Daddy's Double Duty by Stella Bagwell Read Free Book Online Page A

Conall. Money couldn’t change the fact that a childhood fever had killed his chances to ever father a child of his own. Nor had money been able to fix his shattered marriage. In fact, being rich had only compounded the problems he’d endured with Nancy. But since his divorce he’d tried his best to bury those painful personal details. They certainly weren’t matters he wanted to discuss with a woman, and that included Vanessa.
    â€œYou’re not worried about the twins’ financial future, are you?” he asked. “Hope’s life insurance appears to have left them set up nicely for college.”
    â€œI’m not worried about the financial part of this,” shereplied. “My parents raised six children. Surely I can manage two.”
    â€œBut you’re not married,” he pointed out.
    From the stiff line of her shoulders to the purse of her lips, everything about her looked offended by his comment.
    â€œYou think having a man around would be a help?”
    The bitterness in her short laugh was something he’d never heard from her before. The idea that this gentle woman might hold any sort of hard streak inside her took him by surprise. “I’m a man,” he answered. “I like to think we’re a helpful gender.”
    Frowning, her gaze left his to travel to an insignificant spot across the room. “Look, Conall, I’ve already had one husband I had to support, I don’t want another. I can do just fine without that added burden.”
    So she’d ended up marrying a man just like her parasitic brothers. No wonder there was bitterness on her tongue. But how and why had she made such a mistake in judgment? He would have thought she’d seen enough freeloading men to spot one at first glance.
    Yeah. Just like you’d been able to spot Nancy’s twisted character. You didn’t use good judgment with her, either. You allowed love to lead you around. And around. Until you were walking down a path of destruction.
    Clearing his throat, he tried to ignore the mocking voice going off inside him. “I wasn’t trying to suggest—”
    Shaking her head, she interrupted, “Forget it, please. I…didn’t mean to sound so catty. It’s just that after Jeff… Well, I resent the idea of being told I need a man.”
    Like he resented his family telling him he needed another woman in his life, Conall thought. Hell, getting hooked up with another woman like Nancy would finishhim. And finding a nice, family-oriented woman that he could love wasn’t as simple as it sounded. Oh, he’d tried. Once the initial blow of his divorce was over, he’d returned to the dating scene and attempted to put his heart into starting his life over with another woman. But as soon as he made it clear that he couldn’t father children, all his dates had backed away from him. Sure, for the most part they’d all been kind and empathetic to his problem, but in the end none of them had wanted to start out their lives with a man that couldn’t give them a family of their own. After a while, Conall had grown so weary of being rejected over and over that he’d finally given up on finding love, marriage and anything in between. And for the past few years he’d pretty much convinced himself that he was better off being alone and focusing all his attention to his job.
    Vanessa’s cynical remark was still dangling in the air between them when the waitress arrived with their drinks and salads. After the young woman served them and went on her way, he could feel Vanessa’s gaze on him and he paused from the task of stirring sugar into his tea to glance at her. Clearly, from the expression on her face, she wanted to speak her mind about something.
    â€œWhat?” he prompted.
    She hesitated before giving her head a slight shake. The gentle waves of hair lying on her shoulders shook with the movement as did the blue