To Keep Her Baby. Melissa Senate

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СКАЧАТЬ Ginger should explore all options before deciding on a look,” he pointed out.

      “Yeah, she should,” Ginger added, seeming very relieved as she dashed back into the dressing room. She popped her head back out. “And I’m only twenty-four,” she said before darting back in.

      Twenty-four. She was so young. With so much on her plate.

      He thought back to when he was twenty-one and got the news that his father and stepmother had died in the car accident. Having to tell his siblings. Moving into the big house on Sycamore Street, his life’s plans changed in an instant from going for his MBA to being a father figure to five grieving thirteen-year-olds. He knew about having a lot on the plate. And his heart went out to her. James hadn’t been alone in the world like she was. He had Larilla and his siblings, even if most of the time the Gallagher Five had driven him batty.

      He wouldn’t have survived any of it without Larilla’s guidance and babysitting help. She’d been his mother’s best friend and couldn’t stand his father, who’d been something of a playboy until he’d fallen hard for Kerry, and the quints had come along. But when his siblings had been orphaned, Larilla had always treated them with the utmost kindness and generosity.

      At least Ginger had Larilla in her corner for the next three weeks. Everyone needs a Larilla.

      Ginger came out of the dressing room in her regular clothes but she looked half-dressed, and it took him a moment to realize why. The lack of makeup. With her hair pulled back, it was very clear how naturally pretty she was.

      “I feel so naked,” she said, popping a fresh stick of gum in her mouth.

      “Don’t you always?” he asked, eyeing her skimpy outfit as he escorted her to the door.

      She gave him a playful shove. “I meant because I’m not wearing any makeup. I love makeup. Have I ever left my house without my red lipstick on? I honestly don’t think so. Even to run out for an iced coffee.”

      “A red lip for daytime is a bit much,” the brunette opined as James pulled open the door.

      Ginger turned to her. “Honestly, miss, you’re a bit much.”

      The saleswoman threw her a “how dare you” look and turned on her heel, and they left the store.

      “Gonna rat me out to Madame Davenport for being rude?” Ginger asked as they headed back toward the school.

      James smiled. “Is it rude to put a rude person in her place?”

      “I knew I liked you,” she said, beaming at him. She linked her arm around his, and he stiffened.

      She dropped her own arm. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to get too friendly. Not proper,” she added in an upper-crust accent.

      “You just startled me,” he explained. “Let’s just say a woman hasn’t taken my arm in over a year. I’m taking a much-needed break from relationships.”

      “Got your heart busted?” she asked.

      “Heart, pride, my trust—all of it. I’m sure you’ve been there.”

      “Actually,” she said, “I’ve never been in love. I’ve liked, I’ve seriously lusted, but loved? To the point my heart broke? Nope.”

      He stared at her. “You’re lucky.”

      “Lucky? I used to think something was wrong with me for not getting what all those sad songs on the radio were about. Then again, it’s not like I’d really meet the man of my dreams in Busty’s.”

      “Busty’s?” he repeated.

      “The exotic dance saloon I used to waitress in. That’s where I met Alden, my baby’s father. I liked him and was attracted to him, but I certainly wasn’t in love.”

      “You clearly have a hell of a lot better radar for jerks than I do,” he said. “I walked right into a trap.” For a moment he wondered how they’d gotten on this subject, why in the world he was talking about his past with this woman. Ginger was practically a stranger. But for an almost stranger, she was so easy to talk to.

      “Well, Alden wasn’t looking to trap me. Just get into my pants. I should have seen that coming a mile away. Big dope,” she added, conking herself on the forehead with her palm.

      “I still call dibs on worse romantic past.”

      She laughed, and then her smile faded. “Well, I’d still like to know what it’s like to feel so much for someone your heart could burst with it—in a good way or a bad way. You know?”

      He glanced at her. “I guess. Once burned, twice shy is my new motto.”

      “I don’t know, cowboy. You can’t resist the siren call of attraction.”

      He pictured himself on a horse, wearing a Stetson. Riding off into the sunset alone. “Oh trust me, I most definitely will.”

      He was about to change the subject to something a lot less personal when he noticed that the guy walking down the sidewalk toward them was about to smash into a fire hydrant because his eyes were on Ginger’s chest and not where he was going. “Hot, hot, hot,” the idiot said before he crashed. “Ow!” he yelped.

      “I get that a lot,” she said. “Especially at the beach. Lots of guys trip on their leering faces.”

      He could only imagine how itty-bitty Ginger’s bikini would be. And made out of string, most likely.

      “There’s Jazzy’s,” he said, pointing across the street, grateful for the image change in his mind of Ginger in that string bikini. “I think this shop will be more your speed but still accomplish what you want.”

      “Perf,” she said as they headed over.

      This store had a completely different vibe. The clothes were less classic, more contemporary. And the employees were a lot friendlier. Fifteen minutes later, Ginger’s arms were loaded with items to try on. James waited on the love seat in the dressing area, flipping through a People magazine.

      “Ooh, me likey!” he heard from the vicinity of her room.

      He smiled. Had he ever met anyone who said me likey? He didn’t think so.

      Ginger burst out of the room, all smiles, and he put the magazine back on the side table. “How much do I love this jacket? This much!” she said, spreading her arms wide.

      He had to admit, she looked amazing. The blazer was a pale pink, and there was something slightly iridescent about it. It nipped in at her waist and fitted her perfectly. Under it she wore a white shirt with a band of silky ruffles down the V-neck, no cleavage in sight. A pair of skinny jeans that molded to her “slammin’ bod” but weren’t too tight, and flat silver sandals finished the outfit.

      “You look great!” he said. “Wow.”

      “Right?” she asked, beaming, turning this way and that in the three-way mirror in the dressing area. “But do I look like a mom? I kind of feel like I just look...nice.”

      “Nice СКАЧАТЬ