A Baby...Maybe? & How to Hunt a Husband by Bonnie Tucker Read Free Book Online Page B

to laugh. Her brown eyes were big, almond-shaped and fringed with black lashes so long they almost touched her eyebrows.
    She tilted her head a little to the right, squinted against the sun, and then her lips moved and she spoke, which by itself wasn’t unusual, since lips did move when people spoke.
    However, her lips— Man-oh-man, how did a guy put into thought what his body signaled when he watched those lips move? How did he describe a basic need and desire? If he could have grabbed her, lay one on her, and suck the living daylights out of those full pink lips he would have. And if he did that, she’d let him and she’d like it and beg for more. Then again, so would he.
    â€œWhere are you from?” he asked.
    â€œI’m not from here.”
    He didn’t need her to tell him that. Her hair, long and mostly straight, gave that away. Pegleg women were known for their big hairdos, not anything as natural as what this lady had crowning her head.
    â€œWhere?”
    â€œEast.”
    â€œAs in Louisiana?”
    â€œNo, east.”
    He wasn’t stupid. “Louisiana is east.” Females. This one was ornery, but sexy as all get-out. So he set a smile on his face, one he hoped reeked of friendliness and not lust, and tried to picture her naked. He made no apology for that either. He was, after all, first and foremost, a guy. A guy who could tell that the woman standing there looking so cute was very interested in him. “I was wondering,” he started, his accent getting a little thicker, a little more Texas, “Miss Person From the East…” His voice trailed off when the lady turned away from him and waved at Kate Donetti.
    When she turned back toward him, he fully expected her to offer her name, address, vital statistics and phone number. Instead, she said, “You’re a very nice man. Thank you for being so understanding.”
    She shoved the plate of grassy wings at him, whichhe had no choice but to grab or they’d fall again, then she did an about-face and left him standing there.
    She might have run away for now, but Rex knew Kate Donetti. If the chicken lady was friends with Kate, he’d find her again in no time at all.

3
    C ARA’S FIRST THOUGHT was to confide everything to Kate. She wanted to tell her all about how she was thinking about using the sperm bank to get artificially inseminated, to have her heart’s desire, a baby—and outwit her mother. It wasn’t that she didn’t want her mother to win the bet, it was the fact that the bet shouldn’t have been made in the first place. Parents were not supposed to place bets on their children’s lives. It wasn’t done.
    Just as she was about to tell Kate her hopes and dreams for the future, something in her head told her, “Stop.” Instinct kept her from revealing her plan, at least for a little while. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Kate to keep a secret. It had more to do with not wanting to debate the pros and cons of her decision with anyone. She could debate herself down to the ground if she wanted. Cara just didn’t want anyone to burst her bubble. Not that Kate had ever been less than supportive, but right now there were so many people wanting to run her life, tell her what to do, make decisions for her. It was taking away the joy a woman should have when making her own choices, even if some of those choices might turn out to be mistakes. Not that having a baby would be a mistake. A baby would probably be the one decision that was right. It was having the baby out of wedlock that wouldn’t be right. Unfortunately, in life, sometimes awoman had to sacrifice what was right for what was in her heart.
    Still, Cara didn’t want to confide her intentions to anyone until she called Noble Sperm Bank, talked to one of the nurses and got as much information as she could. Once she had the information then she would be able to make an informed, not