The SEAL’s Surprise Baby (8 page)

Melanie looked between him and her child, fighting the welling of tears.

The woman sniffed, then huffed out an indignant breath. “Well, it’s your own fault, you know. I won’t be the first—or the last to say it, either, young man. You ought to be thinking of this innocent child and not yourselves. Since you weren’t thinking of her when you made her.”

Melanie gasped, then grabbed the stroller and wheeled it away. Jack clenched his fists at his side and being an officer and a gentleman, refrained from telling the woman exactly what he thought of her.

He went after Melanie.

“Don’t say anything,” Melanie muttered without stopping.

“Melanie, honey, stop.”

“Damn that old bat.” On her front steps, Melanie burst into tears. “How could she say that to my baby!”

Jack swept his arms around her. “Shh.” He pressed his lips to the top of her head and Melanie
sobbed. Juliana chimed in. “Come on.” He ushered his women into the house.

Once inside, Melanie sat on the sofa and cuddled the baby. Juliana continued to whimper.

“Melanie, hon, you’re scaring Juliana.”

“I know, I know. Help me, please.” She handed the child to him and went to wash her face. In the bathroom she sobbed with helpless anger, and when she came back, he’d put the baby in her crib.

Melanie went to go check on her, but Jack stopped her. “She’s fine.”

She scowled. “Let me go.”

“You’re upset and she knows it. Come on, relax a little.”

“I don’t want to relax. I want to stay mad.”

“Good, then let’s talk about this.” He urged her toward the sofa.

“We’ve done that.” She plopped into the cushions.

“Have I asked you to marry me again? Have I reminded you that we should do this for her and not us?”

Melanie felt battered by her own words and feelings. “No,” she admitted, “you haven’t.” She snatched up a pillow and plucked at the edges when she wanted to punch that old woman. “But nothing has really changed, has it? We’re not going to see marriage in the same way. You see names on paper and I see lifetimes.”

Jack felt her words sink into him like arrows. “What do you want, Melanie?” When she remained silent, he took the pillow and forced her to look at him. “What do you want?”

“I want a marriage like my parents have, where what they do, they do together. And not just for the kids, but for themselves, because they loved each other first.” She swallowed hard. “I want to be loved because I’m me, Jack, not because I’m Juliana’s mother.”

“But you are her mother, and that’s not going to change.”

A leaded feeling coated her heart just then. “And she’s the reason you’re still here.”

His features darkened. “Not true.”

“And how would I ever know that for certain?”

“You won’t. You just have to trust me.”

She scoffed and pulled free. Jack felt helpless, watching her close the door again and secret away the key just when he’d managed to find the lock.

“I think your being around is just making this harder on both of us, Jack.”

“Maybe you’re right.”

She looked up, still as glass. His gaze locked with hers for a moment, then he stood and headed to the door.

She rose and rounded the back of the couch. “Where are you going?”

At the door he stopped, his hand on the knob, his gaze clinging there. “I don’t know.” He looked at her, wanting a magic wand to make things perfect and realizing they never would be. “All I know right now is that I want you in my life like there will be no tomorrow. I care about you and I love my daughter. I’m sorry it’s not enough. I was just trying to make things right for our baby.”

“Jack.”

“I’ll see you later.” He stepped out and closed the door.

Melanie stared at the door, a knot working up her throat as she sank slowly into the nearest chair, stunned. What have I done? she thought. What now?

Outside the door Jack stopped, wanting badly to turn around and walk back inside. To take Melanie into his arms and kiss her until she couldn’t argue with him anymore. He left the porch and climbed into his car, driving toward his sister’s place. Every mile he put between him and Melanie didn’t help. But she did have a point. She was the mother of his child and nothing would change that. And Jack had to ask himself if that was all he wanted from Melanie. Their names on a license? What did it mean, in the long run, to marry her for the sake of a name? To keep old women like the one in the park quiet? He pulled into Lisa’s driveway and shut off the engine, sighing back into the seat. When had he thought of marriage as just names? When had it come down to that between him and Melanie? Jack knew why he wanted his daughter to have his name, but was he ready to tell Melanie?

