The Soldier's Baby Bargain by Beth Kery Read Free Book Online

“glow” like the stereotypical pregnant woman, but there was a sort of soft luminescence to her that he found compelling. “You’ve never looked so beautiful.”
    The pink in her cheeks wasn’t caused by the sunset, he realized. Another breeze whipped past them, this one chillier. He leaned back on the bench and put his arm around her. Much to his satisfaction, she let her head rest on his shoulder. For several seconds they watched the sunset in silence. He felt entirely aware of her in those moments, of her firm, curving body, of her sweetness, the scent of her hair, the lock that fell just next to the pulse at her white throat. He brushed away the lock, stroking her skin in the process. Her shiver vibrated into his flesh. He braced himself for her reaction to what he was about to say.
    “I can’t leave you alone here, Faith,” he said gruffly.
    She lifted her head and studied him dazedly. “What do you mean?”
    “I respect the fact that you want to raise the baby in Holland. It’s your home. But I’m not comfortable with living three thousand miles away while my child is here.”
    Regret swept through him when he saw alarm flash into her eyes. She straightened, breaking the contact of their bodies.
    “What do you plan to do?” she demanded.
    “I’ll move back to Michigan,” he replied simply.
    She blinked. “Ryan, you can’t be serious. You’ve lived in San Francisco for years now. You started your new business out there. You can’t expect to just pack up and move to Holland.”
    “It’ll take some doing, I’ll grant you that. But it’d be better to do it now, before the business grows any larger. I can even rent hangar space at Tulip County Airport. I’ve been giving it a lot of thought since this afternoon. It might be better for me to be centrally located versus on the West Coast, given the nature of my business. Actually, the beach area of Michigan is an ideal location to serve business people in Detroit and Chicago, and I’ve already make loads of contacts out west.”
    Faith stared at him like he was slightly mad as he spoke his thoughts out loud. “Ryan, that seems so...sudden. Impulsive.”
    “Despite all the evidence against me from Christmas Eve, I’m not an impulsive person. But I do trust my instincts.” He traced the line of her jaw with his forefinger.
    She met his stare. He didn’t bother to guard his desire for her. Her eyes widened slightly, and he knew she’d seen it. Was she, like him, thinking of those ecstatic moments when they’d both acted on glorious instinct? He hoped so. He wished like hell those memories had been permanently scored in her brain like they had been in his.
    “I think we should talk about it more,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper. “I’m not so sure instinct is the wise guiding principle for the future, given the fact that a baby is involved.”
    “I think it’s the perfect principle.”
    “Why do you say that?”
    “It got us here, didn’t it?”
    She stared at him in mute amazement.
    Ryan scowled at the sound of voices in the distance. He turned his head and saw another couple approaching on the walk.
    “Come on. It’s almost dark,” he said. “We can talk more in the car.”
    * * *
    Faith’s mind was a confused hodgepodge of thoughts, feelings and concerns as Ryan drove through the now dark streets of Holland. While they waited at a red light, Ryan turned toward her.
    “You’re vibrating with worry over there. Why don’t you vent some of what you’re thinking?”
    She met his stare. His rugged features looked shadowed and compelling in the dim light.
    “Are you really serious about moving back to Michigan?” she asked in a voice that sounded unnaturally high to her own ears.
    “Is it really that unbelievable?”
    “I just...I just hadn’t expected that you might want to do that.”
    “Why not?” he asked, looking slightly puzzled. The stoplight turned green and he began to drive. “Did you really think I was