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

shared. Kyle was a mother's delight, someone to brag to who wanted to listen. Someone else who thought the child was the greatest kid ever to grace the earth.

Once she awakened, Ashley was her usual cheerful self. She wanted to choose her own order when

HER SECRET, HIS CHILD

Kyle pulled into a drive-through at a fast-food hamburger place about half an hour from the resort.

"An' I'll have a chocolate shake, okay, Daddy?" she asked, ignoring her mother.

' 'Does your mother let you have chocolate shakes for lunch, Ash?" Kyle asked, meeting his daughter's gaze in the mirror.

"Uh-uh." Ashley shook her head.

"Then I guess it'll be milk, eh, squirt?"

"Okay, but can't I have some cookies for dessert?" The little girl grinned at her father. "Please, Daddy?"

Looking over at Jamie, catching her nod, Kyle ordered the cookies.

Though they'd dropped their bags in the suite when they first arrived, they were so busy they didn't even unpack. Ashley dragged them all over the resort, insisting on trying every game in the game room, walking the trails, eating at the restaurant that opened out over the canyon. She even talked Kyle into renting her a pair of baby skis and agreeing to her first ski lesson. Kyle and Jamie clutched each other's hands, holding their breath every time Ashley fell during the half-hour lesson. Ashley fell a lot. And had a ball.

"That was the best ever, Mommy," the little girl claimed, slouched against her daddy's shoulder as they rode upstairs in the elevator later. "When I get big at it, I can fly right down the mountain!" Kyle and Jamie exchanged a delighted grin.

It was hard to say who was more exhausted as

TARA TAYLOR QUINN

Kyle unlocked the door of their suite. Unfortunately, however, Jamie wasn't too exhausted to be nervous. She brought her night things into the bathroom when she took Ashley in to wash her up. She'd brought a pair of sweats and a T-shirt to sleep in—nothing like the shorty pajamas she slept in at home—and padded out behind Ashley, climbing into one of the two double beds beside her daughter.

Kyle glanced pointedly at the beds when he came in from the living room a few moments later, but other than a raised brow, he seemed to have no other reaction to the silent statement she'd made.

In spite of the things that had changed over the past weeks, the rules remained the same. There was to be no sex between them.

Probably because of the full days she'd spent, Ashley fell asleep by six o'clock their last night at the resort as they were having hot chocolate in the dining room. Jamie racked her brains trying to think of something they could do while she held a sleeping child in her arms, but knew she had to follow Kyle up to the suite whether she liked the idea or not. Ashley didn't need to be in her arms. She needed to be in bed.

The only problem was, Jamie and Kyle needed to be as far away from bed as possible. Sharing a bathroom with Kyle, stepping into a shower that was still wet from his having stood there before her, seeing his razor on the counter beside her makeup, his toothbrush lined up with hers, his damp towels

HER SECRET, HIS CHILD

hanging beside her own—it all made her have thoughts she had no business having.

Thoughts she knew he was having, too.

"I've ordered up dinner," he told her as she shut the bedroom door quietly behind her. ' 'Prime rib for two and a bottle of wine." He was sitting in the middle of the couch. Which left her the armchair across from him or one of the two cushions on either side of him.

"How about a game of cards?" She chose the chair.

' 'How about you sitting over here with me?''

"You don't want to play cards?" She wished she had that glass of wine already. She needed to relax.

"Not especially."

"We could watch a movie. They've got some good selections."

"I've seen them all." His gaze was pinning her to the chair, and she could feel it penetrating her blouse. Moving. Touching.

She wet her lips. "How long till dinner?"

"An hour."

She thought she heard Ashley in the other room and jumped up to check. The little girl was sleeping soundly.

She turned from the bedroom door and ran smack into Kyle. She hadn't heard him come up behind her.

His arms were around her instantly, steadying her. But it was only seconds before they were roaming. Before she was melting into him. And all thought was lost.

TARA TAYLOR QUINN

She wasn't even sure whose lips took whose, who led and who followed. She just knew that Kyle's kisses were like a drug she couldn't do without. She was addicted to the incredible feeling only he could arouse, the tension, the delicious excitement. And oddly enough, the security. He made her feel cherished. Cared for.

He made her feel like she'd never felt before in her life.

She welcomed the touch of his hands, eagerly explored his strong, hard body. He slid one hand beneath her sweater, touching the bare skin at her waist.

And scaring her to death. Remembering the other time Kyle had undressed her, the wantonness he'd aroused, her complete loss of control, she panicked.

A picture of Ashley popped into her mind, the little girl sleeping so innocently in the next room. She thought of the life she'd made for herself, and started to gasp for breath. She couldn't do this. She couldn't be that woman again.

"No." She pushed Kyle away. And prepared herself for his anger.

The physical longing was intense those first few seconds. It took all of Kyle's control to ride the waves of unsatisfied desire. And then his mind cleared enough for him to think. Or try to.

' 'What happened?'' He was drawing a blank here.

Jamie turned away from him, standing by the couch with her back to the room. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

HER SECRET, HIS CHILD

Things had been going along so well. She'd even started the whole thing and