He slammed out of the sports car, marching to the door and throwing it open. Inside it was dark, and the loneliness that he’d lived with for years screamed back at him. He’d handled it with a fair amount of ease in the past, but the thought of getting a call that would take him away right now made his stomach clench. He didn’t have a normal job. He didn’t have normal hours, for that matter. It was get a call and go do the job. Up until now he hadn’t been afraid of dying, either. Now he was. Because Juliana needed
him. Melanie didn’t. She’d proved she could handle anything on her own. It also meant that when he had to leave, she could handle it all. He snorted to himself. Yeah, you act like you matter, he thought.

If they married, she’d be a Navy wife, and she’d also have a ring on her finger that would keep her from finding someone she could truly love. Oh, God, he thought, dropping his head back against the closed door. The idea gouged his heart. Deeply. Was he asking too much of Melanie to sacrifice her chances for his need to give his daughter his name?

It was actually comforting to know that nothing would stop Jack from being with his daughter. But then, loyalty was one of Jack’s better qualities. He came around when she wasn’t home and left before she arrived. The completed play set in the backyard wasn’t the only reminder that he’d been in the house. He did the laundry, cooked and then, like a magical partner disappeared. Diana had no problem telling her how wonderful Jack was to the baby, but that, too, Melanie didn’t have to hear secondhand. It showed in Juliana, the way she looked around for him.

And Melanie missed him, craved to look into his eyes, to see him here where she could share with him. Oh, hell, she thought. She needed him, she wanted him, and while she struggled with her feelings, it wasn’t until she took her daughter to the doctor for a follow-up appointment that Melanie got another cruel taste of what Jack had been arguing about for the past weeks.

“You’re single?” a nurse, new to the clinic, asked as Melanie settled the bill.

“Yes.”

The nurse glanced at the baby, then at Melanie. “And the father’s name?”

“Lieutenant Jack Singer. It’s all right there in Juliana’s record.”

“You’re not married to the father, so how can she have military TriCare benefits?”

“You’ll have to ask
him
that.” All Melanie knew was that Jack had arranged it, had been looking out for his daughter the only way she’d allowed him to.

“Illegitimate status might cause a problem, since the child isn’t listed on his service records.”

Illegitimate.

It rang as harshly as
bastard.
Melanie felt her insides tense and she gripped her daughter a little tighter. “Fine, put the visit on mine.” She handed over her own insurance card.

“Yes, ma’am.” The nurse gave her a testy look, then quite plainly snubbed her child.

Melanie snatched her card back and without waiting for a receipt, she left. Yet for the first time she felt the stares. Not so much on her, but on her child. An innocent baby who had nothing to do with the marital status of her parents. Damn, Melanie thought as she drove home. Damn those people. If it was this bad now, how bad would it be when Juliana was in school? When other kids picked up things from their parents and called Juliana names? By the time Melanie arrived home, she was on the verge of tears. Juliana fussed, sensing her mother’s turmoil. Melanie gave her a bottle and changed her for her nap, but
she couldn’t help thinking of what it would be like years down the line. When kids would talk. When people would be cruel.

The decision came easily.

T
he knocking was frantic, and when Jack opened the door he didn’t expect to see Melanie. In tears. “My God, Melanie, what—”

“I’ll marry you.”

“What?”

“I said I’ll marry you. Right now. Today, tomorrow.” She pushed her way inside and he closed the door.

“Wait a second. What’s going on? Is Juliana all right?”

Melanie swiped at her cheeks and nodded. “She’s fine. She’s with Diana.”

Thank God. His heart slipped back from his throat to his chest. “Now sit down and tell me what happened.”

“I got another taste of someone just like that old woman in the park.”

“I see.”

