Pregnant and Protected. Lilian Darcy

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      “On the contrary,” Jessica replied. “She’s very careful not to do anything wrong.”

      Curt’s relieved smile reflected his approval. “That’s good.”

      “No, it’s not. Not when it means that she’s terrified of doing some thing wrong. She thinks you don’t like her.”

      “I like the kid well enough,” Curt replied defensively, “and I never told her any differently.”

      “So you never told her that you didn’t like her?”

      His “No, ma’am” was a marine bark.

      “Perhaps she over heard you telling someone else?” she suggested.

      “No, ma’am.” His narrow-eyed gaze told her he didn’t appreciate this line of questioning.

      “Have you told her that you love her?”

      If she didn’t know better, she could almost have sworn that Curt actually squirmed in his seat. “No.”

      “Why not? Children need to hear…”

      “Look, I didn’t even know she existed until a few days ago, her mother never bothered telling me. When she died, the authorities tracked me down and brought Blue to me. I’ve only known her a few days.” Straightening his shoulders, Curt stared her right in the eye, his glance as steely as a double-edged sword. “Blue is my responsibility now, and I take my responsibilities seriously.”

      “I’m just trying to do what’s right for Blue,” Jessica assured him. “She needs attention and security.”

      “That’s why I signed her up here. That’s your job.”

      Jessica refused to give in to her anger. “She’s looking for love and attention from a parent. From you. I realize that being a parent is a new situation for you. Our local community college has some classes that you might find helpful,” she suggested.

      “I don’t need to go back to school,” he stated in disgust. “I’ve handled much more responsibility than a little three-year-old kid.” Seeing the expression on her face, he held up one hand and added, “I’m not saying I couldn’t use a few pointers. But you can do that. You can teach me what I need to know.”

      Here it was. That fork in the road. Did she dare go down it with him? Even for Blue’s sake?

      What other choice did she have? “I’d be willing to work with you and suggest some additional reading,” she said cautiously, “if you’re willing to learn some additional pa renting skills.”

      “Wait a second,” Curt said, a light bulb suddenly going on in those brown eyes of his as he leaned forward to stare at her as if seeing her—really seeing her—for the first time. “I know who you are.”

      Oh, no, not now. Not here. She wasn’t ready for this yet.

      “You’re Jessie the Brain!” he said triumphantly. “We went to high school together.”

      Chapter 2

      “YOUR HAIR WAS LONGER then, but you gave me the same speech about being ‘willing to learn’ when you offered to tutor me in Geometry.”

      Jessie the Brain. Curt couldn’t believe that she was back in his life again after all this time. The last time he’d seen her was…

      He frowned. It had to have been that night before he’d left to join the marines. The memory was blurred by his having indulged in way too much alcohol that night. He recalled them bumping into each other and his surprise—first that he’d asked her to join him for a joy ride in his old red Mustang, second that she’d actually accepted, and third that he’d let her drive his car. They’d ended up in some park some where, and he’d kissed her…several times.

      What happened after that wasn’t clear. But the next morning, he’d woken with the worst hangover of his life. His temples throbbed just thinking about it.

      As for the vague sense of guilt he was feeling, no doubt it was a result of the fact that he’d never gotten in touch with her again after that night.

      At the time, he’d briefly wondered how far their making out had gone. Had he reached first base…or third? There was little to no chance he’d hit a home run and gone all the way—not with Jessie the Brain. She was a “good” girl, pure and demure. His total opposite.

      Maybe this explained why she’d stared at him with such underlying hostility earlier. He’d probably made an idiot of himself that night, and she’d put him in his place when he’d tried to seduce her.

      He looked at her with new eyes. Her honey-blond hair used to be longer, almost down to her waist. It was barely shoulder-length now, in one of those layered cuts that women these days seemed to favor. A hazy memory of him threading his fingers through her long silky hair flashed through his mind with the abruptness of an exploding land mine. He blinked at the unexpected vision. But when he tried to recapture the image, it was gone.

      She had cat’s eyes, tipped up at the outside corners. Leaning forward, he saw that they were an intense shade of green that reminded him of the jungles in the Philippines. Unless she was wearing colored contact lenses?

      He cynically reminded himself that women had various ways of camouflaging them selves into something they weren’t—everything from nose jobs to breast implants.

      His gaze slid down her body with quick efficiency. She was wearing a pair of khaki slacks and a pink shirt. Nothing sexy there. Very practical attire. But beneath that no-nonsense outfit she had a Marilyn Monroe kind of figure that wasn’t popular on TV and movies these days, but which any man preferred over skinny orphan looks. He’d seen too many skinny orphans during his tours of duty overseas. Their grateful looks and shy smiles when he’d handed out candy bars that he’d always kept in his pocket still haunted his sleep some nights.

      Jessie the Brain wasn’t the type of woman who’d haunt a man’s dreams. There wasn’t anything about her that really stood out, aside from those catlike green eyes. But there was some thing about her just the same, an inner strength combined with a warm heart.

      Here was a woman who faced life head-on. Here was a woman not im pressed by his uniform. Here was a woman staring at him with disapproval and dismay—the kind of look he’d gotten from a majority of the adults in his teenage life. Not a look he’d received lately.

      “It’s been a long time,” he murmured.

      She shrugged.

      “Jessie the Brain.” He shook his head, as if still unable to believe they’d run into each other again. “After all these years. Your hair is shorter now.”

      Her hand flew up to her hair as if guilty at being caught. “So’s yours,” she shot back.

      He nodded with a sense of sat is faction. Oh, yeah, she was definitely the kind of woman who could hold her own.

      “But getting back to your daughter.” Her voice held a no-nonsense tone that made him smile for some reason. “I really do think it would be best if you took one of the pa renting classes at the СКАЧАТЬ