Vegas Pregnancy Surprise by Shirley Jump Read Free Book Online

took a step, but Linc stopped her with a hand on her arm.
    “Wait. Don’t go,” he said.
    She hesitated, but didn’t turn around. Beneath his palm, her nerve-endings pinged with awareness.
    “Why are you really here, Molly?”
    It was the way he said her name, in that same soft, husky way he’d said it that first night, that finally made her yield and turn back. “I told you. To ask about that job.”
    “I thought you were a kindergarten teacher.”
    “My position was cut for the coming school year.”
    “So that’s why you decided to see me?” Linc said. “We only talked about that program for a little while before we…” A smile spread across his face. “Before we moved on to other things.”
    Oh, and they had moved on. And not returned from the kissing and touching for several hours. There’d barely been any words passing between them.
    She pushed those thoughts aside. She wasn’t here to relive that night in the Bellagio. Even if her mind kept straying in that direction every time she looked into Linc’s blue eyes, or heard his voice or felt his touch. Nope, not going back there. No way.
    Stick to the plan, Molly. Be smart. Not foolish again.
    Molly returned to the booth, perching on the edge of the seat. “When you told me about that software, I saw a man who was alive, excited. That passion extended into your idea. I wanted to be on board with something like that. Not to mention be a part of developing a program that encourages kids to get outdoors and interact with nature, rather than stay inside, being couch potatoes and playing yet another video game.”
    His gaze connected with hers across the table. “You saw passion in me for this? A different person than you see today?”
    She nodded.
    He looked away for a moment, not at anything in particular, but out into the restaurant. She couldn’t read whatever parade of thoughts was running through his mind. But when he turned back to her, the twinkle that had been in his blue eyes the night she’d met him had returned, and a funny quiver stirred in Molly’s gut. “If we did this…and this is a big if…it would require a team of people to implement. Particularly people who know a lot about children.”
    She bit her lip. Dared to hope. “Like former kindergarten teachers?”
    He smiled. “Exactly like former kindergarten teachers.”
    Molly took a deep breath and voiced the idea she’d had when she’d boarded the plane to Vegas and taken the biggest risk of her life—no, the second biggest risk of her life. “That’s exactly why I came here, Linc. To offer you my services.”

CHAPTER THREE
    M OLLY H UNTER …working for him?
    It was an insane idea, Linc thought, as the two of them delved into their food and he had a moment to think through what she had said and bring some rational perspective to an irrational idea.
    After all, they’d only shared one night together—one incredible, amazing night. A night they’d both agreed not to take any further, to leave firmly in the past.
    When he’d woken up the next morning with her in his arms, he had considered—for just a moment—taking this to the next step. Asking her to stay another day, a week, a month, to see him again. He’d been intrigued by the sweet and sassy kindergarten teacher who had seemed as ready as him to shed her ordinary life for something unforgettable, for just a few hours.
    Then his phone had rung, and he’d been drawn back to reality. To a world that expected Lincoln Curtis to be responsible. The only logical choice had been the one that had seemed to leave Molly relieved and him back in his comfort zone of no personal relationships.
    Hadn’t he learned with Barbara that settling down wasn’t for him? That he was the last man on earth who should be married? And if there was one thing he’d observed about Molly the more time he spent with her, it was that despite their crazy night she was a settling down kind of woman.
    So they’d decided in the light of morning