Fortune's Christmas Baby Read online

  His holiday surprise...

  Is a bundle of joy!

  When Nolan Forte returns to Austin a year after a yuletide romance, he is shocked to learn he is a father. He wants to do right by his beautiful baby girl—and her sweet mama, Lizzie Sullivan. But when he reveals his real name is Nolan Fortune, all bets are off. Lizzie doesn’t trust men with money. Maybe some Christmas magic can convince her that she, Nolan and Stella are already rich in what matters!

  MEET THE FORTUNES!

  Fortune of the Month: Nolan Fortune (aka Nolan Forte)

  Age: 26

  Vital Statistics: Six feet of tall, dark and handsome—and he slays on the saxophone

  Claim to Fame: “Nolan Forte” tours around the country with a jazz band on weekends. Nolan Fortune is a millionaire banker desperate to keep a low profile.

  Romantic Prospects: “Nolan Forte” swept Lizzie Sullivan off her feet last Christmas. But her feelings about Nolan Fortune are decidedly more complicated.

  “Those few weeks last December were some of the best days of my life. I knew I’d never forget Lizzie, but we were doomed from the start. How was I supposed to tell her that my whole life was a lie? Her beloved ‘starving artist’ is really...filthy rich.

  “I really believed a clean break was best. But now I realize it was a terrible mistake. I—we—have a daughter. I want to be there for her. I want to be there for both of them. First, though, I have to regain Lizzie’s trust. She doesn’t want my money. She says she doesn’t want me. I have to make this Christmas count. Somehow, I have to prove to Lizzie that, deep down, I’m the same man she fell in love with...”

  THE FORTUNES OF TEXAS

  Dear Reader,

  I’m so excited to be joining the Fortunes of Texas! I love this family and have had a lot of fun living among them. If you’ve read any of my other eighty-six Harlequin novels, you’ll find typical ttq here, too. Things always take unexpected twists and turns on me and I learned a long time ago to quit trying to control them. This time a house showed up. Definitely not in my plan. But it was the plan Nolan and Lizzie came up with and this is their story, so their call!

  I love Christmas time. I’m the Christmas-obsessed person with every single room in my house decorated—including wall art. It’s switched out for the holiday season. I wear holiday clothes all season, too. I like the colors, the lights, the excitement—kind of like living with the Fortunes. But much more than that, I believe in the message of hope. Of the miracles that come through ordinary people. Of unconditional love that never dies. The Fortunes are hugely entertaining, the love is soul-deep real. I hope you’ll find both in the following pages!

  Merry Christmas from Nolan, Lizzie, baby Stella and me!

  Tara Taylor Quinn

  PS: I love to hear from my readers! You can find me on social media as Tara Taylor Quinn and at tarataylorquinn.com.

  Fortune’s Christmas Baby

  Tara Taylor Quinn

  Having written over eighty-five novels, Tara Taylor Quinn is a USA TODAY bestselling author with more than seven million copies sold. She is known for delivering intense, emotional fiction. Tara is a past president of Romance Writers of America and is a seven-time RWA RITA® Award finalist. She has also appeared on TV across the country, including CBS Sunday Morning. She supports the National Domestic Violence Hotline. If you need help, please contact 1-800-799-7233.

  Books by Tara Taylor Quinn

  Harlequin Special Edition

  The Daycare Chronicles

  An Unexpected Christmas Baby

  Her Lost and Found Baby

  Harlequin Superromance

  Where Secrets are Safe

  His First Choice

  The Promise He Made Her

  Her Secret Life

  The Fireman’s Son

  For Joy’s Sake

  A Family for Christmas

  Falling for the Brother

  Harlequin Heartwarming

  Family Secrets

  For Love or Money

  Her Soldier’s Baby

  The Cowboy’s Twins

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

  Join Harlequin My Rewards today and earn a FREE ebook!

  Click here to Join Harlequin My Rewards

  http://www.harlequin.com/myrewards.html?mt=loyalty&cmpid=EBOOBPBPA201602010002

  To my own precious Christmas Babies:

  Morgan Marie, Baylor Raine and Finley Joseph.

  You remind me that life is eternal

  and love matters more than anything else.

  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

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Excerpt from Bring Me a Maverick for Christmas! by Brenda Harlen

  Chapter One

  He wanted to play.

  Just not in Austin.

  Weary from a year of major financial gains, youngest son banker in a family of bankers, Nolan Fortune, wanted—badly—to get out of his hometown of New Orleans.

  He wanted to tune out the noise, close his eyes and sink deeply into the world where it was him and his saxophone. Making music, not money. Just for the couple weeks that the executives at Fortune Investments, himself included, were off work over the holidays.

  He needed to pretend to be someone else. To wear jeans, a bit of stubble on his usually freshly shaven face and a black leather vest if he felt like it. The yearning inside of him had to have a chance to break free for a bit or he was going to get really cranky.

  He wanted to be his other self—Nolan Forte.

