Table of Contents

Cover Page

Excerpt

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Copyright

“Katie, Darling;”

Sean said, his voice sharp despite the endearment. “Stop tossing that word friend at me.”

“But we are friends, we.”

“Katie,” he warned. “Stop it, or—”

Her eyes went all dark and liquid. “Or what?” she asked in a voice that had gone as smoky as her eyes.

“Or I haul you into my lap and kiss you until I knock the socks off both of us.”

“But we’re supposed to be friends.”

“Is friendship enough for you?” he asked.

Because right now friendship didn’t seem nearly enough for him. Not when she was looking at him as though he was her fantasy come to life, the knight to slay her dragons. Not when he wanted to be the man to make her believe in fairy tales and magic again.…

Dear Reader,

Welcome to Silhouette Desire—where you’re guaranteed powerful, passionate and provocative love stories that feature rugged heroes and spirited heroines who experience the full emotional intensity of falling in love!

Wonderful and ever-popular Annette Broadrick brings us September’s MAN OF THE MONTH with Lean, Mean & Lonesome. Watch as a tough loner returns home to face the woman he walked away from but never forgot.

Our exciting continuity series TEXAS CATTLEMAN’S CLUB continues with Cinderella’s Tycoon by Caroline Cross. Charismatic CEO Sterling Churchill marries a shy librarian pregnant with his sperm-bank baby-and finds love.

Proposition: Marriage is what rising star Eileen Wilks offers when the girl-next-door comes alive in the arms of an alpha hero. Beloved romance author Fayrene Preston makes her Desire debut with The Barons of Texas: Tess, featuring a beautiful heiress who falls in love with a sexy stranger. The popular theme BACHELORS & BABIES returns to Desire with Metsy Hingle’s Dad in Demand. And Barbara McCauley’s miniseries SECRETS! continues with the dramatic story of a mysterious millionaire in Killian’s Passion.

So make a commitment to sensual love-treat yourself to all six September love stories from Silhouette Desire!

Enjoy!

Joan Marlow Golan

Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

Please address questions and book requests to:

Silhouette Reader Service

U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269

Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

Dad In Demand
Metsy Hingle

www.millsandboon.co.uk

METSY HINGLE

is a native of New Orleans who loves the city in which she grew up. She credits the charm of her birthplace, and her own French heritage, with instilling in her the desire to write. Married and the mother of four children, she believes in romance and happy endings. Becoming a Silhouette author is a long-cherished dream come true for Metsy, and one happy ending that she continues to celebrate with each new story she writes. She loves hearing from readers. Write to Metsy at P.O. Box 3224, Covington, LA 70433.

For Rita and James Hingle. Mom and Dad.

With love and thanks for their extraordinary son

and for the gift of their love.

Happy 60th Anniversary!

One

“I’m going to have a baby.”

Sean Fitzpatrick’s size-thirteen foot slipped off the desk, and he grabbed the arms of his chair to keep from sprawling onto the floor. Stunned, he stared at Katie Malloy—the woman who had been his buddy and his best pal for more years than he cared to count. “You’re what?”

“I’m going to have a baby,” she repeated calmly, looking just as innocent now as she had nearly twenty years ago-right before she’d fired that first snowball across the backyard fence and hit him between the shoulders.

She was yanking his chain. Had to be, Sean decided, and reached for his coffee. “Quit joking around, Malloy. I’m not buying it. You might want to try selling that line to Michael and Ryan,” he told her, referring to his brothers and partners in the detective agency. “They’re more gullible than me.”

“But I’m not joking. I am going to have a baby. And I want to hire you to help me find the father.”

Sean choked, sputtering coffee across the stack of files on his desk.

“Are you all right?” Katie asked, already around the desk and pounding his back.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay. Stuff just went down the wrong way. You can stop beating me to death now,” he muttered, feeling as though the air had been sucked right out of his lungs. He couldn’t believe it, didn’t want to believe it. Katie pregnant?

“You sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine,” he said, and waved her back to her seat. While he mopped up the mess, he glanced at her and recognized that I-am-woman-I-can-do-anything look in her eyes. A sure sign of nerves. Sheesh! Of course she’s nervous, Fitzpatrick. The poor kid’s probably scared to death. Anger shot through him like a bullet, and he decided murder was too good for the guy who’d left her in the lurch.

“So, will you help me?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll find him.” And when he did, he was going to take great pleasure in rearranging the jerk’s face.

“I knew I could count on you,” she said, giving him that million-dollar smile that always made him feel ten-feet tall.

“You’d better believe it.” After all, Katie was practically family, had been almost from the time she and her mother moved to Chicago and bought the house next door to his parents. Katie had been a fixture at the Fitzpatricks’ home from the moment she’d teamed up with his cousin Molly and pitted herself against the Fitzpatrick brothers. Except for a brief teenage crush he’d suspected she’d had on him, he and Katie had shared a friendship every bit as close and enduring as the one she shared with his cousin. Heck, they’d grown even closer since he’d moved into her apartment complex two years ago. He considered her his best friend.

And now Katie was pregnant. He could hardly believe it. The last he’d heard, she wasn’t even dating anyone seriously. Sean frowned. At least, she hadn’t been seeing anyone when he left town a month ago on that insurance fraud investigation. A lot could happen in a month, he reminded himself, as he glanced at her still-flat stomach. Obviously it had.

“You have no idea how relieved I am. I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about helping me.”

Sean snapped his gaze back to her face, stung that she’d doubted him. “You thought I wouldn’t help? That I’d turn my back on you when you needed me?”

A haunted look came into her eyes. Old hurts, he guessed, thinking of her father’s desertion, her stepfather leaving after the divorce, the turkeys who’d disappointed her, including the weasel who’d gotten her pregnant and then bailed. “You’re right. I never should have doubted you, Sean. I’m sorry.”

Feeling somewhat placated, his voice gentled as he said, “Just remember that I will always be here for you. All right?”

She nodded, then took a deep breath. “So, what kind of information do you need to get started?”

Sean paused a moment, searched for a way to delicately phrase the question he had to ask her. “I…um, before we get into that. Honey, are you sure about going through with this?”

“I’m positive. I’ve wanted a baby for ages.”

Her decision didn’t surprise him. Knowing Katie and how much she loved kids, he didn’t really think she would consider terminating the pregnancy. But he’d had to make sure she knew there were options. “All right.” Grabbing a pencil, he flipped to a clean sheet on his notepad. “The first thing I need is the name of the baby’s father.”

“Well, I’m not sure yet. I came up with five possibilities initially, but I’ve narrowed it down to three.”

The pencil in Sean’s fist snapped in two. He knew Katie could be reckless, even unpredictable, and he’d long suspected much of her bravado and bluff were her way of masking fear. But one thing Katie wasn’t, was stupid. Five lovers? Katie?

She began digging in the monster-size bag she called a purse and pulled out a sheet of paper. “Here, I’ve written their names down for you.”

Dumbfounded, Sean stared at the woman offering him a slip of paper with the names of her lovers. As a man, he truly enjoyed the opposite sex, and had yet to meet a woman who didn’t garner at least a second glance from him. Because they were friends, he’d made a point of not giving Katie a second or even a third look. But he looked at Katie now-not as her friend, but as a man. She wasn’t beautiful, not even pretty or cute. But pretty or not, a man couldn’t help but notice those wide, whisky-colored eyes or think about removing the pins from those wild, notquite-red, not-quite-brown curls she wore piled up on her head. Noting his own flexed fingers, Sean curled them into fists.

