A Pregnancy And A Proposal. Mindy Neff

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СКАЧАТЬ them was like a dancing flame—hot and seductive, mesmerizing. She shook her head, wishing she dared take off her coat.

      His sexy smile creased dimples beside his mouth, crinkling the corners of his eyes. “I can’t believe I’ve made you speechless. Darcie the bold.”

      “Darcie the sensible. Can you imagine my mother or grandmother walking in here, catching us looking at each other like animals in heat?” Oh, good grief. She held up a hand. “Forget I said that. Just give me a minute to find a hole to sink into.”

      He laughed. “I like you, Darcie Moretti.”

      Her traitorous heart gave a glad leap. She more than liked Flynn O’Grady. “Shh, Ma and Grandma will be in here to see what they’re missing out on. And then we’d all be in big trouble, because they’re forever trying to fix me up with somebody—male, that is.” Well, there she went again, putting her foot in it. She needed some glue for her lips.

      “I’m all for being fixed up.”

      “You can make light of it, but then you get to go home and never hear from them again. I have to put up with their nagging.” She pushed at her hair, adjusted a chopstick that was slipping. “They live to give me flak.”

      “Does that bother you?”

      “It would bother me if they didn’t nag.”

      He nodded, his chocolate eyes letting her know she might be off the hook for now, but that he was reserving the right to pick up the sensual thread at a moment’s notice.

      It was a terribly unsettling look.

      “I wish Heather would adopt that attitude.”

      “What?” She was having trouble keeping up. “Oh, you mean about nagging? She’s not as against you as you might think, Flynn. But she’s dealing with a lot lately.”

      His brow rose.

      She held up her hands in defense, remembering his pique in the rest room when she’d stated a similar conclusion. “I’m not outlining your perceived failures, or assuming to know all about your circumstances.”

      “Yes, you are,” he said softly.

      That caught her off guard, and for a minute she went silent. Then she laughed softly. “Okay, so I am. Sorry. Sue me. It’s a curse.”

      “A good curse. You care.”

      “Yes, I do. A great deal. And I want what’s best for Heather.”

      “Then give me some pointers.”

      “Be patient with her. Try to remember what it was like when you were her age.”

      “Man alive, what do you think I’ve been doing? That’s exactly why I’m so concerned about her!”

      “Shame on you, O’Grady. I wasn’t talking about sex.”

      “Yeah? Well, every young boy is thinking it when he looks at Heather.”

      “You mean Robbie Sanders?”

      “For one. He’s in high school. He’s got no business sniffing around a thirteen-year-old.”

      Darcie bit her lips to keep from laughing. He was so endearingly old-fashioned.

      “What?” he demanded.

      She shook her head and laughed. “Nothing. You’re just so predictable. A typical father who’s resisting his little girl growing up into a woman.”

      “Don’t even say that.” He shuddered, and Darcie laughed even harder.

      “You need to trust her, Flynn. She’s got a good head on her shoulders. She’s just going through adolescent changes, and she’s confused. But I believe she’ll make the right decision in the end.”

      “She’s only thirteen. She’s too young to make decisions—”

      She pressed a finger to his lips, raised a brow.

      A sensual fire ignited like an inferno in Flynn’s gut. He reached up, cupped her hand and held it in place. Just to see what she would do, he kissed her finger. She drew in a shaky breath.

      Their eyes held over their clasped hands. And by damn, he liked that interest he saw in hers, the swift desire.

      Flynn wasn’t sure how or when it had happened, but he’d lost any thread of their conversation. His gaze kept straying to her mouth. Those full lips. The freckles surrounding them, fanning out to her cheeks, her nose, her forehead, the golden flecks dusting the backs of her hands, expressive hands that gestured with wild abandon, yet with grace.

      A burst of canned laughter sounded from the television in the living room. Mary Beth’s delighted squeal mingled with conversation and a sitcom rerun.

      Flynn raised his eyes back to hers.

      Her indrawn breath was swift and telling. “What is it with us?” she asked.

      He didn’t need clarification of her question. The chemistry between them was palpable. Just like it had been that night at the hotel. “It’s pretty strong.”

      She stood, fanned herself. “This is a really bad idea, but let’s go outside.”

      He didn’t have to be asked twice. His daughters were well chaperoned and happy. Darcie had said that her family had a knack for soothing the ruffled feathers of hormonal teens. He would continue to give them time to work their magic. And he would take some time for himself, some sorely needed time for himself. Time with a pretty woman on the front porch. A woman he’d been dreaming of for the past five months.

      Darcie held the door for Flynn and closed it behind them, inhaling the crisp night air, allowing it to cool her body and her runaway hormones.

      Pines and leafy bushes that had survived winter’s frost surrounded the porch. Concrete steps led down to a postage-stamp-size yard that was sliced in two sections by a walkway—a cookie-cutter version of every other yard on the block. Across the street, the neighbors still had their Christmas lights up, though the twinkling strands sagged where wind and snowfall had pulled out the staples.

      The snow had stopped but the smell of rain was in the air. Cold bit at her cheeks, but her insides were burning.

      She turned and gazed at Flynn’s tie. It wasn’t like her to feel shy, but she suddenly did. “You’re awfully dressed up.”

      “I had a meeting with a new client.”

      “Not at a job site, I take it?”

      “Sort of. It’s a house over in New Brunswick. A remodel of a Victorian built in the early 1900s.”

      His breath ballooned in front of him, warming her cheeks. “I thought Ula Mae said you did commercial architecture.” Ula Mae seemed to know everyone and everything going on in the state of New Jersey. And she was more than happy to pass it along. Since Darcie saw a lot of the older woman—mostly when they were discussing investments or insurance over an espresso at СКАЧАТЬ