Wanted: One Mummy. Cathy Gillen Thacker

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      Caroline turned away from Jack and continued her romantic survey with a wistfulness borne deep inside her. “This neighborhood that you call home is so beautiful, with all the well-kept residences and the peaceful, almost pastoral street.” It was everything she had ever wanted and never had.

      She whirled back to face him, almost angry now. She stomped closer, waving her arms for emphasis. “But do you see any of that?” Nearer still. “Do you realize how lucky you are to live here and have family who have always been there for you and clearly love you so much? No. You don’t. You probably look at them, at an incredibly beautiful night like tonight and—”

      Caroline never had a chance to finish.

      Before the breath left her lungs, Jack swept her into his arms and delivered the kiss to end all kisses. She was so shocked initially she didn’t know what to do. And that millisecond of total stillness on her part was all the advantage he needed. The pressure of his mouth parted her lips. His tongue swept inside, and all coherent thought fled. Longing welled up within her, unlike anything she had ever dreamed she could feel. A shiver of need swept through her, followed by an even more magnificent ripple of pure pleasure. Even while her mind protested, the rest of her—heart, body and soul—surrendered to the sweet surprise of his kiss. And the knowledge that maybe, just maybe, she had really misread this man, in thinking that he had no heart…. Because surely it was impossible to kiss with this much ardor, unless you felt …

      She leaned closer, emboldened by the ferocity of her own response, wanting, needing, to know and experience more….

      And just that suddenly, he released her.

      Looking down at her with a distinctly male satisfaction, he surveyed her lazily from head to toe, and taunted softly, “Still think I haven’t got a romantic bone in my body?”

       Chapter Three

      Jack had the satisfaction of seeing Caroline’s jaw open in surprise, a telling moment before it snapped shut. “Sex and romance are not the same thing,” Caroline snapped. “And that kiss was pure sex.”

      And then some, Jack thought, feeling the hardness at the front of his jeans. He was pretty sure from the bright flush of color in her face that she was still tingling from head to toe, too. He edged closer. He might not be much good at love, but there were a few things in which he excelled. “Sex can be good.”

      “Not between us,” Caroline reminded him sternly. “I am now working for your mother and Dutch Ambrose.”

      He refused to bow to her polite but aloof regard. “I’m the one paying the bill.”

      “Which makes it even worse,” she complained, even as red-hot sparks arced between them. “Technically, you’re the client.” She angled her thumb at her chest. “And I never mix business and pleasure.”

      Jack grinned. The way she had kissed him back just now said otherwise. “What do you mix with pleasure?” he countered, already thinking of hot kisses and soft skin.

      “Nothing.” Caroline folded her arms beneath her breasts. She glared at him. “I’m celibate.”

      “Could have fooled me with that kiss.”

      She leaned closer, curious. “I take that to mean you do fool around?”

      The challenging glitter in her eyes prompted his defense. “Not indiscriminately,” Jack replied, inhaling the soft, womanly scent of her. “Although, for the record, I have dated since my divorce. Mainly because I knew at some point Maddie was going to want and need a mommy, the way she is now.”

      “So you took one for the team,” Caroline said drily.

      That had been about it. He hadn’t been doing it for himself. Jack shrugged, admitting, “There were plenty of women who were interested in my success and wealth. But no one who could deal with how complicated my life has become in recent years.” So that had been that.

      Now she was interested. She tilted her head. “Complicated in what way?”

      How about every way? Jack thought. “Well, my mom lives with me. And if the marriage goes through, soon Dutch will, too. That alone was a turnoff to many.”

      Caroline’s brow furrowed. “I can’t see why if they’d met Patrice and/or Dutch.”

      That, Jack thought, had been the family-inclusive attitude he’d been looking for, and never found. He went on to the next item on the list. “Another bummer was the fact that I can’t seem to make long-range or sometimes even short-range plans. Because when I do, something always seems to come up.”

      Caroline wasn’t upset about that, either. “Life happens. I have that problem, too.”

      They exchanged smiles.

      Jack persisted with his wish list. “Anyone I get involved with has to adore Maddie, and be loved by her in return.”

      Caroline grinned, enthusiastic. “I can’t see that as a problem.”

      Jack went on to the ultimate deal breaker. “And any potential love interest for me must like dogs and accept that Bounder is as much a part of our family as the rest of us. And Bounder can be a handful at times, let me tell you. It seems like she’s always inadvertently getting into trouble of some sort.”

      Caroline rocked back on her heels and angled her chin at him. “That’s typical for golden retrievers her age, isn’t it? Most don’t mature until they are three years old.”

      Glad to find Caroline so knowledgeable, Jack nodded. “The vet says that we’ve got another year to go before Bounder gets her natural inquisitiveness under control. Although she is pretty well behaved most of the time now.”

      “See?” Caroline lifted her hands, palms up. “Life is looking up.”

      Jack’s natural wariness kicked in. “Is it? Maddie still wants a mommy. Now.”

      Caroline studied him beneath the fringe of her lashes. “And what do you want?” she asked softly.

      Jack shrugged. That was easy. “The kind of close and loving marriage my parents had, and the ability to work as a team, no matter how difficult life gets.”

      SO JACK WAS A ROMANTIC at heart, after all, Caroline thought. He just wouldn’t acknowledge it. Which made her wonder … “I guess you didn’t have that kind of closeness with your ex-wife.”

      Jack gestured. “We were a great team, while we were together. The problem was …” Jack hesitated.

      For a moment Caroline thought he wasn’t going to finish.

      “As much as she tried, in the end Vanessa couldn’t love me as much as she thought she should.”

      His voice was calm, matter-of-fact, but Caroline sensed a wealth of pain behind those words. She reached out to touch his hand. “I’m sorry,” she said, just as quietly, looking deep into his eyes. “I know what it is to be betrayed by someone close to you. It’s incredibly demoralizing.” It left you reluctant to try love again.

      Jack leaned against СКАЧАТЬ