Daddy's Double Due Date

“My child.” He gave her another nothing-will-get-in-my-way look. “We have a lot to discuss. I’ll grab take-out and be at your place tonight at seven.”

She raised her chin. “But—”

“Be there.”

“No, not my apartment. I’d rather meet somewhere public.”

“That’s why I came here today. I didn’t think you’d let me in if I just showed up at your apartment. Meeting in a public place is fine with me so long as you’re not concerned about being seen with me after hours?”

Ashley frowned. He had her, blast it, and from his sudden smile, he knew it. “All right. We’ll meet at my apartment,” she muttered between clenched teeth as her boss and his spit-shined client entered the room.

Exercising the rigid control he was known for, Hunter nodded, then moved to take a seat at the heavy mahogany table as if they had merely exchanged pleasantries. He accepted and glanced through a stack of papers, his hands steady, his thoughts seemingly focused, while Ashley fought sudden tears.

Leaving the room, she closed the door and leaned back. Her heart hammered. Her hands trembled as she pressed them against her stomach where her baby lay nestled, safe from harm. At least for now.

Yesterday after receiving confirmation of her pregnancy, she’d been the happiest woman in the world. Now that same world crumbled around her. All because a man with eyes that discerned far too much, thought his rights outweighed hers. How appropriate he was a lawyer. A prosecutor at that. What luck.

She remembered how it had felt to be lifted in his arms as if she weighed nothing, how he had held her close, made her think for a brief moment he might really care. Well, she wasn’t buying it and refused to be sweet-talked or intimidated. Not again. It would take more than some testosterone-ridden attorney with shoulders as wide as the Palo Duro Canyon to distract her.

Determined to put a stop to whatever Mr. Morgan planned, Ashley pushed away from the door and hurried to her office. She needed to confirm whether Hunter Morgan had in fact fathered her child, though it didn’t seem likely he would make such a claim if it wasn’t true. Still, her marriage to a lawyer had taught her anyone was capable of lying. Even a man sworn to uphold justice.

Ashley had once been incredibly naive. She hadn’t known any better than to believe in love, marriage and happily-ever-after. But that was then and this was now. She’d learned her lesson the hard way and had paid a high price for her gullibility. Never again would she trust a man or give one control over her life. Especially a lawyer.

And God help anyone, prosecutor or otherwise, who tried to take her child.

Chapter Two

“What was going on between you and Hunter Morgan?”

Ashley’s fingers tightened around the envelope she had sealed. She glanced up to find her boss leaning against her office door frame, his gaze watchful.

What she wouldn’t give to wring the neck of the man who had caused her current predicament—the assistant district attorney in question. Of course, she would have to get a stepladder to reach that high, but the very thought of doing just that helped her remain calm. She even managed an almost genuine smile. “Mr. Morgan mistakenly thought he might have left a file here last Friday when you two met to discuss the Smither’s case.”

Her boss scratched his chin, his expression skeptical. “Is that all? I could have sworn you two were arguing.”

“Arguing? Us? No. He mentioned that new restaurant over by the courthouse and asked if I could recommend something. Only he didn’t like my idea of soup and salad bar.” Ashley chastised herself for coming up with such a lame excuse. Every attorney and secretary within walking distance had already made the new café a lunchtime habit. She even went once a week. But she hadn’t seen the prosecutor there and could only hope the same held true for her boss.

Mr. Williams didn’t look as if he believed her, and Ashley decided she had better leave before he asked anything else. Not that she would be able to answer. The lie she’d just told stuck in her throat like a runaway peppermint lodged sideways, one more thing she blamed on Hunter Morgan.

Ashley pushed to her feet and retrieved her coat. “If you don’t need anything else, I’ll be going home,” she said, lifting her purse and making her way past her boss.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

She wanted nothing more than to run, but forced herself to turn back. “What’s that?”

He lifted a stack of envelopes from the corner of her desk and handed them to her. “The mail.”

“Oh. Thank you.” Sticking the outgoing mail under her arm, Ashley hurried down the hall and around the corner. She needed to get away before her remaining composure shattered.

Steps sounded behind her as she reached the front door. “Let me remind you of our confidentiality policy. Getting involved with Hunter Morgan or anyone from another law firm would be a breach of office policy and reason for immediate dismissal.”

Ashley drew a steadying breath and faced him. “You’ve got it all wrong. I’ve never seen Mr. Morgan outside this office.”

“Good. Let’s keep it that way.” With that Williams spun and marched toward his office.

