The SEAL’s Surprise Baby (5 page)

Other kids came from single parents and did fine, but it was the stigma of being a bastard that stung. Kids teased and often were ugly about it.

He refused to put his own child through that.

Jack went to the stereo and pushed in a CD, then came back to the table. He didn’t say anything as he let the music soothe the rough edges.

“I’ll back off, if that’s what you want,” he said.

Melanie’s head jerked up.

“I’ll stop pestering you to marry me.” For now, he thought, since they were butting heads like two bulls. “But I want to be in Juliana’s life and on
that
I’m not budging.”

Melanie’s gaze locked with his. She nodded. “Okay.”

“Good.”

“Why don’t you come over during the day?”

He was well aware of the ploy. Be here when the sitter was and not when Melanie was. “You’re setting limits?”

“No, it’s just that—”

“Can’t handle being me near, Melanie?” he interrupted. “Afraid you’ll like it?”

“Of course I can handle it,” she said.

“Outstanding. Because I have two months’ leave and this is the only place I plan to be.”

Two months, she thought. Oh, no.

He leaned back in the chair, chewing his dinner, and then grinned. Melanie looked nervous already. This was going to be interesting, he thought, and poured her more wine.

Jack was true to his word. He didn’t mention marriage again. But he was being a nuisance. Melanie couldn’t turn a corner and not find him near. And now this was going too far. He was at the doctor’s office when she’d arrived, waiting for her. He wanted to see who was caring for his daughter and butted into the examination, asking a dozen questions. That was fine. He was Juliana’s father.

But Juliana had to have one of her regular shots, and when the baby cried, Melanie cried, too. The
nurse left them and Jack slipped his arms around her, holding both of them close.

“She’s so little and I’m letting them hurt her,” Melanie said.

His smile was filled with tender humor. “No, darlin’,” he said softly. “She has to have them, you know that.”

“I know, I know. I just don’t want to cause her any pain.”

The baby still cried and Jack lifted her from her mother’s arms, holding her tightly and rubbing her tender thigh. He murmured to his daughter, his voice a soft drone of tenderness. When the baby quieted, he handed her back to Melanie.

“Well, I feel foolish,” Melanie said, sniffling.

“Hey, I wanted to cry for her, too,” he said, walking with Melanie to the front desk. “Navy SEALs don’t cry—ruins the image.”

“Ahh, my hero,” she said.

He stilled, meeting her gaze, and sudden heat rippled between them. She’d said that to him once before when they were making love, and the memory of it flooded between them. Warm, wicked. Greedy. The softness in her green eyes said she remembered, too.

The nurse at the desk cleared her throat.

Jack dragged his gaze from Melanie. “I’m Juliana’s father,” he said to the nurse. “And her medical bills are insured by TriCare.” He handed over a temporary card, his ID card, and Melanie frowned.

“What are you doing?” she said.

“She’s legally my dependent, so she’s entitled to the benefits. Though there aren’t many anymore.”

“I can manage this alone,” Melanie said.

“I know you can,” he said softly. “But it’s there for her. I earned the right to have those benefits extend to her. When she’s ten she’ll have an ID card and use of facilities on the base.”

Although they spoke softly, people were staring, listening. Melanie hitched the baby on her hip. “We can discuss this later.”

“Sure,” he said easily, taking his cards back and slipping them into his wallet. He walked to the far side of the room, opened the stroller and rolled it back to her. Juliana reached out for him, practically squirming to get to him.

Jack put her in the stroller, kneeling to strap her in. “You were so brave,” he said to her. “I’m proud of you, princess.” He dried her tears, kissed her head and with Melanie, led her out of the front door.

Almost like a real family.

M
elanie grabbed her handbag from her desk and was heading for her office door when her secretary popped her head in.

“Your one o’clock is here, Ms. Patterson.”

Melanie glanced at the time, frowning. “They’re very early.”

“I tried to tell them that, but they seemed impatient.”

