Her Unexpected Hero

by Melody Anne

  “Do pregnant women turn you on?” she asked scornfully.

  “You turn me on.”

  “And please tell me how I’m getting what I want. I would love to hear your thoughts on this one.”

  “I’ll provide for you financially. Make sure you stay healthy. Take care of you.”

  The more he spoke, the more he seemed to feel that his plan was already set in stone.

  “What if I don’t want you, Jackson? What if there’s someone else?”

  “I don’t care who the biological father is, Alyssa. He’s obviously gone and doesn’t seem to be coming back, so let me step in. We both win.”

  “Wow. And please tell me exactly what you think we should do?”

  “Whatever it takes,” he said, his eyes intense.

  “Jackson, I don’t—”

  “Don’t worry about answering me right now, Alyssa. You need to give your body time to heal. That’s enough on your plate. I’ll deal with everything else.”

  “I don’t want you dealing with anything, Jackson!”

  It was obvious he was upsetting her, which was the last thing he wanted to do. “I’m sorry. I’ll go, but please tell me you’ll at least think about my offer,” he said, gripping her hand firmly as he looked into her frightened eyes.

  “I need to rest, Jackson. I saw my doctor this morning, and he told me I need to be on complete bed rest for a few days just to be safe, and to assure the baby inside that it’s still a safe environment, even after being knocked around a little.”

  “I’ll let you rest. Just—just tell me this is something you’ll think about.”

  “What do you want me to think about? I want to be real clear on this, Jackson. Are you asking me to be your mistress? Your pregnant mistress?”

  Now he was the one who paused. When she put it like that, it made him sound like a real ass. Was that what he was asking of her? “I wouldn’t put it that way.”

  “Then tell me how you would put it,” she said.

  “I want to take care of you.” The words came out almost weak, as if he knew it didn’t hold up.

  “I can’t even think right now, I’m so tired. Fine. If you aren’t going to answer me, and aren’t going to leave, then I’m ignoring you.”

  With that, she turned over, leaving him to face her back, and then she closed her eyes. Jackson knew the chances of her falling asleep with him sitting there were unlikely, but he couldn’t seem to make himself get up and leave. When a few minutes later her breathing deepened and she did fall asleep, he smiled slightly. She wasn’t as uncomfortable around him as she said she was. Moving to the other side of her bed, so he could look into her face, he couldn’t help but brush back the soft blond strands of hair that were covering her eyes, emotion clogging his throat.

  She had to believe he was the lowest of the low. Then, as he considered the sort of man he’d been over the last five years, he flinched. He probably deserved any unpleasant thing she thought of him, and a whole lot worse. He knew he was hardened and cynical, but he couldn’t help it. Life had made him that way. She was carrying another man’s baby. He should leave, never look back.

  While he continued battling whatever it was he was feeling, her parents stepped through the doorway. They approached the bed and stood next to Jackson, gazing upon their daughter.

  “She’s always been a fighter,” Teresa whispered, a tender smile on her face.

  “Yes, she has,” Donald said.

  “She certainly leaves an impression,” Jackson told them. “All I’ve witnessed so far is her strength. I hope to get to know her a whole lot better.”

  “She needs good people in her life. There have been some who didn’t have her best interests at heart,” Teresa said, laying her hand on Jackson’s shoulder. He wasn’t sure if it was a warning or a blessing. He didn’t know what he wanted it to be.

  “Are you the father?” Donald asked bluntly.

  “No. But I can take care of her,” Jackson replied.

  “What kind of man would leave her alone in this condition?” Donald asked. “You’d better not be playing games with her, especially not when she’s so vulnerable.”

  “It’s all a little complicated, sir. Your daughter is . . .” Jackson waited for the right word to form on his tongue.

  “She’s stubborn as hell and thinks she can do it all on her own,” Donald said. “Look what that thinking caused. She could have lost the baby her mother and I didn’t even know about until we were driving her home the other night.” He spoke again after a brief pause. “What are your intentions with my daughter?”