Katie rattled off something about lists and candidates, and he shifted his gaze to her mouth—proud and sassy, just like her. He felt a tug, low in his body, and acknowledged that this wasn’t the first time he’d wondered about that mouth.

He skimmed his gaze down her body, noted the way her small breasts filled out the skinny white top, the way her narrow hips flared beneath the floral skirt. She was built on the thin side for his tastes, Sean admitted.

But damn if the woman didn’t have showstopper legs. Those legs alone could be a source of real trouble for a man.

“So, I put together this list of possibilities.”

She crossed those fantasy legs, and black lace winked at him. And Sean nearly swallowed his tongue. Trying to blot out the image of that black lace and the unholy thoughts it incited, he squeezed his eyes shut. Big mistake, he realized, because suddenly he had no trouble at all picturing Katie in bed-wearing nothing but that sin-black lace. Steamy sex and innocence, he decided, envisioning those long, slim legs of hers wrapped around his waist as she took him inside her.

“Sean? Are you okay?”

He slammed the brakes on his dangerous thoughts and snapped open his eyes. “I’m fine,” he said, his voice gruff.

Get a grip, Fitzpatrick. This is Katie, remember? Katie—your buddy, your pal, practically your sister. She’s the same pest who wore braces and pigtails, who annoyed the heck out of you as a kid. She’s the brat who kept beaning you with snowballs until you pinned her down and kissed her because your mother said a guy couldn’t hit a girl.

Only she wasn’t his sister, and he had definitely not been thinking of her as his pal. Somewhere along the way, little Katie Malloy had traded in her braces and pigtails for the face of a temptress and a body designed to make a man sweat.

And he was sweating, Sean admitted, aware that his jeans had grown painfully snug. Annoyed with himself and with her for being the source of his discomfort, he scowled. “So, which one of the guys do you think is the father?”

Katie flicked her tongue across her bottom lip, a nervous habit he’d seen her employ a zillion times. Only this time the innocent gesture had him squirming in his seat. “I haven’t made up my mind yet. That’s why I’m here. I need your help so I can decide which one will make the best father.”

Sean’s jaw dropped. He snapped his mouth shut and gave himself a mental shake. “Back up a minute. Are you, or are you not pregnant?”

Katie blinked. “Well, of course I’m not pregnant. At least not yet. That’s why I’m here. I need your help.”

“What?”

“You thought—Oh!” Suddenly she started laughing.

“This isn’t funny, Malloy,” he told her. He loved women, Katie included, but no way was he going to get himself tied down with one. At least, not yet. Maybe never, he amended.

“Sorry,” she said, not looking the least bit repentant. “It’s just that your face.” Another set of giggles sneaked out.

“Katie,” he warned.

“Oh, for Pete’s sake, Fitzpatrick, relax. I didn’t mean you literally. I meant that once you’ve checked out my daddy candidates, I’ll be able to make an intelligent decision about which one to ask to father my baby.”

Sean swore. “Of all the dumb, idiotic-” Biting off the rest, he stomped over to her, gripped the arms of her chair instead of her throat. He shoved himself in her face. Through gritted teeth he asked, “And just what am I supposed to do? Act as your clearing house for sperm donors?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said, meeting his angry glare. “If all I wanted was a sperm donor, I would have gone to a sperm bank-not a detective agency. I intend to choose the man who’s going to father my baby, not leave the decision up to chance.”

Sean swore again, then whirled away so he wouldn’t shake her as he wanted to do. Frustrated he prowled through his desk in search of his emergency stash of M&M’s. He scooped up a fistful, and automatically held out his palm for Katie to fish out the yellow ones. After she had done so, he popped the rest of them into his mouth. “Not that I’m agreeing to anything, but just what is it you expect me to do?”

“Check out the candidates on my list.” She waved the ivory sheet of paper in her hand. “You know, do a background check, sort of like the ones a company does when they’re considering a potential employee.”

Sean snorted. “Sweetheart, you’ve been sniffing way too many fingerpaints at that nursery school where you work.”

Practically vibrating with indignity, she planted her hands on her hips and met his mocking gaze. “I’m serious, Sean. I want to hire you to investigate my daddy candidates.”

“I’ve got a better idea. Save your money, and just have the poor saps fill out an application.”

“I can do without your sarcasm.”

“Better yet, try getting married first. You remember what marriage is, don’t you? It’s that old-fashioned thing that most people do before they decide to have a baby?”

Katie’s cheeks flushed. Temper flashed in her eyes, making them glow like amber. “This is the nineties, Fitzpatrick. A woman doesn’t have to get married anymore just to have a baby.”

“Yeah? Well, maybe they should.”

“It’s not your decision. It’s mine. And I’ve decided I want to have a baby.” She held up her hand before he could object. “This is important to me, Sean. Really important. The most important thing I’ve ever done or probably will ever do in my life. I don’t want to mess up and choose the wrong man. That means I need to learn as much as I can before I make a decision.”

“Fine,” he told her, his own temper fraying. “Then have a D&B report run on the guys on your list. You’ll get all the financial history you need.”

Katie’s lips thinned. “Who gives a flying fig about bank balances? I’m interested in finding out what’s inside here.” She poked her thumb at her heart. “We both know I don’t have the best track record when it comes to men,” she said, referring to her two broken engagements.

“So you had a couple of narrow escapes. You were too good for those clowns, anyway.”

“Maybe. But I need to be sure the man I choose is someone who’s going to stick around and be a loving and supportive parent.”

Sean heard the echo of the lonely little girl she had been, the one who had been so hungry for a father’s love and affection. It tore at him as nothing else she said could. It also made him want to spend ten minutes alone in a back alley with her father, her stepfather and every man who had ever let Katie down. Still, this idea of hers was crazy. He couldn’t let her do it. “Honey, the guys on that list could all be saints, and I’d still think you were making a mistake. Are you really willing to undergo artificial insemination and have some guy’s baby based on a PI report?”

“No, not exactly,” she said sheepishly.

“Well, I’m relieved to hear that. You had me worried for—”

“My insurance won’t cover artificial insemination. I’ll have to get pregnant the, um, normal way.”

“The normal way? You mean—” Sean swiped a hand down his face, tried to wipe out the sudden image of Katie in bed, her naked body tangled in satin sheets. Grateful for the shield the desk provided his lower body, he jerked his X-rated thoughts back to the problem. Clawing a hand through his hair, he muttered. “Of all the dumb, lamebrained—”

The intercom on his desk buzzed. “Heather Harrison is on line two for you,” his secretary told him. “She said it’s about dinner tonight.”

“Speaking of dumb—” Katie said.

“Tell her I’ll call her back.” He shot Katie a quelling glance and, using his most intimidating voice, he said, “I want you to forget about this crazy scheme of yours, Katie.”

“I will not.”

“I mean it,” he insisted.

“So do I. And given your narrow-minded attitude,” she said, her voice as stiff as her spine. “I can see I was right to scratch your name off my list.”

“My—You had my name on that list!” He wasn’t sure if he was angry or glad that she’d considered him.

“Obviously, I was desperate.”

The crack scraped at him, fueled his temper. “What were you going to do? Knock on my door, and ask me if I’d mind sleeping with you so you could get pregnant?”

She hiked up her chin. “As a matter of fact, yes.”

Don’t go there, man.

