosity. He maintained a bland expression even as his pulse accelerated when his peripheral vision caught his older sister’s raised eyebrows and pointed gaze. “As well as a 2016 Château Margaux Bordeaux for the silent auction.”

  “I’m not sure that a wine donation fully explains what prompted our town’s leading fertility specialist to leave his ivory tower and mingle with the masses,” Rose said. “There must be something special about this particular charity that brought you out tonight.”

  Except for a single colossal bungle that he’d kept to himself these last five years, he wasn’t a man given to secrets. Not that he was an open book. Grant didn’t run around sharing his thoughts and opinions like sticks of gum, and as a medical professional, he strictly adhered to doctor/patient confidentiality.

  Muttering under his breath, he cursed the impulse that compelled him to show up at a benefit for Zest when he rarely put in an appearance at any of the other charity events Rose invited him to. He had little patience for crowds or small talk and preferred to make his philanthropic contributions by way of his checkbook. But what explanation could he give that would satisfy his sister without betraying the real reason Zest had been on his radar since its inception three years earlier?

  “It’s a good cause,” he retorted.

  “They’re all good causes,” Rose drawled, displaying a dogged determination to pull some sort of admission from him. “The only thing that makes this one different is that this particular party benefits Harley Wingate’s nonprofit.”

  “I’m not following you,” Grant said, giving his sister his full attention.

  Although Rose kept her eyes and ears open to glean news about Royal’s wealthiest families, accumulating tidbits of gossip about everyone gathered here tonight, he suspected she was merely fishing. She couldn’t possibly know how he felt about the Wingate family’s youngest daughter. Hell, he wasn’t sure he could define his conflicted emotions whenever she popped into his thoughts.

  “A certain prodigal daughter who has recently returned home after mysteriously disappearing abroad.”

  “Who?” It was a weak comeback and from the way his sister’s gaze drilled into him, Grant recognized that he wasn’t fooling her.

  “You know,” Rose prompted. “The woman you disappeared with after the annual TCC ball five years earlier? And spent the weekend with.”

&nbs
p; “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Rose’s lips curved into a satisfied smirk at whatever insight she gleaned from his expression. “Everyone wondered why she left Royal so suddenly a few weeks later.”

  “That had nothing to do with me,” he countered, noting that his voice sounded a shade too abrupt. He silently cursed that he’d been provoked into explaining himself. Normally, Grant wouldn’t let his sister’s ribbing get under his skin, but what had happened with Harley and how he’d behaved during their last encounter filled him with regret.

  “You changed after she left.”

  “Changed how?”

  “You married Paisley,” Rose went on in a more sympathetic tone. “And after realizing what a mistake that was, threw yourself even deeper into work.”

  At the mention of his ex-wife, he tossed back the last of his scotch and grimaced as it burned his throat. Although this was only his second drink of the night, he’d consumed both in a short span of time and could feel the alcohol buzzing in his system, awakening his emotions and unraveling his ability to use logic to stop his sister from intruding on his private pain.

  Grant pivoted away from his sister and allowed his gaze to roam the restaurant. “I don’t want to discuss Paisley.”

  Their three-year marriage had given him an all-too-clear picture of his shortcomings when it came to romantic relationships. He’d lost count of how many times she’d accused him of lacking a heart and proclaimed that he’d never loved her. Not once had he argued the opposite. In truth, he’d chosen to marry Paisley based on her attractiveness and suitability as the wife of a successful doctor and a member of one of Royal’s wealthiest families. Too late, he’d discovered that she’d believed her love could change him into the adoring family man she needed. Instead, her suffocating attentiveness drove him to spend even longer hours at the hospital.

  “I know that you hate to fail and what happened in your marriage is a sore spot with you,” Rose said softly. “I just hope that you realize that trying again with the right woman will make all the difference.”

  Grant shook his head, wishing he could make his sister understand that his tendency to prioritize his work over relationships kept him from being husband and/or father material. He would just have to be satisfied with making other families’ dreams come true.

  “I must say, I’m quite impressed.” A petite dark-haired woman had appeared on Rose’s left, providing a much-welcomed interruption. Henrietta Sinclair pointed at the jewel-bright sundress created by the women of Zest and modeled by her daughter Regan, along with a dozen of the town’s best-known fashionistas. “The entire collection is beautiful and so well made.”

  “All the fabric used is organic cotton with vegetable dyes,” Rose said, highlighting the talking points from the brochure in her hands.

  “What Harley Wingate has done is just marvelous,” Henrietta murmured. “Her family should be so proud.”

  “Yes,” Rose murmured. “I imagine that given the girl she was before she left town, none of them expected her to amount to much.”

  This last remark from Rose grated on Grant’s nerves and he used his sister’s distraction to excuse himself and slip away. As he wandered through the crowd, he noted that several faces reflected surprise as he strode past. Although he was well-known by this particular crowd because of his philanthropy, his expertise as a fertility specialist and his membership in the Texas Cattleman’s Club, the fact that he’d attended less than a handful of social events since his divorce meant his appearance tonight had stirred up people’s curiosity.

