Yuletide Baby Bargain Read online

  Christmas Miracle...or Christmas Mayhem?

  When Lincoln Swift finds a two-month-old infant on his doorstep, it’s panic time! Still, he takes the child in, believing she’s his MIA brother’s unless a DNA test proves otherwise. Then he turns to social worker and old friend Maddie Templeton for help. But his relationship with Maddie is complicated by past beefs and a present attraction that grows ever fiercer as they bond over the baby.

  Linc knows this instant family could be taken away from him in a heartbeat. Will he propose a more permanent arrangement to Maddie just for the baby’s sake? Or will she drive a hard bargain of her own, holding out for the truest Christmas gift a man could give?

  “I should have given you something to sleep in,” Linc said.

  “No need.” It was much too easy to imagine slipping one of Linc’s T-shirts over her head. Of course, it had been a fantasy that had fueled her teenage self for a long time. “It’s one night. I’m fine like this.”

  “Have you slept at all?”

  She nodded and stood. The spacious nursery felt much too close. “I think I’ll fix Layla a small bottle. Maybe she’ll sleep afterward. You want to hold her?”

  He immediately shoved his hands into his front pockets.

  She averted her eyes from the fine line of dark hair running downward from the flat indent of his navel and headed toward the doorway. “I’ll take that as a no.”

  “She’s happy with you.”

  He flipped on lights as they made their way to the kitchen. Before Maddie could mix up more formula, Linc did.

  She sat on one of the bar stools at the island and watched.

  And wondered some more.

  About him and Jax.

  About the nursery.

  About how the bare skin stretching over his shoulders would feel beneath her fingertips...

  * * *

  RETURN TO THE DOUBLE C: Under the big blue Wyoming sky, this family discovers true love

  Dear Reader,

  Maddie Templeton bakes when she’s stressed out, and when she finds herself becoming entangled with Lincoln Swift and the sweet baby that lands on his doorstep, she’s definitely stressed! But her chocolate brownies soothe even the man she’d long believed to be a beast, so I thought I’d share Maddie’s recipe with you!

  6 oz unsweetened baking chocolate

  2 oz semisweet baking chocolate

  1/2 cup butter

  3 eggs

  1 cup sugar

  3/4 cups flour

  1/2 tsp baking powder

  1/4 tsp salt

  1/2 tsp vanilla

  Powdered sugar

  Melt chocolates and butter over low heat. Cool. Meanwhile, beat eggs for five minutes. Add sugar and beat again. Sift together dry ingredients and mix into egg mixture. Add melted chocolate mixture and vanilla. Spread in greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350ºC for twenty minutes. Cool slightly and dust with powdered sugar, then cut and remove from pan before entirely cool.

  Happy reading, and the happiest of holiday seasons to you!

  Yuletide Baby Bargain

  Allison Leigh

  A frequent name on bestseller lists, Allison Leigh’s high point as a writer is hearing from readers that they laughed, cried or lost sleep while reading her books. She credits her family with great patience for the time she’s parked at her computer, and for blessing her with the kind of love she wants her readers to share with the characters living in the pages of her books. Contact her at allisonleigh.com.

  Books by Allison Leigh

  Harlequin Special Edition

  Return to the Double C

  Vegas Wedding, Weaver Bride

  A Child Under His Tree

  The BFF Bride

  One Night in Weaver...

  A Weaver Christmas Gift

  A Weaver Beginning

  A Weaver Vow

  A Weaver Proposal

  Courtney’s Baby Plan

  The Rancher’s Dance

  The Fortunes of Texas: The Secret Fortunes

  Wild West Fortune

  The Fortunes of Texas: All Fortune’s Children

  Fortune’s Secret Heir

  The Fortunes of Texas: Cowboy Country

  Fortune’s June Bride

  Montana Mavericks: 20 Years in the Saddle!

  Destined for the Maverick

  Men of the Double C Ranch

  A Weaver Holiday Homecoming

  A Weaver Baby

  A Weaver Wedding

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

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  For beautiful little Monroe Lea, who has been born into a wonderful family. Welcome to the world!

  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

  Chapter Fourteen

  Excerpt from Christmastime Courtship by Marie Ferrarella

  Chapter One

  “Are you a social worker or not?”

  Maddie Templeton’s jaw tightened at the impatient words being spat at her through the phone line. She wished she could pretend she didn’t recognize the owner of the voice.

  This was the last thing she needed. She’d already spent the entire day dealing with tying up troublesome details at work before a forced two-week vacation. Then she’d rushed home to change into somewhat date-worthy clothing and driven the thirty miles over winding roads from Braden to Weaver, where she was supposed to meet a man named Morton for dinner.

  Only Morton had stood her up.

  Instead of having a date for the first time in months—which was a generous estimate, if she were truthful—she’d ended up spending the evening with her grandmother. Not that Vivian wasn’t entertaining enough. She just wasn’t the kind of company that Maddie had been hoping for.

