Unexpected Father. Kelly Jamison

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СКАЧАТЬ next thing she knew she was on her back with Jordan hovering over her. One of his hands was braced beside her head while the other held the flashlight. She was still so angry with him that she pushed against his chest to put some distance between them. Instantly she was aware of the hardness and warmth beneath her hands, and she froze.

      The expression on Jordan’s face changed, as well. He had been irritated with her before, she knew, but now there was something akin to confusion sweeping his features.

      He stared at her a long moment in the dark, his hand curled around the flashlight so tightly that his knuckles stood out in stark relief. His face was only inches from hers. An old memory came rushing back of this same face so close to hers as he made love to her. He was the man who had tutored her in the art of lovemaking, and even though it had been one time only, she had never forgotten it.

      Hannah had to bite back a groan as her fingers lessened their pressure to fan out over his chest. She couldn’t look away from his face. He was even more mesmerizing now than he’d been seven years ago.

      Slowly his mouth lowered to hers as if he wanted to stop himself but couldn’t. Hannah felt her breath release on a sigh as his lips finally touched hers. Her hands curled around the fabric of his shirt.

      She could feel him start to draw away, but then he gave in to the need that they both felt and deepened the kiss. Hannah responded, her hands moving to the back of his neck, touching his hair and letting her fingers luxunate in the silkiness of it. She was kissing him back with all the need of a woman who had not felt the touch of a man for too long.

      When Jordan raised his head, she saw something new in his eyes, something that made her wary.

      “I’ve been wanting to do that all day,” he told her, his breathing not quite slowed to normal. “And there are a million other things I’ve been wanting to do, too.”

      The blood rushed to her face as the full impact of what she’d just done hit her. He had been toying with her, luring her into his bed again, and he was sure he had made her compliant. She was so mortified that she abruptly dropped her hands from his neck and tried to stand up.

      But he was ahead of her, standing and pulling her to her feet by her shoulders. She felt a rush of cool air across the dew-dampened back of her clothes.

      “You can forget about those other things you’re wanting to do,” she said, trying to will her voice to coolness when she still felt out of breath. “I’m not interested.”

      “No?” he said, investing the word with both skepticism and amusement. He caught her arm, pulling her to him, and for one breathless moment she thought he was going to kiss her again. But he made no move toward her. “There’s no sin in wanting someone, Hannah. And we’re hardly strangers.”

      “We’re strangers as far as I’m concerned,” she told him, standing stiffly in his grip. “I made a mistake a long time ago, and I don’t intend to repeat it.”

      He abruptly let her go, and Hannah turned, hugging her arms to herself as she hurried toward the trailer. She thought he said something softly, something she couldn’t quite make out, but she went on without missing a step. It sounded like “We’ll see.”

      Once inside, she ran a weary hand through her hair. She had left the flashlight with him, and she hadn’t looked for her locket, but right now she was glad just to have escaped without humiliating herself any more than she had. She stood at the side of the window, looking out into the dark and letting her heartbeat slow to normal.

      He was far too attractive and far too sure of himself. And she was...

      Just what was she? she wondered. Lonely. Despite her son and her job, she was lonely, and that made her all too vulnerable.

      “I thought I heard something.” Esther said from behind her, and Hannah jumped, spinning around.

      “Your back is wet,” Esther said with concern. The next instant they both heard the truck tailgate slam with unnecessary force.

      Hannah felt her face turn red. She knew her hair was disheveled, as well, and she didn’t have a ready explanation.

      “Jordan and I were talking,” she said awkwardly.

      “Honey,” Esther said with a significant glance at the window, “you was doing more than talking unless that man spit all over your back. And that’s all I got to say on the matter.” She turned and went back to her bedroom, her floral nightgown billowing in her wake.

      Hannah stifled a groan of frustration. She knew she wasn’t going to sleep well that night.

      Two

      Hannah awoke to the sound of nearby giggling and the smell of bacon frying. The curtains were drawn, leaving her disoriented in the dim light. The giggling came again, and she recognized Kevin’s voice.

      She must have overslept. She sat up in consternation, searching with her feet for her slippers. Something was going on behind her, but the couch where she’d slept was nght up against the partition that separated it from the kitchen, so all she was getting through the wall were those giggles and muffled talking.

      She glanced at her portable alarm clock and saw that it was seven. Apparently, she hadn’t heard Esther leave for work.

      Hannah shuffled around the partition, stopping short when she saw that Jordan was there with Kevin. And Jordan was cooking?

      Her disbelief must have registered on her face, because Jordan laughed when he saw her and motioned her to come closer. She didn’t miss the fact that his eyes traveled down her length appreciatively before he carefully looked at her face. “We’re working on masterpieces,” he informed her.

      “Come here and see!” Kevin called, impatiently waving his arm to get her to come to the stove.

      Still bemused by the sight of Jordan in a domestic setting, Hannah went to the stove and peered over Kevin’s head. They were cooking pancakes. Or doing something indefinable with pancakes, she decided. Four of them sat on the griddle, two with strange marks on them, which, on closer inspection, she realized were faces. Kevin was in the process of drawing on the third with a small paintbrush and...chocolate syrup?

      Hannah looked at the open can of chocolate syrup on the counter and then back at the pancakes. “What are you doing?” she asked, totally at a loss.

      “Making faces,” Kevin informed her as if she were the densest mother in the world. “See?”

      “I see. I just don’t believe.” She glanced at Jordan, finding him watching her with an expression she could only describe as interested.

      “Do you have any idea what Esther used those brushes for?” she demanded of Jordan.

      He shrugged, his eyes full of mischief. “Oh, I’m sure she doesn’t need them. They were just lying under the sink in an old can with—” He broke off and laughed at her horrified expression. “Actually, they were brand new, still in their wrappers,” he told her.

      “But...chocolate,” she said, knowing that she should be aghast at something, but just not quite sure what it was.

      “You were extolling the virtues of chocolate on your shirt yesterday,” СКАЧАТЬ