At Her Service: His Baby! / Major Attraction

One corner of his mouth lifted into a quirk of a smile. “Nothing but the best from me.”

It figured that with a perfectly good bedroom just steps away, she and Jeff would end up on the plushly carpeted floor. It had always been like that between them. From the moment they’d met.

Well, she corrected silently, from the moment she’d regained consciousness to discover this gorgeous Marine giving her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. She hardly recalled getting hit in the head by a stray surfboard. She certainly didn’t remember sinking beneath the waves and swallowing half the ocean. But everything else about that day was etched in living, brilliant color in her memory.

Stretched out on the sand, someone’s mouth on hers. She coughed, opened her eyes and looked up into a pair of blue eyes so pale, so clear it was as if she could see right through them into the hunk’s soul. Then, as coughing spasms wracked her, he held on to her, soothing, stroking, gently whispering words of encouragement that reached into her heart and eased away the fear.

He’d saved her life, everyone said. She heard the smattering of applause from their bathing-suit-clad audience. But all she focused on was him. There was something between them, even then. And when he took her to lunch and then dinner, that something grew, blossoming out of nothingness to envelop them both in a wild, rare burst of passion and need that Kelly had never known before.

And for two weeks, they’d reveled in it and each other. It was as if they’d known each other before. Some other time, some other place. Not that she believed in that sort of past-life thing. But what other explanation was there for the connection that only strengthened with each passing day?

The sex had been incredible, but safe. They’d both been careful. And yet … as the saying went, “Life found a way.” He hadn’t been gone more than two weeks when Kelly discovered she was pregnant. In a weird sort of way, she hadn’t even been surprised. It was as if what they’d experienced, what they’d found together was just too big to be contained.

“Kelly,” he said, bringing her wandering thoughts back to the present, “we still have to talk.”

“I know,” she said, skimming her hand down across his chest and back up again.

He sucked in a gulp of air and captured her hand, holding it tightly. “Keep doing that and we won’t get much talking done.”

Truth be told, she’d just as soon put off the talking. There was bound to be another argument. Because no matter what he said, she didn’t want to get married. Marriage had never been in her plans. Of course, growing up with four bossy older brothers probably had a lot to do with that. Still, it was probably best to get this settled between them.

“Okay,” she said, surrendering to the inevitable. Pushing up into a sitting position, she looked down at him and said, “Let’s talk.”

His gaze swept over her body, lingering on her breasts for a moment, before he sighed and raised up on both elbows. “You don’t make it easy on a man, do you?”

“Dressed or undressed, there’s nothing about this that’s going to be easy, Jeff.” “It could be.”

“If I do what you want.” Typical, she thought. Hadn’t she been dealing with four males all of her life? She’d learned early that if you wanted to have smooth sailing, all you had to do was agree with them. But smooth sailing wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. She’d just as soon have waves as surrender her own opinions.

And heaven knows, she was plenty used to going up against a hardheaded male.

“It’s not just what I want,” Jeff said, meeting her gaze squarely. “It’s what’s best for Emily.”

“Really?” A brief, red-hot spurt of anger shot through her, chasing away any lingering warm fuzzies she might have been feeling. She pushed her hair back from her face and glared at him. “You’ve known your daughter for about five hours and you already know what’s best for her?” “I didn’t say that, exactly.” “Yes, you did.” “No, I didn’t.”

“And how do you come by this spectacular piece of insight?” she went on, warming to the attack. “By benefit of your far superior male brain?”

“Come on, Kelly,” he said, eyes narrowing. “No, really,” she said, and stood up, preferring to be on her feet for the argument that was headed her way at a fast clip. “That’s what you meant.” “Damn it, I did not.”

“Don’t curse at me,” she warned him. “And yeah, you did.”

“So now you know what I mean even when I don’t?”

She wagged one finger at him and shook her head, sending those curls of hers into a wild dance around her face. “You don’t think I know what you mean, but I do and I think you know I know.”

“Huh?” Jeff’s features twisted as he tried to follow that little piece of logic. But Kelly wasn’t listening. She was already on a tear. Damn, this evening had gone to hell in a hurry.

