Baby In A Basket

by Helen R. Myers

  She was that, all right. And more.

  When he pushed open the slightly ajar door, he saw a sight he swore he would cherish the rest of his life. There she was with her sable hair piled high on her head and dressed only in bubbles. Cradled in her lap and arms, his child cooed contentedly. The two of them had been watching a huge white duck and several ducklings swim in and out of foamy mountains. Then they spotted him.

  She gasped.

  He sighed.

  Mary gurgled and slapped and kicked at the water.

  “You two are the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen,” he murmured, wishing he had a camera.

  “Oh! You...get out!”

  Because he’d anticipated a chilly reception at first, he found it easier to ignore her curt command. He even managed a calm smile as he stepped inside and crouched beside the tub. “Brought you both a little peace offering,” he said, holding up the roses and the bear.

  Her lower lip came out slightly, making her look adorably petulant. “That’s not going to work, McCord.”

  That’s not what his daughter was indicating. Mitch barely suppressed a chuckle, because Mary’s eyes grew round and eager as she focused on the fluffy toy. While he made it dance on the tub’s edge to entertain her, he let his gaze wander over Jenny’s flushed face, the damp curls threatening to tumble from her casual but sexy upswept hairdo.

  “Sweetheart, I got back as soon as I could swap out flights with one of the guys.”

  “You needn’t have bothered. I would have been happy to care for Mary overnight. Now, please, go away.”

  Although she averted her face, and Mitch knew she would try to block him out, he had to keep talking. He soothed the crack in his confidence by taking in the elegant length of her neck, her exquisite shoulders, the alluring swell of her breasts—although more of them were hidden by bubbles than he cared for.

  “Not yet. You have to listen to me first.”

  “Have to?”

  “Jen ... this afternoon the plane experienced mechanical problems.” She whipped around and stared at him. “It’s all right, we got down safely, but they couldn’t get things to where they would let us take the plane up this afternoon.”

  “You were in danger and you’re only telling me now?”

  Danger to him was relative. He figured he could get out of bed one morning and have his house explode from a faulty gas line or something. When it was his time, it was his time. “There was no reason to get you upset. We managed just fine. But the plane wasn’t coming back today and so they wanted us to lay over until tomorrow. As usual, when a situation calls for us to lay over, we checked into the airport hotel.”

  Jenny’s eyes turned opaque with pain. “Yes, and when I called your room, I got Savannah.”

  “She followed me to the hotel. I suppose she phoned the main office to find out when I would be in town. It’s not all that difficult to figure out.”

  “I’m only interested in why she was there at all.”

  It pleased him to hear she wanted answers. A moment ago she didn’t want to talk to him at all. “She’s involved in a relationship and she’s concerned about her... fiancé getting jealous.”

  Jenny looked skeptical. “The hood?”

  “There is no hood. That was all hype. There’s just an eccentric filmmaker.”

  “Oh, for pity’s sake!” Jenny’s look said she didn’t know whether to believe him or not. “Look, I know you never contacted an attorney. You’ve been looking for her on your own. Why you felt the need to lie to me—”

  “It wasn’t a ‘need.’ I just wanted to do things my way. I was also concerned with keeping this situation as private as I could. Jen, I was thinking about Mary as much as you or us. Her future affects ours. And I don’t mind saying it’s all turned out better than we could have hoped.”

  The baby reached for the bear, and Jenny tried to appease her with one of the ducklings. Mitch could tell she was fighting herself and losing fast.

  “What do you mean?” she asked, not quite meeting his eyes.

  He reached into his inside pocket. “She had this drawn up, relinquishing all claim to Mary. That’s why I wasn’t there when you called. I’d raced downstairs to get the thing notarized, scared to death that the bubble would burst on the fantasy.”

  Her gaze lowered to the affidavit he held up for her. “Oh, my...it’s real.” She finally met his gaze. “And here I thought—Mitch, I was so jealous.”

  “I know.” He grinned with unabashed delight. “I love it. But what’s best of all is that this mess is over. Savannah’s out of our lives and she’s moving on with hers.”

  Jenny stiffened. “Some life.”

  “That doesn’t matter. She did the right thing, Jen. Now Mary will really be ours.”

  “Yours,” Jenny said, correcting him. Her expression grew embarrassed and shy again, the way it had when he’d first walked into the bathroom.

