The SEAL’s Surprise Baby (3 page)

“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 lis
tened 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 corn
flowers. 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.

J
ack 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.”

Her mother’s voice held a smile as she said, “I don’t think he was talking about money, sweetie.”

The words sent a trickle of fear down her spine. What was he up to? Melanie said goodbye and hung up, then sat back down and cupped her coffee mug. She’d sulk if she had the time, she thought, feeling a little betrayed by her parents.

“He called your father,” Lisa said, her eyes wide. Melanie nodded. “Oh, gutsy Jack. That must have been interesting.”

A little smiled twitched at Melanie’s lips. “I bet it was.”

Lisa pushed Juliana’s cereal loops within reach. “You know my brother is a great guy, don’t you?”

“I plead the Fifth.”

“Hey, he hasn’t done anything wrong.”

Melanie sighed. “Except threaten me.”

“What?”

“He said he was in my life and I couldn’t stop him.”

“Well, that is a threat, though weak and understandable.” Lisa made faces at Juliana and the baby imitated her. “What are you going to do?”

Melanie shrugged. When it came to Jack Singer, she felt pretty helpless.

“You know, Brian’s asked me to join him on his next business trip. For a month. I think I will.”

Melanie arched a brow. “Jumping ship on me?”

“No, I’m trying really hard to preserve what I have. A wonderful friend and a loving brother. I don’t want to have to choose.”

“Who says you’ll have to?” It was Lisa’s turn to look doubtful. And darn it, Melanie could see her friend’s point. She didn’t want to put Lisa in the middle, either. “Okay, go. I can handle Jack.”

Her friend stood and grabbed her purse, hitching it onto her shoulder. Lisa kissed the baby and smiled at the mother. “Good luck.” She headed to the door.

“Why did you write and tell him?”

“Because as much as I love you, I love my brother best.” Her eyes hardened.

So like Jack’s, Melanie thought.

“What if that night was all we had, Lisa?” Melanie called when Lisa reached the door. She couldn’t afford to get her heart crushed again.

Lisa looked at Melanie, sympathy in her eyes. “You have to give the relationship a chance to find that out, don’t you, Mel?”

Before Melanie could argue that she had to risk an already bruised heart to do that, Lisa slipped out. Turning to her daughter, Melanie picked bits of cereal out of her hair and watched her bang her pudgy palms on the high-chair tray. There was no mistaking that Juliana was Jack’s baby. She had his eyes. Intelligent, probing blue eyes.

“Hey, Jules,” Melanie said, and the baby looked
at her, smiled brightly and offered a fistful of squishy cereal loops. Smiling, Melanie leaned down for a pretend bite. “I love you, munchkin. God, I love you.”

Melanie blinked back tears and wondered what would become of them. She’d had it all figured out till Jack showed up. She liked things neat and in order, to know the outcome of events. Which was why she was a banker. Figures didn’t lie. Figures didn’t cheat on you while you were selecting china and bridesmaids. Numbers didn’t leave you with the pitying gazes of everyone you had to tell about the broken engagement. Twice.

She wondered what was wrong with her that men left so easily. She was nice. She had a good sense of humor. She wasn’t a supermodel, but she wasn’t ugly. What was it about her that sent men running to someone more interesting?

Jack’s face loomed in her mind as she gathered up her baby. She held Juliana closely and prayed Jack would just leave. She’d handled Craig’s betrayal with his old love. She handled Andy’s with his bimbo secretary.

But with Jack? If he got her hopes up and dumped her, well, she’d never recover. She was certain of that. And she’d have his daughter to look at every day to remind herself of her failure. No, it was better her way. No chance, no heartache. Right?

She looked at the baby. “Right?”

Juliana didn’t answer. It was just as well. There wasn’t one, she thought. There just wasn’t.

Juliana was fussing for her dinner, Melanie was trying to get a load of laundry collected and into the
washer before she started the evening phase of her day. Her day off, too, she thought. A heavy knock shook the door and for a split second, Juliana stopped whining and looked with Melanie at the door.