“And it hurt.” She clutched her throat, choking on her tears. “Oh, God, it hurt and I wanted to hit something.”

“I know what you mean.”

She looked at him. “I’ve been selfish. I didn’t see how my single status could affect Juliana, and the last thing I want is to let anyone hurt my child.”

Melanie fell apart again, filled with guilt and anger, and Jack came to her, closing her in his arms. She gripped him and cried.

“It was awful. They looked at her like she was to blame. She’s just a baby!” Melanie moaned low in her throat. “I’m so ashamed of myself.”

“Shh,” he said. “It’s all right.”

“It’s not all right, dammit. It’s unfair.”

“We’ll make it right, for her, not for us.”

Was it all really for the baby? Melanie wondered. Was that all Jack wanted? His name after their baby’s on a birth certificate? “It’s what you’ve been saying all along.”

Her tone was so disheartening Jack asked, “Is marrying me so bad?”

She lifted her face to his. Her gaze slid over his features as she thought of all he’d done, of the man he was. Melanie knew she’d already started the fall into love the instant he walked back into her life. She’d tried to ignore it, but it kept coming. He kept coming. It wasn’t just that he was a great help or that Juliana adored him, but that he was so willing to do right by both of them. All three of them. Melanie knew his honor was at stake, his feelings for their child laying the path. But what about his feelings for
her? She understood all too clearly that he wanted her in his bed, but in his life?
Really
in his life?

It would change so much for both of them, but Melanie couldn’t see the future. She didn’t want to anticipate failure. In the past fifteen months she’d tried to be practical. She’d tried to do what was best for herself and her baby. And what she’d really done since he’d come home was protect herself and fail her child.

Juliana needed her father.

Melanie needed to be loved by him.

Because she was already falling deeply in love with Jack. Was she willing to risk her heart being broken again? Then she thought of her daughter, that one ugly look from the nurse that Melanie would have done anything to shield from Juliana.

“What are you thinking?” he whispered softly. “I can see those gears grinding in your head.”

Her lips curved gently. “No, you can’t.”

“You’re trying to talk yourself out of marrying me.”

“No, I’m trying to figure out why you would want to give up your freedom for us.”

“I love Juliana.”

“Of that I have no doubt. But what about you and me, Jack?”

He sighed. “You know how I feel about you.”

“I know how your libido does, but what about you?”

Jack struggled with his words, with whether or not she was ready to hear what he had to say. And whether he understood it himself. He’d spent half the
night trying to gather his feelings into a neat package and failed. “I…I don’t know.”

She stiffened.

“Can you say the same thing?” He felt his breath snag in his lungs.

“No, I can’t. My feelings are jumbled and Lord knows I’ve tried to piece them together since you came back.” She pushed out of his arms and dug in her purse for a tissue, then tossed the handbag on a chair. “I care about you a great deal, Jack.” Well, that was cautious, she thought. “And I know it’s not because of Juliana, since we’ve been living without you for a while.” She looked at him. “But you haven’t. You came into a ready-made family.”

“Yeah, so?”

“Come on, it’s not that easy.”

“No, it wasn’t. It was a shock. But all I had to do was take one look at my little girl and I was lost. And her mother still does crazy things to me.”

“I’ll never know if you care for me because of her or for myself.”

“You’ll have to trust my word.”

She couldn’t quite bring herself to do that. Not yet. And if he shouted to the heavens that he loved her, she wouldn’t believe him, anyway. There was still a huge part of her that didn’t trust a man to tell the truth and mean it. She’d thought the other men in her past were decent men, good men, up until they betrayed her. Or was she just not seeing them for what they were at the time? Was she blinded by her love? Granted, they hadn’t been in a tough situation like the one she and Jack were in now, and the gloves
were off with her and Jack. There were no claims of undying love to sway her.

