Emma Darcy - In Need Of A Wife

‘Just keep walking. Don’t look back,’ Nathan Parnell murmured.

She would never have guessed he was a police officer, although he certainly fitted the part, now that she knew. His height, his strong physique, the aura of being in command, unruffled by anything.

‘I don’t want to make any charge against Tyler,’ she said, casting an anxious glance at him.

The compelling blue eyes gently probed hers. ‘You don’t think he’ll trouble you any more?’

Sasha tore her gaze away, fighting a turbulent range of feelings related to his closeness and the caring way he’d looked at her. She was not a little girl in need of his protection, and she was not going to succumb to his proposition of a loveless marriage for the sake of having him at her side. He was not a comfort to her at all. He was disruptive and disturbing and the sooner she got away from him, the better.

‘I’m quite sure Tyler has wiped his hands of me,’ she said stiffly.

She hoped so, anyway. She felt that Tyler had too much ego to leave himself open to another rejection. From now on he would only think bad things about her and consider himself well rid of a relationship that had demanded too much of him anyway. She wondered what explanation he would give to their mutual acquaintances, then decided she didn’t care.

None of them had been close friends. Although Joshua, Tyler’s business partner, had always been kind. And perceptive. Joshua McDougal had been the only constant associate throughout her four years with Tyler. Social convenience had dictated the pattern of their life. If people weren’t fun, they were quickly discarded.

Once she had thought Tyler’s merry-go-round of people was the answer to all of her dreams. No more loneliness. Lots of people, happy to know her, happy to have her in their company. But it hadn’t been real. Not deep-down real. And when it had come to the solid realities of life—responsibilities, commitment, building a solid future together, simply being there when needed—Tyler was, to use Nathan Parnell’s words, a dead loss.

She had made the right decision. But it did leave her with some weighty problems, as Tyler had so nastily reminded her.

Matt hopped up to join his father in escorting her and Bonnie from the park. ‘I didn’t know you were a police officer, Daddy,’ he said enquiringly.

It gave Sasha a mental jolt. She had accepted Nathan Parnell’s claim without question, but out of the mouths of children came innocent truth.

‘When did you become a police officer?’ Matt relentlessly pursued the question as children always do.

‘When needs must, Matt,’ came the quiet reply.

Sasha realised he had supplied what he considered the situation demanded. But who was he really?

The answer exploded through her mind. A man who needed a wife, that was who, and he’d just made the opportunity to proposition her again. Nothing like a white knight to the rescue to soften a woman’s heart and mush up her brain. Well, not this woman, thank you very much, Sasha vowed. For the time being, she was through with men.

She stopped walking.

They all stopped walking.

Matt looked up at her. ‘My daddy can do anything,’ he stated proudly.

‘I don’t doubt it,’ Sasha bit out. She turned to confront the man who considered when needs must a good enough reason for arranging matters as he saw fit. ‘Do you have anything at all to do with the law, Mr Parnell?’

His craggy, handsome face relaxed into a slow, heart-melting smile. ‘I don’t mind if you call me Nathan.’

Sasha battled to remain firm in her resistance to any tactics he might employ to persuade her to his way of thinking. ‘You didn’t answer the question,’ she said tersely.

The smile quirked into winsome appeal. The effect was so sexy, Sasha could feel certain nerves quivering in response. ‘I practised as a barrister for a while,’ he said in a voice that had undoubtedly swayed juries, especially if the jurors were all women.

Sasha refused to be swayed. ‘Did you get thrown out for malpractice?’ she demanded.

He looked affronted. ‘Of course not. I’m a very law-abiding citizen. I like legality. That’s the beauty of marriage. Or, at least it would be with a properly drawn-up contract.’

Sasha was not going to get sidetracked on to that issue. Just for once, she was going to pin this man to a proper answer. ‘Do you or do you not practise as a barrister now?’

‘I do not. I gave it up.’

‘Why?’

He shrugged. ‘The judges didn’t agree with me all the time.’

That didn’t come as a surprise. ‘I don’t agree with you, either,’ Sasha asserted.

‘Over what?’ He looked innocent. ‘Have I done something wrong?’

‘Threatening bodily harm. I don’t believe in violence, Nathan Parnell.’

‘Neither do I. None eventuated, did it?’

‘No.’

‘I rest my case.’

He looked positively smug. It exasperated Sasha into saying, ‘I bet you’re not always right.’

‘My daddy’s never wrong,’ Matt said, looking up at his father admiringly. ‘He told me so.’

‘Brainwashed,’ Sasha muttered, but she couldn’t stop a smile at the precocious little boy.

It was a mistake. Nathan Parnell read it as compliance with their company. ‘So, which way is home?’ he asked, gesturing for her to indicate direction. ‘Matt and I will see you safely to your doorstep. If you like,’ he added belatedly, but with a smile that could have buckled her knees if Sasha weren’t made of sterner stuff.

It was time to effect the parting of the ways. Nathan Parnell was not the law and Sasha was not about to let him take the law into his own hands any more than he had. She had the distinct feeling that he could twist anything to his purpose, including her if she didn’t take herself out of his orbit.

‘Thank you, but there’s no need.’ She looked around. ‘Tyler’s already gone.’

‘What did he mean about having trouble with your parents?’

‘I’ll have to find a place of my own.’ She heaved a rueful sigh. ‘It’s not easy. Work’s been hard to get, and I’m not exactly over-endowed with the world’s riches.’

Bonnie had fallen asleep. Sasha shifted her into a more comfortable position against her shoulder then held out her hand. ‘May I have my bag now?’

‘Sure you don’t want me to carry it? It’s no trouble.’

She resisted temptation and shook her head. ‘I don’t have far to walk.’

He handed over the bag. The blue eyes played a last bit of havoc with her pulse-rate as he said, ‘Well, good luck with your job-hunting, and I hope you find a decent place to live.’

She met his gaze steadily, resolutely. ‘Good luck with finding a wife.’

That was it. She set off and didn’t look back, determined to put everything that had happened today behind her. Somewhere, somehow, she would make a good life for herself and Bonnie, even if she never found a man who would love both of them.

‘Hold on a moment!’

Nathan Parnell’s voice trapped her into looking back. Then the sight of him jogging after her with Matt enjoying a piggy-back ride and happily shouting ‘Giddy-up, Daddy,’ trapped her into stopping and staring at them. They were both so...heart-tuggingly attractive.

She was still standing like a store dummy when Nathan pulled up beside her. ‘Here,’ he said, bending over to slip a piece of notepaper into her bag.

‘What is it?’

‘I just thought of a place where you might get friendly accommodation. I wrote down the woman’s name and her phone number. You could try it if you want to. The rent’s negotiable.’

‘Thanks, but...’

‘Don’t spoil it.’ He grinned. ‘That’s my two good deeds for the day.’