The Daddy Verdict. Karen Smith Rose

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СКАЧАТЬ gaze on her melted her insides as she nodded. When he’d made love to her, nothing had existed except the two of them.

      His thumb ran over a turquoise nugget, then the round coral beads beneath it. “You’re a talented woman.”

      “I just have a knack for putting together colors and shapes.”

      Dropping the dangle as if it were suddenly too hot to handle, he said, “I want to be part of my baby’s life…if this child is my baby.”

      In some ways she knew life would be easier and less complicated if she parented their child alone. Still, she answered, “It is.”

      He scrutinized her for a long moment. “We’ll have a DNA test done after the baby’s born. But until then, I want to know what’s happening. Do you need financial assistance?”

      His jaw had set after he asked the question, and Sierra wondered if he believed she was just after money. “I don’t need help.”

      “Do you have insurance?”

      “Yes, I do. I didn’t come to you because I wanted anything.”

      “You just thought I should know?”

      The repetition of her reasoning sounded lame when he said it, but it was the truth. “I have an appointment with my obstetrician Thursday after next. If you’re interested in meeting her, if you have questions…”

      She trailed off, feeling they were moving toward an intimacy she wasn’t ready for. And it had nothing to do with having sex. The intimacy involved becoming parents together.

      “I have a trial coming up, but if there’s any way I can be at your appointment, I will. Just let me know when and where.”

      This was so awkward. She’d never dated much. By the time she’d gone to public high school, the other girls were way ahead of her with their flirting skills. She’d always just wanted to meet someone who would understand her…whom she could understand. Travis had been the one. Even though her aunt had told her she was too young to get seriously involved at twenty, her parents, on the other hand, had told her to follow her heart. She had.

      “What are you thinking about?” Ben asked, and she realized memories must have shone in her eyes.

      “I was thinking about what brought me here.”

      “To Albuquerque?”

      “No, not exactly. To age twenty-four, having the shop, meeting you and now getting pregnant.”

      He waited for a moment as if to see if she’d say more. But she didn’t. She didn’t know him well enough. She’d been so foolish to let unexpected desire lead her here.

      “You said you live with your aunt. Do you have other family in Albuquerque?”

      She shook her head. “No. My parents are in Africa right now. And even my aunt—” She stopped, not knowing how many personal details she wanted to give him.

      “Your aunt?”

      “She’s traveling. She’ll be back in a few weeks.”

      “Does she know about the pregnancy?”

      “I called her this afternoon. I wanted to tell you first.”

      That seemed to give him pause. “How about Camille?”

      “If we have any alone time before the wedding, I’ll tell her. But if not, I’ll wait until she returns from her honeymoon.”

      “Are you planning to stay overnight at the hacienda after the wedding?”

      Miguel Padilla’s parents lived in a hacienda outside of Santa Fe. That’s where the wedding was going to be held, though the reception would be celebrated at the inn where Sierra and Ben had attended the engagement party. “I’ll be staying over. Camille’s mother wants to talk to me about Christmas presents she’d like me to make for her nieces. What about you?”

      “I hadn’t decided yet, but now I’m beginning to think it might be a good idea. In fact, we could go together.”

      That suggestion urged her to take a deep breath. “Together?”

      “We’re going to have decisions to make. Don’t you think it would be a good idea if we got to know each other?”

      Sierra really hadn’t thought past telling Ben the news about the pregnancy, simply because she hadn’t known what his reaction would be…or how he’d feel about fatherhood. Maybe the weekend would provide them with a good opportunity to figure out whether or not they could parent together.

      When she didn’t answer right away, he frowned. “Look, if that’s too complicated—”

      “No. No, it’s not. I just…I hadn’t thought past telling you I was pregnant. I thought you’d want nothing to do with me and the baby.”

      “How did you get that impression?”

      “Your career takes up most of your time. Besides, this isn’t the kind of responsibility a man takes on willingly.”

      “You assumed I wouldn’t be willing.”

      “I suppose I did.”

      The silence floated around them like the dust motes in the sunlight. Finally, Ben concluded, “Maybe after next weekend we’ll both know each other better.”

      There was something about Ben that drew Sierra toward him. It also made her a little afraid. Not physically afraid or anything like that…just afraid because he looked at her with so many questions, as if she wasn’t telling him the truth. He looked at her as if she were on one side of the fence and he was on the other. Maybe her imagination was just going wild and he wasn’t as complicated as she thought he was.

      Just as she’d done in his office, he took a card from his pocket and handed it to her. “My cell phone number’s on there. You can always reach me. I’ll give you a call later in the week and we’ll set up a time for Saturday.”

      She nodded. As he turned to leave, she called his name. “Ben?”

      He faced her once more.

      “Thanks for making this a little easier.”

      “We’ll see how easy it is once we get deeper into it.” Then he left her shop.

      Had she made a mistake agreeing to go to the wedding with him? She could back out, tell him she wanted to drive herself.

      But that would be the cowardly thing to do. She wasn’t a coward.

       Chapter Two

      “Are you ready?” Ben asked in that way he had of appraising Sierra that made her feel turned inside out.

      Flustered and nervous after opening her door to him, she asked herself for the umpteenth time why she’d agreed to drive with СКАЧАТЬ