But it was too late. An image jumped to life in his mind’s eye—Katie lying beneath him, their bodies warm and damp from making love. The ache below his belt worsened. His sex strained against his jeans. Cursing the animal in him, Sean reminded himself that the woman he was lusting after was Katie—his friend.

“Don’t sweat it, Fitzpatrick. You’re off the hook. I’m not going to beg you to have sex with me,” she said, her voice as icy as a Minnesota winter. “Like I said, I was feeling desperate at the time. Obviously, coming here today and asking you to help me was another mistake.”

She jammed the list into her purse and spun around, but not before he caught the flash of pain in her eyes. “Katie, wait. I didn’t mean—”

The intercom buzzed again. “Get a move on, Sean,” his brother Michael ordered. “Adam Stevens is here.”

“I’ll be there in a minute.” He blocked Katie’s path. “If you’d just give me a second to explain…”

“No explanation is necessary. And I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to hire you. Now get out of my way.”

“No,” he countered, angry with himself for being careless. It cut at him something awful to know he’d hurt her.

“Fine. Don’t move. I will.” Stepping around him, she moved past him and reached for the door.

“Aw, hell.” Sean streaked in front of her, slapped the door shut and twisted the lock. Snagging her by the shoulders, he spun her around and pressed her spine against the door, trapping her between his outstretched arms. “You’re not going anywhere until we settle this.” He couldn’t let Katie walk out now. If she did, he had a sick feeling that things would never be the same between them again. He didn’t want to lose her.

“There’s nothing to settle.”

The doorknob twisted. “Sean!” Michael pounded on the door. “Get your sorry rear out here. Stevens is cooling his heels in the conference room waiting to discuss his building’s security.”

“I said I’d be there in a minute. Go ahead and start without me.” Ignoring his brother’s heated reply, Sean kept his eyes trained on Katie’s face. “Look at me.”

When she failed to respond, he captured her face between his palms and more gently he said, “Look at me, Katie. Please.”

She shifted her gaze to his. There was anger simmering in the gold-flecked eyes. Anger. Pride. Hurt. Hurt he was responsible for, Sean acknowledged. His chest tightened with guilt, with regret. “I’m sorry.”

“It doesn’t matter—”

“It matters to me. I’d sooner cut off my arm than hurt you.” And just as he’d done a hundred times before, he brushed his mouth against hers. It was meant to be a friendly kiss, a brotherly kiss between good pals. But heat licked through him like wildfire, setting his body and senses ablaze with desire. Awareness pulsed between them lightning quick. He watched her eyes soften, darken, and then he stopped thinking. He dipped his head again deepened the kiss. Her fingers curled into his shoulders as she parted her lips, and he dove in, wanting, needing to taste her. When her tongue found his, he groaned and pulled her closer.

A foot connected with the door, jolting them both. “Get your sorry butt out here now, Sean. Or I swear I’ll kick this door in and wring your fool neck.”

Sean lifted his head. His breath came in heavy rasps. So did hers. “I think he means it,” she whispered.

“Yeah. So do I,” he replied, and releasing her, he stepped back. Shock hit him first. Then panic streaked in. What in the devil was he doing? Coming on to Katie like this? Retrieving her purse where it had fallen to the floor, he eyed her warily. She looked dazed, nervous, arousedexactly the way he felt. “Are we all right?” he asked, handing her the purse.

“Sure,” she told him. But she looked ready to bolt. “You’d better go before Michael makes good on those threats. I’m sorry I bothered you.”

“Listen, about this baby business…”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll find somebody else to help me.”

Damn! “Katie, I don’t have time to argue now. Just promise me you won’t do anything until we can talk.”

“Really, Sean, I don’t think—”

Michael beat at the door again, issued another string of threats. “Tonight. Just hold off on doing anything until then. We’ll talk when I get home. I’ll even bring pizza.”

She hesitated.

“One with anchovies and a thick crust,” he bribed.

“Anchovies?”

“Anchovies,” he promised, no matter how much he detested the little suckers.

“All right.”

He flipped the lock on the door, and Michael stormed in, angry enough to chew nails. “Excuse me, Katie, while I rip my idiot brother’s head off.”

“Rip away,” she said. “I was just leaving.”

Michael snarled at him. “I ought to knock your block off.”

“Yeah? Well, stand in line,” Sean muttered, irritated with himself. He had a sinking feeling that kissing Katie had been a major mistake.

Kissing Sean had been a mistake, Katie told herself for the umpteenth time. Gathering the ends of her hair, she secured it atop her head with a clip, then reached for the makeup bag. She coated her lashes with mascara, slashed the passion-pink lipstick across her too-wide mouth. For good measure she fastened on the pink sparkly earrings her stepfather had given her the Christmas before he’d split. Stepping back, she surveyed the results in the mirror of the dressing table in her bedroom.

Ordinary. Run-of-the-mill. Nothing special.

The words all but shouted at her like accusations. She stared at her heart-shaped face. Not one single feature stood out. Nothing about her stood out—except maybe her height. She cast a critical eye over the white blouse and cutoffs and sighed. Narrow curves on a five-foot, nine-inch frame might be great for models, but she felt like a scrawny chicken in a world full of peacocks.

Was that why no one in her life ever stayed? Because she wasn’t pretty enough? Wasn’t special enough? Wasn’t lovable enough?

She thought of those petite blondes and redheads that breezed in and out of Sean’s life—and no doubt his bed—women like Heather Harrison with her big blue eyes, chic blond hairstyle and double-D cups. Women who were nothing like her.

Not that she wanted to be one of Sean’s women. Despite that ripple of sexual awareness that kept popping up between them, she’d decided long ago that Sean Fitzpatrick was out of her league. And while she’d made some real stinker decisions when it came to men, she wasn’t fool enough to risk the kind of heartache a man like Sean would offer. Still a girl couldn’t help but dream a little, and wonder how it would feel to be the one on the receiving end of that unholy grin or the wink of those deep blue eyes. It was easy to see why women fell for him. The man had enough charm and sex appeal to be declared a lethal weapon. If that kiss this afternoon was anything to go by, she was darn lucky she wasn’t his type.

Kate shivered as she thought about that kiss again, recalled the feel of his mouth on hers, hot and demanding, the heat of his arousal pressed against her belly. He’d kissed her as though he’d wanted to swallow her whole. And for a few insane seconds she’d wanted him to.

Of course, he’d regretted the kiss almost immediately. Opening her eyes, she smiled ruefully and turned away from the mirror to make her way to the living room. That was the trouble with knowing Sean so well, she mused. She’d sensed his panic at once. And he’d been so pitifully obvious in his attempt to put things back to normal between them. She’d almost laughed aloud. And probably would have if it hadn’t hurt quite so much.

Plumping up one of the big throw pillows on the couch, she hugged it to herself for a moment. No question about it, Katie girl, kissing Sean was definitely a mistake. And one she’d be wise not to repeat.

Sean was her best friend. And she’d sooner walk barefoot through broken glass than humiliate them both by reading anything into that kiss. No way did she want to jeopardize their friendship. It was too important to her. He was too important.

So tonight she would share his pizza, reassure him that one teensy kiss, no matter how steamy, didn’t mean a thing. Sean could go back to the Heather Harrison goddesses he preferred, and she…well, she’d deep-six all these yearnings that kiss had stirred inside her.

