In Need Of A Wife. Emma Darcy

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ Parnell’s claim without question, but out of the mouths of children came innocent truth.

      ‘When did you become a police officer?’ Matt relentlessly pursued the question as children always do.

      ‘When needs must, Matt,’ came the quiet reply.

      Sasha realised he had supplied what he considered the situation demanded. But who was he really?

      The answer exploded through her mind. A man who needed a wife, that was who, and he’d just made the opportunity to proposition her again. Nothing like a white knight to the rescue to soften a woman’s heart and mush up her brain. Well, not this woman, thank you very much, Sasha vowed. For the time being, she was through with men.

      She stopped walking.

      They all stopped walking.

      Matt looked up at her. ‘My daddy can do anything,’ he stated proudly.

      ‘I don’t doubt it,’ Sasha bit out. She turned to confront the man who considered when needs must a good enough reason for arranging matters as he saw fit. ‘Do you have anything at all to do with the law, Mr Parnell?’

      His craggy, handsome face relaxed into a slow, heart-melting smile. ‘I don’t mind if you call me Nathan.’

      Sasha battled to remain firm in her resistance to any tactics he might employ to persuade her to his way of thinking. ‘You didn’t answer the question,’ she said tersely.

      The smile quirked into winsome appeal. The effect was so sexy, Sasha could feel certain nerves quivering in response. ‘I practised as a barrister for a while,’ he said in a voice that had undoubtedly swayed juries, especially if the jurors were all women.

      Sasha refused to be swayed. ‘Did you get thrown out for malpractice?’ she demanded.

      He looked affronted. ‘Of course not. I’m a very law-abiding citizen. I like legality. That’s the beauty of marriage. Or, at least it would be with a properly drawn-up contract.’

      Sasha was not going to get sidetracked on to that issue. Just for once, she was going to pin this man to a proper answer. ‘Do you or do you not practise as a barrister now?’

      ‘I do not. I gave it up.’

      ‘Why?’

      He shrugged. ‘The judges didn’t agree with me all the time.’

      That didn’t come as a surprise. ‘I don’t agree with you, either,’ Sasha asserted.

      ‘Over what?’ He looked innocent. ‘Have I done something wrong?’

      ‘Threatening bodily harm. I don’t believe in violence, Nathan Parnell.’

      ‘Neither do I. None eventuated, did it?’

      ‘No.’

      ‘I rest my case.’

      He looked positively smug. It exasperated Sasha into saying, ‘I bet you’re not always right.’

      ‘My daddy’s never wrong,’ Matt said, looking up at his father admiringly. ‘He told me so.’

      ‘Brainwashed,’ Sasha muttered, but she couldn’t stop a smile at the precocious little boy.

      It was a mistake. Nathan Parnell read it as compliance with their company. ‘So, which way is home?’ he asked, gesturing for her to indicate direction. ‘Matt and I will see you safely to your doorstep. If you like,’ he added belatedly, but with a smile that could have buckled her knees if Sasha weren’t made of sterner stuff.

      It was time to effect the parting of the ways. Nathan Parnell was not the law and Sasha was not about to let him take the law into his own hands any more than he had. She had the distinct feeling that he could twist anything to his purpose, including her if she didn’t take herself out of his orbit.

      ‘Thank you, but there’s no need.’ She looked around. ‘Tyler’s already gone.’

      ‘What did he mean about having trouble with your parents?’

      ‘I’ll have to find a place of my own.’ She heaved a rueful sigh. ‘It’s not easy. Work’s been hard to get, and I’m not exactly over-endowed with the world’s riches.’

      Bonnie had fallen asleep. Sasha shifted her into a more comfortable position against her shoulder then held out her hand. ‘May I have my bag now?’

      ‘Sure you don’t want me to carry it? It’s no trouble.’

      She resisted temptation and shook her head. ‘I don’t have far to walk.’

      He handed over the bag. The blue eyes played a last bit of havoc with her pulse-rate as he said, ‘Well, good luck with your job-hunting, and I hope you find a decent place to live.’

      She met his gaze steadily, resolutely. ‘Good luck with finding a wife.’

      That was it. She set off and didn’t look back, determined to put everything that had happened today behind her. Somewhere, somehow, she would make a good life for herself and Bonnie, even if she never found a man who would love both of them.

      ‘Hold on a moment!’

      Nathan Parnell’s voice trapped her into looking back. Then the sight of him jogging after her with Matt enjoying a piggy-back ride and happily shouting ‘Giddy-up, Daddy,’ trapped her into stopping and staring at them. They were both so...heart-tuggingly attractive.

      She was still standing like a store dummy when Nathan pulled up beside her. ‘Here,’ he said, bending over to slip a piece of notepaper into her bag.

      ‘What is it?’

      ‘I just thought of a place where you might get friendly accommodation. I wrote down the woman’s name and her phone number. You could try it if you want to. The rent’s negotiable.’

      ‘Thanks, but...’

      ‘Don’t spoil it.’ He grinned. ‘That’s my two good deeds for the day.’

      Then, leaving her with the image of twinkling blue eyes, he was off again, his son bobbing up and down excitedly as his father broke into an obliging canter.

      He was, without a doubt, the sexiest man Sasha had ever met.

      CHAPTER THREE

      SASHA was desperate. It was impossible to stay on with her parents. Their small two-bedroom apartment was uncomfortably overcrowded since she had been forced to retrieve all her possessions before Tyler threw them out. On top of that, a nine-month-old baby did not understand or make allowance for the daily rituals of a retired couple. The unavoidable disruption to the household routine was giving rise to tensions that made life difficult for everyone.

      She and Bonnie had to get out.

      Day after day Sasha searched for a suitable place but what was affordable was unthinkable: dingy СКАЧАТЬ