A Stranger's Baby. Kerry Connor

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СКАЧАТЬ It wasn’t as if what she had told him had done her any good. “There’s not.”

      “Look at it this way. If somebody did break in, they probably won’t be coming back. I’d say you did a darn good job scaring them off. They won’t want to mess with you again.”

      “I guess,” she muttered, unconvinced for reasons she couldn’t quite explain, but which scared her all the same.

      “Tell you what. I’ll have somebody drive by a couple times the rest of the night, just to make sure everything looks okay.”

      There was a definite note of finality in his tone. Even as he said it, he was rising from his seat. Clearly they’d wasted enough time on the delusional pregnant woman.

      “Fine,” she said begrudgingly. She didn’t bother to rise with him. They’d be able to make it to the next county by the time she hoisted herself from the chair.

      Touching the brim of his hat, he offered one last “Ma’am” and headed to the door, following the other officer out.

      As soon as they were gone, Sara wiped a hand over her face and released the frustrated breath she’d been holding. She knew she hadn’t imagined what had happened. Someone had broken in to her home, someone who’d intended to harm her. There just didn’t seem to be any way to prove it.

      Which meant she was on her own to figure out what to do now. Not that that was anything new.

      A soft tap against the door frame startled her. Her eyes flew to the entryway, her heart in her throat. Her neighbor stood there, the sight instantly reassuring. Jake, he’d said his name was. Just like the first time she’d seen him, she was struck by his sheer size, which was only emphasized in the smaller confines of her house. The man was massive, well over six feet tall and brawny, his shoulders filling the frame, his head barely clearing the ceiling. His size was such a defining characteristic that she’d had no trouble knowing he wasn’t involved in the break-in. She would have recognized this mountain coming at her in the dark.

      From the few glimpses she’d had of him when they’d nodded to each other in passing, he’d struck her as deeply intimidating. Up close, he was slightly less so, if only because she could see his face more clearly. He wasn’t exactly handsome, but there was definitely something appealing in the blunt masculinity of his features. He’d always had this fierce expression on his face. She’d never seen him smile. He wasn’t now, either.

      “I guess I’ll take off, too,” he said. “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

      “I’m fine,” she said, because it was easier than trying to convince someone else otherwise. Just hallucinating,evidently. “I never thanked you for calling 9-1-1 and coming over to check things out.”

      He nodded shortly, lowering his eyes, as though embarrassed by her gratitude. “Don’t mention it. What are neighbors for, right?”

      “Right,” she echoed with a pang of guilt, all too aware she hadn’t really lived up to that unspoken rule. She’d done what she always did, kept to herself. Because it was easier. Because she was a coward. But then, until tonight, so had he.

      “The back door is locked. I can get the front on my way out.”

      His way out. He was leaving. And she’d be alone. “Great,” she said, her tension tangling in knots in her stomach.

      Her nervousness must have come across loud and clear. “If you don’t feel safe, maybe you shouldn’t stay here. Call a friend.”

      Sara shook her head, embarrassed to admit the truth. “I don’t know anyone around here.”

      If he wondered why she didn’t when she’d lived here longer than he had, he didn’t comment on it. His expression didn’t change. “Get a hotel room for the night.”

      “Maybe I will,” she said halfheartedly, already thinking of all the things she’d have to do. It would take her a while to get some things together—another reason she should have put her overnight bag for the hospital together by now—and she’d have to call a cab to take her, since she didn’t trust herself to drive in her current state. Given how fast she moved these days, it would probably be dawn by the time she made it to a hotel. Hardly worth the trouble, since she didn’t think they would try anything in broad daylight.

      It was the hours until then that worried her.

      “Well, if you stay, I wouldn’t worry about it,” her neighbor said. “You’ll be fine.”

      “I’m sure you’re right,” she replied, because there didn’t seem to be anything else she could say.

      For a long moment he didn’t say anything either or make a move for the door. She felt a brief hope that he might linger. Desperation fueled the feeling from a flicker to a full-blown inferno that swept through her.

      Please stay.

      It was such a ridiculous impulse she didn’t even start to open her mouth to form the words. She didn’t know this man. He didn’t owe her anything, had already done more for her than most people would have bothered with, risking himself to come over and investigate. Asking for anything more would be too much.

      But if he offered to do it himself…

      He cleared his throat, not looking at her. “Okay, then. Good night.”

      Disappointment washed over her, the feeling too familiar to have much of an impact.

      “Good night,” she murmured.

      He turned and walked out of the doorway. She listened to his heavy tread retreating, the sound of the front door closing, then to the empty silence echoing around her.

      Apprehension clawed up her spine, prickling at the nape of her neck. She scanned the familiar space of her living room. The bookshelves filled from top to bottom on one wall. The comfortable, mismatched furniture, each piece personally chosen. She tried to tell herself that she was just as safe here as she’d been before she’d gone to bed. Maybe the officers were right. Maybe it had just been a bad dream.

      Maybe…

      But try as she might, she couldn’t make herself believe any of it. The truth remained too vivid in her memory.

      She unconsciously rubbed a hand over her belly. “Just you and me, little guy,” she whispered, getting a kick against her palm in response. She couldn’t be disappointed. It was how she’d expected it to be from the beginning. Just her and the baby.

      She’d just never felt more alone than she did in that moment.

      Or more afraid.

      

      JAKE TRIED NOT TO FEEL guilty as he left his neighbor’s house. She’d be fine. He’d talked to the cops himself, heard how they hadn’t found anything. They’d seemed convinced she’d just had a bad dream, fueled by pregnancy hormones and a lack of sleep, and suffered an extreme reaction, firing at phantoms that weren’t there. It made more sense than people breaking in to her house to attack her and leaving no trace of their presence behind.

      Besides, he couldn’t let himself get involved. A pregnant woman, with no sign of a father in the picture, was exactly the kind СКАЧАТЬ