Having His Child. Amy J. Fetzer

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      They both looked down the corridor to see a slender, rather busty blonde dressed in red rush up to Lucas. They said hello, and he brushed a kiss to the woman’s cheek before introducing them. Angela instantly forgot her name because she couldn’t get past the viperous look the blonde shot her. My word. It was cool and assessing, staking out her territory on Lucas like a flag on Mount Everest. Angela was tempted to warn her that no woman could rope and tie Luc Ryder, let alone drag him to the altar. The man had a serious case of no-commitment blues. He just liked telling himself otherwise.

      “See you later, Luc,” Angela said and stepped away.

      Immediately, Luc excused himself from the blonde’s side and came to Angela. “We still on for dinner next Thursday night? My turn to get the Chinese take-out and videos.”

      “It’s been your turn for the last two times, Luc. You’re making up for dumping me to go save some kid,” she teased, rolling her eyes. He chuckled shortly, and her gaze shifted past him to the latest girlfriend. Angela wondered if this one could handle that she and Luc had been best friends since high school. She had her doubts, but kept them to herself. “She’s lovely Lucas,” she said softly. “But I think you’d best quit mentioning me.”

      He frowned. “I don’t.” Not that much, he thought. Did he?

      “Yeah, right.” She gave him a playful shove. “The minute you introduced me, she got that ‘so this is her’ look.”

      “She’ll learn.” He wondered if any woman would understand their friendship.

      “For your sake, I hope so. I’ve got to go, darlin’.”

      He caught her arm before she took another step. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

      “Annual checkup.” That wasn’t a complete lie, she thought.

      His brows knitted. “Everything okay?”

      “Perfect.” Ready to be impregnated, she thought, stepping into the elevator and punching the button. Now if she could just find the cash to afford it.

      Her gaze on Lucas, Angela watched as the other woman moved closer and touched him freely enough that Angela had no doubt the two had been intimate with each other. It didn’t matter that Lucas barely acknowledged his latest conquest. Jealousy speared through Angela like a serpent, startling her. And as the elevator doors closed, she sagged against the wall, wondering when her feelings had taken on such power, and the danger of it to her longtime friendship with Lucas.

      A couple of days later, Angela avoided thinking about her risky spurt of jealousy and talked herself into going out on a date to get some distance. She was tightening her earring when the doorbell rang. She flung the door open, expecting her date. Yet she found Lucas in jeans and a T-shirt, holding a paper bag from a local fast-food chain.

      So much for emotional distance, she thought, smiling. “Hi, medicine man.”

      “Hey, yourself. Whoa,” Lucas said in a low growl as his gaze swept down her body, from the black silk sheath dress to the dark stockings and high heels. “You look hot enough to fry my eyeballs.”

      She smiled, putting on the second earring. His compliments had always been good for her ego. “Thanks, but your timing is lousy.” She nodded to the bag.

      “Hey, no sweat, I just took a chance and lost. So, who’s the lucky guy tonight?” He stepped inside and closed the door.

      “Randy Costa.”

      Luc groaned, leaving the bag on the table by the door. “Good Lord, Ange.” Randy had a reputation of sweeping women off their feet and right into his bed. “Why him?”

      She paused and looked at him. Luc was so clueless sometimes. “Let me see, he’s wealthy, handsome as the day is long, has a good job. He’s polite. And…” She gave him a dramatic gasp and a surprised look. “Oh, gee! He asked me.” Although she had planned on the artificial means of having a family, she wasn’t beyond hoping that Mr. Right was out there somewhere and one more date might reveal him. She’d much rather meet him, fall in love and get pregnant the old-fashioned way instead of in a sterile clinic, alone.

      Lucas smirked, leaning on the banister. “And you’re running late, again.”

      “It’s a consistency thing I’m working for,” she said as she rushed up the staircase. Lucas watched her go and glimpsed the lacy tops of her black stockings beneath her short silk dress. The sight shot a hard bolt of desire right through him. The shock of it made him straighten and frown.

      Okay, that was new.

      Angela Justice was his best friend, his pal. For nearly fifteen years, for the love of Mike. None of his friendships with men, his softball team buddies, his old college roommates or the doctors at the hospital compared to the long-lasting relationship he had with Angela. She was the only person who’d reached out to him when he was a scared and lonely kid dumped in the local orphanage. And she was the only person who continued to be his friend when he’d scared everyone else off. Even the guys.

      Oh, he’d always been attracted to Angela. A man would have to be blind not to see how beautiful she was, but he’d never stepped over the line. Never once made a pass at her. Not that he hadn’t wanted to when he was young and his testosterone levels were somewhere on Mars. But he was an adult, in control, and he didn’t want to ruin the friendship that had taken him through the worst and best times of his life. He tried putting the instance out of his mind, attributing it to a hard day at work.

      Yet when she came back downstairs, her hair perfect, a beaded clutch in her hand along with her shawl, his gaze dropped to her legs misted in black. “You still have the most incredible pair of stems in the county, Ange.”

      She froze on the last step, a bit shocked by the sultry way he said that. Don’t look for what isn’t there, she reminded herself. “Why, thank you, darlin’,” she murmured a little breathlessly, then went to the hall mirror and plucked at her short red hair.

      Luc remembered when it had reached past her waist and it drew the attention of half of their high school football team. Of course, those legs in a short cheerleading skirt might have had something to do with it, too, and he wondered when watching a woman primp got to be so darned entertaining. Then his stomach did a quick jump as she bent and ran her hands up her stockinged legs from ankle to thigh in a motion so innocently seductive he wanted to peel those suckers off just as slowly.

      Lucas smothered a groan and wondered what had gotten into him tonight.

      “So, is this a passable outfit?”

      She did a turn in front of him, and Luc felt his blood pressure rise. “Hell, yes.” But she didn’t look like his buddy anymore, he thought, frowning more to himself than her choice of clothes. “Where are you going?”

      “The Theater on the Green.”

      Wonderful, he thought. In the dark, hidden by trees, Randy would have a good old time with her. “Be careful.”

      Angela frowned. “This is not my first date with Randy, and if you hadn’t been so busy, you would have known that.”

      “I know, I know. Sorry. At least you can deck him if he gets fresh.”

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