“Probably a salesman again,” she said to her daughter, and crossed the living room. Propping the laundry basket on one hip, she opened the door.

“Jack.”

“Good, you didn’t forget me.”

Like that would ever happen, she thought. Just looking at him made her insides turn to mush. “Why are you here?” Her voice sounded steady, right?

“Lisa and Brian took off and I was alone and hungry.”

“Good that you have a houseful of food, because Lisa is a great cook.”

Jack’s gaze slipped over Melanie. She filled out those jeans better than any woman he’d known, but her face showed signs of fatigue.

“Then I guess you aren’t up for takeout?” He held up the pints of Chinese food.

Melanie inhaled the delicious scent and smothered a groan.
Moo goo gai pan.
Her favorite. He fights dirty, she thought. “No thank you, we’re fine.” Juliana took that moment to exercise her lungs and Melanie glanced at her daughter. “Hey, be patient. It’s warming.”

“What’s warming?”

“Her dinner, her bottle, followed by a bath, quiet time, then sleep.”

“Then you get to do what, Melanie? Sit here alone and watch TV.”

She made a rude sound. “I get to keep cleaning, working. Ironing my clothes for work. Then I get to rest.”

“It’s tough alone, isn’t it?”

Her spine stiffened. She walked right into that one, she thought. “I manage. And will continue to do so, without your help.”

“Hey, I’m not taking over, darlin’, I’m just bringing chow.” She arched a brow. He calmly gazed back, then smiled. “You going to keep me standing out here all night for the neighbors to see or what?” When she just stared, he swung the boxes. “It’s hot. And I’m starving.”

Tempting…so tempting. Both Jack and the dinner. But if she let him in now, he’d only expect to be able to come back whenever he felt like it. “So go home and eat it.” She was too tired to deal with him now.

“Listen, Melanie, she’s my daughter, too, and I barely got a chance to look at her.”

A tiny twinge of guilt poked at her. “She has all ten fingers and toes, is in perfect health, and the longer you bug me, the madder she’s going to get about being denied her dinner.”

Jack pushed his way inside. “Then I guess you should hop to it, huh?”

“Jack.”

“Have dinner with me, Melanie. We need to talk.”

It was the smell of
moo goo gai pan
that did it, she thought. Not that smile. Not that pleading look she’d never seen on his face before. Okay, he was right, they needed to talk. Getting it all out on the
table, so to speak, would make it clearer to Jack that she couldn’t marry him.

She nodded and he smiled, walking to the kitchen and dropping the pints and bags on the kitchen table. She was right behind him.

He turned and took the laundry basket. “I’ll do this.”

“I’m capable.”

“I don’t doubt that. But Her Highness looks like she’s working up to a Mach 1 scream.”

Melanie looked. Juliana was trying to move the walker, but her legs were still too short and all she did was kick the air in frustration. The baby was reaching for her and Melanie’s heart shifted. She handed over the basket and went to her daughter. “Come on, munchkin, dinner’s on.”

Jack watched her with the baby for a moment. How Melanie soothed Juliana, offered her a cracker as she set her in the high chair. She held a conversation with their daughter as if they were the only two people in the world, and feeling like the odd man out, Jack disappeared into the garage with the laundry basket, assuming that was where the washer and dryer were located. They were. He separated a load. Ignoring the lace panties and bras, he focused on the baby clothes. Baby detergent, he thought, remembering a TV commercial for it. He started the load and went back into the kitchen. Melanie was feeding the baby.

Jack watched. He couldn’t help it. Just the sight of them, doing something so ordinary, fascinated him.

Then Juliana leaned out to look past her mother at
him. His heart soared and he blew her a kiss. She smiled and spit food as she tried her best to talk to him, and Melanie turned to look at him, a smile tilting her lips.

“I think we’re communicating,” Jack said.

“That doesn’t say much for your intellect.”

His gaze narrowed. “You’re crabby.”

“I’m sorry. I’m a mother. This time of day we’re required to be crabby.”

He smiled, shaking his head and moved to dish up the Chinese food. “You ready for some chow?”