  Damn! Jackson really didn’t know how to answer that question. Yes, he wanted her in his bed—that hadn’t changed—and yes, he was willing to take care of her to help him reach that goal. But if he said that he wanted to bed the man’s daughter, he was sure Donald would throw him through the second-floor window. And he’d deserve the harsh meeting with the pavement he’d receive.

  “I hope to have a relationship with her.” What sort of relationship, he couldn’t say.

  “Well, she didn’t mention you once in the last two days,” Donald said, not taking his eyes from Jackson’s face.

  “Alyssa and I have something. I know that for sure,” he said.

  “We’ll see about that,” Donald said, his eyes narrowing.

  “That’s all any of us can do,” Jackson said, not breaking eye contact. He wouldn’t show her father weakness, or he’d surely never be allowed to step foot in their house again.

  “Alyssa needs to rest.” Donald didn’t say anything more and Jackson recognized the polite dismissal. He nodded his head and departed. He didn’t want to; he wanted to take a stand and refuse to go, but that wasn’t the kind of first impression he wanted to give Alyssa’s parents.

  Jackson was more confused than ever as he walked from their house and made his way to his truck. And as he drove away, he grew even more confused—there was no fear inside him, no regrets for what he’d offered. All he felt was fear that she wouldn’t accept. He really wanted her to take him up on his offer.

  Hell, maybe he should leave her completely alone until he could figure out what he was thinking. But as he parked in his driveway, he leaned his head against the steering wheel and groaned. He wasn’t going anywhere—maybe not ever.

  “Good morning, Alyssa.”

  Her parents were traitors! Alyssa stared at Jackson as he came through her door holding a box of chocolates and a beautiful bouquet of spring flowers. Why hadn’t they given her a warning or asked her if she was okay with receiving visitors? Probably because the man could talk a saint into sinning. He was smooth. Too smooth for her to outwit.

  She’d made no decision on what to say to him, or what not to say to him, and it was too early in the morning for her to try to keep her thoughts straight, let alone her words. He’d easily be able to talk her into anything if she wasn’t careful.

  She went for distant politeness. “Morning, Jackson. You didn’t need to come back here. I’m fine.” Show strength and he wouldn’t ask any more questions, right?

  “We never finished our discussion, so you must have known I’d be back.” He stepped forward to hand her the chocolates and then set the flowers on her dresser.

  “I should refuse to take these, but I have a weakness for chocolate, especially lately,” she said as she opened the box and took one out, biting into the soft treat. “Thanks.”

  “Are you feeling better today?”

  “Wow. We’re both being so polite. It’s almost like someone has died,” she said, too tired to keep up this game.

  “If you’d rather I get right to it, then why don’t you answer a simple question,” he said, sitting far too close to her.

  “What?” she asked when he was silent for too long.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?”

  That stopped her for a heartbeat. Then her brow furrowed as she looked at him. “I don’t see why I should have. It’s none of your business.”
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  “I have been trying to get you into my bed for the past couple of weeks. Your being pregnant definitely is a factor,” he said.

  “I have been more than clear that I don’t want to get back into your bed, Jackson.”

  “And I have been more than clear that I think you’re lying to me. And until I feel otherwise, I’m not backing away.”

  “So it’s all about you and your feelings? I have no say in any of this? You’ll just camp out in my parents’ house because you’re not satisfied with what I’m telling you? If Martin weren’t your father, I’d say you had a lousy upbringing.”

  He flinched. “Let’s leave my upbringing out of this.”

  “Fine. Let’s leave my pregnancy out of this.”

  “All your fancy footwork isn’t going to change my mind, Alyssa. I want you to be honest with me. I want you, period.”

  The guy confused the heck out of her. “Even now? That makes no sense, Jackson. I’m pregnant.”

