Her Secret, His Child: A Little Secret by Tara Quinn (rosie project .txt) 📕

precious Ashley was exactly what four-year-old Nathan had so cruelly claimed. A bastard.

The night was bitterly cold. Forecasters predicted that temperatures would reach record lows for Denver—and nearby Larkspur Grove. Weather that seemed fitting as Jamie sat alone, huddled in front of a blazing fire in the living room of the quaint little house she was so proud of. Her furnace had chosen that night, of all nights, to be temperamental. A night when repairmen were overbooked and the best anyone could promise was to make it out by the next afternoon. Karen was looking after Ashley

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next door. She'd offered to put up Jamie, as well, but Jamie hadn't been at all confident in her ability to keep up appearances and opted for a cold night on the living-room floor, instead.

But at just past eight o'clock, she wondered if maybe this latest decision was another bit of idiocy. Dressed in leggings, jeans, a flannel shirt, sweatshirt and two pairs of socks, she was warm enough—as long as she didn't leave the five-foot range of the roaring flames. She'd trapped herself again.

Papers lined the hardwood floor around her and were neatly piled on the colorfully braided rug that covered most of the floor. Papers, work, that should've absorbed all of her attention. Except that they didn't. Nothing did. Except Ashley. And Ashley's father.

If the little girl only knew how much hell there'd be to pay—for both of them—if her father's name was revealed. But a four-year-old couldn't possibly know. Or understand. Not in a million years. Jamie was an adult and she didn't understand. And she'd been there.

So what was she going to do?

She'd been handling crises all her life; surely she'd find a solution to this one.

She wrapped her favorite blue blanket—soft and worn from its many washings—around her and huddled inside, searching not so much for warmth but for comfort.

Fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rang. The blanket fell off her shoulders and puddled at her waist.

"Who on earth…" Grabbing up the blanket, she

HER SECRET, HIS CHILD

headed for the door, wrapping it once again securely around her. Had the furnace guy found himself with a free minute? Maybe someone else had canceled, or he'd finished a job earlier than he'd thought.

She could always hope.

On tiptoe, she peered through the peephole in her front door.

And began to tremble again. Softly.

Kyle Radcliff, handsome, confident and slightly disheveled-looking, stood on her front porch. What did he want? And what were her chances of pretending she wasn't home?

What were the chances he'd go next door and ask Karen if she knew where Jamie was? Or that Karen would see him standing out here?

As she opened the heavy wooden door, she let in a blast of cold.

"I saw your car," Kyle said before she could get out so much as a hello. Or a "go away," for that matter. ' 'And the house lights were on, so I decided to stop by."

Jamie frowned. What did he want? Calculating how long Ashley had been at Karen's, the extended bath time necessary with two of them in there playing, she figured it was still a good bet that Ashley was safely tucked in bed, sound asleep. Not likely the child would come tearing across the yard in subzero temperatures to kiss her mother good-night.

"May I come in?"

Stepping back, Jamie allowed him inside. Only because she was still afraid Karen might peer out-

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side and see him standing on her doorstep. And because she was freezing.

"What do you want?" she asked through teeth that were practically chattering, though from cold or nerves she wasn't sure.

"You said you had papers for me to sign."

"I said I'd bring them to your office."

"I thought I'd save you a trip." His words were easy enough; the challenge in his warm brown eyes was not.

"That wasn't necessary." She felt ridiculous all trussed up in several outfits, with stocking feet that looked big enough to belong to a bear.

Hands in his jeans pockets, he asked, ' 'You conserving electricity?"

He was wearing a corduroy jacket much like the one he'd had on in his office that day but no overcoat. He must be as cold as she was.

"My furnace is on the fritz." Damn her chattering teeth.

"You're going to catch pneumonia if you stand around shivering much longer," he said, grinning at her. ' 'I know a motel that's only a couple of miles from here…"

His comment was so outrageously out of line, the laughter in his eyes so blatant, Jamie couldn't help but smile right back at him. ' 'I have a perfectly good fire going in the next room," she told him. "I didn't want to leave in case the repair guy has a chance to get here any earlier than tomorrow afternoon."

Kyle rocked back and forth on his feet, his jeans fitting his lean legs to perfection, as he watched her.

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' 'What?'' she asked, exasperated at the half grin lifting the corners of his mouth. What was it about this man that made him so different from any other man she'd ever known? She'd certainly known enough of them.

"I'm just wondering how long it's going to take you to work up the courage to invite me to that fire."

"I'm not intending to invite you at all." Jamie couldn't remember if Ashley had left any toys lying around the living room. "I-I'll just get the forms for you," she stammered. "Wait right here."

Hurrying back to her office, Jamie stopped only long enough to close Ashley's bedroom door. She was probably being irrational, but she didn't want him touching Ashley's life in any way. Not even by knowing of her existence.

He was adding a log to the fire when she returned to the living room. His thick leather driving gloves lay on top of the mantel.

"I heard the fire hiss and checked to make sure a log hadn't fallen. Could've been dangerous," he said, brushing his hands together as he stepped back from the fire.

Her favorite picture of