Not Quite Married by Christine Rimmer Page B

ruler-of-the-world deep voice of his, “Doing the right damn thing, that’s what.”
    Doing the right thing . “Dear God, if people would only stop saying that.”
    “You’re being unreasonable. People will say it. Because it’s a true thing. A man ought to step the hell up when he’s going to be a father.”
    “It’s not the answer, Dalton, just to go and get married and hope that somehow it will all work out. Most of the time in this world today, it doesn’t work out. And then it only brings more heartache when it all falls apart.”
    “Fine. Great. So you said no.”
    “Yes. And that was the right thing for me to do.”
    “I don’t agree. I’ll never agree.”
    “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
    “What?” He pinned her with those laser-blues. “That I’ll keep trying to do the right thing as I see it?”
    “Yes. That you’ll keep after me until I bend to your will.”
    “Not fair, Clara.”
    “Are you going to tell me that I’m wrong?”
    “The facts are simple. You turned me down and I have accepted it. And now I’m not asking you to marry me. I’m asking you to let me move in here and do what I can for you and our baby.”
    “It’s just...”
    “What?”
    “It’s too late. That ship has sailed.”
    He fisted one hand and wrapped the fingers of the other around it. “But I realized my mistake in letting you go and I did hire someone to find you. You were going to marry your good buddy, Ryan. I was told that the baby was his . I had no reason not to believe that. So I stayed away. But now I’m here. And you’ve pushed yourself so hard for so long, you collapsed. You need someone with you. And as I’m the baby’s father, why the hell shouldn’t that someone be me?”
    God. He was right. She really, really hated that he was right.
    And he wasn’t finished, either. “You do need me, Clara, whether you’re willing to admit it or not. You need me and the baby needs me. And I need to be here, damn it. I need to do what I can to make certain that both of you are all right.”
    “But I—”
    “Don’t give me any ‘buts,’ Clara. Just put your damn pride aside for once and say you’ll let me stay here and do what I can for you until our baby is born.”
     

Chapter Five
    D alton knew he’d convinced her when she said wistfully, “You were so easygoing on the island. You took things as they came. The man you were on the island was not a relentless man.”
    He gave her the truth. It seemed a good time for it. “Right now the last thing you need is the man I was on the island.”
    She looked at him, huge eyes full of hurt. “Given that that man didn’t really exist, it doesn’t matter if I needed him.”
    “That’s right.” He said it gently, firmly. Even though, in a certain sense, the man he’d been on the island was as much his real self as the one who sat in the chair beside her now. The man on the island was the man he might have been given different parents, a different childhood. But he had no intention of going into any of that now. Now he needed to get her agreement so he could move forward with his plans. He pushed to close the deal. “Tell me I can move in here.”
    “How long do you plan to stay?”
    “For as long as you and the baby need me.”
    “Who gets to decide that?”
    I do. And I’m not leaving . “We’ll know, I think, when it’s time for me to go.”
    “What if it just doesn’t work out for me?”
    He almost chuckled. “I have zero doubt that you’ll let me know immediately if it’s not working out for you.”
    “You will have to go if I say so, Dalton. This is my house.”
    “Point taken.”
    “And you definitely can’t stay past the birth. As soon as I’m back on my feet, you have to move out.”
    “How about this? After the baby comes, we’ll discuss what to do next.”
    “Unless I simply want you out. Then you’ll go.”
    “Absolutely.” But she wouldn’t want him out. She needed him. All he had to do was get her to see