Oh, but she remembered her heartbreak when she’d learned the truth about each of her fiancés. Keeping herself at arm’s length wasn’t a bad thing, but Jack wouldn’t stand for that. Despite his desire to commit himself to her and their child, was he ready for what Melanie wanted from him?

When she remained silent, staring at him with that odd look in her eyes, Jack’s heart folded over itself. “You have good reason not to trust men, honey. But I haven’t done the things those others have. I’m not leaving and I’m not looking elsewhere, either.”

“And if you did find someone else?” Saying it out loud stung her.

“I don’t want anyone else.”

“Because I’m the mother of your child.”

“No, because you’re the woman I want.”

Melanie felt as if an arrow landed right in her heart. For a moment right then, she believed him. She smiled.

He returned it, then his expression sobered. “I will never betray you, Melanie. Never.”

She stared, wanting to trust his words. Wanting to just
believe
him.

“You’ll let me know when you trust me, right?” he said, and she blinked.

How could the man read her like that? It was irritating and a little comforting. “Yes, I will.” At least he’d accepted the fact that right now, she was borderline.

Jack took several measured steps toward her, watching her eyes flare as he approached. He
grabbed her close and kissed her, leaving nothing hidden, nothing undone. And she came apart in his arms, her fingers driving into his hair, her body meshed with his and yielding for him.

“Marry me, Melanie.”

“Yes,” she breathed.

“Just so you know,” he said against her mouth, “I plan to be a husband in every way.”

Her heart skipped to her throat. “Oh, goody.”

He laughed and kissed her again, and his hands found their way beneath her blouse, to her skin. She flinched with the sweet contact. She could barely stand when he touched her, and he dropped into a padded chair, pulling her onto his lap.

He spent several minutes working his magic on her, and when her hand slid down to the bulge in his jeans, Jack groaned and set her on her feet.

She blinked, breathing hard.

He strained as he stood. “I need to call someone.”

“Excuse me?”

He smiled patiently and cupped her face in his palms. “I told you, baby, when I made love to you again there would be vows between us.”

She slid her hands up his chest, smoothing her thumbs over his nipples and listening to his breath hiss out through his teeth. “Get a move on it, sailor.”

Two days later, with Lisa at her side, Melanie promised herself to Lt. Jack Singer. He’d managed miracles for this moment. The small chapel was filled with flowers, a couple of his teammates were sitting in the pews, and her parents, much to her surprise, were there. While Melanie’s mother sobbed quietly,
Jack’s mother sat with Lisa’s husband, Brian, all three grinning foolishly. Beside Jack, SEAL team leader Lt. Commander Reese Logan stood as Jack’s best man, not showing a shred of emotion. It made Melanie see the differences between Jack and his teammates. They were reclusive and almost cold, especially Reese. But Jack, she thought, was an entirely different man. And right now, he couldn’t stop smiling.

In dress whites, he listened to the chaplain, but his eyes were on her. She felt them coat her like warm syrup, touch her in places she didn’t know still had life. And when Jack said “I do” and slid the most incredible ring on her finger, Melanie struggled to breathe. Then she gaped at the diamonds.

“This is forever,” he whispered. “All of this.” And at the chaplain’s command, he kissed her.

Married.

Melanie expected her head to scream
What have you done?
yet her heart was shouting
Oh, yes
as Jack dipped her back and kissed her like a lusty groom.

They parted, smiling at each other until his teammates muscled their way between them to slap Jack on the back and offer congratulations. Melanie hugged her parents, yet her gaze stayed on Jack. Despite the small crowd around him, he was also looking at her, and she felt cherished and desired. It made her heart stumble, yet she didn’t have time to think as his teammates converged on her. It had to be illegal to have so many good-looking men in one place, she thought, as a SEAL hugged her.

Jack stood back as his teammates kissed his wife,
glaring at the youngest member who took full liberty and a little too long in letting Melanie go.

Reese was at his side. “She’s beautiful, Jack.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Does she know what she’s getting into being married to one of the teams?”