  Mitch shook his head and touched her cheek with the roses. With her looking like a fantasy herself, he could prolong this all night if that’s the way she wanted to play it—as long as he got what he wanted in the end. Her.

  “You want to know the greatest thing of all?” he asked, noting that the outer rims of the roses matched the color of her moist lips.

  “You’re going to be best man at her wedding?”

  “Mary’s name is really Mary.”

  Jenny tightened her arms around the baby. “What?”

  “Shawna—Savannah’s variation of my Scan—Mary McCord.”

  “Oh, my. Fate does work in mysterious ways.”

  “That’s what I thought. And that’s why I couldn’t wait to call and tell you the good news. Because it meant that now I was free to concentrate on us...the way I realize I’ve wanted to for a long time.”

  Color bloomed in Jenny’s cheeks all over again. “You don’t have to say that, Mitch.”

  “What else should a man who’s crazy in love say?”

  Her eyes went wide. Her lips parted, but not a word came out.

  “Finally have you speechless, I see.”

  She had to swallow to force out, “It would seem so.”

  “I love you, Jen. We may have to spend our first Christmas apart because of the IOUs I gave to get home tonight, but it’ll be worth it if you tell me that you’ll marry me and be Mary’s mommy.” When she still didn’t reply, he cocked his head. “Sweetheart? You better say something fast, or I’m going to have to climb into that tub and shock you into answering.”

  “Kiss me. Kiss me and maybe then I’ll know this is really happening.”

  “I thought you’d never ask.”

  He fastened his mouth to hers, thinking there were some emotions they shared that would always transcend words. He proved it when within seconds he had her moaning softly. Within a few more she was linking her free arm around his neck and pulling him closer.

  Dear heaven, the hours apart and the day’s pressures had taken their toll, he thought, discovering he was shaking as if he were in the midst of his own personal earthquake. Blindly placing the flowers and bear on the floor beside him, he sank onto his knees, framed Jenny’s face with his hands and deepened the kiss even more... until his heart was pounding so hard the pressure threatened to squeeze tears from around his tightly shut eyes ... until he was one second away from lifting her and the baby out of the tub so he could hold them both closer to the sweet ache in his heart.

  Suddenly there was a loud gurgle and a slap of water. He and Jenny broke apart as bubbles and water drenched them. Looking delighted with herself, Mary kicked the water again.

  “Little...”

  “Mary!”

  Mitch burst into laughter, but had to wipe bubbles off his mustache. “I take it that you’re giving us your blessing, young lady?” When she gurgled again, he planted a kiss on her cheek—and before straightening, added another on Jenny’s breast just above an evaporating cloud of bubbles. It was delicious to feel her pulse quicken and see her eyes shimmer with
invitation and dreams.

  “Now say what you’ve been showing me for ages,” he whispered gruffly, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear. “You have to, you know. Your grandmother approves. Oh, she tries to pretend she doesn’t, but I finally figured it out tonight. She likes me. She just can’t stop playing devil’s advocate.”

  “I know. We’ll have to cure her. Together.”

  “Good idea.” He smiled and focused on her mouth. “Well?”

  “I love you, McCord. With all my heart.”

  “Thank God,” he mouthed, seeking her lips again.

  Then there was another long kiss...and yet another.

  Finally he held a large bath towel for his two beauties, whom he helped to stand, only so he could pull them close to his heart.

  “Let’s make this a short engagement. Please?” he whispered to Jenny as the bathwater from her body soaked through his uniform and steamed against his body.

  “Very short,” Jenny whispered into his mouth.

  Between them, Mary clasped her bands together and cooed.

  It was the sweetest unanimous agreement Mitch had ever heard.

  Don’t miss the next book

  in Silhouette’s exciting

  DADDY KNOWS LAST series.

  Here’s a sneak preview of

  MARRIED ... WITH TWINS!

  by Jennifer Mikels

  available in September from

  Silhouette Special Edition

  Married ... with Twins!

  “You’re a daddy now,” someone had said to him. He couldn’t even remember who’d said the words. He’d been reeling from the shock. Unlike other men who had nine months to prepare for fatherhood, Lucas Kincaid had become a daddy overnight.

  Fate threw some real curves, he decided. Just as he and his wife were on the verge of divorce, they’d become guardians of twin two-year-olds. Disbelief still shadowing him, he cradled a Victorian dollhouse in his arms and turned toward the back door of the bi-level house he and Val had bought four years ago.

