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

furrowed, Ashley thought that over for a couple of long minutes. "Would Daddy ever sleep here then?" she finally asked.

"No, but he'd be around all the time, just like now."

After more pondering, Ashley asked solemnly, "It takes a daddy to have a sister, doesn't it?"

"Yes." Jamie's heart sank.

"Then yes, it would upset me." The child nodded. "Very much."

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Kyle hadn't taken his eyes off her all evening. Of course, she'd had to be staring at him to notice that. The man looked incredible in his black suit and white shirt. He'd even found a conservative tie. She'd never seen him dressed up.

She should probably plan not to see that sight again any time soon. Not if she hoped to maintain the promises she'd made to herself. And to her daughter the day she was born.

So what was the matter with her? Here she was, unable to keep her eyes off the man, pleased beyond compare that he was finding her irresistible, yet she was still determined to keep the relationship strictly platonic. Should she add "tease" to her list of sins? Or was he right? There was some nebulous force, stronger than either one of them, stronger than circumstances or justice, that just kept compelling them toward each other.

"You want to dance?" he asked, motioning to the tiny floor where a few couples were moving to the relaxed, low-key ballad the band had just begun.

Shaking her head, Jamie took another sip from the glass of wine he'd brought her. "I don't think we should."

"You have more business to do?"

He'd been great all evening, keeping her supplied with food and drink, making charming small talk when called upon and fading away when she couldn't avoid discussing business.

"No!" she told him now. "I don't want to discuss another ledger for the rest of the weekend."

"Then let's dance."

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"No, Kyle."

"Why not? Other people do it."

"We aren't other people."

"I got it—you don't trust yourself not to jump my bones, right?"

Jamie laughed, glanced up at the handsome man at her side and sobered. "I don't want to be a tease."

"It's impossible to tease a man who already knows the score."

"This isn't fair to you, Kyle." She knew he wanted her. An expert on men's sexual needs, she could read all the signs.

"I'm a big boy," he told her with complete seriousness. "I can make my own choices."

Tempted, tired, vulnerable, Jamie could think of nothing but the need to feel his arms around her, to have his body there to lean against. "Okay," she said softly. "Let's dance."

Of course, the minutes she spent in his arms were pure torture. But never had torture felt so good. Jamie could happily have been convinced to stay that way forever.

They'd never danced together before, though she shouldn't have been surprised that they did so perfectly. Everything about her and Kyle fit perfectly— except the one thing that would never fit at all. The woman Jamie had been.

"Has Karen told her husband she's pregnant yet?" Kyle asked as they swayed to the music.

Jamie shook her head. Kyle wouldn't even have known about the pregnancy if Karen hadn't had a

HER SECRET, HIS CHILD

bout of morning sickness the week before, when the three adults had taken the girls out for pizza and skeeball.

"You think she'll tell him this weekend?"

"I hope so." Jamie was getting really worried about her friend.

Worrying seemed to be all she did anymore. About all of them. And now Ashley wanted a sister. She was going to want one even more when Kayla found out that Karen was having another baby. The thing was, Jamie would have given just about anything to grant the child her wish. But she just couldn't do it.

They were on their fifth song in a row when, suddenly, a male hand tugged at Jamie's shoulder.

"Little Jamie Archer! I don't believe it!" The man pulled her around. His voice was loud. And slurred from too much alcohol. But Jamie still recognized it.

She recognized the hand, too. It had touched her body enough times.

Panicked, she thought her knees were going to give out on her. "Do I know you?" she asked the man who had once been one of her most lucrative clients.

He'd always been sober back then.

He was also Tom Webber's accountant.

"Nelson Monroe," he told her. "Come on, baby, give an old man a thrill," he said, lurching sideways as he grabbed for her breast. "For old times' sake."

"You touch her, you die." Kyle put himself between the man and Jamie.

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Crumbling inside, Jamie wished she were dead.

Nelson lurched again. "Oh, hey, man," he said easily, "I didn't know she was taken for the evening."

"She's taken, period." Kyle's voice left no room for misunderstanding.

Too stricken to do anything but stand there and wait for her life to come crashing down on her, Jamie watched the two men, horrified, transfixed, as if witnessing a fatal accident.

"No kidding," Nelson said, staring first at Jamie, then Kyle. "You managed to snag one, eh, little lady?" he muttered. "Good for you."

Kyle's face was red, his hands bunched into fists. ' 'Where do you get off talking to her like that?'' he demanded.

Jamie was afraid Kyle was going to hit the older man. "It's okay, Kyle." She couldn't bear another minute of this. She couldn't have Kyle risking arrest—not when he didn't have anything to defend. "Let's just go."

"It's not okay." He pushed her gently behind him. "You owe the lady an apology." Both feet planted firmly on the ground, he faced Nelson Monroe.

"Sure! Okay," Nelson said, holding both hands up in surrender as he took stock of Kyle's size through bloodshot eyes.

"Sorry, Jamie," he said, leaning far enough around Kyle to wink at her. He turned then and stumbled off.

Jamie had never hated herself more.

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Still not recovered from Saturday night, Jamie reluctantly took Kayla and Ashley to school on Monday morning. The girls were going on an all-day field trip to the zoo, and all day seemed entirely too long for Jamie