His Daughter’s Guardian Former marine captain Giles Wainwright had seen his share of battles. When the military man turned multimillionaire learned he had a baby girl, he vowed to go to war to keep her. But Mya Lawson had her late sister’s last will and testament on her side and was prepared to fight for custody. Mya was only following her sister’s last wishes to have Lily raised in their childhood hometown. She’d grant Giles the visitation he was due. Yet as he dropped his arrogant stance and made Lily his priority, Mya’s guarded emotions were swayed. Giles’s offer of marriage to make them a true family was tremendously tempting. But was his proposal genuine or a bid to claim Lily forever? Mya placed her hand over Giles’s. “Are you living out your dream?” A mysterious smile tilted the corners of his mouth. “I am. Before I met you, my sole focus was on work, and the harder I worked, the more I was able to convince myself that I didn’t need or want anyone to share my life.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “Meeting you has proven me wrong. Not only do I want you, but I need you.” Mya closed her eyes, too stunned to cry. Men had told her they needed her, but those were glibly spoken words they believed she wanted to hear. She felt his hand shake slightly under hers and in that instant she was aware of the power she wielded over Giles. That he’d shown her vulnerability for the first time. “I need you, too.” Her voice was barely a whisper. * * * American Heroes: They’re coming home—and finding love! Claiming the Captain’s Baby Rochelle Alers Since 1988, national bestselling author ROCHELLE ALERS has written more than eighty books and short stories. She has earned numerous honors, including the Zora Neale Hurston Literary Award, the Vivian Stephens Award for Excellence in Romance Writing and a Career Achievement Award from RT Book Reviews. She is a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Iota Theta Zeta Chapter. A full-time writer, she lives in a charming hamlet on Long Island. Rochelle can be contacted through her website, www.rochellealers.org. Contents Mya Lawson sat staring out the window in her home office as she waited for the pages she had revised to fill the printer’s tray. She was still amazed that she had come up with yet another plot for her fictional New England series. What had begun as a hobby for Mya was now a vocation since she gave up her position as college professor to become a stay-at-home mother. The sound of the printer spitting out paper competed with the incessant tapping of rain against the windows. It had begun raining earlier that morning and had continued nonstop throughout the midafternoon. Mya knew it was an indoor play day for Lily once she woke from her nap. An unconscious smile parted her lips when her gaze lingered on the oak tree shading the backyard. Mya lost count of the number of times she and her sister hid behind the massive trunk or climbed the thick branches once they were older while playing hide-and-seek with their mother. Although aware of their hiding places, Veronica Lawson elected to play along much to the delight of her rambunctious daughters. But as they grew older the game stopped because Veronica claimed she did not have the energy to chase after them. An expression of melancholy sweeping over Mya’s features replaced her smile. She and seven-month-old Lily were the last of the Wickham Falls Lawsons. What she found ironic was that neither she nor Lily shared DNA with their namesake ancestors. Graham and Veronica Lawson, after more than twenty years of a childless marriage, had decided to adopt. They adopted Mya, and then two years later Samantha joined the family. Mya exhaled an audible sigh. Her parents were gone, Samantha was gone, and now there was only she and her niece. Her sister wanted Mya to raise Lily in Wickham Falls—a small town with a population of little more than four thousand residents—even though Samantha had complained about growing up in a small town and couldn’t wait to grow up and leave to see the world. She got her wish once she began her career as a flight attendant and got to visit many of the cities and countries she had fantasized about. Sammie, as Mya always called her, had died a month ago and Mya was still attempting to adjust to the loss and her life without her sister. Sammie had returned to Wickham Falls for a rare visit with the news that she was six weeks pregnant. She told Mya of her affair with a New York City businessman, and despite using protection, she’d gotten pregnant. Her sister refused to disclose the name of her lover or tell him about the baby because he had been adamant when he told her he wasn’t ready for marriage or fatherhood. The sudden ring of the telephone shattered her reverie. Unconsciously her