  “Yes, you’re pregnant. It doesn’t change how I feel, and why should it? I still want you.”

  “It must be very difficult for you to walk around all day,” she told him sweetly.

  Now he was the confused one. He looked at her and waited, and when she said nothing else, he finally spoke. “I probably don’t want to hear this, but why would it be difficult for me to walk around?”

  “Because you are so arrogant that all that weight from your huge ego has got to be quite a burden to carry around,” she said with a big smile.

  “Ah, baby, don’t you worry one little bit about my ego or my feelings. I have a feeling I’ll sleep just fine tonight,” he said as he leaned over her, getting entirely too close for her comfort.

  “Back off, Jackson,” she said, leaning back as far as her headboard would allow.

  “Why, Alyssa? Are you afraid of me?” he asked, coming just a little bit closer.

  “No,” she snapped, putting her hand against his chest to try to keep him away.

  “I don’t think you’re afraid of me at all. However, I do think you’re afraid of yourself and the way that I make you feel.”

  Bingo! He’d definitely gotten that one right. Not that she would ever, even under oath, admit that to him. How was she expected to keep him at bay when he muddled her thoughts so badly?

  “Have you thought about my offer?”

  “There’s not a chance I want you taking care of me, Jackson. And I don’t need you to. And it’s not just that I have my parents to do a far better job than you ever could. There’s more. When I first arrived her in Sterling, I was lost, I’ll admit, and I didn’t have a clue what I was going to do. But I’ve had time to grow stronger, to make plans. I am just fine on my own,” she said with no little pride.

  “What are your plans, Alyssa?”

  She breathed a little easier when he backed away, though it wasn’t far enough.

  “I don’t think that’s any of your business, either, Jackson.”

  “Aren’t we friends?”

  “We don’t know each other,” she snapped. “How could we be friends? And for that matter, why would you even want to take care of me, whatever that even means?”

  “I disagree. I think we’re friends. We’ve spent a lot of time together in the past two weeks. To top that off, we have incredible chemistry, and we can be good to each other.” He sat down and made himself comfortable, as if for a long stay. Then he continued. “And as far as taking care of you,” he told her before pausing and lifting his lips in a brilliant smile, “it means that we live together. I watch over you, make sure you stay healthy and have everything you need. You quit working at the Country Saloon. It’s dangerous. And in turn . . . well, you take care of me, too.”

  “Spell it out, Jackson. What you want is unlimited sex.” She might as well make everything as black-and-white as he was doing.

  “Well . . . yes, but you’re going to enjoy that just as much as me.”

  He didn’t even appear to be ashamed of that answer. What was he thinking? He was probably thinking that she was the type of girl who’d had a one-night stand with him and then went off and had another one with someone else and got knocked up. He probably considered her good mistress material. That kind of a girl.

  “I have a home, Jackson, and I’m not interested in quitting my job. I like working there, love my customers—well, most of them, anyway. I love my coworkers. I can’t possibly just sit at home day and night and twiddle my thumbs. I’ve worked hard from the time I was fourteen because my parents taught me that if I wanted the world, I had to take it in my own hands, not depend on another person to give it to me. And I’m not interested in being any man’s personal mistress.”

  “There are also times when it’s right to let someone else handle the weight thrust upon your shoulders. You’re on your feet for hours upon hours at your job. You sometimes even work double shifts. That can’t be beneficial to your pregnancy.” He ignored the mistress comment for now. She had no doubt he wasn’t letting the topic drop, though.

  “Jackson Whitman, from the beginning of time women have been bearing children while still working hard. Women would work on their farms up until delivery, and some of them didn’t even manage to make it back in from the fields or the barns before the child was born. A little hard work certainly won’t harm my child, and I resent you for trying to make me feel bad for having a good work ethic.”

  “Women of old also lost a lot of babies . . . and their own lives, too. Yes, they were tough, and they’re still tough today, but they also know when they need to rest. They listen to their bodies. Your mother told me you were bleeding, Alyssa. Your doctor put you on bed rest for at least a few days. Isn’t that enough to make you want to slow down?”

