LITMIR.BIZ

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me to take Autumn now so you can go to bed and get some sleep?” she asked.

      “That’s not a bad idea,” he said, coming up out of his chair with a fluid movement. She stood to take Autumn from him. He stood very close, gazing down at her.

      “Good night, David,” she said emphatically, and took Autumn, walking quickly away from him to the rocker.

      “’Night, Marissa. Holler if you want me, but holler loudly.” When he left the room, she wanted to wipe her hot brow. He was already flirting, and she could imagine that he saw her as an easy conquest and an easy way to pass the time and then go on his way and forget her. Too much like her ex-husband. David had said he had no intentions of ever marrying. No interest in commitment.

      She did not stir the heart, soul and passion of men like Reed and David Sorrenson. She looked at the baby in her arms. No, she was the practical, somebody-to-rely-on-for-necessary-jobs person.

      “Heart, stop beating so fast,” she whispered. She had to summon more resistance to David Sorrenson. Especially if he hung around the house and flirted, because she knew he meant nothing by it except the most casual fling. Why had she told him about the sperm bank and opened herself up to suggestions? He hadn’t come on so strong until after that tidbit of information.

      She looked down at Autumn, who was blissfully sleeping. “Sweet baby, you’ve complicated my life, but I love you, anyway.” For the first time she realized that she might have a double heartbreak. If she had this job very long, she would suffer when she had to give Autumn up, even though she wanted the little baby to be with her mother.

      They fell into a routine, with David leaving early in the morning to work on his ranch and coming in at night. But as the days of the first week in November passed and moved into the second week, he began staying at home more, coming in earlier, leaving later in the morning, spending time with Marissa and Autumn.

      Under the same roof with David, spending increasing time each day and evening with him, Marissa knew she was attracted more than ever to him. Moments together, casual contacts, all were building banked fires of longing in her that she tried to ignore, yet failed miserably. She found his smoldering gaze on her often and wondered what was running through his thoughts. He flirted, he charmed, he entertained her, and he was becoming more irresistible than ever. Yet she knew she needed to guard her heart against all that sexy charm and appeal, or she’d suffer the same hurt she had before.

      Dodging sniper’s bullets, David gritted his teeth and ran through the darkness across the uneven ground, away from the burning house that was a death trap. Even with the firefight going on, he heard the pistol shot ring out. Pain stabbed through him. He couldn’t move his feet, couldn’t breathe. He gasped for breath, wanting to scream, instead just gulping for air.

      With a jerk, David sat up in his bed, disoriented for only a second, and then knowing he was in his room at the ranch, not halfway across the world, running for his life, having his heart torn out by the violent death of his best friend. He was sweating, the covers tangled where he had thrashed around during the familiar nightmare. He raked his fingers through his hair and studied the surroundings of his room, trying to get back to the world he was living in now and away from that hell that he couldn’t shake out of his memory. Would the nightmares ever end? he wondered. Then he became aware of a baby crying.

      He listened, stretching out again and putting his hands behind his head. Finally silence settled, but images of Marissa, only a room away, scantily clad in a see-through nightie, danced in his mind. Sperm bank. It was more than a week ago that she had told him about her secret wish, but he couldn’t get it out of his mind. She shouldn’t have to go that route at all. Not with her looks.

      “Yeah, right,” he said aloud in the dark. “Ready to volunteer?” he said to himself. He’d volunteer in a flash. She was sexy and appealing, and he knew there were times that he’d come on too strong, but he couldn’t resist flirting with her. Yet he had better curb that flirting. If he overcame her reluctance and they started dating, Marissa was looking for a long-term relationship. And he would never marry. He didn’t know how to deal with a family—except the way he was raised—and he would never do that to a wife or child. Some years he had rarely seen his father. That, and his dangerous lifestyle was still too close, too real. He was definitely not marriage material and Marissa definitely was.

      Sperm bank—that was ridiculous. More images of Marissa in a nightie in bed in the adjoining room taunted him, and he turned on his side and closed his eyes and willed sleep to come.

      After thirty minutes of tossing and turning he heard Autumn crying again and remembered what a time he’d had with the little baby the first night. He was tempted to go see if he could help, but he didn’t want to set a precedent that he would regret later.

      Why couldn’t he sleep this past week when that first night all he had dreamed of was sleeping? And why had he put the baby bed in Marissa’s room? Now if he went to see about Autumn in the night, he’d be in Marissa’s bedroom. The thought made him hot.

      Then the baby got quiet. Relieved, David stared at the ceiling while visions of Marissa in a nightie, rocking Autumn, plagued him. He tossed and turned for the next hour, finally falling into a fitful sleep. He stirred long before dawn, showered, dressed and left the house to pour himself into work.

      Before going, he wrote a note for Marissa that he would return about six for supper.

      “Get her out of your mind,” he said, striding across his yard through the early morning darkness.

      During the morning and early afternoon, he managed to get her out of his thoughts for a few minutes at a time and finally decided he was going home at three.

      He made all sorts of excuses to himself, but deep down, he knew he wanted to see Marissa.

      When he entered the kitchen, Gertie had supper in the oven, the table set and she had gone home.

      “I’m home!” he yelled, hanging up his hat and coat and feeling his eagerness grow to see Marissa and Autumn. There was no answer, so he went to the family room. Finding it empty, he walked through other rooms.

      He climbed the stairs and at the top of the staircase called to her again, “Marissa.”

      Wondering where Marissa and Autumn could be, he strolled down the hall. He was dusty from work and as he headed for a shower, he yanked off his T-shirt while he glanced into empty bedrooms.

      Marissa’s door stood wide-open and David knocked lightly.

      “Marissa?” he called. When no one answered, he stepped inside. Autumn lay on her back in the crib, sleeping, her tiny hands doubled into fists. Marissa was nowhere in sight. He crossed to the crib to look down at the sleeping baby.

      “Hey, sweetie,” he said softly, and heard a gasp behind him.

      He turned and froze as he faced Marissa.

      Four

      He had been hot before thinking about Marissa. Now he was on fire. With her hair in a towel, Marissa stood wrapped in a large, navy bath towel, and his imagination ran rampant. The only thing beneath that towel was Marissa’s warm, luscious body.

      “You said you wouldn’t be home until six,” she said, the words little more than a whisper. She gazed back wide eyed at him. Under his steady, green-eyed scrutiny, Marissa was uncomfortably conscious of her state of undress.

      “I didn’t know you were in the house,” she added, realizing she should move, get some clothes, do something except what she was doing—staring at him.

      “I called and knocked on your door,” he said, but she was barely aware of his words.

      He was shirtless and she couldn’t keep from staring at his muscled chest, which was sprinkled with curly black hair that tapered in a line to disappear into his jeans that still had the top button unfastened. The man was all solid muscles and tanned skin and sexy, male perfection. Her mouth went dry and her heart pounded. He was sinfully appealing.

      As he crossed

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