  Now, it was after ten o’clock, and after returning to the house she shared with her sisters—knowing they were probably out with guys who’d never dream of standing them up—she just didn’t feel in the mood to deal with Lincoln Swift’s phone call.

  Because she couldn’t stand Lincoln Swift.

  If only she’d let the phone continue ringing as she’d walked in the door. Eventually, it would have gone to voice mail, and she’d be happily trespassing in Greer’s bathroom by now, watching her sister’s claw-foot tub fill with hot water while she decided what task to tackle first on her use-it-or-lose-it vacation time.

  Instead, she leaned against the half-finished kitchen cabinets—the do-it-yourself refinishing job had been stalled for months—and fantasized about hanging up on him. After telling him just how little she thought of him.

  After all these years, turnabout would be sweet.

  But instead of letting every bit of her day’s frustration out on the man, she swallowed it down. “Yes, Linc, I am a social worker,” she said evenly. “What’s the problem?” There would have to be a problem to make Linc ever reach o
ut to the likes of her.

  “I don’t want to get into it on the phone. Just come to the house.”

  “I’m sorry.” Even though her teeth clenched and her hand tightened around the receiver, she managed to channel the dulcet tone that Greer used in the courtroom before skewering someone. “What house?”

  As if Maddie didn’t know perfectly well that he’d moved into the grand old mansion once owned by his grandmother Ernestine Swift after her death. Maddie knew every corner of that mansion, too. But only because as a child, she’d accompanied her mother every week when Meredith cleaned the place for Ernestine.

  That was how she’d met Linc and his brother, Jax, in the first place.

  They’d chased each other all over that place.

  Until Linc had decided he was too old for such nonsense and pretty much seemed to forget Maddie existed.

  Then it had been just Jax and Maddie.

  Until Linc had decided that was nonsense, too.

  “My brother’s gone and done it again.” Linc’s voice was tight. “Are you going to help me or not?”

  When she and Jax had dated, they’d been in high school, but even then Maddie hadn’t been serious about him. He was a lot of fun. But good boyfriend material? Definitely not.

  Aside from her sisters, though, he’d been just about her best friend in the world. Until Linc made sure she knew she wasn’t good enough for Jax in any way, shape or form.

  That had been thirteen years ago, and it still held the record as the single most humiliating moment of her life—far outstripping being stood up by a computer programmer named Morton.

  She dropped the dulcet tones for her usual frankness. “Jax is thirty years old, Linc. He’s a grown man. Whatever he’s gone and done, he can undo.” Jax had had plenty of practice, after all. And it wouldn’t be legal trouble. If it were, Linc definitely wouldn’t have called her. Swift Oil, his family business, had a phalanx of lawyers on the payroll.

  “He’s not here. He’s out of town.” Linc sounded like he was talking through his teeth, too, and it took no effort at all to conjure an image of his face.

  Which annoyed her to no end.

  Even though she ran into Jax fairly often around town, she’d had only a few dealings with Linc since that long-ago mortifying day.

  He ran an oil company.

  She was a social worker.

  Since he’d moved back to Braden when his grandmother died, they’d rarely run into each other. Which was saying something because, on a good day, the population there didn’t break 5,000. The last time she’d seen him in person had been at Ernestine’s funeral. Three years ago.

  She’d offered her condolences and left the very second that she could.

  She squared up the stack of paint chips sitting on the counter that her sisters had been squabbling over for a month, trying to block the memory of the grief that she’d seen in his face that day. “If Jax isn’t there, then what are you even calling me for?”

  “Because his kid is here,” he said even more sharply. “Isn’t that what you deal with? Kids left to fend for themselves because their parents can’t be bothered?”

  She straightened abruptly from her slouch, and felt her red sweater catch on a nail. He could have been describing his and Jax’s parents, but she had the sense not to point that out. She carefully unhooked the threads of her sweater before they unraveled. “Jax has a child?” She knew she sounded shocked, even though it wasn’t such a shocking thought.

  Jax loved women, after all. He’d never been without at least one on his arm from the time he’d entered puberty. But he’d always claimed he’d never get caught by one the way his dad had been.

  Linc made a sound that wasn’t quite an oath. “Just get over here, would you please? I didn’t know who else to call.”

  She grimaced. “You must be desperate, indeed.”

  “I’ll leave the gate open,” he said flatly.

  A moment later, all she heard was the dial tone.

  He’d hung up on her.

  “I’ll leave the gate open,” she muttered, hanging up harder than necessary. Typical Linc. Issuing edicts as if he had a divine right to do so.

  It would serve him right if she ignored him. She was supposed to be on vacation, after all.

  But what about the child?

  Jax’s child?