After flipping on a Leann Rimes CD, she set about lighting the candles scattered around the room. Her thoughts drifted back to her thirtieth birthday and her painful selfassessment. She’d finally faced the fact that she attracted men who were snakes—men who were incapable of making a commitment. A genetic flaw, no doubt, rooted in her foolish quest for a nonexistent Prince Charming. The admission had been brutal, but she’d done the smart thing—ditched her quest for a fairy-tale prince. No more searching and waiting for some white knight to fulfill her dreams. But the one thing she just hadn’t been able to let go of was her dream to have a baby.

Mercy, how she ached for a baby of her own to love. As long as she could remember, she’d looked forward to being a mother. It was the reason she’d gone into child care and worked at the nursery. She loved holding the little ones, loving them, caring for them, and she hated letting them go at the end of the day. She wanted a baby of her owna child to cradle in her arms, to laugh with and sing to, to give all the love bursting inside her. She’d be a good mother, she promised herself. Her baby would never doubt for an instant that she loved him or her. And despite what Sean thought, her plan made perfect sense. Too bad she couldn’t ask Sean to be the father. That would be perfect.

The sharp knock pulled Katie from her musings. Plastering a smile on her face, she opened the door. And as it always did when she was near Sean, her pulse picked up speed. He still wore the same faded jeans. The sleeves of his denim shirt had been rolled up to the elbows, displaying hard muscles bronzed by the sun. His black hair looked as though he’d rammed his fingers through it one time too many. But it was the turmoil in those blue eyes that made her heart kick. “Ah, the pizza man,” she said, striving to be light.

“I’m sorry about the kiss.”

So much for light, Katie thought with a sigh. “Okay,” she replied and peeked inside the box. “You really did get anchovies.” Taking the pizza from him, she started for the kitchen.

“I was out of line today, and I’m sorry,” he told her as he followed her into the kitchen.

“All right,” she acknowledged, as she set down the pizza, lifted the lid again and sniffed. “Hmm. This smells delicious, and I’m starved.” She opened a drawer and pulled out a handful of napkins. “You want to get the plates?”

“It was a mistake,” he told her, sounding anxious. He grabbed two plates from the cabinet, placed them on the white wooden table. “It never should have happened.”

“Whatever you say.” She poured a glass of milk for herself and grabbed a beer from the refrigerator for him. “You want a mug?”

He snatched the milk and beer from her hands and set them down with a clunk. “Damn it, Katie. Have you heard a word I’ve said?”

“Every single one,” she assured him. And each one had been a swipe to her heart. “You were out of line to kiss me. It was a mistake. It should never have happened, and you’re sorry. That about cover it?” She didn’t wait for him to answer. “Now, do you mind if we eat before the pizza gets cold?”

“Would you forget about the blasted pizza? I’m trying to apologize.”

Katie sighed. “All right, Sean. Go ahead. Apologize.”

“I’m sorry I took advantage of you today. I don’t know what got into me.what I was thinking, to make a pass at you the way I did.” Emotions swam in his eyes like a brewing storm. He jutted out his chin. “If you want to take a swing at me, go ahead. I deserve it.”

She couldn’t help herself. Katie laughed. The foolish man was really beating himself up over that kiss.

“I’m glad you find this amusing. I don’t make a habit of forcing myself on a woman, or…or of taking advantage of one when she’s vulnerable.”

“Is that what you think happened?” she asked, temper sparking, not only because he was apologizing for kissing her, but because he thought she was some twit. “You think I’m some weak, simpering female who couldn’t stop you from kissing me if I’d wanted to?”

“I think—”

“Well, think again, Fitzpatrick.” She poked him in the chest with her finger. “I am not one of your big-chested Cupie Dolls. You may have kissed me, but I kissed you back. You didn’t take anything from me that I didn’t want to give. Is that clear?”

“Crystal.”

“Good. Now can we eat before this pizza turns to ice?”

“By all means. Eat. Maybe food will improve that sweet disposition of yours. Anyone ever tell you, you’ve got a nasty temper, Malloy?”

“I believe you’ve mentioned it a time or two.” She brushed past him, flipped open the pizza box and dished out slices onto the plates. Sean said nothing as he took the seat across from her. But she could feel him watching her as they ate in silence. His assessing glances licked along her nerves. Finally, when she could stand it no longer, she dropped her pizza onto the plate. “All right. Out with it.”

“What?” He reached for another slice of pizza.

“Don’t give me that choirboy look, Fitzpatrick. I’ve known you too long to fall for it. Just spit out whatever it is that’s got you sizing me up like a piece of evidence in one of your investigations.”

He smiled. Slowly. Seductively. In a way that made her throat go dry. “I was just thinking about what you said. You know, how I didn’t take anything that you didn’t want to give?”

She narrowed her eyes. “So?”

“So, I couldn’t help wondering.” His gaze dropped to her mouth, and Katie’s heart started to gallop. “I was wondering if you provoked me deliberately this afternoon so I would kiss you.”

“I provoked you?”

“Uh-huh. With all that crazy talk about needing me to help you find someone to get you pregnant.”

“There’s nothing crazy about it. And it wasn’t just talk. I intend to get pregnant. As for needing you to find me someone, I don’t. I’ve already got three candidates. It’s simply a matter of choosing the right one.” She snitched a piece of bell pepper from his pizza and popped it into her mouth. “And I don’t need you to do the investigations for me, either, because I’ve decided to do them myself.”

“You? Lord, help us all.”

“Funny. Besides, how hard can it be? All I have to do is lift a few fingerprints, snag a wallet for credit card and driver’s license numbers, maybe make a few phone calls to an employer or an old girlfriend.”

Sean shuddered. “Quit clowning around, Katie. The thought of you playing Mata Hari sends chills down my spine.”

“You’re a riot, Fitzpatrick, and I’m not kidding. I bet I’d make a good detective,” she countered, warming to the idea.

“You’d be about as good at investigating as I’d be at running a nursery school.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said, tipping her head to the side. “I bet the little girls would love you, and I think you’d look awfully cute changing diapers.”

“Don’t hold your breath.”

She smiled at him. Finishing the last of her pizza slice, she licked her fingers clean.

“You’re really determined to do this pregnancy thing?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll do the investigations for you—on one condition.”

“What condition?” she asked warily.

“If I come up with anything, and I do mean anything, that makes these so-called candidates unsuitable, you promise me that you’ll forget the whole idea.”

Katie hesitated. The truth was that if none of her candidates panned out, she wasn’t sure what she’d do. “I really do want to have a baby, Sean.”

“That’s the deal. Take it or leave it.”

She hesitated. “If none of them pan out, I promise I’ll rethink the idea. All right?”

He sighed. “Do I have any choice?”

Katie squealed. Jumping up, she ran over to Sean and threw her arms around his neck, then proceeded to cover his face with kisses. “Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

“Not that I mind having a woman throw herself at me, but you might want to hold off on a few of those thankyou kisses. You may not be happy with what I find.”

“Oh, I will be. I know it.”

“We’ll see. Now where’s the list?”

“I’ll get it.” Abandoning the kitchen, Katie dashed to her bedroom and retrieved the list from her purse. By the time she returned, he’d cleared away the pizza remains and was waiting in the living room. For a moment she allowed herself to just look at him. All six foot two inches of him were sprawled out on the couch, his head tipped back, his eyes closed. Lord, but the man was beautiful: those razorsharp cheekbones; that stubborn jaw; the sexy mouth that could make a stone weep when he smiled, and turned her brain to mush with a kiss. The fact that the man had a good heart, a kind heart, made him darn-near perfect-everything a woman who believed in fairy tales could want. Except that she no longer believed in fairy tales, and even if she did, Sean would never see her as a princess.

