had to admit he was one of the most attractive men she’d ever met. She wondered fleetingly if she’d ever met him before, but she couldn’t place him. And it didn’t matter. He knew what had happened, it seemed, and he was ready to help her.
The waiter set a tall, frosted glass of something lime-green in front of her that Mr. Marin must have ordered when she wasn’t paying attention, and she took a sip, savoring its light, sherbety taste. She was definitely calming down. But the situation still seemed surreal.
“Feeling better?” Jack asked her.
She folded her hands before her on the white linen tablecloth and studied him for a long moment before answering. He was a classically handsome man and his dark eyes seemed warm and kind. He wore a crisp white shirt, open at the neck, with his shirt-sleeves rolled up to just below his elbows. She could see that he was a strong man. His chest looked muscular, and so did his forearms.
He was the sort of man a woman could easily fall for, she decided. The sort of man a girl might fantasize making love to. She found her gaze dropping to explore the tanned chest exposed by his open shirt, and felt a hint of that electricity again.
Quickly, she looked away. But his image stayed in her mind. There was something about him, something with a hint of the wild and rugged, that didn’t fit with his being a lawyer. She could see him more as some sort of outdoorsman, scaling mountains rather than dominating courtrooms.
“I am feeling better,” she told him. “It was a shock to find out….” Her voice trailed off as she puther hands on her rounded belly. She couldn’t say it aloud yet. She was carrying a baby who was suddenly a bit of a stranger to her. Everything she had believed to be true about her child’s conception had been shattered. It was going to take some getting used to. “The question is, what do I do now?”
He shrugged his wide shoulders and narrowed his eyes, assessing her. “Sue them. You’ll make millions.”
She groaned. “Right. And the case will drag through the courts for years for the hope of a settlement that may never come to pass.”
He raised one dark eyebrow. “It sounds like you’ve already had that experience,” he noted.
She lifted her shoulders casually. She didn’t want to remember the people who had sued her after her father’s death, claiming he had swindled them. She’d been too young to deal with it all, and Hank, her father’s business partner, had stepped in and guided her through the legal maze at the time. She’d married him, partly in gratitude, and he’d taken care of everything… But she didn’t like to let her mind dwell on those days.
“Something close,” she said. “And I’ll never go through that again.” She paused as the waiter set a plate of cheese and crackers on the table, then she gave Jack a wavering smile. “I’m sorry Mr…. Marin, was it? You’ve been very kind, but I won’t be suing.”
She expected him to look disappointed, but instead, his gaze sharpened. “I don’t think you should make a firm decision about that until you’ve had some time to let this sink in.” He hesitated, his gaze dropping to what he could see of her belly. “Everything is going all right, isn’t it?”
“Oh yes. I’m fine. It’s been a relatively easy pregnancy, or so they tell me.” She said a quick, silent prayer of thanks for that. “I’m almost at seven months. It won’t be long now.”
His dark eyes were inscrutable. “Good. You’ve got a healthy little boy coming and I know you want to do everything you can to make sure he gets here in good shape.”
She stared at him, frowning. The man was a complete stranger. And yet he knew all about her situation, even the sex of the baby she was carrying.
It finally dawned on her that no one else but the doctors should know about what had happened. She’d been assuming he was a lawyer, but how had he known about her case? And why had he shown up out of the blue just when she was there? Now that she was thinking more clearly, she began to see that this wasn’t really making a lot of sense.
She wet her lips with her tongue and took a deep breath. “Mr. Marin…”
His dark eyes met hers. “Call me Jack.”
“Jack…I told you I’m not interested in suing.” She awaited his response, trying to get some answers from reading his face.
But that wasn’t easy. Instead of trying to talk her into reconsidering, he merely nodded. “I’m glad. I hate that kind of thing, too.”
She shook her head, perplexed. “But…aren’t you a lawyer?”
One dark eyebrow cocked in amusement. “A lawyer? No, whatever gave you that idea?”
She blinked at him, now totally at sea. “Who are you?”
His clear-eyed gaze held hers. “Why, Gayle, I thought you knew. I’m the father of your baby.”
Chapter Two
Gayle’s chest felt as though it would explode. Her hands clenched the edge of the table and she stared at Jack, aghast.
“What?” she said breathlessly, her eyes round as saucers. “What?”
“I’m sorry. I thought you understood, or I would have explained sooner.”
Her heart skipped a beat and then began to pound like a drum, shooting adrenaline through her system. She needed to escape—again. The phrase “Out of the frying pan, into the fire” came to mind. She reached for her purse and slid out of the booth. “Stay away from me,” she warned, glaring at the man. “Keep your distance.”
He was shaking his head as he gazed at her, and the look of sympathetic understanding was quickly replaced by an expression of cool exasperation. “I’m sorry, Gayle,” he said, just as calm and sure with her as he’d been with the doctors. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. You’re carrying something that belongs to me.”
She stood at the edge of the table, staring down at him. “What?” she said, outraged. “I…you have no right…”
“Oh yes, I do.” He gestured with a nod of his head. “Sit back down. We need to deal with this in a rational manner.”
Rational? What was rational about this impossible situation? She shook her head. “I’m going home,” she announced firmly, though she still hadn’t started away from the table. Something about the man was holding her here, even though he wasn’t touching her. “If you have anything to tell me, you can write me a letter.”
He sighed, his dark eyes clouding. “Calm down,” he told her. “You’re not going anywhere. I definitely can’t let you drive yourself home when you’re so upset.”
She blinked, clutching her purse to her chest. “Let me? What possible business is it of yours?”
“It is very much my business. You’re carrying my child. I don’t want that baby hurt.” He made a gesture of forbearance and gave her a hard look. “If you insist on passing up the great food this place has to offer, I’m going to have to do the same, and drive you home myself.”
She stared at him as he unfolded his long, muscular frame and stood before her. Gayle was tall for a woman, but
