Karen Smith – The Daddy Verdict (страница 2)

“What happened, Sierra? This kind of thing isn’t like you at all. You told me Ben Barclay is going to be Miguel’s best man, but you don’t really know him, do you? Did he take advantage of you in some way? Put something in your drink? Did you have too many glasses of wine to celebrate Camille and Miguel’s engagement?”

Sierra remembered her first glimpse of Ben at the party. Oh, he was handsome all right, with black hair, thick brows, defined cheekbones and a jaw that looked very stern, except when he smiled. When his gray eyes had held hers for a long moment across the room, she’d felt…breathless, and had been unsettled by the tingles that had danced down her spine. With good reason. She didn’t date because the memories of her fiancé and the selflessness that had gotten him killed were still too fresh at times.

But, as Sierra knew, fate wasn’t something you could control. After she and Ben had been introduced, they’d begun a conversation about his work, about her shop. The room had gotten very noisy. She’d sensed he liked quiet as much as she did when he’d invited her to his room. She’d never expected their conversation would lead to bed.

“Sierra?”

“Aunt Gina, he was the perfect gentleman. I mean, it was both of us. It just happened. I’m not sure why or how. It just did.”

“Do you want me to come home?”

Sierra’s mother and father were anthropologists who traveled the world. Although they’d kept her with them when she was small, she’d always known she was secondary to whatever they shared, including their work. Her mother found nannies and teachers for her and often brought her back to New Mexico to spend weeks or months with her aunt.

Sierra had always felt extraneous. Once on a visit home, she’d heard her parents arguing with her aunt, her mother’s sister, about her need for normal high school years, a chance to socialize with children her own age and make bonds that would last longer than six months or a year. When Aunt Gina had invited Sierra to live with her for her four years of high school, Sierra had accepted joyfully, and would always be filled with gratitude for that time of her life.

Now her aunt was in Greece, a trip she had planned for most of her adult life. Sierra wasn’t going to make her cut it short.

“There’s no need for you to come home. Honestly, I’m fine. I really am. Camille and Miguel are here and so are other friends. I’ll be busy with Camille’s wedding next weekend.”

“But who will look after you when they’re away? What if you have a problem?”

“I can look after myself. My doctor’s a phone call away. Honestly, Aunt Gina, please don’t worry.”

The security bell dinged as her shop door opened. Ben Barclay walked in!

“Aunt Gina, Ben just came in. I have to go.”

“Don’t let him make decisions for you,” her aunt warned.

“I won’t.”

“Call me again soon.”

“I will. I love you,” she murmured into the cell phone, and after her aunt returned the sentiment, Sierra closed it.

With the brilliant New Mexico sun behind Ben, he stood in shadow until he approached the counter. His gaze assessed the space quickly—the glass cases filled with beaded jewelry created of lapis and tiger eye, turquoise and Venetian glass. She couldn’t tell from his expression what he thought, but she’d already learned that was normal for an encounter with Ben. Dressed in black cargo pants and a rust-and-black Henley shirt, he looked every bit as handsome as he had in his suit. She couldn’t keep other pictures from clicking through her mind—broad bare shoulders, curling black chest hair, powerful muscles…

Sierra warned herself not to expect anything from him. There was an edge to him that she suspected came from his work—all-encompassing work, like her fiancé’s had been. Travis had been a doctor, and his vocation had been to save lives. Ben saved lives, too, in a different way. He put the bad guys away so they couldn’t hurt anyone again. But his work had been another reason she’d left his room so quickly that night. Right or wrong, dedicated men didn’t put the people they loved first.

Ben approached the sales counter where she stood. “At the party you told me you make jewelry. Which are yours?” He was obviously starting with soft conversation before they delved into the tough stuff.

“I made all of it. At least when I get insomnia, I have something to do,” she joked, though it was hard to come up with a smile, wondering why he’d come and what he would say.

Ben’s gray eyes took in everything about her, from her turquoise blouse to her brown gaucho pants. They came back to rest on her necklace, the long dangle of beads that rested between the plackets of her blouse. “Did you make that?”

