think it means?” he asked heatedly. “It means that as of now I’m sticking to you like glue. Forget about running. Forget about hiding.”
She winced. “I can see I was right about one thing.”
“Which is?”
“I see where Amy Lynn got her temper. She’s definitely her daddy’s girl. She already has the family stubborn streak. Most babies don’t learn to say no until they’re two. Amy Lynn may not be able to say it yet, but she sure can make her preferences known.” She gave him a pointed look. “I’m not sure it’s a legacy you ought to be proud of.”
Maybe he deserved the censure. He was stubborn. He was an Adams. It came with the genes and from his perspective, it wasn’t a bad trait to inherit. Call it stubbornness or persistence—to his way of thinking it was the same as commitment and staying power. He wasn’t about to let Laurie’s accusation throw him off course.
Facing her, he said fiercely, “I want my daughter to be a part of my life, Laurie. I want her to know she’s an Adams. I’ll fight you for that if I have to.”
He saw the tumble of fear, followed by resignation in her expression. Clearly she’d been anticipating something like this ever since he’d turned up.
“I won’t fight you,” she said quietly. “We’ll work something out. When she’s a little older, she can come to the ranch as often as you’d like.”
And have his daughter think of him as a distant stranger? There was no chance in hell he’d buy a plan like that. He scowled at Laurie.
“I mean starting now,” he said, his tone implacable.
“But she’s just a baby,” Laurie protested.
“And I’m every bit as capable of caring for her as you are. More capable, in fact. At least I have a home I stay in, instead of moving from hotel to hotel. She wouldn’t be turned over to nannies. She’d be surrounded by family, including your own mother, I might add.” He regarded her pointedly. “Best of all, she wouldn’t be getting her picture plastered all over the front of the tabloids.”
Laurie flinched at that, but came back fighting. “That picture was what brought her to your attention,” she reminded him. “Maybe you ought to send a thank-you note to the photographer.”
“You mean you haven’t already had him strung up for giving away your little secret?”
“Believe me, if I’d had any recourse at all, I would have taken it,” she said fervently. “No one wanted you to find out about Amy Lynn this way, least of all me.”
“No,” he agreed quietly. “You never wanted me to find out about her at all.”
He noticed she didn’t try to deny it. Instead, she rubbed her eyes in a gesture that was as familiar to him as the feel of her skin. Laurie’d always stayed awake past exhaustion because she never wanted to miss a thing. If he’d been in a kinder frame of mind, he’d have seen it earlier and insisted that they both get the sleep they sorely needed. He did suggest it now.
“Go to bed, Laurie. We’ll finish this conversation in the morning.”
He caught the quick flash of relief in her eyes and guessed exactly what was on her mind. “You aren’t thinking of skipping out during the night, are you, darlin’?”
Color tinted her cheeks pink. “Of course not,” she denied a little too hastily. “I’ll be right here when you get back in the morning. I promise.”
He smiled at the solemn vow. He figured it wasn’t worth spit. “Of course you will be,” he said agreeably. “And I’m sure you won’t mind if I just take a precaution or two.”
“Such as?”
“Well, for starters, I’ll be sleeping right in there next to you.”
She swallowed hard at that. Color flamed in her cheeks. “I don’t think so.”
“You don’t have any choice in the matter.”
“It’s a bad idea,” she insisted.
“Why? Afraid you won’t be able to resist me?”
“That is not the issue.”
“Then what is?”
“It’s just wrong, that’s all.”
“You’ll have to do better than that, darlin’. You’ve had my baby. It’s a little late to get all prissy about sharing a bed with me.”
She opened her mouth, then snapped it shut again. As regally as any queen, she rose from the sofa and headed for the bedroom. She was almost at the door when Harlan Patrick realized that if he didn’t hightail it across the room, she’d have that door slammed and locked before he could blink. As it was, he barely got his foot