Fatherhood Fever!. Emma Darcy

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      “You got even. Isn’t that enough for you?”

      “I don’t mind if you beat me. I enjoy playing with you.”

      “I’ve had enough.” The sweatshirt completed the cover up. She turned to him with a forced little smile. “Thanks for the game.”

      “My pleasure.” On many levels.

      “It was good,” she conceded, then picked up her racquet and headed for the gate.

      Matt swiftly collected his own tracksuit, slung it over his shoulder, and joined her for the walk back to the main building, blithely ignoring her dismissal of him. He saw no reason for her not to be sociable until they had to part for their separate accommodation.

      “Just for the record, what do you consider a brood?”

      She huffed and slid him a glittering look. “Six,” she said silkily.

      Quite a number in this day and age. Rather daunting, in fact. Very expensive, too. Just as well he could afford a big house and whatever help might be required.

      “Want to peel off now?” she asked.

      “What?” The provocative question was highly surprising, coming after her reading him the riot act about getting into her pants.

      She stopped, planting a hand on her hip as she surveyed him with derisive disbelief. “Why aren’t you taking to your heels? I’m a broody hen. A homebody. Not your type. I don’t care that you look like Tarzan. I’m totally deaf to the call of the wild. You haven’t got a hope of changing my mind.”

      Right! She hadn’t been asking him to strip. She expected him to be scared off by the prospect of having to handle six kids. He would have to show her he was a man of mettle.

      “I can see now why you think twenty-eight is old,” he said seriously. “If you want six kids, you’d need to get started on them straight away. Give yourself time to space them out a bit so you can enjoy them as individuals.”

      She threw up her hands, almost hitting herself with the tennis racquet. “Why are you persisting with this?” she cried in exasperation.

      “I like to understand people.”

      “Well, I don’t want six. I only said that to...to...”

      “See how I’d react?” he helped.

      “Yes.”

      “How many do you really want?”

      “Four, if you must know. That would be the ideal.” Her face drooped despondently as she looked off into the distance. “But I guess I’d make do with two if I had to. Probably lucky to have two, the way I’m going.”

      “Never give up on a dream,” Matt advised, thinking four was really a more manageable number. Two boys and two girls would be just fine. A well-balanced family.

      She sighed and resumed walking.

      Matt figured he needed to correct her impression of him. The image of Tarzan was not to his liking. Though he had to admit the idea of carrying Peta Kelly off to a tree house and mating with her on the spot had a very strong appeal. She stirred quite a few primitive instincts. He’d like to punch out the guy who’d soured her on men. On the other hand, he suspected violence would not win her approval.

      “I’m not an apeman,” he stated as a matter of fact. “I’m actually quite civilised. My mother house-trained me from a very young age. She’d vouch for that if you asked her.”

      It earned a wisp of a smile. “You’re really worried about her, aren’t you?”

      “Yes. She took my father’s death hard. It’s been almost two years now and she makes no effort to get over it.”

      “She must have loved him very much.”

      He heard the sympathy in her voice and frowned. Had she really loved the guy who’d done the dirty on her? Matt didn’t like that idea.

      “Don’t give my mother sympathy. It’ll only make her worse,” he warned.

      She glanced sharply at him. “You’re a hard man.”

      “No. A practical one. Sympathy feeds her grief which she uses as an excuse to indulge herself in misery. And might I add, for your benefit, it’s a futile waste of time nursing a broken heart over a guy who wasn’t worth loving.”

      Her eyes whirled in confusion. “Your father wasn’t worth loving?”

      “He was. I meant the scumbag who cheated on you.”

      “Oh!” Resentment flared. “I’d take it kindly if you minded your own business, Matt Davis, and left me to mind my own.”

      “You make it my business when you put me on the same level as him.”

      “That’s it!” She wheeled on him and stamped her foot. Her blue eyes were laser bolts, searing him with fury. “I don’t have to take any more from you and I won’t.”

      “I could be the father of your children,” he said blandly.

      “What?” The laser bolts lost direction.

      “Might be your best chance.”

      Her mouth fell into a very sensual pout as she dragged in a deep breath. Matt was tempted to step forward and kiss her, get her mind moving on a positive path. He thought better of it, remembering the fierce stipulation of the wedding ring. He didn’t want to scare her off. He threw in another persuader for good measure.

      “I think four’s an ideal number, too.”

      Her breath whooshed out. She backed away, wagging a finger at him. “You...are making a fool of me.”

      “Nope. Just being practical.”

      “I don’t believe you.”

      “I’ve had a hard time finding a woman who wants to be a wife and mother.”

      “I’m not listening to this.”

      “Think about it.”

      “You just want to have sex with me.”

      “Can’t have kids without doing it,” he said cheerfully.

      “You’re a cheat!”

      “I’ll give up smoking but be damned if I’ll give up salt.”

      “You stay right here until I’m inside and out of sight. I’ve had enough of you.”

      “Facing the truth is always difficult. Go on then. All I ask is you give it some thought.”

      “Don’t worry. I’m not likely to forget this.”

      “Good!”

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