In Protective Custody. Beth Cornelison

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СКАЧАТЬ promise of home and freedom made her spirits jump for joy. But soon after, her sense of responsibility to the infant reared its head. Her stomach clenched.

      Protect the baby.

      “Well—”

      “I’ll pay for repairing your car, if that’s the problem.”

      “No, I…”

      “What?”

      The sinking sun cast deep shadows across his face. The blood on his shirt had dried, leaving a dark vermilion blotch on his blue knit shirt. Max’s handgun lay across his lap, ready for the next brush with death. The man’s appearance screamed danger. Violence. Trouble.

      Yet a niggling sensation in her gut wouldn’t be quieted. She had to look out for the innocent baby she’d cradled in her arms. No one had given her the job. Only her conscience, her love for children, her personal experience with being lost in the foster system prodded her to accept the position as the baby’s guardian. Along with her certainty that things with Max Caldwell weren’t what they seemed.

      Protect the baby.

      She’d worry about getting away from Max and sorting through the facts later. Right now, baby Elmer needed her. Spurred by her determination to assure the baby’s safety, she made her decision and wouldn’t look back.

      “I’m not going home. I’m staying with you.”

      Chapter 4

      “What do you mean, you’re staying?” Max couldn’t deny the surge of relief, the flare of hope that raced through him. He desperately wanted the help with Elmer this woman offered. Her concern for the baby, her sense of humor and her sexy smiles took the edge off a bad situation.

      But his reaction to her only made it harder to do what he must—change her mind.

      He didn’t want the responsibility of one more life hanging in the balance. He had no real idea what extremes the Rialtos might try to get Elmer back. He imagined the raid on his house only scratched the surface. As long as this woman stayed with him, her life was at risk. Involving her had been a desperate and foolish thing to do. He knew that now.

      The woman lifted her chin, squared her shoulders. “I won’t leave Elmer. You obviously have no experience with infants.”

      Max pulled into the parking lot of a discount department store in rural Mississippi and cut the car’s engine. “I can’t allow you to stay and put yourself in harm’s way. The sooner you go, the better.”

      When the blonde turned, kneeling in her seat to reach for the baby, Max had an up close and personal view of the woman’s shapely fanny—the kind he’d have loved to sink his fingers into during rowdy sex. Under other circumstances.

      Max gritted his teeth and averted his gaze. He had no business thinking of her in those terms, no business thinking of anything except keeping his nephew safe.

      She unfastened Elmer from the baby carrier and gingerly lifted him into her arms. Cuddling his nephew close to her chest, she twisted and slid back into her seat. “You don’t even know what formula to buy. How could I possibly leave—”

      “We’ll be just fine. I know I’ve given you a bad impression of my abilities so far—” He leaned over to take Elmer from her, and she drew back from his reach. “But I can handle things. Let me have him.”

      She arched a delicate eyebrow. “No. I’m staying until I’m sure the baby will be all right.”

      “That could be a while. Don’t you have a job waiting for you in the morning? A boyfriend who’ll be worried about you?”

      “I’ve earned the time off. All I have to do is call the day care director and tell her I need some personal days.”

      She ignored his question about the boyfriend, he noticed. Interesting.

      “Just the same—” Again he reached for the baby. “I can’t ask you to—”

      She turned her back, refusing to give Elmer up. Sighing, Max raised his hand to rake his hair. The motion sent a sharp ache through his shoulder. He winced, moaned.

      “See! You’re in no condition to take care of him.”

      The self-satisfied look on the woman’s face should have annoyed him. Instead, he found the whole impossible situation so absurdly impossible, so unbelievably ironic that he huffed a short laugh.

      The woman stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. Maybe he had. He was actually thinking of letting her stay, despite everything wrong with that idea.

      He slapped the steering wheel in frustration, and the loud noise woke Elmer. The baby wrinkled his face and sent up a wail to wake the dead.

      “Now look what you did!” she fussed.

      Elmer’s complaints grew steadily in volume and verve. Max really hadn’t the foggiest idea what to do with the screaming baby or how to calm him.

      He pinched the bridge of his nose then regarded her with a steady gaze. “You understand, don’t you, that if you stay, you’ll be putting yourself in danger? Those guys that shot up my house won’t just give up and go home. They’re looking for us even as we speak.”

      She drew her shoulders back, seemed to consider his warning for a moment, then gave a quick nod.

      “I’ll do my best to keep you and the baby safe,” he assured her. “But in the end, the baby is my first priority. Got that, lady?”

      “Laura.”

      “What?”

      “My name is Laura…Dalton. I figure if I’m staying, you can’t keep calling me lady. And for the record, the baby’s welfare is my main concern, too. It’s the only thing keeping me here.”

      Her bright turquoise eyes cut through him like lasers. Her scrutiny left him feeling strangely vulnerable, as if she could see through his pretenses, saw through to his soul, knew his past failures and his deepest secrets.

      Yet he also sensed that with Laura, and with Emily’s son, he’d been offered a gift. A chance at redemption.

      “All right, Laura, you can stay. For now.” He reached for Elmer once more, and despite her grunted protest, he took his nephew from her. Throwing the baby’s blanket over his shoulder to hide his bloody wound, he opened the driver’s door. “The first thing we need to do is buy supplies for the baby. And I need to get a change of clothes. I suggest you do the same.”

      Max tucked the Glock in his waistband, covered it with his shirt. “Don’t wander off. If you’re staying with me, then you’re staying with me. Where I can protect you. I’m not letting you or Elmer out of my sight. Got it?”

      Without waiting for her to answer, he climbed from the car. They may have escaped the Rialtos this time, but he knew Emily’s in-laws were hunting them even now. He had to be ready for trouble.

      When they returned to the car, Laura changed Elmer’s diaper on the backseat СКАЧАТЬ