Snowbound Baby (Silhouette Romance) by Susan Meier Read Free Book Online Page B

to take you tobed,” Zoe said as she carried Daphne to the bedroom. She laid her among the pillows but instead of leaving her, Zoe lay down, too. She rubbed the baby’s arms, smoothed her hair, whispered soothing words. In twenty minutes, probably the time it took for the fever reducer to kick in, Daphne was sleeping again.
    Though Zoe rose from the bed, she couldn’t seem to pull herself out of the bedroom. She knew Cooper was correct. Daphne’s fever wasn’t so high that her life was in danger, but Zoe didn’t want to leave her just in case. Because there was no chair in the room, she sat on the floor and propped her back against the wall. She sat, staring straight ahead and listened to the sounds of Daphne breathing.
    Twenty minutes later Cooper appeared at the bedroom door. “What’s up?”
    “Nothing. She’s sleeping.”
    “Game’s not over, but it’s getting dull, so if you’d like to watch TV, I’ll find something else to do.”
    From her position on the floor, Zoe smiled up at him. “No. I’m fine. I need to be here, just in case.”
    Cooper turned to leave, but his face pinched with a pained expression and he stopped halfway and sighed. “My mother used to do the same thing.”
    “Sit in your bedroom when you were sick?”
    “I don’t remember her doing it for me, but I remember she did it for my baby brother, Seth. So, I assume she did it for all of us.”
    “That’s right. You said you have brothers.”
    He hesitated. “Two.”
    “I’m an onlychild.” She paused. “It must have been fun to have siblings.”
    “Don’t try to slide me into a conversation thinking I’ll spill my guts about my family. You know the deal on getting my story.”
    She laughed. “I wasn’t trying to get your story.”
    “Good, because I would have made a great spy. I don’t tell anyone anything.”
    “Except in return for sex.”
    “Everybody’s got his price.”
    She laughed again and Cooper left the room. But he felt guilty and he didn’t know why. He hadn’t made Zoe’s kid sick. But he didn’t have a clue how to help, either. And for some reason known only to God, he felt he should be doing something.
    Seeing that it was close to noon, he decided to make lunch. As a fresh pot of coffee brewed, he threw together some sandwiches using one of several cans of tuna he found in a lower cabinet. He took two sandwiches and a cup of coffee to the bedroom.
    “Here.”
    She glanced up and Cooper’s heart turned over in his chest. Her eyes were such a soft shade of blue that they could zap the strength of any mere mortal man. But this was the first time he’d really looked at her face and seen something more appealing than just attractiveness. He saw strength, grit, determination. All the stuff that when used in the right way, at the right time, could make a woman incredibly good in bed.
    His gut tightened and if he had had a free hand he would have slapped himself upside of the head. What was he doing thinking about her like that? It was one thing to proposition her. It was quite another to torture himself.
    He shoved the plateand cup at her.
    She shook her head. “I’m not hungry.”
    “Well, eat to keep from getting bored then.”
    “That’s how people get fat.”
    She wouldn’t take the dish. He couldn’t seem to get himself out of the room unless she did. Damn attraction! Damn woman!
    “All right,” he said and lowered himself to the floor. “Here’s the deal. I’m not much of a people person. I shouldn’t give a darn about you, but for some reason I cannot fathom, it’s driving me nuts having you in here.”
    Zoe studied him for a second, then shrugged. “I don’t see why. You would have let me sit at the poker table with nothing to do. How’s it different to have me in here?”
    He scowled at her perceptiveness. “I don’t know.” He picked up a sandwich and took a bite. If she wasn’t going to eat the damned sandwiches, he would. And once they were gone he wouldn’t have any