Free Her Sister's Secret (Mills & Boon Vintage Superromance) by Linda Style Page B

recommended as a haven for bikers…and the landscape is a great backdrop for photos, so I checked it out. That’s all.”
    Another pause. “So, what do you want from me? Carte blanche so you’ll have a good reason to hang out with this biker guy?”
    “Tanya. It’s work. And besides, you know I’ve never been attracted to the macho type.”
    Her friend’s laughter rippled through the phone line. “Maybe you oughtta consider it. A little macho might do you some good.”
    Whitney gave a derisive laugh of her own. “Yeah, guess I couldn’t do any worse than I have in the past, could I?”
    So far, she’d had three strikeouts in the love department. No question, she was a lousy judge of character when it came to men, always picking ones who turned out to be interested in her money or the publicity they could gain from the association.
    Her relationship with Brock had certainly proved that point. Maybe Tanya was right when she’d joked that Whitney’s poor choice in men was her way of avoiding commitment.
    “Anyway, it might do you some good not to work eighteen hours a day, either,” Whitney added.
    “Okay, okay. Truce,” Tanya said. “Motorcycles it is. When do I get a proposal? And when are you coming back to New York?”
    “Soon—so I can sell the condo.” Whitney waited for a shriek but got silence.
    “I need to do this, Tanya. It’s all part of my plan to settle in one place once I get custody of SaraJane.”
    More silence.
    “Put yourself in my place. I’ve thought about it a lot. La Jolla’s a better place to raise a child than Manhattan.” Whitney braced for objections. Tanya didn’t have many close friends, and if Whitney moved away, it would affect her friend’s life, as well.
    Finally Tanya said, “I wouldn’t let you get away with a cliché like this—but aren’t you putting the cart before the horse here, just a tiny bit? I mean—and I don’t want to sound like the little cartoon guy with the black cloud over his head—what if you don’t find your niece? Or even worse, what if you do and you can’t get custody?”
    Whitney took another deep breath. She’d played out every scenario in her head dozens of times. And it all came back to the same thing. She had to move forward. She’d do whatever she needed to get custody of SaraJane. If that meant living in a house in La Jolla, instead of a New York condo, so she’d appear more stable, she’d do it.
    “I’ve got a pretty good lead. And from what my attorney says, custody shouldn’t be a problem. All I have to do is show the father’s unfit to care for the child, and with this guy’s record, that shouldn’t be too hard.”
    “Based on what your sister told you?”
    “Sure. And some other things I learned from Albert.”
    “Albert?”
    “The PI. My cousin.”
    “Oh, yeah. And what if the things your sister told you is just a tad biased? Or even if they’re not and you still don’t get custody? That can happen, you know.” Tanya said softly, “I’m just playing devil’s advocate because I don’t want you to get your hopes up and then have them come crashing down.”
    “That’s always a possibility,” Whitney admitted, knowing how much Tanya cared about her. She and Albert were probably the only people who really did. “Right now I want to take it one step at a time.”
    “Good. And you might not want to sell your place here until you’re sure about the next step.”
    Whitney was sure. She wanted—no, needed—everything in her life well in place so there’d be no doubt about her ability to care for her niece. Heaven knows, she’d had enough of her own doubts without someone else chiming in.
    “Well, you can rest easy. I’m not doing anything immediately. I have other things to take care of, and getting the book off the ground is one of them.”
    “You know, I just don’t get this new fascination with motorcycles,” Tanya said on a melodramatic sigh.
    “You’ve got all these things going, trying to