Melanie shook off her disappointment of losing yet another chance to run home to see her baby. Besides, going home meant seeing Jack. Jack sitting on her sofa with Juliana asleep in his arms. Jack being a culinary genius in her kitchen and preparing some of the best meals she’d had in a year.

“It’s all right. Show them in, Laura.” She tucked her handbag in the drawer and moved from behind
her desk, tugging at the hem of her jacket. Her welcoming smile drooped when the door swung open and Jack strode in with Juliana in his arms.

“What are you doing here?” Despite her protests, she went to him, taking her baby and hugging her close. “Oh, hello, sweetie,” she murmured, and the baby giggled excitedly and squeezed her back.

“There is something to be said about a woman in a power suit,” Jack remarked, standing close and letting his gaze roam leisurely over the deep-green designer outfit.

She met his gaze and suddenly felt beautiful.

“You’ve got the sexiest legs in this hemisphere.”

She smiled. “And who has them in the Southern Hemisphere?”

He grinned and reached to unwind the baby’s fingers from her earring. She always had a good comeback, he thought, and it was hard for her to take a compliment. “Don’t know, don’t care. How about taking a break with me?”

“I have an appointment who’s likely waiting in the lobby.”

“I’m the appointment.”

Melanie blinked.

“I asked Laura to schedule some time, hoping that you’d go to lunch with us.”

Us. It was enough to make her cave. Almost. Any time alone with Jack was dangerous to her heart.

“Jack, you can’t take time from customers who need to see me.”

“I opened an account for Juliana. So I guess that makes me a customer.”

She felt cut off at the pass. “Why did you do that?”

“So I can start her college fund.”

“I’m a banker, Jack. I’ve already started one. Before she was born, as a matter of fact.”

“Ahh, but by then college is going to cost twice as much.” His voice lowered and the deep tone coated her. “I helped make her, Melanie. I’m here to share the responsibility.”

She couldn’t protest that. It was for their baby, and she’d give up anything for her.

“So how about it?”

Melanie pressed her lips to her baby’s head, missing her so much lately, then looked at Jack. The idea of sitting in a restaurant wasn’t appealing.

“Come on.” His smile was low-down sexy, and with the tight jeans, tight shirt showing off all that muscle, he worked magic on her.

Melanie wondered if she could stick to her resolve, because being near Jack was a cross between denial of what she’d like and danger of getting her heart broken.

At her continued silence, he arched a brow. “Scared to be alone with me still, Melanie?”

Her defenses rang out like a chime. “Lead the way, sailor.” This was so she could spend time with Juliana. And if it wasn’t for Jack being here, she wouldn’t have had the chance, she reminded herself.

“Hmm, snappy attitude. I hear fear.”

She rolled her eyes. “Give it up, Jack.”

Not a chance, Jack thought and followed her out, his gaze dropping to her cute behind. He bit back a groan and the urge to drag her back inside the office
and learn what color lingerie she wore underneath that green power suit. The idea was quickly drenched when half the staff rushed over to see the baby.

A few looked curiously at Jack, but he kept mysteriously silent as Melanie showed off their daughter. He had no idea what she’d told these people and he wasn’t about to embarrass her, yet she inched closer to him and didn’t seem to mind his hand at the small of her back. After she told her secretary that she’d be out for the next couple of hours, Jack urged her to the door.

An older woman stopped them, cooing at the baby. “I just have to say that your family is gorgeous.”

“Thank you,” Melanie said, looking at the baby. Juliana bounced in her arms.

“She has her father’s eyes. You and your husband must be very proud.”

Melanie’s mouth opened to tell the woman he wasn’t her husband, then she clamped it shut.

Jack stepped in and said, “We are. Thank you.” He ushered Melanie out the door and to the car. Settling the baby in the car seat, they drove. Beside him, Melanie was quiet.

“Bothers you?” Jack asked. “What that woman said?”

“No, it’s a logical comment. Juliana does look like you.”

She was being evasive again, he thought. “Hair and eyes maybe, but she reminds me of you.”

“I whine for my supper, too?”

Jack laughed. “She’s stubborn, content with her surroundings and oblivious to what’s going on right before her eyes.”

