“In a few minutes, okay?”
As long as she knew he wasn’t leaving without a look at his baby. “So what did you tell your parents?”
“Nothing more than they needed to know.” And once Juliana arrived they were the grandparents any child could hope for.
His temper quick-started like an engine. “Dammit. So they think I’m some sort of jerk that would let their daughter have a baby without helping?”
“No. They don’t think that. They understood.”
In truth, her father had been the hardest to handle, and given a moment of free rein, Dad would have turned over mountains to find Jack, punched his lights out, then make him marry her. Which was the last thing Melanie wanted.
She didn’t want a husband because of a child.
But Jack was honorable, a real hero type, and though he hadn’t gotten to it, Melanie suspected there was a bigger battle coming.
He folded his arms over his chest and widened his stance. “So, enlighten me. How did this happen?”
She sent him an innocent blinking look. “Gee, sailor, think maybe we forgot protection one of those times?”
“Don’t get cute. That I figured. It happens. I was as willing as you were. I have no regrets.” He arched a brow, the question unsaid.
She felt the heat of that night spin through her and light her from the inside out. She could almost fall into his arms again if he wasn’t looking at her like a new target to assault. “Neither do I, Jack.”
His stance softened. “Then if you accept that, why couldn’t you accept that I would want to know, to help?”
“Other than I couldn’t contact you,” she reminded him. “I didn’t need it.”
“And that makes it right?”
“Maybe, maybe not.” She moved to the kitchen and started preparing a pot of coffee. Maybe by giving up on hunting him down she thought she was doing him a favor. A man like him, with a dangerous job, he didn’t need to be worrying about her and a child when he was supposed to be concentrating on keeping his head down and staying alive. Just the thought of him being distracted by her when he was in the line of fire gave her nightmares and kept her from charging into his unit office and embarrassing herself and Jack by demanding he be contacted. Then she just got used to thinking alone, doing alone. But all she’d wanted then, when she was round with his baby and wondering what he’d think, was to hear his voice.
Jack followed her and said, “What about what I needed, Melanie?”
She glanced over her shoulder. “And you needed a daughter?”
“How the heck should I know? I’ve never had one. And if it was up to you, I never would have known about her.”
Melanie glanced toward the hallway. “Keep your voice down.” She flipped the switch on the coffeemaker.
Jack moved to her, gripped her arms and stared down at her. “Talk to me, Mel.”
He was hurt, she could see. More deeply than she’d thought.
“You kept my baby from me,” he went on. “That’s not easily forgivable.”
“I did what I had to do, with the resources I had. You were unreachable. They wouldn’t even tell me if you were in this country.”
He hadn’t been, but he couldn’t tell her that. “Did you even once think of me?”
She blinked, hurt and insulted, and pushed off his touch, stepping back. “How can you say that? I had your baby growing inside me, Jack. All I thought about was you. When I was screaming in pain delivering her, I thought about you and I wanted to beat you senseless, by the way.”
She looked down, her throat tight. She’d been angry with him then, she remembered. Angry because he wasn’t there to see his daughter being born, that he wasn’t there sharing the responsibility thrust on her. But he was off fighting evil, being the hero, a higher purpose, she’d finally reasoned. And she’d just…accepted. Oh, she knew she should have never let this man touch her. Not because of Juliana, but because his touch left an imprint that went clear down to her soul.
“If I’d known, I would have let you.”
“But the Navy wouldn’t have. I know, having a child is no big deal in the military. Women do it alone all the time. But I knew that the first chance Lisa blabbed, you’d be here.”
“And now that I am, we’re getting married.”
“Oh, so now it’s ride-to-the-rescue Singer? Do I look like a damsel in distress?”
“You look like the mother of my child, and that child needs my name.”
“Mine’s been doing quiet well for me for twenty-nine years. It’s good enough for her.”
“Why are you being so stubborn?”
“I don’t want a husband who would marry me for the sake of a child.”