As though sensing her scrutiny, Sean opened his eyes and stared at her. Awareness stirred, sparked between them, charging the air with tension, just as it had earlier. “Here’s the list,” she said, walking over to him.

His fingers brushed her palm as he took the sheet of paper, and she fought back a shiver. Katie pressed her hand to her jittery stomach. “Those are the names,” she said as evenly as possible. “And of course, I can give you whatever personal information I have. The first one, Eric, he’s a salesman who—”

Suddenly Sean’s shoulders stiffened. He shot his gaze back to her face. His eyes were dark and stormy. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“You put Michael’s name on this list?”

“Well, yes. Initially,” she said, confused by his accusing tone. “I told you, I started off with five names and narrowed it down to three. You and Michael were the two I scratched.”

“You actually considered sleeping with my brother?”

“Well, I can’t say that I thought of it in quite those terms. But, yes, I guess I did. I mean if Michael had been the man I selected, then I would have…um…made love with him to get pregnant.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t put Ryan’s and Connor’s names on here, too,” he snapped, referring to his two other brothers.

“Ryan’s married and I draw the line at married men. But if I knew where Connor was, you can bet I’d have included him.” Temper drove her, loosened her tongue. “Besides if Connor kisses anything like you and Michael, I imagine making love with him would be a pleasant prospect.”

“Like me and Mich—” His eyes narrowed to angry slits.

“You kissed Michael?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes. Michael and I kissed a number of times while we were dating.”

Sean shot to his feet. “I don’t believe this. You’ve been dating.kissing my brother?”

“Yes,” she said sweetly, furious with him for finding the idea so shocking. “Why? Is there some reason I shouldn’t?”

“You’re damned right there’s a reason. He’s…he’s—”

“He’s my friend. Just like you’re supposed to be. But unlike you, Michael doesn’t kiss me, then turn around and insult me by apologizing for doing it.”

Two

“Hey, Bro,” Michael said, replacing the telephone receiver on its cradle as Sean marched into his office. “I was just getting ready to buzz you with the good news. We got the Stevens’ contract.”

Sean slammed the door shut and stormed over to Michael’s desk. Planting his palms on the polished mahogany surface, he leaned over and glared at his brother. “I ought to take your head off.”

Michael arched his brow, sat back in his chair and gave him that cool, calm, lawyer look that drove Sean nuts. “You’re welcome to try, little brother. But before I wipe up the floor with you, you want to tell me what you’re so all fired up about?”

The anger that had been churning inside him since Katie had dropped her little bombshell about her and Michael the previous night kicked up another notch. “Where in the hell do you get off hitting on Katie?”

“Katie?”

“Yeah. Katie Malloy,” Sean told him through gritted teeth. “You know, the skinny redhead with the smart mouth that we’ve known since we were kids?”

“Ah…that Katie.”

At the smile spreading across his brother’s mouth, Sean had to check the urge to grab him by his designer shirtfront and wrap the fancy tie around his throat.

“I’m not sure if I’d call a handful of dates ‘hitting’ on her, but Katie and I have gone out together a few times. What about it?”

“You think just because you buy her a couple of meals that gives you the right to jump her bones?”

The smile on Michael’s lips died faster than a snap. “Who said I jumped her bones?” Michael demanded, fists ready. “All I did was kiss her a few times.”

Discovering that there had been more than one kiss did nothing to cool Sean’s already-hot temper. “So you admit it. You’ve been putting the moves on her.”

“I’m not admitting anything.” Eyes narrowed, Michael eased back into his seat. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I hardly think that sharing a few kisses-in which, I might add, Katie was a willing participant—constitutes my ‘putting the moves’ on her. At least not in my book, it doesn’t.”

Sean hadn’t wanted to believe it, that Katie really was involved with his brother. After she’d all but thrown him out last night, he’d spent most of it lying awake, chewing on what she’d told him. He’d decided to have it out with her first thing this morning. Only it had been after four when he’d finally dozed off, and by the time he’d awakened with a splitting headache, Katie had already left for work. To make matters worse, he’d had a full hour to let the steam build while he’d waited for Michael to arrive at the office. His brother’s confirmation that he and Katie did indeed have a more personal relationship left a bitter taste in his mouth. “What’s the matter? Aren’t there enough other women in this city for you to hit on without going after Katie?”

Michael clenched his jaw. “Listen, pal. Who I go out with is none of your business. You don’t see me giving you grief about the women who parade in and out of your apartment, do you?”

“None of those women is Katie.”

Fingers steepled, Michael gave him a considering look. “Is that the problem? Katie turn you down?”

Sean made a suggestion as to what his brother could do with himself.

“Hit a nerve, did I?” Michael taunted.

Sean swore and cast aspersions on the nature of his brother’s parentage.

“Before you go through your limited vocabulary, you might want to remember that the two of us are brothers—which means we share the same parents.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“So, you going to tell me why my going out with Katie has steam coming out of your ears? Or you want me to guess?”

“You know what you can do with your guesses,” Sean told him.

“Could it be that after all these years, you’ve developed a case of the hots for Katie yourself?”

“Katie and I are friends,” Sean snapped, clenching his hands into fists at his side. But the memory of the kiss they’d shared yesterday loomed before him. It was a fluke, Sean told himself, brought on by a bout of celibacy and the fact that Heather had been playing games with him, putting him off. He and Katie were just friends. “I’m angry because Katie’s.she’s practically family, and you putting the moves on her isn’t right.”

“Now that is dumb. Katie may seem like family because we’ve all known her a long time, but there’s no blood tie to prevent either of us from becoming involved if we want to.”

Involved. The word gnawed at him. “Just cut all the BS and tell me, are you serious about her?”

“Why? You worried about competition?”

Sean snorted. “You really are full of it, Bro. Believe me, if I were interested in Katie, you wouldn’t be any competition. I already told you, she and I are friends. That’s all.”

“Uh-huh.”

Michael’s smug expression only infuriated him more. “I don’t want to see her get hurt. All right?”

“And what makes you think I’m going to hurt her?”

“Because.because she’s not your type.”

“I don’t have a type,” Michael informed him. “And if I did, why not Katie? She’s an interesting woman, fun to be with, and she makes me laugh.”

Katie was all those things, but hearing Michael say it sent uneasiness clawing down his spine. “So, you saying you are serious about her?”

The lengthy silence caused a tight, funny feeling in Sean’s chest. “I thought about it,” Michael admitted. “And I suspect Katie did, too. But whatever it is that makes two people want to share their lives together, wasn’t there for us. Katie and I pretty much agreed we’d just stay friends.”

Relief flooded through Sean. His heart made its way back down his throat. But when he glanced at Michael, saw his grin, temper pricked at him. “Why you son of a—” He bit off the rest. “Why didn’t you just say so to begin with?”

“Because it was a lot more fun watching you tie yourself up in knots over the idea of me being with Katie.”

“Go to hell,” Sean told him. “I’ve got work to do.” Whirling around, he stomped out of Michael’s office and headed for his own.

Ten minutes later Sean studied the information he had gathered on an investigation he was working that involved a child kidnapping. As he studied a picture of the mother and daughter, images of Katie sneaked into his thoughts. Katie telling him she wanted a baby, that she planned to get pregnant. Katie with her face flushed, her lips swollen, those whisky-colored eyes of hers filled with yearning and need. The kiss yesterday had been a fluke, Sean told himself again. He wanted, needed, desperately to believe that—for his sake and Katie’s.

