BEVERLY BARTON – Wanted: Father for Her Baby: Keeping Baby Secret / Five Brothers and a Baby / Expecting Brand's Baby (страница 7)
Frank loosened his hold on Moran’s suit, then released the lapels and took a deep breath. “And some stupid federal agent would stop you.”
Moran’s lips twitched with a hint of a smile. “You know it.”
“How much can I tell Leenie?” Frank asked.
“Tell her about the abduction ring and our suspicions that Andrew was stolen by these slimeballs, but that’s it. If and when we make a move, you can tell her afterward, hopefully when we bring her son home to her.”
“She’ll be mad as hell at all of us,” Frank said.
“After the way you treated her in there, I’d say she’s already mad as hell at you,” Kate told him. “Maybe you should go back inside and talk to her, even apologize.”
“Maybe you’re right.”
Kate smiled. “Could be there’s hope for you yet, Latimer.”
Leenie ran a comb through her hair, then opened her jewelry case and removed a pair of gold and diamond earrings. She’d been wearing these the first time she’d seen Frank. He’d come into WJMM as part of the Dundee team sent to Maysville to protect Elsa Leone against death threats nearly a year ago. He and Kate had been the investigative team and they’d set up shop in Elsa’s office in the WJMM studio complex. The minute she’d met Frank, she’d wanted him. And she’d had him in record time. She had thought he’d be her first one-night stand; instead their encounter had turned out to be the first time she’d ever had sex with someone she’d just met, someone little more than a stranger. But with Frank it had seemed right not to wait. The sex had been incredible. They’d set the sheets on fire and sent off skyrockets. And the more they had sex, the more they’d wanted it. They couldn’t get enough of each other.
Leenie slipped the earrings on, then slid her fingers down the side of her neck, remembering the feel of Frank’s big, rough fingers caressing her.
While she stood staring at herself in the mirror, her eyes glazed over with memories, Haley came in and walked up behind her. “You haven’t eaten enough to keep a bird alive. Why don’t you let me make you a sandwich.”
“Food won’t help,” Leenie said. “I feel as if I eat a bite, I’ll throw it up.”
“How did things go with Frank?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“What did he do?”
“He hates me.” Leenie sighed. “And I can’t blame him. He had every right to know about his son. He doesn’t understand why I didn’t tell him I was pregnant.”
A deep male voice said, “Yes, he does understand.”
Leenie gasped when she saw Frank’s reflection in the mirror. Haley turned around and gave him a withering glare as she moved past him toward the door.
Haley paused, glanced over her shoulder and said, “See if you can get her to eat something. And if you say or do anything to upset her, you’ll answer to me.”
The minute Haley closed the door, Frank came up behind Leenie. Her breath caught in her throat. A part of her still wanted his arms around her; another part of her wanted to tell him to go away and leave her alone. She simply stood there, those stupid diamond earrings glimmering in the fading late afternoon sunlight coming through the sheer window curtains. Why had she put on these earrings? Had she thought he’d actually remember her wearing them?
“I’m sorry,” he said.
She looked at his reflection in the mirror and plainly saw the sincerity of his words in the expression on his face. And in his eyes. Those stormy-sea gray eyes that spoke volumes.
Emotion tightened her throat. She couldn’t speak, so she nodded.
He touched her then. Those big, hard hands tenderly clutched her shoulders.
“I know you had your reasons for not telling me you were pregnant,” he said. “You probably figured I wouldn’t relish the news of impending fatherhood.”
She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly.
His hands tightened ever so slightly on her shoulders. “After the way we ended things, you had no reason to think I’d want to be a part of Andrew’s life.”
“I should have told you,” she finally managed to say.
“It doesn’t matter now. Finding Andrew and bringing him home is what matters. And I swear to you, Leenie, I’ll move heaven and earth to do that.”
She swallowed the tears choking her. Of its own accord her body swayed backward toward his and the minute it did, he slid his hands downward from her shoulders and wrapped his arms around her. Her back pressed against his chest and for the first time since Andrew had been kidnapped, she felt a sense of hope. Crazy as the notion was, her heart believed that Frank could keep his promise to bring their baby home to her.