Jack frowned, then smiled. “She married me, Reese, not the SEALs.”

“You know what I’m talking about.”

“Yes, I do. And Melanie’s been doing fine on her own, so she can handle military life.” Jack glanced at his buddy. “Is that why you’ve never taken the plunge? Because you don’t think there’s a woman out there who can handle the need-to-know factor?”

“It has its drawbacks,” was all Reese would say.

Jack knew there was more behind that statement, but he wasn’t going to pry right now.

“Well, not every service member is single, Reese. Think about it,” Jack said, then headed toward his wife.

Wife.

It stopped him in his tracks, and he was filled with waves of pride and something else he wasn’t ready to name. Melanie was leaning down to comfort her mother, who couldn’t seem to stop crying with happiness. Jack’s gaze slid over his bride, her lush body wrapped in a slim-fitting satin gown of the palest lavender. While the top portion was a simple tank style with thin beaded straps, the skirt hit the floor and fishtailed in the back. It was the sexiest wedding dress he’d ever seen, and it showed off her curves to maximum effect. All he wanted to do was push everyone aside and explore each of those curves.

Being in a chapel and surrounded by friends quashed that idea, and he moved up beside her, wrapping his arm around her.

Melanie stiffened for a second, unaccustomed to him touching her so freely after keeping him mostly at arm’s length for the past weeks. As if he sensed it, he rubbed her spine and pressed a kiss to her temple.

“Come on, let’s feed these people, get them all drunk and slip away.”

She tipped her head to look at him, her lips twitching. “Sir Galahad, you’ve planned for everything.”

He grinned. “Just looking out for every contingency.” She smiled and he whispered for her ears alone, “You look more beautiful than I’ve ever seen you, Mel.”

“I feel that way.” She touched the side of his face, ignoring the camera flashes and the people around them. “Thank you for all this.”

His gaze raked her ruthlessly. “I won’t let you down.”

“I know.”

The two words were the start of the trust Jack needed, and he kissed her gently.

But it wasn’t him she was worried about, she thought as they left the chapel and headed to the officers’ club. What if she let him down?

Melanie sipped champagne and stared out over the wide river. She was amazingly content. Though this was the first time she’d been parted from her child overnight, her parents were having fun with their grandchild, and Jack’s mother was planning to join
them in the morning for an outing. Yet with the knowledge that she wasn’t alone anymore, the anxiety she’d carried for some time slipped off her in waves with each passing moment. Somewhere behind her in the suite, Jack was tipping the bellman for room service. She’d known he’d go all out. The ceremony spoke for itself, and she didn’t question how he managed to get all those people together so quickly. That was Jack. He made things happen. She smiled to herself and took another sip of champagne. The slap of water against the seawall seemed to match the occasional glitter and pulse of the stars in the blanket of night. She pulled the combs from her hair and shook it out, tossing the combs aside and letting the warm breeze sweep over her.

She felt Jack come up behind her, her senses tuning into him like radar. She leaned on the balcony rail. “I’d forgotten how beautiful it was in this town.”

“For the first time since I arrived you look peaceful.”

She glanced at him as he moved up beside her, his uniform jacket already discarded somewhere in the suite. The white T-shirt stretched tight over his muscles.

“I am.” She stared at her goblet for a moment, then looked out over the moonlit water. The trees sighed with the breeze, Spanish moss dancing like a lacy hem beneath a skirt of branches.

“I’m a little relieved, too.”

“How so?” He sipped his drink, then put it aside, resting his forearms on the rail and folding his
hands—mostly to keep them off her when he wanted badly to touch her.

“I didn’t really want to be a single mom, Jack.”

His brows shot up.

“I thought I did. But when you showed up and bullied your way into my house—” he smiled at that “—I realized how much Juliana was missing. How much my life was a bit—” she shrugged “—empty.”

Her confession fueled the idea that she’d done this for more than their daughter. “It looked pretty busy to me,” Jack said.