know, you told me,” Doug said. “He still has her nose, which means he got it from his mother. Genetics work that way.”
“You’re not helping.” Alex advised his grinning friend. He had to admit, though, that Gabe’s button nose reminded him of Samantha’s.
“Samantha’s a beautiful woman,” Doug commented with a little more interest in his tone than Alex cared for.
He sent the other man a warning glare. “Forget it.”
All innocence, Doug crossed his arms over his chest. “Why, because you saw her first?”
“Yes.” Not that Alex intended doing anything about his attraction, but the situation was way too complicated to add anyone else to the equation.
He lowered Gabe until the little boy’s feet rested on Alex’s thighs. Now instead of kicking, the baby bounced. “He’s a strong little guy.”
“He appears happy. And healthy,” the doctor observed, reaching out to pat the kid on the head.
Gabe turned to see who was patting his head and seeing Doug, his face scrunched up and he shied back against Alex.
“No,” Gabe said loud and clear. “Bad man.”
Alex laughed along with Doug.
“He doesn’t like you.” Alex ran a soothing hand over Gabe’s back. “I don’t blame you, kid. He’s the man who pokes and prods, huh?”
Alex could definitely relate. But when Gabe laid his head on Alex’s shoulder, he felt a sinking feeling in his gut. Better his gut than his heart. He didn’t want to have anything in common with the baby. Not blue eyes, brown hair or a fear of doctors.
The point of this visit, these tests, was to disprove Alex’s paternity. Then he’d have no more to do with Gabe. Or his pretty aunt Samantha.
Life would return to the peace and orderliness Alex craved, and he’d put this disturbing event behind him.
And hope for no more surprises.
Peace. That’s what he wanted. Wasn’t it?
Chapter Two
Samantha’s rubber soles made soft swishing sounds against the tile floor of the deserted high-school corridor. Alex had sent a note asking to see her after school let out.
Not, she suspected, as principal to school nurse but as Gabe’s father to Gabe’s aunt.
Butterflies beat a wild tattoo in her stomach, a sign of her heightened anxiety. In the two weeks since she told Alex about Gabe, they hadn’t been on the friendliest of terms. Waiting for the test results made them both tense.
Perhaps she should have told him about Gabe sooner.
In her defense, parenting didn’t come easily. Whoever said it did, lied. It certainly hadn’t the first time when she’d gained custody of Sarah. So far, this time was no different. Except she was older, thirty-one instead of nineteen.
And this time she hoped not to do it alone.
Pressing a hand against her stomach to tamp down the havoc caused by anticipation and nervousness, she tapped on Alex’s door.
“Come in,” he called in his deep velvet voice, the voice that made her hormones sit up and take notice.
She stepped inside and closed the door, bracing herself, because every time their eyes met a zing of awareness curled all the way down to her toes.
He sat behind a large desk, his dark head bent over a stack of papers. George Washington stared down from the wall. The American flag stood in the corner. Alex’s sleeves were rolled up and his tie loosened. The breadth of his shoulders filled the executive chair he sat in and his hair-dusted forearms bracketed the document he studied.
Even disheveled he took her breath.
Which made his inattention aggravating. He had asked for this meeting, the least he could do was attend it.
“Alex,” she prompted as she took a seat in one of the hardwood chairs facing him. “You wanted to see me?”
“Yes. I’m sorry, I just want to finish this.” He signed his name at the bottom of the paper then set it aside and looked up.
And zing, her toes curled in her white, rubber-soled shoes. She knew he felt the attraction, too. Desire blazed in his blue, blue eyes. A flash of hunger quickly banked.
Unfortunately, knowing changed nothing. Because acting on the attraction would be downright insane.
Darn it.
Scowling, he blinked away all signs of passion, then ran a hand over the back of his neck. The weariness in his gesture distracted Samantha. He usually seemed so vital, so in control.
Seeing him at less than his normal hundred-and-ten percent made her want to tend to him. Fighting the urge, she linked her fingers together. Best she keep her hands and nurturing instincts to herself.
Without meaning to, she heard herself ask, “Tough day?”
He shrugged, a frown drawing his eyebrows together. “No worse than usual.” He tossed his pen on the desk and leaned back in his chair. “Speculation about Gabe is starting to get around. I got a call from a member of the school board.”
“Oh.” Guilt assailed Samantha. What could she say? “Do you feel Gabe’s illegitimacy will reflect badly on you?”
She really hoped Alex would say no. But even with San Diego only thirty miles down the highway, Paradise Pines was a small town, with small-town values and small-town ethics. As principal, and the highest adult influence on their children, the citizens could be disturbed to learn Alex had an illegitimate child.
For the first time since she entered his office, he smiled. “Paradise Pines isn’t that provincial.” His expression turned rueful. “At least I don’t think it is.” He stood and came around the desk. “We’ll know soon enough. That’s why I called you in here, to tell you I received the results of the DNA tests.”
She caught her breath. “Really? My lab said four to six weeks for the results.” Mixed feelings made her heart pound. She believed her sister believed Alex was the father of her child. Heck, Samantha had based major decisions on that belief, but the test results were official. “So?”
“Gabe is my son.”
Her breath escaped in a rush of relief. Finally. Now they could move forward. Samantha tried to gauge Alex’s reaction, but his matter-of-fact manner gave her no clue to his true feelings.
Keeping his serious gaze on hers, he clasped his hands in front of him and leaned back against his desk. “You need to know, Samantha, that I’ve hired an attorney. I’m petitioning for custody.”
Shock rocked Samantha. She stared, trying to wrap her mind around what she’d heard. Alex couldn’t have said he meant to take Gabe away
