Her Baby's First Christmas. SUSAN MEIER

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СКАЧАТЬ Patrick too easily, but she wouldn’t do it again.

      “No, thanks. I’m fine.”

      He drew an annoyed breath. “Look, I don’t want to spend four weeks in New York with my parents badgering me about my life. Reading that schedule I figured out that I could shave ten days off my trip if I drove.”

      She sighed. “Either your life is more pathetic than mine, or that’s a lame excuse to hide the fact that you feel sorry for me.”

      He laughed. “Honey, if you think I feel sorry for you, then you don’t know me very well. I only do good deeds as penance. And right now I don’t have anything to make up to you. I did my good deeds for the time I yelled.”

      Elise thought about that for a second, and then she smiled. “Your life is more pathetic than mine.” She shook her head. “You want to drive home, but you can’t just decide to drive. You need an excuse for your parents.”

      He gave her a blank look. “Didn’t I just say that?”

      “Sort of, but not really.” She laughed. “Molly and I are your excuse. You’re going to tell your parents that you’re driving a new mom and her baby home because their bus was canceled and they’re not going to question that.”

      Again, he said nothing. But he didn’t have to. His bland expression confirmed her suspicion.

      Elise glanced around the noisy bus station. Facing a day’s wait and not wanting to spend money on a hotel room, Elise was more than tempted to accept his offer.

      She turned to him again. “How do I know I can trust you?”

      “Trust me?”

      “Yeah, how do I know you’re not going to leave me along the side of the road or something?”

      “Why would I do that when you already figured out that I need you?”

      She sighed in exasperation. “Because my mother warned me about getting into cars with strangers.”

      “I’m not a stranger. We’ve seen each other at least once a week waiting for the elevator.”

      “Yeah, and we’ve never spoken.”

      “Fine. If you’re concerned, call Michael. He’ll vouch for me. Besides—” He glanced at the baby in her arms, but quickly brought his gaze back to Elise’s. “I don’t date, fool around with or even talk to women with kids. Even if I did, you’re not my type. You’re short. And puny. I like my women with a little meat on their bones.”

      He looked at her again. His eyes made a quick journey across her face and down her slender torso. “You’re not my type.”

      The man was so honest Elise wasn’t sure if she should be insulted or laugh. She glanced at Molly, who was calm in her arms, but who wouldn’t be so happy on a bus for eight days, then at dark-haired Jared, with his gorgeous face made of sharp angles and planes and eyes the color of the sky right before a storm. She might think he was one of the most handsome men in the world, but as he’d said, she wasn’t his type. Plus, Michael had told her that if she was ever in trouble, Jared was the guy to call. Though having a bus trip postponed wasn’t exactly trouble, if he was offering a ride, she’d be a fool not to take it.

      “Give me five minutes to call Michael.”

      “Take your time. The longer your call, the longer my delay.”

      CHAPTER TWO

      “MICHAEL says you’re as trustworthy as the three wise men.”

      “Great. Let’s go.” Jared grabbed her suitcase, cooler and diaper bag and led her to the bench where he’d left the baby carrier. She laid Molly inside, but he didn’t even pause. He walked outside without her. She finished settling Molly, exited the bus terminal and saw him standing at the SUV, stashing her belongings in the rear compartment.

      At his car, she opened the back door to install the baby carrier and Jared was suddenly at her side. “Here, let me.”

      He reached for the seat belt at the same time Elise did. Their shoulders brushed then their arms, and then their fingers. A jolt of electricity sizzled through Elise. She froze, but so did Jared. He turned his head slightly to the right, catching her gaze with his serious gray eyes.

      She didn’t even react. Jared was a very handsome, sexy guy. Of course, she was attracted to him. But she wasn’t going to do anything about it. And neither was he. She might be more “his type” than he let on, but he clearly didn’t want anything to do with her. And that was much, much better for two people about to spend several days in each other’s company, than giving in to a meaningless attraction.

      She held his gaze blandly, as if what they’d felt meant nothing. His steely-gray eyes probed hers for another second or two then he turned away. Her breath streamed out of her lungs in a quiet swoosh of relief.

      Once Molly was strapped in, Jared slammed the door, pulled open the passenger door for Elise and rounded the hood. As he slid behind the steering wheel, Elise buckled her seat belt. He started the car, and without a word they began their trip.

      It didn’t take long to get onto a highway. California was riddled with them. But when he turned onto Route 5 north, Elise frowned.

      “Why aren’t we going east?”

      “Five takes us to Route 80, which will take me the entire way to New York City. If I’m remembering correctly you can ride with me as far as Pennsylvania and get a bus south.”

      “Okay.” She didn’t know a lot about the road systems, but it seemed he did. “Sounds great.”

      With the directions out of the way and Molly happily occupied in the backseat, the only sound in the SUV was the faint thwap of the windshield wipers. Jared shifted on his seat as if as uneasy as she was. But she didn’t think he was antsy because of the silence. A man who never even said hello while standing with her waiting for the elevator was probably more afraid that she would talk than she wouldn’t. So she said nothing, respecting his right to keep to himself.

      They drove about twenty miles before the rain slowed to a drizzle. Jared flicked a switch and the low thwap, thwap, thwap of the wiper blades slowed, too, making the quiet in the car even more pronounced. Molly woke the second the sound changed, as if the comforting rhythm had soothed her and, without it, she couldn’t sleep.

      Hearing her stir, Elise twisted on the seat to face her daughter. Though Molly was lying facing the back of the SUV, a mirror not only caught her reflection, but it also caught Elise’s for the baby. Molly glanced around as if disoriented, then screamed like a banshee.

      “Hey, Molly. Hey, baby,” Elise crooned. “See. Your mama’s here. There’s no reason to cry.”

      Molly stretched out her little arms to Elise’s reflection in the mirror, her cries echoing through the vehicle.

      “We’re going to have to stop to feed her.”

      “Stop?”

      “Just pull to the side of the road. It only takes her five minutes to eat.”

      He СКАЧАТЬ