  He doubted anyone besides Rose would guess he’d shown up at this particular event because of Harley Wingate. Or that she’d been the woman who’d inspired his atypical behavior at that fateful Texas Cattlemen’s Club ball. The two friends he’d been standing between had no clue that his heart had given an explosive bang when he’d first spied her. Between his discretion and their thirteen-year age difference—an important detail he hadn’t known at the time—no one would’ve imagined he’d be attracted to a girl who’d just graduated from high school. Much less that he would spend the next two days in bed with her.

  Grant shuddered as he replayed how he’d felt when he’d learned the truth. He’d abruptly ended their weekend together, horrified by the image of himself as a corruptor of innocents. Not that he would use that word to describe Harley. Quite the opposite. In a slinky dress of peacock blue that skimmed her slim figure while baring her delicate shoulders and well-toned arms, Harley had moved about the ball with the confidence of a woman aware of the sensual power she wielded. In the aftermath of their weekend together, he’d realized that she’d pursued him with the same focused intent of a bounty hunter on the trail of a big score.

  She’d been just the right amount of flirtatious as she’d peppered him with thoughtful questions about his work and his family’s philanthropy. He’d been utterly charmed by the frank admiration in her velvet green eyes and riveted by her playful smiles that showed off the minor gap between her two front teeth. Each time her hand had grazed against him, his libido had taken a direct hit. Famished for a taste of her sweet lips, well before the last song of the night, he’d tugged her into an isolated alcove and kissed her until neither of them could breathe.

  Just thinking about that night and the two that followed awakened a rush of longing within him. He shoved down the sharp hunger even as his gaze raked the crowd, automatically searching for a slim beauty with long straight brown hair. A chaotic stew of eagerness and apprehension twisted his gut and sent awareness tickling across his skin. Grant cursed beneath his breath, calling himself all sorts of a fool.

  Obviously, attending tonight’s party had been a mistake. The five years hadn’t blunted his interest in Harley. Confronting this fact revived the question he’d dwelled on far too often since learning that she’d come home from her overseas travels.

  Was their thirteen-year age difference any less remarkable now that he was thirty-six and she twenty-three?

  Yes. No. Maybe.

  Grant touched the traces of premature gray that had touched his temples in the last year. Men dated younger women all the time without anyone making a big deal out of it. But it hadn’t just been their age gap that had set him off. It was the way being with her had awakened his emotions and made him behave in ways contrary to his normal, logical self. It continued to bother him that he’d turned a blind eye to the consequences of his actions.

  Sure, the sex had been explosive, but he’d attributed their chemistry to the secrecy enveloping their tryst. Engaging in a one-night stand with a beautiful stranger was the wrong sort of behavior for a man in his position. That he’d known he was taking a risk before the hotel-room door shut behind them hadn’t stopped him from spending the next two days learning every inch of her body and very little else about her.

  She’d given him only her first name and he hadn’t connected her to the Wingate family. Even once Grant had discovered Harley’s full identity, he couldn’t reconcile his vague memory of the lanky teenager he’d seen in passing at the Texas Cattleman’s Club with the passionate temptress who’d rocked his world. In the aftermath of their weekend together, he’d struggled to make sense of his body’s unrelenting desire for more nights with her.

  In the grip of a craving that strengthened despite his dismay at lusting after a woman so much younger than himself, Grant had come to the decision that neglecting his personal life had caused his reckless behavior. Shortly after the TCC Ball where he’d met Harley, he’d begun dating a woman of suitable age and social status for Royal’s premier fertility doctor. The failure of their marriage after three years reinforced his previous opinion that he wasn’t cut out to be a family man.

  Maybe after his weekend with Harley, he should’ve spent a week or a month indulging his appetite for her and purged her from his system. For a while, it might have been an ideal situation. She
’d declared herself a free spirit with a whole world she was dying to explore. With neither one interested in being tied down, no doubt they both would’ve enjoyed the relationship for a time and then moved on.

  As if his thoughts had conjured her, the crowd before him shifted and Grant realized Harley stood twenty feet away. The years abroad had created a subtle shift in her demeanor, transforming her youthful exuberance into vibrant elegance. Yet, he sensed a hint of discomfort beneath her bright smile as if she chafed at being the focus of so much attention.

  Nevertheless, even as he sympathized, the familiar flare of attraction surged to life. He ground his teeth against the unwelcome rush of longing and cursed. Grant wasn’t one for brief and casual affairs. The impulsive weekend with Harley had been completely out of character for him and the abrupt and contentious end to their interlude had left him with unanswered questions and unresolved emotions.

  But as their gazes locked and a mixture of anger and joy twisted his gut into knots, he was transported to another event. From the moment he’d spied her, nothing in his life had been the same. At the same time, Grant realized that the same beliefs that kept him from pursuing a relationship with a woman thirteen years his junior were still in effect. He might desire Harley Wingate with a fiery intensity, but acting on it was a mistake he would never make again.

  * * *

  The shock that went through Harley as she met Grant Everett’s eyes was different than what she’d experienced five years earlier, but no less potent.

  The night of that fateful Texas Cattleman’s Club ball, she’d been an impetuous teenager brimming with cocky confidence, determined that the next man she slept with would know what the hell he was doing in bed. Up until that point, she’d only slept with her former boyfriend of nine months and found those experiences less than memorable. From what she’d gleaned from her friends, sex should be a lot more enjoyable than what she had been getting from Dean.