“Why? Is that so archaic to you?”
“Yes.” And it’s full of doubts to start with, she thought. She couldn’t go through life, through a marriage, with him, a man she barely knew. And she didn’t want to live with the constant uncertainty of does he want me for myself, or me because I’m the mother of his child? Or because it’s the right and honorable thing to do? And Jack was up to his eyeballs in honor and duty.
Jack let her go, dragging his hand over his head, then his face. “You are about the strangest woman I know.”
“Isn’t that why we jumped into bed in the first place? Because I wasn’t falling all over you like the other women?”
“No, it’s not, and if you can’t see that, then it’s probably good that I wasn’t around when you learned you were pregnant with my child.”
“Why?”
“Because I would have made certain you knew the truth of my feelings for you, Melanie.”
“You don’t love me, Jack, so don’t say it.”
“I won’t. It’s not true.”
Her heart fractured. Well, that was honest, anyway.
“But whatever it is I feel for you is strong enough that thoughts of you have been dogging me for months.” He headed to the hallway and Melanie was still reeling in reaction to that.
“Excuse me? Where do you think you’re going?”
“I need to see my baby.”
“Jack, wait.”
He stopped short, his features sharpening with anger. “I’ve been waiting. I’ve missed six months of her life. I’m not going to miss another minute.”
A soft cry filtered from the hall and Jack froze.
“Now you’ve done it,” Melanie snapped, then shifted past him and headed down the hall.
His temper defusing like a puff of smoke, Jack followed, but she was already out of sight. He listened for sounds, following them, and stepped into a small room decorated with pink and lavender fairies. But he wasn’t interested in wallpaper and mobiles, but the woman who stood near a crib.
There was a coolness about her, a reserve that hadn’t been there before. He could feel a wall neatly erected between them and she was doing her best to keep it strong. Was it to keep him from her or his daughter? Things were too brittle between them right now for Jack to make huge waves in Melanie’s life, but he wasn’t going anywhere. He was well-known in his unit for his patience, and he’d exert some of it now. Because she still set him on fire with just a glance, it was all he could manage not to grab her in his arms and kiss the living daylights out of her. His memory was damn good, and he pushed down the need to satisfy the hunger that had simmered for nearly a year and a half. Patience, he warned himself, his gaze sliding over her as she hung over the crib.
Everything in him went still as she reached inside. She lifted the baby, fat little legs pumping the air. The child squealed and Melanie held her close.
Jack felt his heart fill and explode at the sight of his daughter.
“Juliana,” he said, and Melanie looked at him. “Lisa told me, and…” He gestured to the name in stuffed letters hanging on the wall and held by two pink fairies. He stepped closer, his gaze moving over his daughter. Round-faced and healthy, she had dark hair like his, eyes like his, but her beauty was all her mother’s. Her head tucked
under her mother’s chin, she stared at him with wide eyes the color of cornflowers. Jack had never seen anything so beautiful. And he loved her instantly.
“Hey, princess.”
Melanie watched Jack, the wariness she’d never thought to see in him coming to the surface. He faced bullets like most people faced the morning. But he approached his daughter with a gentle hesitancy that touched her heart.
“She’s beautiful.”
“Yeah,” Melanie replied as he ran a fingertip along Juliana’s arm. The baby simply stared at him, as if familiarizing herself with his face.
Jack moved as close as he could, their baby between them. “Look what we made, Melanie.” He leaned down to kiss the top of his daughter’s head, thinking she smelled of powder and innocence.
Melanie’s heart melted just a little. She’d been alone with Juliana so long that sharing her with Jack felt strange…and sweet. She hadn’t known what to expect from Jack Singer, Navy SEAL, but watching him fall in love with their daughter in less than a second wasn’t it.
“I want to hold her, but I know I’ll scare her,” he said softly.
“She’s still sleepy.”
“I’m sorry if I woke her. I didn’t think.”
