Natural Born Daddy by Sherryl Woods Read Free Book Online Page A

to death of her sometimes.”
    Jessie nodded. “I can believe that. The first time he held Angela, he looked as if he might faint. Obviously he’s just not used to being around kids.”
    â€œMaybe,” Kelly said doubtfully. “What if it’s more than that? What if he just plain doesn’t like children?”
    â€œYou asked him to be Dani’s godfather. Obviously, you trust him instinctively with your child. Give him time around Dani and see how it goes. How does she behave around him?”
    â€œDani misses her father desperately. She looks at Jordan with so much hope in her eyes sometimes that it breaks my heart. She wants a daddy. I’m not sure she’s too particular about who it is. That’s another reason to keep all this nonsense from her. If she learns that Jordan has proposed, she’ll stop at nothing to make it happen. Have you ever tried to say no to astubborn five-year-old? Between worrying about her finding out and fending off Jordan, the whole thing is wearing me out.”
    â€œI think it’s supposed to wear you down.”
    Kelly sighed. “That, too.”
    * * *
    Jordan was beginning to wonder if Kelly was right, that he had lost his mind. For the past month he’d spent an awful lot of time trying to outguess a woman he had known forever, a woman he’d been certain he understood completely. It was a damned confounding turn of events.
    Not that he didn’t love a challenge. He did. He’d just never expected his old pal Kelly to provide it. To his everlasting chagrin, he had expected her to say yes to his proposal without giving the matter a second thought. The plan was so sensible, he didn’t see how she could say anything else.
    As for that kiss they’d shared, his body hardened every time he thought about it. Who would have guessed that good old Kelly had that much passion inside her? Once he’d recovered from the shock, he’d realized that it was a benefit he hadn’t even considered when he’d made his choice. Discovering that he wanted her physically was a hell of a bonus.
    Years ago, when he’d experienced the first faint stirrings of desire for her, he’d forced them aside. His father had always told him there were women for marrying and women for dalliances. He had known with certainty even then that Kelly was the kind of woman a man married, not the kind he experimented with. That kiss a few weeks back, though, had hintedthat she might have shared that early attraction. There had seemed to be a lot of pent-up emotion behind it.
    He glanced up just in time to see Ginger taking her usual place on the corner of his desk. Her skirt hitched up a practically indecent three inches, exposing shapely thighs. Her attempt to tug it lower failed dismally. One of these days he really was going to have to have a talk with her about office decorum.
    â€œDon’t you ever sit in a chair?” he grumbled.
    â€œSure,” she said easily. “At my desk. At yours, this is better. So, what’s it going to be today? Roses? Candy? Balloons? A trip to the moon?”
    Jordan sighed. He was running out of ideas. “What would have worked on you?”
    â€œI’m easy. I’d have caved in after the first two or three dozen roses,” she said readily. “Of course, DeVonne did have to get a little creative. He actually told me he loved me. Have you mentioned anything along those lines to Kelly?”
    He could feel patches of color climbing into his cheeks. Ginger’s expression told him she could interpret exactly what that meant. She regarded him with a mix of disgust and pity.
    â€œYou haven’t, have you? Jordan Adams, you don’t deserve a woman like Kelly. You’re some kind of throwback to another era. You think you’re doing her some great favor just by asking, don’t you?”
    â€œOf course not.”
    Ginger rolled her eyes. “Work on that delivery, boss.