What If I'm Pregnant...? by Carla Cassidy Read Free Book Online Page B

when she was about seventeen.”
    â€œThen what are you so nervous about?”
    As the coffee began to gurgle into the glass container, she turned back to face him, although she didn’t move to join him at the table.
    â€œThe guys Gina was dating back home I knew. I’d watched them grow up, I knew their families,” he explained. “And they knew me and knew that if they stepped out of line with her, they’d have to answer to me.”
    â€œAnd that was a daunting prospect?” she asked teasingly.
    He grinned, that sexy slow curve of his lips that sent a starburst of heat exploding in the pit of her stomach. “That’s what I’ve been told.”
    She turned toward the cabinets and took down two mugs, grateful for the physical activity to take her mind off that smile of his. “Cream or sugar?” she asked.
    â€œJust black is fine.”
    She poured them each a cup of the fresh brew, then turned back to face him. The thought of sitting next to him at the table suddenly seemed overwhelming. The table was too small. Heck, the entire kitchen was too small. “Why don’t we take this back into the living room?” she suggested.
    â€œOkay.” He stood and walked over to her. He stood so close to her she could feel his body heat, smell the scent of him that caused a crazy tickling in her tummy. “Why don’t you let me carry those?” He gestured to the mugs in her hands.
    â€œNo, that’s fine. I’ve got them.” She stepped away and headed into the living room, intensely aware of him just behind her. She set one of the mugs on thecoffee table, then carried the other one to the chair and sat.
    Tanner eased down onto the sofa and wrapped his big hands around the mug. “So what do you think about this Danny that Gina is out with?”
    Colette smiled. “I really don’t think you have anything to be worried about. He seems to be a very nice kid. He and Gina started making eyes at each other the first day she started work for me and he made a delivery. Then, about a week and a half ago he started showing up to walk her home from work. It’s been rather sweet to watch a bit of romance blooming between them.”
    He frowned and took a sip of his coffee. “Gina is too young to get involved with any man.”
    Colette hesitated a moment, then nodded. “I agree that I’d hate to see her get real serious about somebody at this age. I think it’s important that women establish themselves and their independence before deciding to get into a serious relationship with a man.”
    One of his dark eyebrows lifted. “Is that what you’re doing? Waiting until you have firmly established your independence before getting into a relationship with a man?”
    â€œI’ve been independent for a very long time,” she replied. “And I really have no desire, no need, for a man in my life. I like depending only on myself.”
    â€œThat can get pretty lonely,” he observed.
    She thought of the baby she might be carrying. She wouldn’t be lonely ever again if she had a child. “I don’t have time to get lonely.”
    â€œBack home in Foxrun, you’d be considered real unnatural.”
    Colette eyed him in surprise. “Unnatural? My goodness, why?”
    He grinned. “Most of the single women in Foxrun want only one thing—to find a good man. They don’t care about independence. They want to be half of a couple.”
    She laughed. “Then as far as I’m concerned, they are misguided souls.”
    â€œYou mentioned before that you’d been on your own since you were eighteen. That’s pretty young.” He took another sip of his coffee.
    She smiled. “If Lillian had had her way, I’d have been out on my own when I was six.”
    â€œLillian?”
    â€œMy mother,” she explained.
    He leaned back against the cushions, the beige sofa a perfect