accident. Fate had stepped in to give him and Simone another helping hand.
“Where are his things?” Simone asked.
“His things?”
“You know, puppy food, toys…”
Simone’s pretty brown eyes grew large and luminous. “All you brought is a puppy and an empty cardboard box?”
Oops. He’d been in such a hurry to bring Wags to Simone that he hadn’t thought about her not having everything the puppy would need. Last night, he’d knotted up an old sock for him to chew on, although he’d left it at home. And then he’d fed him some leftover steak that had been chopped up. This morning, he’d given Wags scrambled eggs and bacon. So it wasn’t as if he’d neglected to take care of him. But a shopping trip was definitely in order.
He could do it on his own, but maybe it would be in his best interests to feign ignorance. “I’ll be happy to purchase whatever he needs, but you’d better come with me. I’m not sure what to buy.”
She looked at him in disbelief, and he suspected she might decline to go with him.
But then again, fate seemed to be working in his favor when she handed Wags back to him. “All right. You take the puppy to the car and I’ll meet you there.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I need to go to the bathroom and grab my purse.”
“Your purse is in the bathroom?”
She shot him a frown that suggested she didn’t find his joke funny. “Just give me a minute, will you?”
Sure. He’d give her all the time she needed.
At thirty-two, he was ready to get married. And if it took her a bit longer to get used to the idea, then so be it.
Her arguments would soon go by the wayside.
So what if she was older than he was? Or if she wasn’t used to big, happy families?
And so what if she wasn’t ready to settle down?
Mike was a focused competitor and believed that there wasn’t anything he couldn’t do or have—once he set his mind to it.
And he’d set his mind—and his heart—on Simone.
Chapter Two
Simone handed little Wags back to Mike. She hoped and prayed he wouldn’t ask to use her bathroom before she got rid of the testing apparatus. If he did, she’d have to race him there.
She crossed her arms and waited for him to head for his Jeep, yet he merely stood in the living room, studying her with expressive green eyes and a dimpled grin.
“I really appreciate this,” he said.
She supposed he did, but she wasn’t keen on taking care of Wags for him, no matter how cute either Mike or the puppy was.
Nor was she up for a shopping trip.
But agreeing to go with him seemed to be the quickest way to get him out of her house. And the sooner he went outside, the better.
“I won’t be long,” she said. “You can even go out to the car and start the engine, if you’d like to.”
“That’s all right. I’ll just wait for you here.” Mike glanced at Wags. “We don’t mind, do we, buddy?”
The longer her one-night lover remained in her house, the more uneasy she became.
She doubted that he suspected anything, though.
How could he?
“Okay,” she finally said. Then she turned and hurried to the bathroom, where she locked herself inside.
With her secret safe for the time being, she rested her back against the door and blew out a ragged sigh. Then, feeling only slightly relieved, she quickly scooped up the plastic apparatus that still displayed evidence of the baby they’d created and shoved it into the back of the cupboard, behind a stack of towels.
As soon as she returned home, and Mike was no longer around, she would double-bag the test kit in two plastic grocery sacks and throw it away.
Of course, she’d have to level with him sometime and tell him she was pregnant, but she was still processing the news herself.
So, some other day, when the time was right, she’d let him know that it was her problem, not his. And that she wouldn’t need anything from him. She would also tell him she’d decided to give up the baby for adoption, which was the best thing she could do for everyone involved, especially her child.
Adoption was the decision she’d wished her mother had made when she’d been pregnant with Simone. Instead, her mom had botched up the whole mother/daughter thing, something that continued to plague them both to this day.
Simone flushed the toilet, just to make Mike think she’d had the usual reasons for locking herself in the bathroom, then washed her hands and dried them on a white, fluffy towel reserved for guests.
Not that she and Woofer had many of them.
Dr. Ella Wilder stopped by sometimes. So did Isobel Suarez, the hospital social worker who’d become a friend.
Of course, Mike was here now—and waiting for her.
She looked in the mirror, caught the frumpy, pale image looking back at her.
Her hair, which had been put into a just-hanging-out-at-home ponytail earlier, had come loose. And she wasn’t wearing any makeup whatsoever.
Dressed in her favorite pair of well-worn jeans and a Rosie the Riveter T-shirt, she was a mind-boggling contrast to the chic, sexy woman who’d invited Mike into her house and into her bed five weeks ago.
But she didn’t feel like putting on makeup or a happy face. Nor did she want to draw attention to herself in a feminine sense.
After all, look what had happened when she’d dressed up for that cocktail party and had pretended to be someone she wasn’t.
But she couldn’t very well go out looking like a total frump, although she wouldn’t change her clothes. How could she when she wore a shirt with Rosie the Riveter rolling up a sleeve and proclaiming, “We can do it!”
So trying to draw upon Rosie’s confidence and determination, she removed the rubber band and ran a brush through her hair, leaving it down. Then she dug into her makeup drawer and pulled out a tube of lipstick. But after taking off the cap, she paused.
She really didn’t want Mike to think she was getting dolled up for his benefit. Of course, the sexy paramedic didn’t need that kind of encouragement.
The first time he’d come on to her—more than a year ago—had been in the hospital doctors’ lounge, where she’d been pouring herself a cup of overbrewed coffee. She was wearing
