The Baby Truth by Stella Bagwell Read Free Book Online

immediately kicked into a rapid flutter.
    “Trying to get rid of me?” he asked wryly.
    Reaching over, he wrapped a hand around hers and Sassy was instantly overcome with conflicting emotions. There was something about Jett that greatly comforted her, yet, at the same time, he made her feel things she had no business feeling. Like wanting and needing and dreaming.
    “I should’ve gone to the hotel as I’d first planned,” she said ruefully.
    “No. I should’ve behaved like a gentleman.” His fingertips gently stroked the back of her hand. “You didn’t ask for that kiss. Now you have the idea that I’m a wolf.”
    Feeling as though she was about to break apart, Sassy drew in a deep breath and lifted her chin. “There’s no need for you to apologize. It was just a kiss, no matter what you think.”
    Disapproval bent the corners of his mouth. “You hardly come across as easy, Sassy.”
    She searched his face. “Well, some people back home view me as a party girl—and I have had a few boyfriends,” she admitted. “But not in an—intimate way. Barry was— He was the only man I’ve ever been close to and that happened only once. Now I’m pregnant. Folks back home might not be shocked at the news, but I surely am.”
    “Every town has its gossipers. You don’t pay any attention to that sort of talk, do you?”
    “I never did before. But now...”
    “You don’t want it to hurt your baby,” he finished softly.
    He understood. For some reason that made everything she was facing seem much less daunting and him seem, oh so special.
    “Now that I’ve learned George and Gloria Matthews weren’t my parents, I regard a lot of things differently,” she said. “It hurts—the not knowing where I came from. I don’t want my child to ever have any doubts about his parents.”
    “Sassy, I hope you’re not thinking that being a single mother is something to be ashamed of.”
    Her low laugh was tinged with irony. “I’m not ashamed. But it’s hard to forget hurtful things that are said about you. For instance, a couple of years ago I had a little crush on a ranch hand who works for the Chaparral. Someone told him I’d like to go on a date with him, and his reply was that he’d never date a young woman who hopped from one man’s bed to the next.”
    “You should have told the guy to go to hell. Did you?”
    She shrugged. “After that I knew he wasn’t worth the bother. But the whole thing did get me to thinking and wondering why some people get the wrong impression about me.” She looked at him, and for the first time in her life, words began to roll past her lips that she’d never spoken to anyone before. “You see, after my parents died, I felt really alone, Jett. I didn’t have brothers or sisters. Not even cousins to hang with. And I was desperate for attention and just, well—human connection. I liked going out on dates and having fun. It made me forget that I’d lost everything that was dear to me. After a while, I suppose people began to think I was overdoing it with the dates and the guys. That probably doesn’t make much sense to you, but that’s the way I see it.”
    “I’ll tell you the way I see it, Sassy. You’re beautiful and special. And you’re going make your son or daughter proud.”
    He squeezed her hand, and his touch warmed her just as much as his words. And even though she could hear faint warning bells clanging in the back of her head, urging her to get up and move away from the man, she couldn’t budge from his side.
    A nervous little laugh slipped out of her. “I’ve been talking too much. What in the world did you put in that spaghetti, Jett? Truth serum?”
    A faint grin grooved his cheeks. “I didn’t put any serum in the spaghetti, but I can truthfully say that kiss I stole earlier this evening... It didn’t happen because I thought you were easy. Understand?”
    She smiled faintly. “Okay, Jett. I understand.”
    But, frankly, Sassy didn’t understand.