When he rounded the corner and disappeared from sight, Ashley leaned against the door for support. As much as she hated facing Hunter Morgan, it couldn’t be put off. Another unexpected visit like today’s and she might lose her job.

Already two hours late for their meeting, Ashley hurried outside into the drizzling rain. Enclosed in darkness, she skirted the deepest puddles as she crossed the parking lot where a lone streetlight cast enough glow for her to unlock her compact car. Hunter Morgan had probably given up hours earlier. But this couldn’t wait. If she could find his home number in the phone book, she would call him and put an end to any notions he had of being a father to her child.

Pulling from the lot, she couldn’t help but wonder about his plans. Not that she wanted any part of them…or him for that matter. Been there. Done that. After six years of marriage during which she’d been unable to conceive, including one in vitro attempt, her husband had divorced her for the secretary he’d gotten pregnant. This same man who’d sworn to uphold justice had used his connection with the judge to make sure Ashley left town with only a small settlement, custody of her frozen ovum, and not much of her heart or pride left intact.

Since moving to Hale, she’d found a job and wanted to make a new life for herself and maybe one day a child. Now, having been added to the firm’s health insurance, she had decided the time was right. Her eggs weren’t getting any younger, and neither was she. The first installment of the meager divorce settlement had been enough to have her eggs fertilized with donor sperm and implanted. Unless her financial status changed drastically, this could well be her last chance.

She cupped one palm over her infant, safe and sound inside her still-flat stomach. No one—neither man nor lawyer—would take advantage of her again. She had let it happen once.

Now a child was involved. An innocent baby. Her baby.

If Hunter Morgan wanted a fight, she would give him one.

“You’re two hours late,” Hunter snapped, cursing himself the minute he growled the accusation.

With a startled gasp, Ashley looked up. Her hand gripped the apartment railing as if to steady herself. She frowned, then continued climbing the few remaining steps to the second floor landing.

“Good to see you, too,” she said, moving toward her door. “Sorry I’m late. Mr. Williams didn’t mention until after five o’clock that he needed me to stay to get something out. I tried calling your office as soon as I knew, but no one answered.”

Hunter wasn’t sure he believed her. She’d made it perfectly clear she didn’t want to be around him. Not that he could blame her. At their meeting this afternoon he had all but threatened her, treated her as if she were no better than the accused felons he dealt with. Afterward, he had felt lower than a snake and had promised himself he would remember she was a woman—a pregnant woman. A pregnant woman carrying his child. That meant he had to get a firm hold on his temper and treat her like a lady. If their exchange thus far was any indication, he had forgotten how to do both.

Pushing off the steps where he had waited the past two hours, Hunter held out a sack containing two cold cheese-burgers and fries. “I came on kind of strong this afternoon and brought a peace offering,” he said, giving her what he hoped was a sincere smile. It had been so long since he’d had a reason to grin, the movement seemed rusty, forced, and totally wrong. It probably looked as dumb as it felt.

She walked toward her apartment and revealed her surprise at his token apology only in the slight widening of her brown eyes lined with dark smudges of fatigue.

Knowing what he had to do didn’t make him feel any better. Going up against a criminal represented by legal counsel was something Hunter did every day, something at which he excelled, something he loved. But taking on a slip of a woman didn’t sit well with him. And something about this particular woman bothered him more than it should. It had to be her innocent vulnerability. Or maybe the way she had placed her hand over her stomach as if to protect his child…from him.

Her attempt to keep him from his child—same as his father had done fifteen years ago by forcing him to sign relinquishment papers—had frustrated him. But her gesture to safeguard their baby had also endeared her to him, making him question whether suing for custody was really best.

“Have you eaten?” he asked.

She shook her head, wariness clearly visible in the way her hand trembled as she tried to put her key in the lock. “No, I came straight from work.”

“I know it’s late, but I’d like to resolve this tonight.”

After her two unsuccessful attempts to open the door, Hunter reached over her shoulder. Her cold fingers convulsed beneath his, but she finally surrendered her keys.

Hunter unlocked and opened the door, already worrying about how she would respond to his demands. He didn’t want to upset her but couldn’t stand the pain of losing another child.

The chronic self-doubts that had plagued him since meeting Ashley earlier that day made no more sense than the other things he had observed about her. Things he had no business noticing. She wasn’t a criminal, and he wasn’t acting in an official capacity. She was only a woman who had become a victim of circumstance. And he was only a man. Maybe that was the problem. When had he last been Hunter Morgan, the man and not the assistant district attorney? When had he last been with a woman who smelled so good, someone who made him realize how long it had been? Obviously, too damned long.

Ashley stepped inside and flipped on the light. “Come in.”