Stand By Your Man by Susan Fox Read Free Book Online Page A

and having kids. I imagine that has something to do with your parents, and your aunt and uncle?”
    He’d never thought about it. “I’ve just never pictured it, me with a wife, kids.”
    â€œAnd I’ve always pictured having a family. Being with a great guy, creating a home together, raising children. Teaching them about values, helping them with homework. Going riding, playing with the dog, swimming in the lake, having picnics.”
    He could see her doing it too. Living a normal, happy life, the kind he’d never contemplated. “Riding? D’you see yourself staying in Caribou Crossing?”
    A quick smile flashed. “You caught me. I know I could be transferred anywhere, but I do like it here. The beautiful country, the horses. It feels like me , if you know what I mean.”
    â€œUh, not really.”
    â€œOh come on, Jamal. Off the top of your head, what feels like you ?”
    To his surprise, an answer popped into his mind. “Basketball.”
    She cocked her head. “Yeah?”
    â€œPlayed it in school. I was good at it. Got some respect.”
    When she nodded, he figured she was connecting the dots. A teenager with a lot of physical stuff happening: growth, hormones, rage that he barely managed to suppress. Finding a legitimate physical outlet to blow off steam. A kid who didn’t fit and got picked on at home, becoming part of a team, even a bit of a star. Having hot girls chase after him. Yeah, he’d liked basketball.
    â€œDo you still play?”
    â€œSometimes a few members shoot some hoops.” After, they’d go out for a drink, talk sports. It was nice. Except that the others got to drink their beer. He’d pour his out in the john and refill the bottle with water.
    â€œIf you had kids, you’d hang a basketball hoop off the garage, play with them in the driveway.”
    And, just that quickly, her words conjured an image in his mind. Him and a couple of kids—a boy and a girl—tossing the ball around. Crazy dog getting in the way. A woman sticking her head out the back door, laughing at the sight, and darting down the steps to join in the game. A woman with gleaming brown hair and strong, practical feet that could tear up the makeshift court.
    â€œJamal?”
    â€œYeah,” he said slowly, stunned at that weird vision. “Guess I would hang that hoop.”
    â€œYou’d be a good father because you know how it hurts kids when their parents don’t do right by them.” She gazed at him with conviction in her tawny eyes.
    If he had kids, of course he’d do right by them. And by his woman. But he wasn’t going there. Was he? Why did he feel an odd yearning for something he’d never imagined having?
    Karen rested her hand on his arm. “I’ve met some people who are true loners, who really don’t want close relationships.”
    â€œGuess that’s me.” The words came out brusque and, despite the heat of her hand, a chill rippled through him.
    â€œIt’s not how I see you. There’s warmth in you and—”
    He snorted.
    Undeterred, she finished. “You connect with people.”
    â€œI do? I mean, yeah, when I’m undercover. Playing a role. But it’s like there are two of me, the guy in the role and the cop who’s always aware that he’s there to take down the bad guys.”
    â€œYou weren’t playing a role at dinner tonight, or here with me.”
    â€œUh, no.”
    â€œWhich means you do connect. Just you, being yourself. But I’d guess you haven’t had too many chances to do that. Fast-tracking your career, spending so much time undercover.” Her mouth twisted and she took her hand off his arm. “Treating women as hookups, not girlfriends.”
    Okay, that didn’t impress her. He wasn’t surprised, because she was so different from the women he’d hooked up with. Most of them babbled on about silly