“I love him so,” she said. “He’s everything…to…me.” Her shaky voice grew softer with each word as she tried in vain to keep from crying. “At first I couldn’t…cry. Now I—I can’t…seem…to stop…crying.”
Hugging her comfortingly, he lowered his head and pressed his cheek against her temple. “I wish I could cry. God knows I feel like it.”
Startled by his comment, she stiffened in his arms. Frank Latimer crying? She couldn’t imagine it. Was he saying that he cared about Andrew, even loved him? Was it possible that he was actually pleased about having a son? Or was his reaction strictly impersonal, the kind any normal person would have after learning a two-month-old baby had been kidnapped?
“I know what you’re thinking,” he said, his voice husky with emotion. “You’re wondering what kind of man I am, if I’m pleased to be a father or horrified. You’re thinking how dare he care now, after the fact. Why didn’t he call me after he left Maysville nearly a year ago? He’s a day late and a dollar short.”
As the tension drained from her body, she allowed his strength to support her. Instinct told her that despite their past history, Frank was a man she could lean on, a man she could count on when the chips were down. And God knew she needed somebody strong right now, someone who felt what she felt—the panic and terror, the excruciating pain. Only Andrew’s father could even begin to understand the depth of her feelings.
“How do you feel about having a child?” She avoided looking at his reflection in the mirror. She knew that no matter what he said, his true reaction would show on his face. She’d learned that much about him during their brief interlude. Frank Latimer did not have a poker face.
He turned her in his arms. “Look at me, Leenie.”
She lifted her gaze to meet his and saw confusion in his eyes, as well as concern.
“I’m not sure how I feel,” he admitted. “I never thought about being a father. I knew, after my divorce, that I’d never get married again. And I’m just old-fashioned enough to think a guy should get married before he fathers a child. I don’t have unsafe sex. You know that.”
“Condoms aren’t foolproof,” she told him. “And I wasn’t on the pill. Most doctors recommend another form of birth control for women after they turn thirty-five.”
“You don’t have to explain. We thought we were being careful. Responsible. Accident’s happen.”
“Is that how you think of Andrew, as an accident?” Heat suffused her face as her temper rose.
“Don’t put words in my mouth. All I’m saying is that Andrew’s conception was an accident. I just found out today that I’m a father. Give me some time to figure out what I think about having a child. You had nine months of pregnancy and two months with Andrew to figure out how you feel. Did you know immediately when you found out you were pregnant that you wanted the child, that you loved him?”
Well, he had her there. No, of course she hadn’t known immediately that she loved and wanted her baby. When she’d read the home pregnancy test, she’d panicked. And when the doctor had confirmed her condition, she’d stayed in a state of shock for days. She had even considered an abortion. But only for about two minutes.
“You’re right. I was being unfair putting you on the spot that way.”
He cupped her face with his hands. “I do know this—I care about Andrew. And I’ll do whatever it takes to bring our son home to you. Once he’s back in your arms, we’ll figure out where to go from there.”
“Fair enough.” She swallowed fresh tears.
“I realize we’re little more than strangers to each other. We had a whirlwind love affair and we spent most of our time making love, not getting acquainted.”
She nodded.
“I’d like to learn more about Andrew, if you’re willing to talk to me about him. It might help you. Hell, it might help both of us. But if you’d rather not, it’s okay.”
She pulled away from Frank, walked across the room and picked up the most recent photograph of her baby. “This was taken a few weeks ago. It’s a picture of him I took with my digital camera. I enlarged it and framed it.” She held it out to Frank.
He didn’t move for a couple of minutes, as if he were afraid of the picture. Was he wondering how his first glimpse of his son would affect him?
“He’s asleep in this picture, so you can’t see his eyes.” She moved toward Frank, the framed photograph in her hand. “He has blue eyes, like mine. And blond hair. Not much hair, mostly just baby-fine fluff.”