LITMIR.BIZ

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I’m staying.” She stared at him a second. “At least I think so.”

      As if he’d force her to leave. “Were you going to tell me?”

      Her lips parted with shock. “What do you think?”

      “I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking.”

      “Yes.”

      A stranger seemed to get hold of him, one with less pride than Ford usually possessed. Or more anger. “But you didn’t tell me, did you, Katie?”

      “You’re not making this easy, Ford.”

      “I don’t intend to.”

      “I was nervous,” she explained, and as she stepped defensively back, he reached out, wrapped a hand around her upper arm and drew her toward him. Too late, he realized he’d brought her just inches away. For an instant, Ford almost forgot the conversation. It took everything he had not to kiss her, but he could never allow himself the pleasure, not when she hadn’t even called him. She wanted him to kiss her, though. That was the hell of it. Her mouth puckered. Her lips parted. And as pleased as he was to see desire spark in those come-hither green eyes, it threatened to gentle his emotions, so he loosened his hold.

      She wrenched away, rubbing her upper arm as if he’d done real damage, which he hadn’t. “Never grab me like that.”

      “I’ll never touch you again. I promise.”

      He immediately wished he hadn’t spoken. Not that it mattered. Her eyes said she knew it was a lie. “I was going to call you from Houston,” she told him. “But this seemed like news I should deliver face to face. And the weekends I did drop by the hospital, you were off.”

      “Yeah,” he muttered. “I guess you made sure of that. But you could have driven to my place.” He glanced away, fighting emotions he couldn’t even begin to untangle. They’d been together only one night, he’d desperately wanted her back in his bed for months, but now they’d be tied together for life. Life was a long time. Even with a woman whose body he craved as much as Katie’s. “When did you find out?”

      “I guessed weeks ago, but I just kept thinking….”

      He thrust a hand angrily through his thick dark hair, rumpling it. “Thinking you weren’t pregnant?” Damn it, didn’t she mean hoping she wasn’t?

      When she nodded, he tried not to react, but he was remembering their first kiss in his kitchen, the party plates and streamers still in the next room. After all the time they’d worked together, how could he have so completely misjudged her? Hadn’t she wanted this baby? Even for an instant?

      Her voice was stern. “I’m keeping it, Ford.”

      Relief flooded him, but the way she’d said it… “You’d consider something else?” He knew she’d never guess at the anger rushing through his veins, but he couldn’t stop the fingers that tightened over hers. Then he suddenly lost it. A hand was in her hair, skimming the waves, tightening on her scalp and defying her by pulling her to him again. His voice was raspy. “Of course you’re keeping this baby, Katie.”

      Her eyes, a fraction away, blinked rapidly, almost as if she was fighting tears. “I am?” The voice was faint, curious. “I thought you might have a problem with this…uh, Ford.”

      “Hell, yes, I have a problem with this. I’m in shock. This is totally out of the blue. But I save lives, Katie. I don’t take them. Who do you think I am, anyway?”

      “That’s the point, isn’t it?” she returned, backing nervously away, cuddling his coat more tightly around her. “We’ve worked together a long time, Ford, but we don’t even know each other, not really.”

      Well enough to make a baby. “Maybe not. But it looks like we’re going to.” His eyes lowered to her lips, and he realized that three months had done nothing to erase the memory of their taste. Soft, plump and lightly glossed, he knew them well. He’d suckled and bitten and nipped, and they’d held fast, kissing him back.

      The huskiness of her low voice brought him to his senses. “You don’t have to be involved, Ford.”

      Usually he was expert at pushing people away. Yes, Ford Carrington had turned that into a fine art. “Keep dreaming, Katie,” he found himself saying, “I’m going to be involved. Oh, I understand. Before you left, you said you didn’t want me in your life—”

      “Whoa!” she burst out. “You said you didn’t want a relationship. It was mutual.”

      “We agree on that, anyway—” His barely perceptible drawl grew thicker and more pronounced. “It was very definitely mutual, Katie.” As his eyes traced her lips, there was no denying he wanted her sexually. But he needed to think about this. A baby? He’d avoided this situation for years. Could he give a child what it needed?

      “Ford—” She was trying to stay calm. “I don’t think you understand. We come from completely different backgrounds. My papa’s really religious, and now I’ve got to tell him I’m having a baby when I’m not even married. He’s not the kind of man who’ll be able to accept that I…”

      “Slept around?”

      “It’s not like I do it all the time! This wasn’t supposed to happen! We used protection!”

      “The condom broke.”

      She stared at him a long moment, her breath the only thing that moved, clouding on the night air. Nervously, she licked her lips, and he could see her throat working as she swallowed, the wildly beating pulse at her neck giving away her emotions. Finally, she whispered, “You didn’t tell me?”

      He blew out a sigh. “I didn’t want to worry you.”

      “You didn’t want to worry me?” she echoed.

      She knew the odds. “The chance of this happening is next to nil.” She hugged the coat even more tightly around her and shifted her weight as if she was getting colder. “What are we going to do, Ford?”

      Hell if he knew. He shook his head. He’d fantasized about her coming back from Houston, then to his house with a bottle of burgundy and an invitation to bed. Now the vision included having a newborn curled against his chest. He glanced away, the globe of a streetlight capturing his attention, then some tree branches swaying in the wind. Frowning, he carefully considered all the options, then simply said what he’d sworn he never would. “Marry me.”

      Katie was stunned into silence, then from between gritted teeth, she suddenly growled, “You can kiss my round Irish behind, Ford Carrington!”

      His jaw slackened. He stared at her. Hadn’t he just offered the best possible solution? Shouldn’t a woman in her shoes want a husband right now? He’d never imagined proposing marriage, much less getting rebuffed. He was so taken aback, he couldn’t help but mutter, “I believe I did.”

      Katie’s lips parted in shock. “Did what?”

      “Kissed your round Irish behind,” he reminded her gruffly, edging closer. “Nearly three months ago. Gave you a smart little nip on the left cheek from what I recall, Carrot Top.”

      As cold as the air was, Ford figured her response—a sharp, audible inhalation—had to hurt her lungs. “Uh, that was months ago, and we’ve got other things to talk about now, Ford.”

      No kidding.

      “I figure it might be best if I take another job,” she continued quickly, clasping her hands nervously, as if aware this wasn’t going very well. “At Texas General. Or in Houston. As Cecil told you, they offered me a job, but I wanted to come home….”

      Maybe she simply hadn’t heard him. “I said, marry me, Katie.”

      Angry tears filled her eyes, and even though he knew the barely concealed emotion was directed at him—or maybe because it was—he wanted to wrap her in his arms. The

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