  From the kitchen, ear-piercing screams drifted to him. Urchins with blond ponytails, pug noses and quick grins, Brooke and Traci Dawson had kept Val and him on their toes since seven this morning.

  Luke sidestepped two tricycles and nearly kicked over Val’s clay pot filled with geraniums. He’d always wanted children. He knew a lot of men could care less, but of all the patients he saw, he liked the kids best. They asked the most absurd questions, they lightened his day, they made him remember why he’d decided on a career in medicine.

  Nearing the back door, he shifted the dollhouse to one arm and reached to open the screen door. His gaze went to his wife. A small, slender woman with long legs and hair the color of deep rich coffee, she had the lithe figure of an athlete or a dancer. Her dark brown eyes were wide and expressive, her face animated as she talked low to the twins. In her hand was the object of battle, a Raggedy Ann doll.

  Pouting two-year-olds glared up at her until she stretched and grabbed two cookies from an opened package on the counter. Traci’s pout lifted first. She crawled onto Val’s lap and curled an arm around her neck. More interested in the cookie than affection, Brooke plopped on the floor to munch away.

  At the slam of the screen door behind him, Val angled a look over her shoulder in his direction. Out of necessity, they’d spent more time together this morning than they had in weeks. “Where is this going?” he asked about the dollhouse.

  “A good question,” she said, actually sounding a little amused. “Your den,” she finally answered and shrugged.

  That wasn’t the response he’d expected, but he didn’t protest. Though she was usually organized, Valerie looked a bit overwhelmed at the moment. Luke sensed she had no idea where to put anything except the twins’ clothes.

  “Hi, lion,” Brooke sang out as Val lifted a fuzzy tan one from a carton of stuffed animals. All morning she’d greeted everything that had been unpacked. As Luke inched his way around the child, her blond head swiveled toward him. “Lu-cas, don’t drop.”

  Amusement rippled through him. He’d had his share of toddlers in his office, but their tendency toward bossiness had eluded him until this up-close and personal encounter. Crossing the living room, he felt resistance on his leg.

  “Can me help?” Brooke asked, yanking on his jeans.

  Traci suddenly tugged on the other leg. “No.” Her blond ponytail swung with the wag of her head. “Traci help.”

  As Brooke’s fingers tightened on the denim, Luke contemplated another battle. But never more than a step behind the girls, Val predictably popped around the kitchen doorway, her arms hugging stuffed animals.

  Was it good-humored sympathy or something else Luke read in the dark gaze smiling at him?

  Letting the stuffed animals tumble from her arms onto the living room carpet, Valerie flashed a quick, amused smile. It tore at him. For months, he’d yearned to see her like this. Instead, sorrow had haunted her eyes.

  “Girls, I need help,” she said, offering a hand to each twin.

  With no hesitation, Brooke bounded to her. “Me do lit.”

  Just as eager, Traci trailed. “Traci do it.”

  “Round three,” Luke said on a chuckle.

  Val looked at her husband. For an instant, she could almost remember the way they used to be. When they’d met, she’d thought he was the perfect one for her. With his tall, rangy build, dark hair and chiseled features, he’d garnered his share of women, but her feelings had gone beyond his good looks. Personable and intelligent, he’d been easy to talk to, easy to laugh with, and wonderful to make love with.

  Until last February, when their world had screeched to a halt.

  There had been months since that night when they couldn’t be around each other, couldn’t stand to see each other’s eyes and the sadness that mirrored their own. She’d withdrawn into herself; he’d drifted away from her. They’d stopped talking and laughing. They’d stopped making love. And they had faced the inevitable weeks ago—their marriage was over. But now their agreed divorce threatened a promise to friends, one that had been made when their marriage had been perfect.

  ISBN : 978-1-4592-8006-9

  BABY IN A BASKET

  Copyright © 1996 by Harlequin Books S.A.

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 300 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017 U.S.A.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to die author, and all incidents are pure invention.

  This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

  ® and TM are trademarks of Harlequin Books S.A., used under license. Trademarks Indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.

  Table of Contents

  Table of Contents

  HOW TO GET THE SEXY SINGLE DAD NEXT DOOR TO FINALLY NOTICE YOU!

  Letter to Reader

  Dedication

  Books by Helen R. Myers

  About the Author

  Meet The Soon-To-Be Moms of New Hope, Texas!

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  MARRIED ... WITH TWINS!

  Copyright