Penniless And Secretly Pregnant - Jennie Lucas Page 0,20

anger ahead of their baby’s best interests—not just financially, but emotionally?

“How can I know you’ll be a good father to our daughter?” she said in a small voice.

“I swear it to you. On my honor.”

“Your honor,” she said bitterly. Her hands went protectively over her baby bump, over her cotton shirt.

He gently put his larger hand over hers.

“Yes. My honor. Which means a great deal to me.” He looked her straight in the eye. “I have no family, Daisy. No siblings or cousins. Both my parents are dead. I never intended to marry or have a child of my own. But now... This baby is all I have. All I care about is her happiness. I will do anything to protect her.”

Daisy heard the words for the vow they were. Her heart lifted to her throat. He truly wanted to be a good father. She heard it in his voice. He cared about this child in a way she’d never expected.

Her heart suddenly ached. How she wished she could believe him! How lovely it would be to actually have a partner in her pregnancy, someone else looking out for her, rather than having to figure out everything herself!

But could she live with a man who’d done what Leonidas had done? Even if she never loved him—could she live with him? Accept him as her co-parent—trust him as a friend?

His hand tightened over hers. “There could be other benefits to our marriage, Daisy,” he said huskily. “More than just being partners. Living together, we could have other...pleasures.”

He was talking about sharing a bed. Images of their lovemaking flashed through her, and she felt a bead of sweat between her breasts.

“If you think I’m falling into bed with you, you’re crazy,” she said desperately. She stepped back, pulling away from his touch. Just to make sure she didn’t do something she’d regret, like reach for his strong, powerful body, pull it against her own, and lift her lips to his...

She couldn’t. She mustn’t!

“I can’t forget how it felt to make love to you,” he said in a low voice. “I still dream about it. Do you?”

“No,” she lied.

His dark eyes glinted. His lips curved wickedly as he came forward, and without warning, he swept her up into his powerful arms.

“Shall I remind you what it was like?” he said softly, his gaze hot against her trembling lips.

For a moment, standing in this apartment where they’d made love so many times, in so many locations—on that sofa, against that wall—all she wanted was to kiss him, to feel his hands against her naked skin. It terrified her, how easily he made her body yearn to surrender!

But if she did, how long would it take before she gave him everything?

Trembling, she wrenched away. “No.”

He looked at her, and she thought she saw a flash of vulnerability in his dark eyes. Then his handsome face hardened. “I’m not going away, Daisy. I’m not going to abandon her.”

“I know.” She prayed he didn’t realize how close she was to spinning out of control. She needed to get him out of here, out of this apartment with all its painfully joyful memories. “I’m tired. Can we talk tomorrow?”

“No,” he said, unyielding. “This needs to be settled.”

Sunny rose from her dog bed to sniff curiously at Leonidas. The dog looked up at him with hopeful eyes, clearly waiting to be petted. He briefly scratched her ears. As he straightened, the dog licked his hand.

Traitor. Daisy glared at her pet. Just when she most wanted her canine protector to growl and bark, another female fell helplessly at the Greek tycoon’s feet!

Leonidas stood before her, illuminated by the bright Manhattan skyline and the starry night, and a lump rose in her throat. Did he know how memories of their love affair haunted her?

If it had been Leo wanting to kiss her, she would have already fallen into his arms. If it had been Leo proposing, she would have married him in an instant.

But it wasn’t. Instead, it was a handsome stranger, a coldhearted billionaire, the man who’d put her father in jail.

“I can see you’re tired,” Leonidas said gently, looking at her slumped shoulders and the way her hands cradled her belly. “Are you hungry? Perhaps I could take you to dinner?”

He sounded hesitant, as if he were expecting her to refuse. But after her early morning shift at the diner, followed by her checkup at the obstetrician’s office and then walking her energetic dog, Daisy was tired and hungry.

“Another