The Daddy Verdict. Karen Smith Rose

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       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      To my father, Angelo Jacob Cacciola,

      who taught me how to build model ships

      and play blackjack.

      I miss you, Daddy.

       Chapter One

      “I only came here today because…because I’m pregnant.” Sierra Girard’s blue eyes were wide and vulnerable as her words echoed in Ben Barclay’s office.

      One thought flashed through his mind—they hadn’t used a condom. That oversight had been a first for him.

      “Why did you leave without a word?” he asked, feeling as if she’d punched him in the gut with her announcement. Six weeks ago they’d met at a party and had ended up spending the night together…well, most of a night.

      Her wavy brown hair fell across her shoulder as she looked down at the purse in her hands, then back up at him. “I left in the middle of the night because we got caught up in the heat of the moment. Because neither of us was looking for what happened. You told me your work was your life…that your job as assistant district attorney took all of your waking hours and many of your sleeping ones.”

      Pregnant. Sierra was pregnant! Ben was suddenly angry at himself and angry with her.

      His expression must have shown some of what he was feeling because she murmured, “I never should have come.” Turning, she left his office, slipping quickly into the hall.

      Instinct made him move like lightning. He grasped her arm.

      They both froze, startled once more by the electricity that had drawn them together.

      Finally Sierra pulled from his hold. “This isn’t your problem. It’s mine. I just thought you might like to know.”

      He and Sierra had started talking at the engagement party of mutual friends. That night her smile had curved around his cynical defenses, breaking down barriers that had been cemented in place for years. Desire had exploded, burning away common sense. After they’d had sex, work exhaustion had caught up to him. He’d fallen asleep…and she’d disappeared.

      A colleague walked down the hall and tossed Ben a quizzical look.

      “Come back inside,” Ben suggested, purposefully keeping his tone calm.

      When Sierra hesitated, he added, “You’re not going to pull a vanishing act on me again.”

      “You could have gotten my number from Camille or Miguel if you wanted to reach me,” she chided softly.

      Had she wanted him to search her out?

      Why would he want to pursue a woman who’d left without a word or a note? Why would he want to pursue a woman, period? They all left. He knew that too well. His mother had deserted his father, along with him and his two brothers. And after Ben had hit thirty and decided coming home to a woman would be better than returning to an empty apartment, he’d started dating Lois. However, a year and a half later, she’d broken off their relationship because he was too dedicated to his work. She’d been seeing someone else at the public relations firm where she worked while he was working! “Love” only had meaning to him in how it related to family. There was no such thing as happily ever after or vows that lasted forever.

      Intrigued by Sierra as he had been since they’d met, he asked, “Did you leave that night so I’d chase you?”

      “No,” she protested so quickly he almost believed her. Then she went on, “I don’t tumble into bed with a man every time I go to an engagement party. That night—”

      She stopped to gather words that seemed to elude her. “I’d never done anything like that before! I was confused afterward. When you didn’t bother to get my number and call, I knew you weren’t interested.”

      Sierra Girard was so beautiful in an innocent, twenty-four-year-old kind of way. He was only thirty-five, but the eleven years’ difference seemed more like thirty to him right now. He’d seen things she couldn’t imagine in her worst nightmares. The folders on his desk were full of pictures he hoped she’d never see.

      “Why did you really leave the hotel room that night?”

      “I thought I was doing the best thing for both of us,” she replied with what sounded like sincerity. “That way we didn’t have to be embarrassed or awkward, or figure out how to say goodbye.”

      “Do you always run from awkward situations?” He really didn’t know much about her. Just that she and Camille were good-enough friends for her to be Camille’s maid of honor.

      At Sierra’s pointed silence, Ben raked his hand through his black hair, deciding to let that question go so he could ask something more pertinent. “Have you seen a doctor?”

      “Yes, I have.”

      “What are you going to do about the pregnancy?”

      Where before Sierra had seemed almost pale to him, her cheeks took on color now. “I will not get an abortion.”

      “I’m not asking you to consider it.” He took a step closer to her, then wished he hadn’t because СКАЧАТЬ