Melanie looked down at her hands, flexing her fingers. “Then I’ll be a six-month-old and continue to explore other possibilities.”

“Liar. You’re not even considering them.”

“Jack, we’ve been over this.”

His fingers gripped the steering wheel. “I never thought I’d have to beg a woman to marry me, but just give me one good reason why you won’t.”

“I’ll give you more than one. You don’t have to marry me to be a father—this past week proved that to me if it didn’t to you. Marriage for the sake of giving a child her father’s name is not necessary.”

“It is if you’re that kid.”

She glanced at him, wondering about that stony look, then twisted in the seat to check on her daughter, who was happily chewing on a cracker and making a mess of Jack’s car.

“I need more reasons than that.”

“Jack, this isn’t a ‘Can you top this?’ discussion.”

“You made it that,” he snapped as he pulled up beside a park He didn’t say anything as he got out and went to the trunk. Melanie took her daughter from the car seat and just stood by as Jack became a master in baby-outing logistics. In less than two minutes he had a picnic spread under a tree far enough away from the other people enjoying the park to be private.

Melanie sat down and put Juliana on the blanket. Jack set out some toys, then opened the cooler and took out sodas. He offered one to Melanie and had his popped and half-empty before she’d taken a sip. She had the feeling that he wished it was a stronger drink.

“You’re angry.”

“Yes, dammit. You know, I’ve never proposed to a woman before. It’s not something I’m going into blind.”

He looked more hurt than angry and her heart split a little. He deserved to know it all. “Well, I’ve accepted proposals before and as a result, I’ve got my eyes wide open.”

His gaze snapped to her. “You’ve been engaged? When?”

She felt his anger building and hurried to say, “Before I met you. One was a few months before.”

Jack tried to keep calm, but the thought of Melanie agreeing to marry any man but him made him feel incredibly jealous and a little cheated. “What happened?”

Melanie took the sandwich he offered and with her other hand stroked Juliana’s hair. “I loved Craig and he decided that his secretary was a better choice.”

“How long were you engaged?”

“Long enough for me to be selecting china.”

Jack groaned. “The guy was a moron.”

“Yes, well, I take great comfort that his marriage to her didn’t last as long as our engagement, but then about two years later I grew stupid again.”

“Falling in love is not stupid.”

“No, it’s not. Marriage to the wrong person for the wrong reasons is.”

Jack held his temper. Why did she think that just because they’d created a beautiful child before marriage they were so wrong for each other? “What did the second guy do?”

“You don’t think it was me?”

“No, I don’t, because you’re a beautiful, smart woman, Melanie.”

She held his gaze, wondering if he’d still be around if it wasn’t for the baby they shared. She’d always wonder that, and it was a bigger reason not to marry him. “I found him in bed with a flashy blonde.”

“Bastard.”

“He said I was uptight and couldn’t get with the program, whatever that meant. He was a professional football player.”

Jack could hear the hurt in Melanie’s voice even though she obviously tried to hide it. “Well, there you go. Cheerleaders, road trips, potential for mischief.”

Her expressive eyes blazed like embers. “And that’s a good reason to propose to me, then betray me?”

“No, it’s not. There’s no reason for that at all. But it wasn’t your fault. The fault was in his character.”

“Neither of them loved me enough not to stray, Jack. That’s a mistake I won’t make again.”

She stared at her hands as she unwrapped the sandwich, and the pangs of sympathy and understanding swelled through Jack. She looked so lost and wounded. He clenched his fists against the urge to take her in his arms and ease the pain she was still feeling.

After a moment Melanie let out a breath and took a bite of her sandwich. “Oh, man, this is great. What’s in it?”

“Something Emeril made on TV.”

Her brows rose, her smile genuine. “You’re turning into something I don’t recognize.”

“I haven’t changed.” His gaze fell on the baby. “Well, maybe a little.”

“How’s it been for you?”

“Scary. Wonderful. Proud. Scary.”

“You said that twice.”

