Her Baby's Hero. Karen Sandler

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СКАЧАТЬ those times were over. “I’m not moving anywhere.”

      “Of course you are. To San José with me.”

      “No. I live here.”

      “How else can I take charge of you and the baby?”

      She took a breath. “I don’t need you taking charge.”

      His hand tightened on the soda can, bending it slightly. “What the hell does that mean?”

      “I can handle this on my own.”

      He stared at her as if she’d sprouted a second head. “I seem to recall I was in that bed with you.”

      A startling heat suffused her at the memory—his body over hers, his mouth, his hands touching her everywhere. She chanced a look his way and saw he was remembering, too. His brown eyes darkened, nearly black as his gaze dropped to her mouth.

      She suppressed the erotic images. “I’m prepared to take care of everything.”

      He took a step toward her. “I’m just as responsible for this child as you are.”

      She should have backed away, but she held her ground. “You don’t have to be.”

      “Of course I do!” Another step closer. “This is my baby just as much as yours. You expect me to turn my back on it?”

      “No, I just…”

      Somehow his hand was on her arm, his fingers curling around, his thumb stroking. His focus had returned to her mouth, and she was certain if she didn’t break that visual contact, he’d kiss her.

      She backed out of reach. “You’re right. You need to be involved.”

      “Then you’ll come to San José.”

      “Absolutely not.”

      He flung his arms out in frustration, sending soda spurting. Slamming the can on a side table, he rounded on her. “My house is twenty times this size. The medical care in the Bay Area is head and shoulders above anything this Podunk town can offer.”

      She shook her head. “This is my home.”

      He started to reach for her, then dropped his hands. “Be reasonable, Ashley.”

      Irritation bubbled up inside her. “I have family here, a job that starts a week from Monday. I’m not uprooting myself for you.”

      “What about for the baby?”

      “We’ll be fine here.”

      “I’m responsible.” Raking a hand through his dark-blond hair, he paced away, then turned back toward her. “For both of you.”

      “I can’t leave, Jason.”

      He paced away again, toward the kitchen and back, agitation tightening his shoulders. So many other men would have been thrilled to be let off the hook so easily, but from the little that Ashley had learned about Jason those months at Berkeley, duty wasn’t something he could easily let go.

      He confronted her again, determination settling in his face. “Then I’ll stay here.”

      “What?” She shook her head in confusion. “Where?”

      “If you won’t come to San José—” his hands squeezed briefly into fists, then relaxed “—then I’m staying here, in Hart Valley.”

      Chapter Two

      Would Ashley call his bluff?

      She had to know he wouldn’t take no for an answer, that he wasn’t going anywhere without her. If she believed he’d stay right here, take up residence on her turf, would that be enough to bring her to her senses? Convince her to pack up her things, climb in his Mercedes and return to San José with him?

      It sure as hell had better. Because staying here in Small Town, USA, was most certainly not on his agenda. With Kerrigan Technology still struggling out of its financial doldrums, his father’s estate still in a mess, he didn’t have time to play country boy.

      He focused on Ashley, on her delicate face, the lines softened by pregnancy, her belly large with child. His child. His responsibility. He had a duty to protect her and the child she carried, whether she liked it or not. The moment she had stepped from her house, pregnant with his baby, his obligations had extended beyond just his brother, Steven, and his stepmother, Maureen, to encompass Ashley and the life inside her. He couldn’t—would never—turn his back on that obligation.

      Her gaze narrowed on him. “I’m not leaving.”

      “I’m not, either.”

      She tipped up her chin. “Then stay.”

      Okay, this might take a little time. He made a quick mental assessment of his weekend and decided he might have a day or two of wiggle room in which to work on Ashley. She’d always been a sensible woman, surely she would see reason if he made a clear case to her.

      He motioned toward the sofa. “Sit down.” He took a breath. “Please.”

      She eyed him warily, edging around him to the far end of the sofa. When she groped behind her for the sofa arm, he couldn’t just stand there and let her flop back onto the cushions. He took her hand to help her down.

      The warmth of her skin against his was a shock. Her wide brown eyes locked with his, stirring up memories he’d buried away six months ago. He forced himself to release her, then eased himself into the adjacent armchair.

      She rubbed her palms together. “Don’t you have a business to run?”

      What waited for him at home pressed down on him, but he shrugged as if it didn’t matter. “What did you expect, Ashley? That I’d take one look at you and run?”

      Color rose in her cheeks. “I didn’t think that far ahead.”

      Obviously, she wasn’t thinking now, considering her adamant insistence on staying. He’d have her convinced by tomorrow.

      “How long?” She smoothed her skirt over her rounded belly. A maternity dress shouldn’t look so sexy, but there was something about the swirl of colors, her slender hands, that stirred heat inside him.

      Heat that hazed his thoughts. “What?”

      “For the weekend?”

      “We need time to work out the particulars.”

      Her lips compressed. She didn’t like that answer. “You’re not staying here.”

      He looked around at the tiny space, imagined sharing it with Ashley. They’d be shoulder to shoulder, brushing up against each other at every turn, in each other’s space. Touching, breathing each other’s air.

      “No. Of course not.” He suppressed his body’s reaction. “Where do you suggest?”

      “The СКАЧАТЬ