The intercom buzzed. “Heather Harrison is on line three.”

He grabbed the phone, eager to chase these crazy thoughts about Katie from his mind. “Heather, darling,” he said, crooking the phone between his shoulder and ear. For the next few minutes he listened to the shapely blonde he’d lusted after for the past three months. But when he hung up the phone with a promise to get back to her later, it wasn’t the voluptuous blonde with the sexy blue eyes whose face kept stealing into his thoughts. It was a skinny redhead with vulnerable, whisky-colored eyes.

That same skinny redhead was still in his thoughts that evening when Sean heard the knock at his door. “Door’s open,” he called out from the back deck where he’d set up the grill for barbecuing. Once he’d called and apologized to Katie for overreacting the previous night, he’d spent the better part of the day trying to make sense out of his sudden and unwise attraction to her. He’d come to the same conclusion each time. The kiss and his reaction to Katie had been a fluke. Having her over for a belated birthday dinner would prove it to himself and to her.

So much for his fluke theory, Sean decided when he glanced up and spotted Katie standing in the doorway. His senses went on full alert, like a fox scenting prey. The “friends only” mantra he’d been practicing all afternoon bit the dust the moment he saw her. Wearing a pink top tied beneath her small breasts and white cutoffs, she was not dressed to inspire lust. But one look at those Rockette legs, with the tips of her toes painted the same shade of pink as her worrisome mouth, and he was in trouble. The fact that she was looking at him—as if she’d just as soon skip dinner and have him for dessert—had his blood pressure hiking up, right along with another part of his anatomy. How in the devil was he supposed to think of Katie as his pal when his blasted hormones kept ambushing him?

She walked over to him—no sauntering, no slow swaying of her hips to entice—just a graceful, fluid stride that was all the more enticing because it wasn’t meant to be.

“Hi.” As always, she gave him a quick smack on the lips in greeting as though she didn’t even remember that yesterday those same lips had rubbed against his, opened and tasted him like a welcoming lover. The friendly kiss was over in an instant, but it had been long enough for him to catch the scent of her perfume. Since when had the scent of honeysuckle become such an aphrodisiac?

“I wasn’t sure what you were serving, so I brought red and white,” she said, indicating the bottles of wine in her hands.

Sean wrapped his fists around the wine to keep himself from reaching for her. He checked out the labels. “Hey, these are both good. Your taste in wine is improving, Malloy.”

“Gee. You have such a way with compliments, Fitzpatrick. If a girl isn’t careful, you’ll just turn her head.”

Sean chuckled as he was meant to do, and the tension in him eased a notch. “We’re having steaks. So, I’ll open the red and let it breathe. Have a seat. I’ll be right back.”

“Need any help?”

“Are you kidding? You think I’d let you come near my kitchen again? It took me a week to rid the place of the stench of burned pasta.” At her scowl, he laughed. “Go ahead, kick your feet back and relax. I’ve got everything under control.”

And he did have everything under control, Sean told himself, as he poured more wine into their glasses. Claiming the chair opposite the old-fashioned porch swing where Katie sat, he congratulated himself. Everything had gone like clockwork—right down to the antique music box he’d given her as a gift.

It had been just like old times—comfortable, enjoyable. So what if he couldn’t help noticing how soft her skin looked in the moonlight? Or the way her eyes sparkled when she laughed?

She looked up at him over the lid of the music box. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered in that throaty whisper that sparked visions of her lying on satin sheets. Quickly, ruthlessly, he deep-sixed the dangerous image.

“I’m sorry it’s late,” he told her.

“Don’t be silly. You were out of town for my birthday. I know that. And you really didn’t have to buy me anything. I got the most gorgeous bouquet of flowers from all the Fitzpatricks.”

Sean shrugged, his gaze riveted to the fingers lazily stroking the silver latch on the music box. “The flowers were from my family,” he said dragging his eyes up to her face. “I wanted to give you something from me.”

“I…thank you.”

The friendly sass that had been in her eyes all evening gave way to a soft yearning that made his blood heat. Desire, tucked safely away throughout dinner, sneaked out, tempting him. Sean tightened his grip on the glass in his hand and stood. “How about some more wine?”

“No, thanks,” Katie told him, and carefully placed the music box on the table amid the nest of wrappings. Then she stood and went to him. Reaching out, she stroked his cheek. “Thank you, Sean,” she whispered, then pressed her mouth to his. It was a simple kiss, over almost before it began, but it sent desire shooting through him like heat lightning. “I’ll treasure it always.”

She backed away, retreating until she came up against the swing and sat down. Not until she’d pushed off on her back foot and set the swing to swaying was he finally able to untangle his tongue.

The silence stretched between them for several awkward moments, then Katie cut him a narrow-eyed glance. “You know, Fitzpatrick, it just occurred to me that this dinner and that music box might actually be a bribe.”

“A bribe, huh?” he said, welcoming the teasing and the break in tension that came with it. “And just what would I be bribing you for, Malloy?”

“Well, knowing what a sneaky man you are, maybe you thought that if you plied me with a great dinner, let me stuff myself with that sinful cake and gave me such a fabulous gift, that maybe I’d let you off the hook about doing the investigations for me like you promised.”

“The thought never crossed my mind.”

“That’s good. Because I’m not letting you off the hook, pal.”

Try as he might, he couldn’t sustain the light humor. “Katie, about this baby business—”

“Tonight when you lit the candles on the cake and told me to make a wish, do you know what I wished for? I wished that by this time next year, I’d have a baby. I know you don’t agree with this, Sean, but as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted that package. You know—husband, wife, babies—a family. A psychologist would probably say it’s because I didn’t have the family I wanted as a child with my parents divorcing, my stepfather cutting out on us and stuff. And they’d probably be right. But I always knew that someday I would have a family like…well, like yours.”

She tore at the napkin in her fingers. “Well, it hasn’t happened, and it isn’t going to—at least not the husband part of it. But I still want the babies, Sean. Sometimes I think it was because I wanted to have children so much that I talked myself into thinking I was in love and getting engaged twice. I think I wanted to get married so I could become a mother.”

It broke his heart to hear the sadness in her voice, to see it in her eyes. Family was something that he’d always taken for granted, and it was something that Katie had never really had. Sean put down his wineglass. “Honey, I understand what you’re saying. But—”

“You don’t agree with me on this. I know that, and I understand. Really, I do. But I know what I’m doing, Sean.”

Frustration knotted like a fist in his stomach. “You’re a young woman, Katie. You deserve more than stud service from some guy who’ll be happy to get you pregnant and then more than likely split on you. You deserve the whole shebang—love, marriage, babies, white picket fences.”

“You’re talking about fairy tales. I stopped believing in them and in Prince Charming a long time ago.”

“Maybe you just haven’t found your prince yet.”

She gave him a smile that was meant to be cocky, but came across as impossibly sad. “Believe me, I’ve kissed my share of frogs, even got engaged to two of them, remember? But not one of them ever turned into a prince. I don’t want—no, I refuse to put my life on hold and wait for someone who probably doesn’t exist.”

There was an aching loneliness in her voice that ripped at him. “Whatever happened to that little girl? The one who believed in knights and fairy tales and magic?”

“She grew up.”