  “I will have to chat with my mother about what she tells you,” she said, furious for the invasion of her privacy. “And not that I owe you an explanation, but I will listen to what my doctor says, and after a few days, I’m sure I will be back in full health. I wouldn’t risk my child.”

  “I’m not saying you would, and don’t be harsh on your mother. We were just visiting and she’s concerned about you,” he said, not seeming as confident as he had before.

  “When did you have a chance to chat with my mom?” She was confused.

  “I sat in the kitchen with her for a few minutes. I like your mother.”

  Alyssa was about ready to explode. “You are so infuriating!” she snapped. “And I don’t care what kind of dressing you put on this, Jackson, but you are telling me that if I don’t take your offer of shacking up—a lovely idea in Sterling, where everyone notices everything and everyone talks about it incessantly—then I’m not a good mother. I think it’s pretty despicable to use my fear for my child to try to get your way.”

  He was completely silent as he processed her words. He opened his mouth to speak when her parents walked into the room, interrupting them. She shot her mother a look that screamed “Traitor!”

  “Mmm, chocolates,” Teresa said, ignoring the look as she reached into the box. “How thoughtful, Jackson.”

  “Yes, he’s just a peach,” Alyssa said, not wanting to share her chocolate with a traitor, and barely managing to keep her complaint to herself.

  “I know the way to a woman’s heart,” Jackson said with a wink that had her mother smiling. “I hope you aren’t being kept too busy taking care of Alyssa.”

  Alyssa sent Jackson another glare of warning. There was no way he was going to suggest that he take care of her to her mother. She could see him trying to go around her and getting the okay from her mom. Not that it would do him any good if he did. She was an adult who made her own decisions. Even if her mother approved of him, she couldn’t possibly approve of her unmarried daughter living with a man.

  “I enjoy having Alyssa back home and getting a rare opportunity to take care of her,” Teresa replied.

  “There are times I really would have loved to have a mother, especially one like you,” he said, and Alyssa stopped her
self from saying what she’d been about to say. It hadn’t been nice, but guilt consumed her as she thought about him growing up without a mother.

  “Oh, sweetie, everyone should have a mom,” Teresa said, and then walked over and enveloped Jackson in a hug. Alyssa would have thought it all an act, but for one unguarded moment, he looked up and their eyes connected. What was in them couldn’t be faked.

  “Well, having a dad is important, too,” Donald said, puffing out his chest.

  “Yes, of course, sir, and my dad is truly a great man,” Jackson said.

  “You’ve been here two days in a row, son. I would really like to know exactly how close you and my daughter are, since you didn’t answer my questions very well yesterday,” Donald said.

  Alyssa felt like screaming now. They were having a conversation about her as if she weren’t even in the room. And her dad was acting like a nightmare from Victorian times. Oh, hell, in Victorian times no father would have asked a man his intentions when the daughter was knocked up and said it was by someone else. Her dad had carried this into lunatic territory.

  Then she glanced at Jackson and didn’t trust the look in his eyes, not one little bit. Jackson wasn’t a slow man. If he could get Alyssa’s father on his side, then he had a fighting chance with her. Both of Alyssa’s parents were looking at him expectantly. She wanted to break in, wanted to end this conversation, but it turned out she didn’t need to. Jackson’s phone rang and he picked it up, as if grateful for the interruption.

  After speaking for a moment into the phone, he flipped it closed and said, “I’m sorry. I have to go.”

  With that he walked from the room without answering her father’s question. That was answer enough, wasn’t it? Her dad must have realized that the man’s intentions were anything but honorable.

  Her parents looked at her, but they didn’t say anything more about Jackson. And that was a good thing. She didn’t want to hear another word about him. Why bother even thinking about him? The man had fled, and everything had worked out for the best.