“It’s twice as frightening to know that I’m responsible for someone else’s happiness. At least till she’s eighteen, and by then I’ll have her locked in a tower.”

“Only knights in armor allowed?”

“Yeah,” he said, grinning. “I think of what she’ll look like in a few years, how she’ll think of me.”

“Yeah, me, too,” Melanie said, and they both touched the baby at the same time. His fingers instantly wrapped around hers.

She met his gaze.

“Those other guys were fools. And I bet they’re regretting the hell out of it right now.”

“I doubt it.”

“I’m not them, Melanie.”

“Oh, Jack, I know that,” she said softly, pulling free. “But if you and I got married, we’d be going in with more than roaming libidos against us.”

“You’re insulting me. I’d never do that stuff to you.”

“You don’t love me. That’s the key here, Jack. I loved those men and was willing to overlook faults to be with them. So, don’t tell me that a marriage will make things just magically work out. I’ve got the experience that says they won’t.”

“Other than the fact that those two men were not good enough for you, those were bad choices.”

“And I’m not about to make another one by marrying for a name change.”

“It’s more than a name,” Jack said, grinding his teeth. He wanted to tell her that he was a bastard, that he needed more than anything to give his daughter his name, but from Melanie’s position that would not have made the can-you-top-this list.

But he knew now that she was protecting herself, her heart. He suddenly recalled the night they’d made their daughter.

Don’t make promises you can’t keep,
she’d told him.
I’m not… I can’t put my hopes on a man.

She’d been jilted twice already and didn’t trust her feelings enough to put faith in them. In believing there wasn’t a chance for her and Jack beyond a name on a license, she couldn’t get hurt again. It was bad enough she didn’t trust him not to desert her, and even harder to deal with a woman who didn’t think she had the potential to be worthy of a man’s fidelity.

He wanted to pound those two men into dust for doing this to her.

But she was right in a couple of ways. He didn’t love her. He was honest enough with himself to admit that. But what he felt for Melanie was more than just lust and memories of great sex. Even if Juliana wasn’t between them, he’d have hunted Melanie down. He’d have done it to satisfy his ego that she hadn’t forgotten him and to see if the dreams that had plagued him were just that—dreams. At the rate
they were going, she wasn’t going to give him the chance to find out.

And the baby changed everything. Better for him, for Juliana, but for Melanie and him, it had cut short what could have been something special, and Jack didn’t know what to do anymore.

“Melanie?”

She looked up and the tears in her eyes were like gunshots to his heart.

“Honey, talk to me.”

“I can’t screw up your life for a name. Please don’t ask me to. I know it would be better for Juliana, but you and I have to live with the decision and so does she.”

He’d sworn he’d back off and this time he meant to keep the promise. He scooted close, his hand on the baby to keep Melanie near.

“I’m sorry you had it rough with those guys. But just don’t forget that I’m not them.” When Melanie opened her mouth, he pressed two fingers against her lips. “Shh. Don’t say anymore. I can accept how you feel. I don’t have to like it, but I can accept it. For now.”

It was the “for now” that he clung to.

Melanie felt a little sprig of something wild inside her at the knowledge that he wasn’t just giving up. Oh, she was sadistic, she thought, to have the perfect man in front of her and not want him. Well, that wasn’t true. She did want him. She’d missed him terribly the past year, and now that he was here, she was pushing him away and not liking herself for it. But it was the never-knowing factor that helped her keep her distance. Never knowing if he could love
her the way she’d dreamed of, of being cherished and needed, instead of a chain that locked him from his freedom.

Jack could almost see the thoughts churning in her bottle-green eyes. “We can be friends first. No strings.”

Melanie arched a brow and looked pointedly at their daughter.

“Fine, a tiny one.”

“Just consider me a full-time baby-sitter for the next few weeks, okay? Though you don’t baby-sit your own kids, you raise them.”

If anything he said could have won her over, could have let him deeper into her life, that was it.

“Friends, then.” It sounded hollow and lackluster to her. But that’s what you wanted, right? a voice in her head whispered.