  He wanted to travel with the band he secretly gigged with on weekends—the guys who had no idea he was a millionaire banker in a family of millionaire bankers—and get a little crazy. He wanted to be able to talk to people—women—and believe that he, not his money, was the main attraction.

  A little crazy. Nothing harsh enough to land him in any kind of trouble. Or the news.

  How spoiled was he that he was getting almost everything he wanted—the break, the time with the band, the stubble and jeans, the anonymity—and he still wasn’t satisfied?

  But Austin...damn.

  “Sorry you were outvoted, man.” Daly, their lead guitarist turned in the seat he was hogging to look at Nolan, who was stretched out in the seat behind him. The fifteen-passenger van had a lot of seats. The band had four guys.

  “You planning to sulk the whole way there?” Daly came again.

  He wasn’t sulking. He was contemplating life.

  His life.

  “The Florida gig could have been good,” he said halfheartedly. Not that anyone knew it, but he’d arranged the Florida offer himself, through a friend of a music shop owner he used to know.

  “In a retirement resort? You’re kidding, right?”

  With a shrug, he sat up, dropping his feet to the floor. “I hear they have great light displays,” he said, and then grinned. The answer was lame, even for him.

  And the Austin gig, a repeat tour
at a jazz club by the University of Texas from the year before, paid better than any gig the band had ever had. It made sense to go back.

  “Hell, man, lightning might strike your sorry butt twice,” Daly continued, putting a wad of gum in his mouth, as he referred to Nolan’s supposed success with the ladies the year before. Or rather, one lady in particular.

  Good thing Daly didn’t need his teeth to play, Nolan thought sourly. At the rate he chewed the sugary crap he was going to lose them all. In truth, Daly’s gifted fingers on any stringed instrument he picked up were being sold way too short with their little part-time band. He belonged in Vegas or LA or New York. On a stage in the serious jazz clubs where the real music lovers went to listen—not just to party.

  “What was her name?” Daly prompted. “Emily something?”

  It was at least the tenth time the guy had brought up a subject Nolan was trying his best to forget.

  Daly just wouldn’t let it rest apparently. It wasn’t like she was the only woman who’d tried to contact one, or all, of them through their website. After checking with Nolan, Branham, who managed the site for them, did what they always did when that happened. He blocked the address.

  “Elizabeth,” he said. “Her name was Elizabeth.” And he shut his mouth, wishing he could shut down the slideshow in his brain as easily.

  Elizabeth Sullivan.

  Lizzie.

  God, she’d been a beauty. Not in the usual Texas sense, with high hair and lots of makeup.

  Not Lizzie. The first thing he’d noticed about her, besides her straight, long dark hair and natural look, was that she wasn’t drinking. Not that first night. Or the second...

  No. He was not going to indulge in another Elizabeth fest. He’d spent the past year getting her out of his system. Thanking his lucky stars that he’d gotten away before he’d done something stupid and ended up ruining his life like his big brother Austin had done.

  Or falling in love, telling her who he really was and having her love his money more than she’d ever cared about him.

  Nolan closed his eyes. They were still a good five hours out. Time enough to catch up on his sleep.

  Because as soon as they got to town, he was hitting a bar. Any bar.

  Not to play. They didn’t go on until the next night. Friday to Friday for two weeks. Fourteen nights in a row, except for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. But tonight he was going to drink. As much as he wanted. As late as he wanted. Whatever he wanted.

  So there.

  Yeah, that was the plan.

  And it was good.

  * * *

  When the phone rang at five thirty Friday morning, twenty-two-year-old Lizzie Sullivan did not want to answer. At all. During the second and third rings she considered closing her eyes right back up and getting what sleep she could. Stella had been up all night, every hour or two, it seemed, and would be wanting to eat again way too soon.

  At three months old, the baby should be letting her get at least four hours’ rest at a time. Sometimes she did.

  Lizzie’s breasts were sore from too many feedings in the last few hours. Her lower belly muscles—thanks to the emergency cesarean section that had saved her life—still were not right. And she did not want to get out of bed.

  She answered on the fourth ring. She had to earn the money when she could, which was why she’d gone back to work just six weeks after giving birth. There’d be no more calls after that morning as the schools where she substitute taught—all she could get since she’d been due to give birth during the first month of the semester—would be on Christmas break for the next two weeks.

  Alliant High School needed a sub for freshman English. Classes started in two hours. Telling the automated system “yes” when it asked if she could be there, Lizzie threw off her covers and stumbled for the bathroom.

  She’d always hated getting out of bed, but was generally looking forward to the day by the time she was out of the shower. That day was no different. With the extra money, she could get Stella the set of talking books the baby had been fascinated with in the store the week before.

  She had Ziploc bags in the freezer filled with pumped milk for Carmela to feed the baby today. Her roommate’s last-year architecture classes were mostly at night to compensate for Lizzie’s daytime work hours—and also because of her internship with the famous Keaton Fortune Whitfield. If Carmela had to leave, she’d take Stella to the grandma-age nanny the two of them had chosen together.

