Here’s a little sneak peak at a scene from The Baby Contract, Book 4 in the Four Irish Brothers Winery series releasing July 16, 2020 from Tule Publishing. You can preorder now and it will be waiting for you on your e-reader July 16! How fun! So, a little setup for this scene: Brendan Flaherty has just offered to father his friend Tierney Ashton’s baby. However, her idea of how it will all work is completely different from his! Enjoy the excerpt!

Excerpt: The Baby Contract, Four Irish Brothers Winery, Book 4

She yanked a chair out and plopped down into it, tossing the damp crumpled paper towel on the table between them. “Well, then, you’re crazier than people think I am.”

“Why?” Bren’s mind was racing. Now that he’d made the offer, he was warming to the idea. He was closing in on forty. It would be good to settle down, get married, and have a child… even a couple of kids. Maybe they weren’t in love, but Tee was a good friend and some marriages didn’t even have that going for them. Being madly in love wasn’t the only reason to get married.

He thought about his friends, Sai and Anika, in Chennai. They had an arranged marriage—they’d grown up in the same community and had been promised since childhood. Although the idea was strange to Bren, three children and over ten years later, they seemed very happy and loving together. He couldn’t think of another woman he was more comfortable with or whose company he enjoyed as much as Tee’s.

This could work.

She wasn’t involved with anyone and neither was he. Fact was, his job kept him so busy with late nights and travel and meetings all over the world, it had been hard to maintain much of a romantic relationship with anyone in DC. Since he’d been home, he’d dated a little, but that spark he’d waited for all his life had yet to materialize.

However, he truly meant what he’d said to Tierney. “Why?” he repeated with a bit more force. “Why is it any crazier than picking a father for your baby off a website?”

Tierney’s eyes narrowed. “You would do that? Go to Nell’s with me, collect a… a sample, and let her inseminate me? Just like that?”

Brendan nearly had to pick his jaw up off the table. That’s what she thinks I’m suggesting? How could she have known him for her whole life and believe for one moment that he’d simply give her his… his… Oh, good Lord. And then what? Walk away? He ran one hand over his face “Of course not!”

She sat up straighter. “Then what, Bren? Because, honestly, right now, that’s all I’m looking for.”

“Well, we… I… I-I can’t do that.” He was floundering, which frustrated him because he rarely floundered. He made presentations regularly to large groups of highly placed government officials all over the world. He could explain the intricacies of diplomacy, answer questions, and meet-and-greet in seven different languages. Now, he was stuttering in front of a woman he’d known since they were both kids. Who knew the most awkward moment of his life would be with Tee? Go figure.

Dammit.

Sure hope that whets your appetite for the new book! Stay well and stay safe, mes amies, and remember to be thankful for all things, hold your face to the sun, and love well.

~Nan~