The Scandal and Carter O'Neill

The Scandal and Carter O'Neill
Molly O'Keefe

Carter O'Neill has risen above the reputation of his notorious family–thanks to hard work and distance. Now he's this close to getting everything he wants.Then Zoe Madison interrupts his community meeting with the announcement she's pregnant. In the media storm that follows, no one wants to hear that the baby isn't his. As for believing he doesn't even know her…forget about it! The only way to control this story is for Carter and Zoe to fake a relationship until the attention passes.Thing is, Carter discovers he really does like Zoe. In a forever kind of way. Too bad she's not as eager to share his public life. So he'll simply have to convince her he's worth the risk. This could be his toughest campaign yet!

“In terms of scandals we’re pretty tame these days.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Carter replied, turning to face Zoe.

The moonlight slashed through the courtyard and her eyes glimmered in the half light. She licked her lips and the moment melted into steam and heat.

“I didn’t tell you how beautiful you look,” he whispered.

“No,” she said. “You didn’t.” Her hands smoothed over her belly.

God, the need to touch her… He’d never in his life felt this way. Compelled.

And before he knew it, before he could stop it, he was leaning down to kiss her. Inches from her mouth, he stopped. “Can I please kiss you?”

Her smile illuminated the darkness. “Yes,” she sighed.

He’d never kissed a woman while smiling and it was a hot sweetness. Honey on his lips, fire on his tongue.

“Give us a kiss, Zoe!” yelled the paparazzi. Then the night exploded in flashbulbs. The whirr and click of cameras.

Dear Reader,

I can’t believe The Scandal and Carter O’Neill is the last of The Notorious O’Neills miniseries. The writing and publication of these three books has stretched over such a singular part of my life. When I came up with the idea I was pregnant with my daughter. While I wrote the first book she was an infant napping next to me on the bed and when this book comes out she’ll be two and my son will be in kindergarten! What?! Where has the time gone?

This series, which was already so much fun and special to write, has also been very personal. Thank you for picking up this book and for those of you who have written me—it means the world.

I hope you like Carter and Zoe’s story. I had such a good time finding exactly the right kind of woman to torture Carter…I mean, make him fall in love. She needed to be zany, courageous, driven and then, come to find out, she had to be pregnant, too!

I have never been one of those writers who believed the characters dictated the stories. They were my creations and I was the boss. But Carter and Zoe would not do what I wanted (remarkably similar to my children). So, once I simply followed my characters’ lead, some really interesting things began to happen, and Carter and Zoe have been two of my favorite characters to date. To say nothing of Vanessa…

I hope you enjoy the last of The Notorious O’Neills. Please drop me a line at Molly@molly-okeefe.com. I love to hear from readers!

Happy reading!

Molly O’Keefe

The Scandal and Carter O’Neill

Molly O’Keefe

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Despite how it may appear in her books, Molly O’Keefe has a wonderful mother. She has no experience with bad mothers and cannot explain why many of the mothers in her books are so awful. Molly never intended for her own mother to get those dirty looks at the grocery store. Molly lives in Toronto, Canada, with her husband and two children.

For Sarah, Cam, Robert and Katie-Bear.

Thank you for the Friday night dinners, the Sunday morning skating lessons, the Springsteen dance parties and for teaching my son the “pull my finger” joke.

We couldn’t ask for better friends.

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

EPILOGUE

CHAPTER ONE