Harlequin Special Edition November 2014 - Box Set 2 of 2: The Maverick's Thanksgiving Baby\A Celebration Christmas\Dr. Daddy's Perfect Christmas (52 page)

He stepped up to her and raised his hand. She stiffened. Not from fear, but because he was drawing a single fingertip slowly down her cheek and she felt a corresponding line of heat work down her spine. He was a truly impossible man, but for some unfathomable reason, he charged her batteries in a way nobody else had ever done.

And the faint half smile on his face warned her that he knew exactly the reaction he elicited.

Dammit.

“Mebbe you figure you don't need to order up a dose of
love
with this prospective husband of yours, but you didn't say anything about chemistry either.” He waited a knowing beat. “Don't pretend you don't want passion. I know otherwise.”

She wanted to move back from him in the worst way, but she knew that was what he was expecting, so she held her ground. “Passion is overrated,” she said.

His eyes took on an unholy glint. “It gets a couple into the bedroom, sport. I've always heard that making babies is a lot more fun when it's done the old-fashioned way. Or were you thinking you'd be able to get yourself in the family way while keeping your convenient husband at arm's length?”

“Medical science is a wonderful thing.” She savored the satisfaction of actually igniting some surprise in his silvery gaze. “But no. I want a husband. I want to make a baby—or babies—with him.” Though she hadn't expected it, over the past several months she'd come to realize she wanted the same thing her little sister had. She wanted to be more than a business owner. She wanted a real home. A real family. “I expect to get pregnant in the usual manner.”

His lips twisted again. He was probably thinking she was nuts. She knew he wasn't jealous. He didn't care about her that way. He cared that she gave as good as she got when their clothes started hitting the floor.

Chemistry. She and Casey Clay had it in spades.

But that was all they had.

There was no future. He'd made that abundantly clear from the very start. She might have had a change of mind along the way, but she wasn't foolish enough to believe that he had.

Or that he ever would.

“Borrow your sister's baby for a week,” he advised. “The allure might wear off after 24/7 of diapers and bottles and crying.” He tugged the garish shirt over his wide shoulders. “Hell. Get a puppy. Angeline's gonna have a whole new litter of 'em in a month or so that'll be needing homes. I'll hook you up with one.”

She just eyed him. Angeline, she knew, was his sister who lived with her husband and family over in Sheridan. They'd met once in passing some time ago. In passing because family get-togethers weren't part of Casey and Jane's deal. He didn't invite her to any—even though, with the Clay family, who had fingers in nearly every pie in town, there seemed to be many.

And if he had invited her, she'd have told him he was out of his tree anyway. They weren't dating. They were just sleeping together. Nothing more.

“This isn't like deciding I want a new pair of shoes. Or a new dog. I've never even had a dog.”

He gave her a vaguely shocked look and she wished she'd kept that tidbit to herself.

“I want a husband,” she added quickly. “A family of my own. I want it when I wake up and when I go to sleep and I'm too old now not to do something about it!”

Something came and went in his eyes as he put on his worn tennis shoes. He didn't even bother tying the laces. “If you're bound and determined, I could probably set you up with a couple candidates.”

She nearly choked. “I don't need your help finding a husband.”

He shrugged. “Suit yourself, sport.” Then his head swooped and his mouth caught hers in a fast, thorough kiss that left her knees weak and her insides hot. When he lifted his head again, she was certain there was amusement lurking at the corners of his lips. “Just let me know if you change your mind.”

About
what
? Ending things with him? Allowing him to set her up with someone else?

“I won't change my mind,” she said stiffly. Removing him from the equation would best be accomplished cold turkey. Like a swift yank that removed an adhesive bandage. “So the next time you're looking for a bedmate, you'll have to look elsewhere.” The fact that he wouldn't have to look hard wasn't lost on her. Despite his unfathomable dedication to the ugly shirts of the world, Casey Clay was stupefyingly gorgeous. Intelligent and humorous despite his secretive nature. In her very own bar, Jane had witnessed countless women throwing themselves at him.

She had never been one of them. Their relationship, their sexship, hadn't been planned. It had been more like a head-on collision neither one of them had predicted.

“It won't be the same.” His lips crooked. “Nobody gives good...bickering...like you.”

She pressed her lips together, not wanting to be amused, particularly now, and headed downstairs to the back door. He never parked in front on the street, where his truck might be noticed. She yanked open the door. It was almost midnight and outside, everything was quiet and still. “I'd like to say it's been a pleasure—”

“It's been more than that,” he drawled as he stepped past her. “Since passion isn't factored in this plan of yours, you'll probably want to remember what it feels like when you're working your way through your matrimonial prospects. But if you find yourself in need of a reminder, you know where to find me.”

“Working at Cee-Vid,” she said smoothly. “Because nothing's more important than keeping those video games coming.” Then, before she changed her mind, she pushed the door closed behind him.

If she'd wanted confirmation that Casey would never be interested in redefining their friends-with-benefits relationship, she'd certainly gotten it.

She just wished that it didn't hurt quite so much.

Copyright © 2014 by Allison Lee Johnson

ISBN-13: 9781460341926

Dr. Daddy's Perfect Christmas

Copyright © 2014 by Jules Bennett

All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical,
now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.

www.Harlequin.com