His gaze on her melted her insides as she nodded. When he’d made love to her, nothing had existed except the two of them.

His thumb ran over a turquoise nugget, then the round coral beads beneath it. “You’re a talented woman.”

“I just have a knack for putting together colors and shapes.”

Dropping the dangle as if it were suddenly too hot to handle, he said, “I want to be part of my baby’s life…if this child is my baby.”

In some ways she knew life would be easier and less complicated if she parented their child alone. Still, she answered, “It is.”

He scrutinized her for a long moment. “We’ll have a DNA test done after the baby’s born. But until then, I want to know what’s happening. Do you need financial assistance?”

His jaw had set after he asked the question, and Sierra wondered if he believed she was just after money. “I don’t need help.”

“Do you have insurance?”

“Yes, I do. I didn’t come to you because I wanted anything.”

“You just thought I should know?”

The repetition of her reasoning sounded lame when he said it, but it was the truth. “I have an appointment with my obstetrician Thursday after next. If you’re interested in meeting her, if you have questions…”

She trailed off, feeling they were moving toward an intimacy she wasn’t ready for. And it had nothing to do with having sex. The intimacy involved becoming parents together.

“I have a trial coming up, but if there’s any way I can be at your appointment, I will. Just let me know when and where.”

This was so awkward. She’d never dated much. By the time she’d gone to public high school, the other girls were way ahead of her with their flirting skills. She’d always just wanted to meet someone who would understand her…whom she could understand. Travis had been the one. Even though her aunt had told her she was too young to get seriously involved at twenty, her parents, on the other hand, had told her to follow her heart. She had.

“What are you thinking about?” Ben asked, and she realized memories must have shone in her eyes.

“I was thinking about what brought me here.”

“To Albuquerque?”

“No, not exactly. To age twenty-four, having the shop, meeting you and now getting pregnant.”

He waited for a moment as if to see if she’d say more. But she didn’t. She didn’t know him well enough. She’d been so foolish to let unexpected desire lead her here.

“You said you live with your aunt. Do you have other family in Albuquerque?”

She shook her head. “No. My parents are in Africa right now. And even my aunt—” She stopped, not knowing how many personal details she wanted to give him.

“Your aunt?”

“She’s traveling. She’ll be back in a few weeks.”

“Does she know about the pregnancy?”

“I called her this afternoon. I wanted to tell you first.”

That seemed to give him pause. “How about Camille?”

“If we have any alone time before the wedding, I’ll tell her. But if not, I’ll wait until she returns from her honeymoon.”

“Are you planning to stay overnight at the hacienda after the wedding?”

Miguel Padilla’s parents lived in a hacienda outside of Santa Fe. That’s where the wedding was going to be held, though the reception would be celebrated at the inn where Sierra and Ben had attended the engagement party. “I’ll be staying over. Camille’s mother wants to talk to me about Christmas presents she’d like me to make for her nieces. What about you?”

“I hadn’t decided yet, but now I’m beginning to think it might be a good idea. In fact, we could go together.”

That suggestion urged her to take a deep breath. “Together?”

“We’re going to have decisions to make. Don’t you think it would be a good idea if we got to know each other?”

Sierra really hadn’t thought past telling Ben the news about the pregnancy, simply because she hadn’t known what his reaction would be…or how he’d feel about fatherhood. Maybe the weekend would provide them with a good opportunity to figure out whether or not they could parent together.

When she didn’t answer right away, he frowned. “Look, if that’s too complicated—”

“No. No, it’s not. I just…I hadn’t thought past telling you I was pregnant. I thought you’d want nothing to do with me and the baby.”

“How did you get that impression?”

“Your career takes up most of your time. Besides, this isn’t the kind of responsibility a man takes on willingly.”

“You assumed I wouldn’t be willing.”

“I suppose I did.”

The silence floated around them like the dust motes in the sunlight. Finally, Ben concluded, “Maybe after next weekend we’ll both know each other better.”