A Bride for Jackson Powers (Desire, 1273) by Dixie Browning Read Free Book Online

antacid tablets, offered her one and when she declined, absently popped one in his mouth to offset the effect of aspirin on his stomach lining.
    “Your head still hurts, doesn’t it?”
    He nodded, then wished he hadn’t. “Not bad. Probably low barometric pressure.”
    “Or noise. Or lack of a decent meal. Or all this awful uncertainty. I hate uncertainty, don’t you?”
    “Nothing’s ever certain.” He shrugged, then confessed. “Yeah, I do. Too much, I guess. I’ve always been subject to rules. Boarding school, marine corps, law school.” He wasn’t into confidences, but hell…ships that pass in the night, and all that.
    “I guess rules are sort of like a tight girdle. While it might be miserable, at least it smooths out the bulges and you know you’re not jiggling.”
    He lifted both eyebrows, his gaze moving slowly down her wand-slender form. “You’re kidding.”
    “Not me—I mean, I don’t wear a girdle—oh, mercy, I don’t believe I said that. Honestly, I’m not in the habit of discussing my underwear with strange men.”
    “I’m not all that strange,” he said with a crooked grin.
    “No, you’re not,” she said earnestly. “Jax, I really don’t know how to thank you for—well, for taking me under your wing. I might’ve mentioned beforethat I’m not really a very experienced traveler. I’d probably have panicked.”
    “No, you wouldn’t. I suspect Hetty Reynolds is a lot stronger than she pretends.” He studied her intently for a moment before his gaze softened, straying to her mouth to linger there before returning to her eyes again. Her lips, naked and vulnerable, trembled once, then firmed, and he thought, yeah, you’re a lot stronger than you look, lady.
    He couldn’t help but wonder what had made her that way.
     
    The food machines were still empty. No surprise. The concessions were still closed in all the terminals, also no great surprise. Sunny drank the last of the whole milk diluted with bottled water and chewed frantically on her teething ring, then fussed herself to sleep while Hetty crooned a husky, off-key lullaby about looking glasses and mockingbirds.
    And because her voice affected him in a totally inappropriate way, Jax took a jog on the moving sidewalk. To loosen up his muscles, he’d explained, telling her he’d be back in twenty minutes.
    He returned in thirty-five with a half-melted candy bar. He’d paid a kid twenty bucks for the thing, then felt guilty for depriving a growing boy of sustenance.
    Sunny was sleeping soundly, undisturbed by the constant din all around them. “Here, I got lucky,” he said, tossing the candy bar to Hetty.
    “Oh, wonderful!” And then she lifted stricken eyes to his. “But what about you? I’ll break it inhalf—wait a minute, maybe I can cut it with—” She rummaged in her big, lumpy shoulder bag.
    “I already ate mine. Sorry. I didn’t think you’d mind.”
    There’d been only one. He was so hungry his belly was knotted around his backbone, yet he took great satisfaction in being able to provide for his unexpected family. He’d found a new source of bottled water, also at a price, and stocked up. Two liters. That should last for the duration. Something had to break loose pretty soon.
    “Oh, mmm, this is scrumptious!”
    Jax tucked his coat around Sunny’s feet. They had two thin flannel blankets left to use as diapers. Hetty had tried washing them, but with no soap and no place to dry them, it wasn’t a very satisfactory arrangement. Things had to start moving pretty soon. He’d never heard of a delay this long.
    Now and then someone would approach the impromptu barrier he’d erected and linger, as if sizing up his chance of claiming a few feet of the space they’d commandeered, then shrug and move on. Jax slid down beside her. Feeling protective, he sat closer than absolutely necessary. Funny the way a minor disaster could turn a civilized maritime lawyer into a caveman. If anyone actually tried to horn