her shoulder at him. “You don’t have to stay. I know you need to be back at White Pines tomorrow.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
She was relieved by the refusal. She wasn’t entirely sure she could bear to get through the night alone. “Thank you.”
“No need to thank me.” He reached around her and loosened her fingers from the crib, then slowly turned her to face him. He tucked a knuckle under her chin. “You need to get some sleep.”
Sharon Lynn folded her arms around her middle and shivered. “I don’t think I can.”
Cord drew her against him and held her. “You have to,” he repeated, rubbing her back gently. “Take another one of those bubble baths, if that’ll relax you.”
He grinned at her. “Then I’ll come back and tuck you in.”
“Will you stay with me?”
“I’ve already said I would.”
“I mean in here. Will you sleep beside me?” She searched his expression. “I know it’s asking a lot.”
“Do you really think you’ll sleep better if I’m next to you?”
She almost grinned at his doubtful tone. “I will.”
“Then that’s the way it will be,” he said.
He said it so grimly that this time she did grin. “If it’ll be too hard on you...”
“Hush. I’ll manage. Get ready for bed. I’ll go turn out the lights and be back in a flash.”
As soon as he left the room, she pulled out a long T-shirt and slipped into it. She had a feeling the sexy nightie she might have preferred was a very bad idea under the circumstances. There was no mistaking the fact that she was already asking too much of Cord’s restraint.
She had slipped under the covers by the time he returned. He flipped off the bedroom light, then sank down on the side of the bed and removed his boots. She found herself holding her breath, waiting for him to shed the rest of his clothes.
Instead, with a heavy sigh, he stretched out beside her, on top of the bedspread.
“Cord?”
“Yes, darlin’?”
“You don’t have to sleep in your clothes.”
“Oh, yes, I do,” he said fervently.
She had no difficulty at all interpreting his meaning. That made her next request all the more dangerous.
“Cord?”
“Yes?”
“Would you mind very much holding me?”
She thought she heard him groan softly, but he dutifully rolled toward her and gathered her close. She sighed with pleasure at the reassuring feel of his arms around her. Then, surrounded by his warmth and his strength, she finally closed her eyes and slept.
Chapter Nine
After taking one last, longing look at the woman beside him, Cord slipped out of bed at dawn, grateful that he’d made it through the night without violating Sharon Lynn’s trust. Holding her had been sheer torture. He’d wanted to make love to her, to make her forget all about the heartache that might lay ahead of them, to give her hope in the future. Their hope.
But there’d been a million and one reasons why he couldn’t, why his arms had curved loosely around her, why his hands had remained still, why his lips hadn’t brushed hers. The baby had been right there in the same room, for one thing. For another, he would have been taking advantage of her vulnerability. His promise to Justin, his own sense of honor prevented that.
Still, he thought with some regret, it would have been so easy to seduce her. She was scared and needy. She had turned to him for reassurance, for comfort, maybe even for a distraction, which he could have provided with pleasure. But she wasn’t prepared for the consequences of reaching out to him, not for those consequences, anyway.
So, he’d done the honorable thing. He’d counted sheep. He’d focused on anything and everything but the woman in his arms. Even so, he was pretty sure he’d never get the light, flowery scent of her out of his head, never forget the silkiness of her skin or the curve of her hip. He wanted the tenderness and warmth she gave so readily to their abandoned baby directed his way. He needed her to want him as desperately as he was beginning to want her.
Since that was out of the question for now, he moved quietly to the bathroom across the hall, cleaned up, then went back to check on the baby. She was wide-awake and about ready to cry. He plucked her out of the crib, made soothing little noises as he carried her into the living room, then changed her.
“You hungry, angel?”
She gave him a beaming smile that convinced him she