  She huffed out a breath and left the kitchen, returning to the foyer where she’d left her boots. The artificial Christmas tree that her sister Ali bought was sitting in its enormous box, blocking half the room. None of them were thrilled with having an artificial tree instead of a fresh-cut one, but Ali’s overdeveloped sense of safety had prevailed. She was a police officer and had just dealt with a family home burning down from a tree that went up in flames. Neither Greer nor Maddie had had the heart to argue with her. They’d both promised Ali they’d help put it up this weekend.

  Maddie sat down on the box, pulled on her leather boots and zipped them up to her knees.

  Despite the weatherman’s dire predictions, it still hadn’t snowed yet, but the temperatures were already cold and bitter. She wrapped a scarf around her neck on top of her coat before she let herself back out into the night. Her car was parked in the driveway; both engine and interior were still warm from the drive back from Weaver.

  At least she wouldn’t have to go so far to get to the old Swift mansion. It used to sit on the eastern edge of Braden, but due to progress, the town limits had been creeping past it for years. Now it was more like a crown jewel in the center of town.

  When she arrived, the ornate iron gate guarding the long drive to the house was open, just as Linc had promised.

  She drove through it, and memories of climbing on the thing pulled at her. The first time, Maddie’s mother had been horrified. But Ernestine—seeming old even then—had merely laughed and waved it off. How could Maddie be expected to not climb on it when her grandsons were doing the same thing?

  Maddie rubbed her forehead, trying and failing to block out the images of her, Jax and Linc running around that first summer. She and Jax had been six, Linc a much older and wiser eleven.

  By the time she and Jax were eleven, Meredith was no longer cleaning the mansion for Ernestine. But Maddie’s friendship with Jax—and her fascination with Linc, who’d totally lost interest in them by that point—had lived on. For a few more years, anyway. Until he’d made so very plain what he thought of her.

  Her headlights swept over the stone wall that ran alongside the narrow driveway as it curved its way to the mansion sitting atop the hill.

  Her mouth felt dry.

  Which was just plain stupid.

  The drive swelled out into a circle in front of the house before narrowing again as it continued off into the darkness. She hadn’t been out there in more than a decade, but she assumed there was still an enormous detached garage next to the gardener’s shack.

  She parked in the circle and took a deep breath before getting out of the car and reluctantly climbing the brick steps. As soon as she reached the door, she could hear the wailing from inside and her gloved hand paused on the lion-shaped door knocker.

  It was the distinct wail of a baby.

  She started when the door opened, the door knocker yanked out of her lax fingers before she could even properly use it.

  “Took you long enough,” Linc greeted her as he shoved the infant car seat he was holding into her arms.

  She rapidly adjusted her hold on it when he let go and backed away. Like he couldn’t get away fast enough.

  From the baby? Or from Maddie?

  She averted her gaze, but not fast enough to keep from noticing that his disheveled blondish-brown hair showed a sprinkle of gray on the sides that hadn’t been there three years ago, and the faint lines arrowing out from the corners of his hazel ey
es weren’t quite so faint anymore.

  And he looked better than ever.

  Dammit.

  She channeled Greer’s dulcet tones again. “Good to see you, too, Linc.” She smiled insincerely and looked down at the wailing baby. A girl, if the pink blanket was anything to go by. “Where’s her mom?”

  “Who the hell knows?” He shoved his long fingers through his hair. “I came home and that—” he waved at the infant seat “—was sitting all alone on the doorstep.”

  She stepped inside and set the carrier on the old-fashioned table in the middle of the spacious foyer. After dumping her purse on the table, too, she delved beneath the pink blanket, relieved to feel warmth coming off the crying baby. “How long ago?”

  “You’re not shocked?”

  She deftly released the harness strapping the baby into the seat and picked her up. “By a baby being left somewhere or by you calling me about it?” She didn’t wait for his answer as she tried to soothe the baby. “Unfortunately, I can’t say this is my first experience with an abandoned baby. How long ago did you get home?”

  He was wearing a dark blazer over a white shirt and blue jeans. Date wear.

  She hated the fact that she’d even noticed. Or that she cared.

  The baby was still wailing, so hard that she was hiccupping. “It’s okay, sweetheart.” Maddie jiggled the baby and blindly swept her hand inside the car seat, finally finding a pacifier wedged under a corner of the fabric lining. She touched it to the baby’s lips and she latched onto it greedily.

  “Silence,” Linc muttered. “Thank God.”

  Maddie refrained from telling him that he could have found the pacifier, too, if he’d tried. Through the fleecy polka-dot sleeper the baby was wearing, she could feel the diaper was heavy. “So? How long ago?”

  “Less than an hour ago.” Linc raked his fingers through his hair again and paced on the other side of the foyer table. “A few minutes before I called you the first time. It took three tries before you bothered to answer.”

  “Don’t make it sound like I’ve done something wrong,” she said. “I was out, too. It is allowed, you know. Even for social workers.”

 
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