And because she had grown up, she knew not to read anything into the sexual voltage that kept zinging between her and Sean. Oh, it had always been there on her part. It was pretty hard not to have fantasies about a man like Sean. But fantasies were all that they were. She’d gotten used to feeling that heat suck low in her belly every time he was near her, and she’d gotten good at hiding it from him. So what if he seriously kissed her a time or two—she was too smart to let that romantic heart of hers start spinning fairy tales again. Sean wasn’t interested in her in that way. He was simply being a good friend.

And it was out of friendship, she knew, that he was still trying to talk her out of her plans to have a baby thirty minutes later.

“I don’t like it, Katie,” Sean told her as he paced to the end of the deck. “Not one bit.”

“You’ve made that pretty clear—more than once already.” Katie released a weary sigh. “But whether you like it or not doesn’t matter. I’m going to do this-with or without your help. Just tell me whether I need to find someone else to handle the investigations or not.”

“I said I’d do it, didn’t I?” he snapped, coming to a halt in front of her. “Where’s the list?”

She retrieved the slip of paper from the pocket of her shorts, unfolded it and handed it to him. He glared at the names a moment, then straddled the chair next to her. “All right. Tell me everything you can about each of these guys.”

A glass of wine later, Katie leaned back against the patio chair. “That’s about it. At least, it’s everything I know.”

Sean scowled at the notes he’d made next to the names on her list, then glanced up and fixed her with stormy blue eyes. “It’s not a hell of a lot—especially considering what you’re planning. The longest you’ve known any of these guys is six months.”

“Sean,” she said, a warning in her voice.

“All right. All right.”

“Is it enough for you to work with?”

“I guess it’ll have to be, won’t it?”

She refused to justify her decision to him again. Besides, even if she were to try to explain, she doubted Sean would understand. She didn’t want to be disappointed again or to be the one to disappoint. So, why couldn’t Sean accept that? “Can you do the investigations with the information I’ve given you? Or do I need to try to get social security or driver’s license numbers?”

“And suppose I do need those things, how did you plan to get them? By swiping wallets like you threatened?”

Katie flinched at the derision in his tone. Hurt, angry, she snatched the list from him and stood. “Just forget it. I was right yesterday. I never should have asked you to help me in the first place.”

“Aw, hell!” He caught her by the wrist before she’d taken two steps. “I’m sorry,” he told her.

When she didn’t reply, he sighed. “Give me back the list,” he urged, holding out his hand. When she didn’t respond, he plucked the sheet of paper from her fingers. But instead of releasing her, he led her over to the swing and sat down. When she remained stiff and unyielding, he said, “Come on. Sit with me. Just for a minute.”

She continued to stand. So he tugged, pulling her down beside him. Then he set the swing in motion. “A lot of the stuff in an investigation like this is basic, and I’ll be able to get a good part of what I need from public records,” he explained. “I’ll access most of the data with my computer. The internet is amazing. I’ve also got some contacts with the DMV and the police department that I can use to check for driving violations, complaints, outstanding arrest warrants, and stuff like that.”

Hearing him talk about arrest warrants and police records sent a chill of uneasiness down Katie’s spine. She brought her free hand to her throat. She couldn’t imagine any of the men she was considering as a father for her child or for that matter any man she even dated, being a criminal. True, she hadn’t known them long and only dated them casually. But each man had been a gentleman with a responsible job and had been a pleasant and companionable date. Each claimed to like children, and from the talks and discussions that they had shared, she’d learned that each man shared her views about raising a child. In short, on the surface each candidate appeared to be ideal daddy material.

Sean jammed the slip of paper into his shirt pocket. “I’ve got enough here to get started, so I don’t want you to even think about playing Mata Hari. Okay?”

“All right.”

Shoving off with his foot, he gave the swing another push and sent them swaying in a slow, languid motion. Still holding her wrist, his thumb moved in small, lazy circles over the inside of her wrist, causing her pulse to scatter. The sun had long since slid from the sky. Stars dotted the heavens, creating thousands of pinpoints of light. Moonlight spilled over the deck, enveloping them in its soft glow.

“H-how long will it take you to run the background checks?” she asked, and nearly cringed at how husky her voice sounded.

“The basics won’t take long at all. But making inquiries about a man’s character, especially discreet ones, isn’t always easy or fast.”

“I know what I’m asking isn’t easy,” she said, turning her head to look at him.

“But not too hard.” His lips curved into a slow smile that made her ache. “I guess it would have been a lot simpler for both of us if you’d just left my name on the list, huh? At least you already know all the secrets in my closet.”

He dropped his gaze to her mouth, and butterflies started a dance in her stomach.

Maybe the sparks flowing between them all evening hadn’t been exactly one-sided. And maybe she hadn’t imagined the leap of desire in his eyes when he watched her. And maybe she had better just put a lid on these fantasies. Somehow Katie managed to laugh. “If that’s your not-so-subtle way of offering yourself so that you can get out of doing the investigations, you can forget it, pal. I’m not buying it.”

“No?” He released her hand and eased his arm around her shoulders in a move so smooth she barely noticed it until his fingers began to stroke her bare arm.

“No,” she whispered.

The swing slowed to a stop. The fingers on her arm had somehow managed to find their way to the back of her neck, where they were working their way up her nape. “Why not?”

“Because. because we’re friends.”

Sean’s fingers sieved through her hair, urging her closer. Katie’s breath hitched. She pressed a hand against his chest, where his heart beat beneath her fingers faster than a stockbroker’s tape. “Sean, I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“You’re right. It’s a lousy idea,” he told her, his breath a whisper against her lips. “In fact, it’s a flat-out crazy idea. No way should we do this.”

“I agree,” she murmured.

But knowing they shouldn’t do this didn’t seem quite enough. Katie didn’t know which of them moved first, but suddenly Sean’s mouth was on hers—touching, tasting, taking. All the warnings she had been repeating to herself since he had kissed her the last time simply flew out the window-along with her common sense.

When that first soft kiss deepened, then slid into another kiss and deepened yet again, the blood fired in her veins, and Katie could have sworn she heard bells ringing. Sean wrapped his arms around her while his tongue tempted and teased her to open the seam of her lips, dared her to taste him.

She took the dare. He moaned, a hungry sound of need that sent ripples of pleasure sluicing through her bloodstream. She clung to him as he dove deeper for another taste. Her tongue tangled, danced with his. He tasted like wine, sharp and earthy, like chocolate, smooth and sweet. He tasted like danger and sin. He tasted like magic and dreams. He tasted like Sean. No one could taste like him. No one else could make her feel as he did.

She heard the bells ringing again and reminded herself that she’d given up on wedding dreams. This was Sean—not some prince or white knight come to rescue her from loneliness. She was his friend—not some beautiful princess or damsel in distress who needed rescuing. It was hormones, the moonlight, the wine that had him kissing her like he wanted her, like he needed her, like there was no one else in the world for him but her. She wasn’t Sean’s type, never had been, never would be. She was a smart woman, too smart to believe that any of those things had changed, too smart to let this go on any longer.

But then his hands ran up and down her spine, sending delicious sensations climbing through her, and her traitorous body refused to listen to her at all. Instead she moved closer, asked for more.

He gave her more, kissing her deeper still. When he crushed her to him, pressed his hardness against her, she heard the blasted bells ringing again.

Sean lifted his head, said her name on a groan. Her body was vibrating with desire. She felt like she’d just weathered a tornado and was willing to try it again. Her eyes still closed, she simply held on to him. Thank heavens the ringing bells had stopped, she thought, as she opened her eyes and looked at him.