First the gift of her appearing at his door when he most needed her. Then a mind-numbing reunion. Now this. For pete’s sake, what did he do that was so damn terrible? Was a proposal from him so repellent?

“Don’t you play all innocent with me, Jeff Hunter,” she was saying as she marched—buck naked—back and forth in front of him.

Boy, it didn’t do much for a man’s concentration. How in the hell was he supposed to focus on an argument when he was watching those breasts of hers? Not to mention that finely curved behind?

Then she started talking again and spoiled the moment completely.

“You want us to get married because you have some old-world notion that it’s the honorable thing to do.”

“Well, it is,” he countered, silently objecting to the term old world. Hell, was it that out of date to be a decent guy? To stand up and take responsibility for your actions?

Standing up, he faced her on his own two feet. Folding his arms across his chest, he kept his gaze fixed on her while she continued to pace.

“Fine,” she said. “You did the honorable thing. You offered. But I don’t want to get married.” “Why the hell not?” That stopped her cold.

She planted both hands at her bare hips and tapped the toes of one foot soundlessly against the carpet. “Are you serious? For one thing, we hardly know each other!”

Eyebrows arched, he glanced at the floor, then back to her. “I think we know each other pretty damn well.”

“That’s sex, Jeff.”

“Yeah, I know what it is.” And if he was any judge, they were damn good at it.

“Good sex really isn’t considered a basis for a long-standing relationship.”

“God, I hate that word,” he muttered. “What word?”

“Relationship,” he snapped. “Everyone tosses that word around these days to cover everything from a parent and a child to married couples. Relationship problems. How to build a successful relationship.” He shook his head. “What we’re talking about here is getting married and providing our daughter with two parents.” “She has two parents.” “I mean two parents together.” “Oh, really?” she asked, tipping her head to one side and staring at him thoughtfully. “Together? So you’re saying if we got married, you’d leave the Corps. Leave Force Recon and be a regular nine-to-five husband and father?”

A cold chill crawled up his spine at the thought of spending the rest of his life tucked away behind a desk. He’d go out of his mind in nothing flat. He loved his job. Hell, he was good at it. And he wasn’t at all sure he could give it up. Not even for Kelly.

And what did that make him? “Uh-huh,” she said, obviously reading his thoughts by the expression on his face. “I thought not. So what is this ‘together’ stuff?”

He scrubbed one hand across his face. “By together, I mean married. A couple. A family. With one name. A mom and a dad and a kid.”

She sighed and shoved both hands through her hair, sculpting it back from her face, giving him a clear look at her high cheekbones, wide green eyes and lush mouth. Something inside him tightened. God, she was gorgeous. And Jeff wanted her again with a fierceness that shook him to his bones.

Her hands dropped to her sides, and she looked at him as if willing him to understand. Which he didn’t.

“Jeff,” she said in a weary voice, “I don’t want a husband. Any husband.”

Well, he thought, at least it wasn’t just him she was refusing. It wasn’t personal. This was something that went deeper for her. He didn’t know if that was a good thing or not, either. On the one hand, if it wasn’t him she had a problem with, he still had a chance to convince her. But if she simply had a problem with marriage, it was going to be hard to get past that.

And it wasn’t as if this was easy for him, either. Hell, if there was one thing in life he’d never been interested in, it was marriage. He just wasn’t the kind of man women looked at and thought, Ah, husband material.

He was more the type for one-night stands and the occasional spectacular weekend. Until Kelly, that is. Ever since those two weeks with her, Jeff had been haunted by thoughts of what-if. It wasn’t just the fact of Emily’s presence that had him wondering about a life with Kelly. It was her and how she made him feel when he was with her. Emily had simply speeded up the process. Marriage itself was still a terrifying prospect. But he’d never be able to look in a mirror again if he didn’t do everything possible to get her to agree. A man wasn’t worth much if he didn’t stand up and take responsibility for his actions.

“Hell, Kelly,” he said, folding his arms across his chest and giving her a half smile, “I’m not just any husband.”

One corner of her mouth quirked as she shook her head. “Good one.”