“It’s okay,” Melanie said, watching his eyes, the way he touched Juliana, as if coaxing her into accepting him a little bit at a time. Yet when his fingertips slid up Juliana’s arm tucked against her mother, they brushed Melanie’s breast. Heat ripped through her, and her breath snagged.
He looked at Melanie, his gaze moving over her with the same intensity as it did with their child. “I’m here. I’m staying, and I’m in her life whether you want it or not.”
“I know.”
“You don’t like it.”
“Nope.”
He arched a brow, stroking the top of Juliana’s head and loving the sounds she made. “Then it’s war, huh?” He tipped his head, catching Melanie’s chin and tilting her face till she looked him in the eye. “I think you’ve forgotten why we came together in the first place.”
“We were both randy.”
The corner of his mouth curved. It scared her. He looked more dangerous at that moment than he would have if he’d been armed with an assault rifle and wearing camouflage paint.
“Yeah, sure.” He brushed his mouth over hers. She tried to retreat, but he wrapped his arms around her and held tight. Their daughter fussed and gripped his shirt, one of his medals. Jack felt something new and strong rocket through him, and he increased the pressure on Melanie’s mouth, molding her lips to his, and wanted to shout when she responded.
The instant she did, he drew back. She was breathing a little harder, her eyes a little glassy. Victory loomed on the horizon, he thought. He had to have patience for the long journey. “Expect me in your life, Melanie. Constantly.” He grinned. “Daddy’s home.”
He looked down at Juliana, touched the top of her head and suddenly knew this little girl was the best part of his life. Yet knowing Melanie was like a lioness protecting her cub right now, defensive and distrusting, Jack didn’t try to take his child into his arms. Yet they fairly ached to hold her, to feel her little body against his chest, hear her heart beat.
Instead, he said, “I’ll see you both real soon,” then spun around and left the room.
Melanie gripped the crib rail. Because her knees had melted. Her heart had stopped. She looked down at Juliana. The baby gurgled, and blew bubbles.
“That was Daddy. What did you think?”
Juliana jerked in her arms and smiled.
“Yeah, he does that to women. He’s going to be a real pain, honey. What are we going to do?”
Her daughter didn’t offer a solution and Melanie didn’t have one, either. All she knew was that Jack Singer could turn her inside out and upside down with a glance. And with a kiss…oh, she was useless.
But she wasn’t going to marry him. So it would be best just to keep him out of her life completely. Big talk, she thought, when just now his presence turned you into a puddle. Well, she wouldn’t let that happen again, nor would she give him any ideas that she’d agree to marriage. Going into a marriage with such low expectations wasn’t her dream of a future. She had a future. She and Juliana would be just fine.
Part of her dreaded Jack’s showing up again. And he would. She might not know a lot about the man, but one thing was for sure. He’d drawn a battleline in the dirt and she was scared of the first attack. Because Lt. Jack Singer, Navy SEAL and handsome as the devil, was a gentleman.
His attack would be subtle. But she didn’t doubt that when it came to something he wanted, he’d fight dirty.
Three
Jack drove his sports car around town for an hour with no destination in mind. He thought about calling his buddy, Reese, then decided that he didn’t want anyone ever to get the wrong idea about Melanie or his child. Not like they’d had about him when he was a kid.
His fingers tensed on the steering wheel and he pulled up to his hotel and shut off the engine. He didn’t get out, his mind tripping over plans, over ways to get into his daughter’s life.
And into her mother’s.
Man, he thought, rubbing his face. Melanie Patterson didn’t look like a mother. He didn’t think it was possible for her to look better than she had that night after the wedding. But she did and her kiss was just as hot. He tried to imagine what it had been like for her, tried to imagine her belly swollen with his baby, and when he did, something sparked inside him. Longing?
Did he want in her life because of the baby?