He cradled her face in his hands, and in the moonlight his eyes were black with need. “Katie,” he whispered against her mouth.

“Sean?”

Katie’s heart slammed to a stop at the sound of a female voice calling his name.

“Sean, honey? It’s Heather.”

Three

Sean made a strangled noise in his throat at the sound of Heather’s voice. Talk about timing. A shudder went through him. The clip had disappeared from Katie’s hair, leaving thick auburn curls falling about her neck and shoulders. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes soft and dreamy. The pink lipstick on that troublesome mouth of hers was gone. She looked like a woman who’d just tumbled out of a man’s bed. The thought sent another jolt of desire knifing through him. Somehow sanity reared its head, and he gripped her by the shoulders and set her away. “Good Lord, what am I doing?”

Katie stiffened beneath his hands, but he didn’t let her go. Drawing another deep breath, he struggled for control. What on earth was he thinking? This was Katie. Katie!

“Sean?” Heather called out again, her voice closer.

“I’m sorry.” He cringed the moment the words were out, but it was too late to take them back. “What I mean is I didn’t plan for that to happen. I don’t know what came over me. Or why I—”

“It’s okay,” she said, scrambling off the swing.

“It’s not okay.” And it wasn’t. Even with only the light of the moon and the deck to aid him, he couldn’t miss the color staining her cheeks, or the way panic had stolen into her eyes. Sean stood and caught her arm as much to steady her as to stop her from running. Because she was poised to run.

“Guess that’s what we get for drinking all that wine,” she said, in a voice as forced as the smile on her lips.

“I’m not sure we can blame the wine. I—”

“There you are,” Heather said breezing through the doorway and out onto the deck with a foil-wrapped dish in her hands. “I rang the bell, but you didn’t answer. Then I saw your truck, and decided to try the door. I thought I’d take a chance and drop by. I never did hear back from you today,” she accused.

“I, um, I’m sorry. I got tied up.”

“Well, I guess I’ll forgive you this time,” Heather said, a pouty look on her face, her thick lashes sweeping down over her baby blue eyes. She swished and swayed her way over to him. “Oh, hello, Katie,” she said, barely sparing Katie a glance. “Would you be a sweetie and hold this for me while I tell this fellow hello?”

Not saying a word, Katie took the dish from Heather and turned away.

His eyes on Katie’s retreating back, Sean barely heard Heather say, “I’ve missed you,” before she had her mouth locked on his.

Removing Heather’s arms from around his neck, Sean cut the kiss short, which apparently didn’t please Heather, but didn’t stop her from launching into a litany about her busy schedule. Sean tuned her out. How was it possible that for the past three months the voluptuous blond aerobics instructor had inspired such lust in him? Looking at her now, in the barely there, white shorts and cropped T-shirt that clearly displayed her ample assets, left him cold. Yet looking at Katie with her long legs and skinny curves had him breaking out in a sweat. It didn’t make a lick of sense.

“Sounds like you really have been busy,” Katie said.

“Oh, I have.” Heather slid her gaze over to Katie who stood next to the table where she had placed Heather’s dish. “How have you been?”

“Fine. I see you’re looking fit as usual.”

“Thanks. I’m conducting six classes a week at the body gym now. You should think about coming. I have one class where we work on muscle tone. You might find a toning class would help you fill out a bit.”

“I’ll think about it,” Katie said, but Sean could have strangled Heather for the remark. What was wrong with a narrow torso and lean curves? They certainly suited Katie.

“Oh, my,” Heather said, spying the wine and cake plates on the table. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

“As a matter of fact, Katie and I were having dinner,” Sean told her.

“Oh,” Heather replied, another pretty pout forming on her lips. She slanted a glance to the foil-covered dish on the table. “I didn’t realize you’d made plans. I brought you one of my veggie casseroles. I’d hoped we could share it.”

“Actually, we finished dinner a while ago,” Katie informed her. “And you know Sean.the man’s always hungry. He’s probably ready for a snack already, and the casserole sounds wonderful.”

Heather beamed. “It is very good, even if I do say so myself.”

“Well, I’ll just get out of your way and give the two of you some privacy.” Katie began gathering the wrapping paper and ribbon and stuffing it into the box that had held her gift.

“You don’t have to rush off,” he said.

“I’m not rushing off. I’ve been here all evening, and I’m sure you and Heather have some catching up to do. But thanks, anyway. Dinner was great, and the gift is beautiful.”

“Gift?” Heather repeated. Suddenly alert, her eyes darted like a laser to the music box Katie was carefully packing away. “Sean gave you a gift?”

Katie looked up. “Yes. A music box for my birthday.”

“How sweet,” the blonde said, relaxing. “You’re lucky. My brother never remembers my birthday.”

“I’m not Katie’s brother,” Sean informed her, for some reason irritated by the comment.

“Oh, I know that. But the two of you are such good friends, and you told me yourself how you practically grew up together. You’re almost like brother and sister.”

“I really do have to go,” Katie said.

“No, you don’t.” At both women’s surprised expressions, Sean said more calmly, “I mean, I’m sure there’s enough of Heather’s casserole for the three of us.”

“Thanks. But I’m stuffed, and I’ve got a busy day tomorrow. I was planning to turn in early tonight.”

“It’s not even nine o’clock,” Sean argued, ignoring Heather’s obvious displeasure at his reluctance to have Katie leave. He sensed Katie’s awkwardness and wasn’t sure if it was because of Heather or the kiss. Somehow things had gotten all mixed up again, and he wanted to straighten them out.

“I know it’s early, but I’m really tired. It’s been a long day, and tomorrow’s going to be even longer.”

“Don’t worry, we understand,” Heather told her, linking her arm through Sean’s. “It was nice seeing you again, Katie. Oh, and happy birthday.”

“Thanks.” Katie barely spared Sean a glance as she said, “Don’t worry about seeing me out. I know the way.”

“Excuse me,” Sean said to Heather and followed Katie to the door. “We still have a few things to go over regarding that matter we were discussing,” he told her, aware that Heather had followed him and was eyeing the exchange from a short distance.

“Um, why don’t you just give me a call and let me know what else you need? If I’m not home, you can leave a message, and I’ll get back to you.”

“What about the rest of your cake? Don’t you want it?” he asked, barely able to keep the irritation from his voice.

She didn’t even bother turning around to look at him. “Why don’t you and Heather finish it?”

“Katie…”

But she was already out the door and scurrying into her apartment next door. Sean stood there for a moment and contemplated going after her. They needed to talk. He had a bad feeling about this. Really bad. He’d more than crossed the line with Katie tonight, and he needed to put things back to the way they used to be.

“Sean?”

He hesitated. Then sighing, he shut his door and turned to face the other woman.

By the time he’d sent a not-very-happy Heather on her way thirty minutes later, Katie’s apartment was in darkness. From his adjoining deck out back, he stared at her bedroom window, hoping for some sign of movement that would tell him she was awake. There was none. Only darkness and silence.

Driving both hands through his hair, Sean leaned on the rail of the deck and turned away to stare up at the sky. The moon slid behind a thicket of clouds, taking with it the soft glow and giving the night a somber feeling. It matched his mood, Sean decided. The guilt that had hopped onto his shoulders following that melt-the-fillings-in-his-teeth kiss with Katie had grown heavier by the minute. Never in a million years had he intended to complicate things this way.

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