Sensible Housekeeper, Scandalously Pregnant. Jennie Lucas

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      JENNIE LUCAS grew up dreaming about faraway lands. At fifteen, hungry for experience beyond the borders of her small Idaho city, she went to a Connecticut boarding school on scholarship. She took her first solo trip to Europe at sixteen, then put off college and travelled around the US, supporting herself with jobs as diverse as gas station cashier and newspaper advertising assistant.

      At twenty-two she met the man who would be her husband. After their marriage she graduated from Kent State with a degree in English. Seven years after she started writing she got the magical call from London that turned her into a published author.

      Since then life has been hectic, with a new writing career and a sexy husband and two small children, but she’s having a wonderful (albeit sleepless) time. She loves immersing herself in dramatic, glamorous, passionate stories. Maybe she can’t physically travel to Morocco or Spain right now, but for a few hours a day, while her children are sleeping, she can be there in her books.

      Jennie loves to hear from her readers. You can visit her website at www.jennielucas.com, or drop her a note at [email protected]

       Dear Reader

      Have you ever felt as if no one appreciates your hard work, the way you always put other people first?

      I think every woman has felt taken for granted at some point in her life. I know I have. Have you ever wished that your boss, boyfriend or husband would finally notice everything you do, and treasure and adore you for it?

      Louisa Grey has worked hard all her life. For the last five years she’s spent every waking hour taking care of her tycoon boss’s needs while ignoring her own. Then she makes a dreadful mistake: she surrenders to his seduction.

      When she finds out she’s pregnant, she knows she’s on her own. Her playboy boss will never wish to marry her and raise their child. This ruthless, arrogant billionaire will never fall to his knees and beg his housekeeper to give him her heart.

      Or will he…?

      Speaking of appreciation, as I mark my tenth book for Mills & Boon^® I want to thank you, my readers. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I loved writing it—the story of a hardworking woman finally rewarded beyond her wildest dreams.

       Jennie

      To Kimberley Young, the best editor in the world. Thanks for making my first ten books the best they could be!

      Chapter One

      THE gray sky dripped rain like mist, fine as cobwebs, across the dark minarets of Istanbul as Louisa Grey cut the last autumn roses from the garden. Her hands, usually so steady, trembled around her pruning scissors.

      I can’t be pregnant, she told herself fiercely.

       Can’t be!

      Could she…?

      Abruptly Louisa sat back on her haunches, wiping her forehead with her sleeve in the cool twilight of early November. For a moment, she stared at the red and orange roses of the lush garden of the old Ottoman mansion. Then her hands fell into her lap. She felt the weight of the pruning shears against her gray woolen skirt.

      Blinking fast, she turned her head blindly to stare out at the red sunset shimmering across the Bosphorus.

      One night. She’d worked for her ruthless playboy boss for five years. One night had ruined everything. She’d fled Paris the very next day, demanding a job transfer to his neglected home in Istanbul. She’d tried to put their night of passion behind her. But now, a month later, she had one terrified thought. One question that kept repeating itself in her mind. Every day, the question became louder and more afraid.

      Could she be pregnant with her boss’s baby?

      “Miss? The cook’s taken ill,” a girl said in accented English behind her. “Please, may he go home?”

      Louisa’s shoulders instantly became steel-straight. Pushing her black-framed glasses up on her nose, she turned to face the young Turkish maid. She knew she must reveal no weakness to members of her staff who looked to her for leadership. “Why does he not ask me himself?”

      “He’s afraid you’ll say no, miss. With so much to be done for Mr. Cruz’s visit—”

      “Mr. Cruz is not expected until the morning of the dinner party. Tell the cook to go home. We will manage. But next time,” Louisa added sharply, “he must ask me himself and not send someone else because he’s afraid.”

      “Yes, miss.”

      “Also tell him he must be completely well by the day of the party, or he will be replaced.”

      With a timid movement like a curtsy, the maid departed.

      Once Louisa was alone, her shoulders sagged. Leaning forward, she gathered two fallen roses from the grass and placed them in her basket. She picked up the pruning shears and rose heavily to her feet. She forced herself to go through the household checklist in her mind. The marble floors and chandeliers were sparkling clean. Her boss’s favorite foods had been ordered to arrive fresh from the markets each day. His bedroom suite was ready, needing only these fresh roses to sweeten the dark, masculine room for whichever beautiful starlet he might choose to bring home with him this time.

      Everything must be perfect for his visit. Mr. Cruz must have no reason whatsoever to complain. No reason, Louisa thought as she clipped the stem of the bush’s very last rose with rather more force than necessary, to speak to her alone.

      She heard the wrought-iron gate open with a long scraping sound behind her. She’d have to get that oiled, she thought. She turned, expecting to see the gardener, or perhaps the wine seller with the large delivery of champagne she’d ordered for the dinner party.

      Instead she sucked in her breath as a towering figure stepped from the shadows. Except this man didn’t just step out of the shadows.