He checked that thought off the list in an instant. He’d done nothing but think about her for months. For fifteen of them. Being unable to talk to her all that time was like salt in the wound. She’d moved to live with her parents, sure, and her number here was unlisted, but the time wasted gnawed at him. He sighed. It wouldn’t have changed much. Hell, he would have gone nuts if he’d known she was carrying his child, anyway, he thought. He’d have wanted to be there. With her, for her. He’d have done anything for that chance, and with his job, that just wasn’t possible. He couldn’t walk out when his commander called. When his teammates and his country needed him.
But dammit to hell, he hated that he’d missed it all.
Sighing with resignation, he left the car and headed up to his room. He didn’t notice the women offering smiles as he passed. Didn’t notice the way they tried to get his attention. All he saw was Melanie holding his daughter to her breast, stroking Juliana’s little spine. He’d wanted to take the baby in his arms, feel the responsibility. But he didn’t have to touch the baby to know it. It was already inside him.
Juliana was his daughter. His flesh and blood. And he was going to give her everything he’d never had. And that included her daddy’s name.
Melanie looked at Lisa. “I know you’re sorry. Forget about it.”
“Well, you should have tried harder to tell him,” Lisa said insistently. “It would have been easier if he’d known from the start.”
“Yeah? How so? Would he have been any less…determined?”
“My big brother’s a handful, huh?”
Melanie rolled her eyes. Her sorority sister was a romantic. Melanie wasn’t. She’d given that up after her fiancé broke their engagement. Once was hard enough, but to be dumped twice? Melanie had a stellar record, falling for men who seemed to find the right girl after they’d already proposed to her. It was humiliating and the reason she didn’t ask a guy for promises. They couldn’t keep them. Jack wasn’t any different. Well, maybe a little. He knew the meaning of honor, at least.
When she had been with him all those long months ago, women had flocked around him. She didn’t want to see that he’d ignored them and focused only on her, but still. He’d had a few lovers before her. Lisa had mentioned them once or twice. Heck, any man who looked like a brick wall of muscle in Navy whites would have females young and old dropping at his feet.
Okay, so she’d been one of them. She’d
wanted Jack. She’d always want Jack. He was under her skin, in her blood, whatever, but he was there. Fifteen months of trying to pry him out of her mind hadn’t done much good. She still wanted him. Yet, in her bed was far different from in her life.
The phone rang and Melanie rose to get it. The familiar voice on the other end of the line made her smile. “Mom, how are you?”
“Oh, we’re fine. How’s my granddaughter?”
Melanie smiled at her daughter sitting in her high chair. “Eating cereal and making a mess on my kitchen floor.” Her mother laughed. “So what’s up? I just talked to you yesterday.”
“That was before Jack called.”
“What?”
“Yes, just a little while ago. He talked to your father.”
Melanie groaned and leaned against the wall. “And Daddy said what to him?”
“I don’t really know. I know he was happy when he came out of the den, because he was laughing. He was still on the phone with Jack and took it with him out into the garage. Apparently your father and Jack hit it off. Did you know Jack makes furniture?”
Oh, great. Her father made furniture, too. The man had every tool ever made for woodworking, and now that he was retired, he produced more than her parents or Melanie had room for, so he’d branched out into taking special orders. And now it seemed Jack and Dad had bonded. Swell.
“Furniture, huh? No, I didn’t know Jack made furniture.” She glared at Lisa as if it was her fault that her father and Jack had things in common. Melanie asked to speak with her father, but he was out. “Ask him to call me, please, Mom.”
“I don’t think he’ll tell you what they said—he wouldn’t tell me.”
Well, that was devious, Melanie thought. “Jack’s hoping to butter up you and Dad to get to me.” She paced, her fingers tight on the receiver.
“Oh, he didn’t do anything like that, sweetie. He just introduced himself and told us what we already knew. That he hadn’t known about Juliana till now.”
“What else?”
“He said that he would take care of you and his daughter.”
“Well, Jack Singer is going to learn that I don’t need his financial help.”
The SEAL’s Surprise Baby Page 3
