A Stranger's Baby. Kerry Connor

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      “You can stay with me.”

      The words came out on their own. Even as he said them, it seemed as if someone else was doing so. She looked just as surprised to hear them as he was, blinking up at him, her mouth falling open in a soft O.

      “Just for tonight,” he said roughly. “Until you figure out something else.” Part of him wondered who he was saying it for, her or himself.

      For a long moment she didn’t say anything, staring at him, her eyes round and dazed. Then she nodded unsteadily. “Okay. Just for tonight. Let me get a few things.”

      She retreated back into the house. He watched her waddle away. He knew letting her stay with him was the right thing to do. She shouldn’t be alone, not in her condition, not the way she was feeling. That didn’t stop him from wanting to call her back and revoke the offer. The uneasiness had returned with a vengeance, clawing at his insides with greater ferocity, for entirely different reasons than before.

      Because he’d seen something else, too, shimmering faintly in her big brown eyes.

      Gratitude.

      And he knew more than ever that he’d finally made the mistake he’d been avoiding from the first time he’d seen the pregnant woman next door.

      Chapter Three

      Jake held open the front door of his house for her. Sara stepped over the threshold, feeling almost as though she was stepping into a brand-new world.

      A few hours ago, she’d never spoken to this man. Now she was spending what was left of the night in his home.

      Of course, several things had happened to her in the past few hours that had never happened before. At least this one might be relatively positive.

      It was only when she heard him close and lock the door behind them that she felt a moment’s trepidation. She looked back at him, so big he nearly rendered the door superfluous, blocking the entire entryway himself. What if he was involved with the people who’d invaded her home and this was all part of some ploy to get her to his house where she’d be completely at his mercy? Or even if it wasn’t, how did she know she was safe with this man? She didn’t know anything about him. No one knew where she was. He could make her disappear and no one would ever know.

      Then he turned around, allowing her to see the frown on his face. It hadn’t shifted since he’d made the invitation. He’d made it clear the offer had been grudging at best, hardly the attitude to project if he’d wanted to give her a false sense of security.

      Sara grimaced at her own foolish paranoia, forcing herself to relax slightly. She was letting the night’s events go to her head.

      Not to mention the fact that he’d barely looked at her since offering the invitation. Even now, he didn’t, moving past her toward a hallway. “You can take my bed,” he said gruffly.

      “Oh, that’s not necessary.”

      “It’s the only one I’ve got. There’s a spare bedroom, but I never bothered to put a bed in there.” Whether or not he’d intended it, she didn’t miss the unspoken message in his words. He hadn’t expected, or wanted, guests. “I’m sure you need it more than I do.”

      “Honestly, I doubt I’ll get any sleep the rest of the night. And I sleep better sitting up these days anyway.” At least without her body pillow, which she’d forgotten, not even thinking about sleeping. She had so much adrenaline pumping through her system it felt as if she’d never sleep again. “Just point me in the direction of a comfortable chair and I’ll be set.”

      Looking unconvinced, he finally waved an arm toward the living room. Following the motion, she made her way to a chair a few feet away. The room was barely furnished. If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought he’d just moved in that day. A flatscreen TV was installed on one wall directly in front of the chair. Some weights, an exercise mat and a workout bench were clustered in one corner. A card table set up beside the chair bore a few magazines. All sports-related, she noted, as she lowered herself into the seat.

      Folding his arms over his chest, he leaned a shoulder against the wall. She realized with a start that the chair she’d gravitated toward was the only seat in the living room other than the bench. Boy, this place really wasn’t intended to accommodate guests in any way.

      “Do you want to call the police?” he asked.

      “And tell them what? There was a car sitting outside my house? I’m sure they’ll want to rush right over for that, especially since they didn’t believe me before.” She wiped a hand across her forehead. “I’ll go to the police station in the morning. Hopefully I’ll find somebody who might be more willing to believe me.”

      “I’ll go with you.” She must have seemed surprised, because he shrugged his free shoulder. “I’m the one who saw the car, right?”

      “Of course.” This time they couldn’t claim she’d imagined it. At the very least, it would have to be a shared delusion. “It’s weird, though.”

      “What?”

      “If whoever was in the car was one of the same people who broke in to my house, why would he park right across the street, for everyone to see after going to all the trouble of coming through the backyard the first time?”

      “Could be they were just checking to make sure the coast was clear. As soon as they were sure the police were gone, they’d go around back and try again.”

      “Maybe,” she said, unable to keep the doubt from her voice. It still felt as if something wasn’t adding up. “How many people were in the car?”

      “It was dark. I could only see the driver.”

      “There were three people in my house. I’m sure of it.”

      “The big question is how they got inside in the first place.”

      “I don’t know. The police said the locks hadn’t been tampered with, and I know I locked the back door.”

      “I noticed you don’t have a security system.”

      “It never seemed necessary. This is supposed to be a safe community. It’s one reason I moved here. I’m sure you don’t have one, either.” He signaled his agreement with a terse jerk of his head. “Logically, the only way they could have gotten in was with a key. But I’ve never given one to anybody.”

      “Do you have one hidden somewhere around the house in case you get locked out?”

      “No.”

      “Maybe they stole yours somehow and made a copy without your knowledge.”

      Sara suppressed a shudder. He’d reached the same conclusion she had. “That would mean they put some forethought into this, actually planned it for some time before going through with it. But who would do that? And why?”

      “You really don’t know why anyone would attack you?”

      She gave her head a vigorous shake. “No.”

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