  Thank God for Carmela Connors. Getting her as a college roommate had been the second best thing that had ever happened to her. Next in line only to Stella.

  She was in her favorite chair in the living room, feeding Stella one last time right before she left, grateful to have the time to bond with her baby girl, when Carmela came in with two cups of tea and handed her one.

  “It sucks that you have to work today,” her amber-haired friend said, curling her long legs up under her on the couch and pulling a fleece blanket over her lap. “For you, that is. I’m glad, as always, to get to hang and play mommy with that little one.”

  Switching the baby to her other breast, Lizzie kissed the top of Stella’s head and said, “I hate leaving her, but honestly, I’m glad they called. A chance to make some extra money is a good thing. Especially right before the holidays.”

  And time away from the baby was good, too. Instead of getting overwrought with the permanent and all-encompassing responsibility of being a single parent, she had time away...and then chafed to get home to her.

  “Yeah, but wouldn’t it be great to be independently wealthy? Even for just a day or two? Like, do you ever think about how it’d feel to win the lottery? Oh, no, wait, we’d have to play to do that.”

  Carmela’s droll tone made her smile. But she shook her head, too. “I seriously don’t want that kind of money.”

  Suddenly serious, Carmela gave her a warm look. “I know, sweetie. And I probably don’t really want it, either.”

  Carmela was the only person in her current life who knew why Lizzie shuddered at the idea of being wealthy, the only one who knew how her life had changed when her parents had reconnected with a friend of her mother’s from high school who’d married money. The Mahoneys had been great to them. Always inviting her parents to parties and dinners and charity functions that were way above their means, and paying for it all, too. Buying Lizzie lovely gifts for Christmas. Things her parents could never afford.

  She’d been expected to feel grateful. Blessed. And she’d tried so hard. But inside she’d struggled with having her parents gone so much. Somehow, when the Mahoneys had called, a trip out for ice cream was no longer important. The opportunities they offered were better than the three of them home laughing while they made chocolate chip cookies and her father gave himself a cookie dough mustache.

  Maybe if the Mahoneys had had children, it would have been better. Or if Lizzie had had siblings. Maybe if they’d done things together as families, rather than Lizzie always being left behind. Maybe if her mom had seemed as peacefully happy as she’d been before Barbara Mahoney had moved home to Chicago. If she hadn’t always constantly been making excuses for their home, or trying to get Lizzie to dress up more, do her hair nice, speak differently when the Mahoneys were around. And getting tense about her own hair, her own clothes. Like their real life embarrassed her.

  “Don’t you think, if your parents had lived, that they’d have eventually pulled away from those friends of theirs and returned to normal life?” Carmela’s quiet question broke into her thoughts.

  Rubbing Stella’s cheek, silently promising her baby girl that she’d never lose sight of what mattered most, Lizzie glanced over at Carmela, flooded with a bout of happiness, of being right where she was meant to be. “I’m not sure,” she said now. “I like to think so. I just know that the Mahoneys left nothing but money behind, while Mom and Dad had an asset tha
t was priceless. And now I do, too.” She looked at the baby, whose mouth had fallen away from her breast as she went to sleep, and then glanced back at Carmela. “It’s so weird, you know,” she continued as she righted her bra and shirt. “When I first found out I was pregnant and couldn’t get ahold of Nolan, I was so scared and depressed, thinking my life was over. And now I see that everything happened just as it was meant to. We might have an odd little family here—me and her and you—and I might have some struggles ahead, being a single mom, but I love this baby more than I’d ever thought it possible to love anyone.”

  “And look at you. Even pregnant, you finished your degree and are now an officially certified music teacher,” Carmela added, holding up her teacup in a mock salute.

  “I have to be ready for the day you graduate and get that fabulous job offer,” Lizzie told her friend.

  They were a great family, the three of them. But they’d known from the beginning that it wouldn’t last forever.

  It was something she made a point to remember so that when the time came for change, she’d be ready and able to deal with it.

  Yep. She was going to work. Christmas was coming. And Stella was healthy.

  She had this.

  * * *

  Nolan made it to breakfast around noon. Jim Daly and Arnold Branham were off somewhere. Glenn Downing, their drummer, was already at a table when Nolan showed up at the diner next door to their small hotel not far from the club. He joined the fortysomething divorced father of two who never got his kids on Christmas.

  They talked about music, as they always did. The four guys had met in a private jazz class when Nolan had been in college. Daly, Branham and Nolan had been students and Glenn their instructor. Glenn, a music scholar, had chosen life on the road over life in the classroom after obtaining his doctorate degree in music theory. He’d toured with various bands for two decades and now hired himself out on the local New Orleans scene and taught private classes. Daly was hoping to get with a full-time touring band. And Branham, the oldest of the three former jazz students, was still in college, taking a couple of classes a semester since he had to work full-time to afford tuition. He wanted to be a veterinarian. But he was damned good with wind instruments, too.