Metsy Hingle - Dad In Demand

“I’m sorry about the kiss.”

So much for light, Katie thought with a sigh. “Okay,” she replied and peeked inside the box. “You really did get anchovies.” Taking the pizza from him, she started for the kitchen.

“I was out of line today, and I’m sorry,” he told her as he followed her into the kitchen.

“All right,” she acknowledged, as she set down the pizza, lifted the lid again and sniffed. “Hmm. This smells delicious, and I’m starved.” She opened a drawer and pulled out a handful of napkins. “You want to get the plates?”

“It was a mistake,” he told her, sounding anxious. He grabbed two plates from the cabinet, placed them on the white wooden table. “It never should have happened.”

“Whatever you say.” She poured a glass of milk for herself and grabbed a beer from the refrigerator for him. “You want a mug?”

He snatched the milk and beer from her hands and set them down with a clunk. “Damn it, Katie. Have you heard a word I’ve said?”

“Every single one,” she assured him. And each one had been a swipe to her heart. “You were out of line to kiss me. It was a mistake. It should never have happened, and you’re sorry. That about cover it?” She didn’t wait for him to answer. “Now, do you mind if we eat before the pizza gets cold?”

“Would you forget about the blasted pizza? I’m trying to apologize.”

Katie sighed. “All right, Sean. Go ahead. Apologize.”

“I’m sorry I took advantage of you today. I don’t know what got into me.what I was thinking, to make a pass at you the way I did.” Emotions swam in his eyes like a brewing storm. He jutted out his chin. “If you want to take a swing at me, go ahead. I deserve it.”

She couldn’t help herself. Katie laughed. The foolish man was really beating himself up over that kiss.

“I’m glad you find this amusing. I don’t make a habit of forcing myself on a woman, or…or of taking advantage of one when she’s vulnerable.”

“Is that what you think happened?” she asked, temper sparking, not only because he was apologizing for kissing her, but because he thought she was some twit. “You think I’m some weak, simpering female who couldn’t stop you from kissing me if I’d wanted to?”

“I think—”

“Well, think again, Fitzpatrick.” She poked him in the chest with her finger. “I am not one of your big-chested Cupie Dolls. You may have kissed me, but I kissed you back. You didn’t take anything from me that I didn’t want to give. Is that clear?”

“Crystal.”

“Good. Now can we eat before this pizza turns to ice?”

“By all means. Eat. Maybe food will improve that sweet disposition of yours. Anyone ever tell you, you’ve got a nasty temper, Malloy?”

“I believe you’ve mentioned it a time or two.” She brushed past him, flipped open the pizza box and dished out slices onto the plates. Sean said nothing as he took the seat across from her. But she could feel him watching her as they ate in silence. His assessing glances licked along her nerves. Finally, when she could stand it no longer, she dropped her pizza onto the plate. “All right. Out with it.”

“What?” He reached for another slice of pizza.

“Don’t give me that choirboy look, Fitzpatrick. I’ve known you too long to fall for it. Just spit out whatever it is that’s got you sizing me up like a piece of evidence in one of your investigations.”

He smiled. Slowly. Seductively. In a way that made her throat go dry. “I was just thinking about what you said. You know, how I didn’t take anything that you didn’t want to give?”

She narrowed her eyes. “So?”

“So, I couldn’t help wondering.” His gaze dropped to her mouth, and Katie’s heart started to gallop. “I was wondering if you provoked me deliberately this afternoon so I would kiss you.”

“I provoked you?”

“Uh-huh. With all that crazy talk about needing me to help you find someone to get you pregnant.”

“There’s nothing crazy about it. And it wasn’t just talk. I intend to get pregnant. As for needing you to find me someone, I don’t. I’ve already got three candidates. It’s simply a matter of choosing the right one.” She snitched a piece of bell pepper from his pizza and popped it into her mouth. “And I don’t need you to do the investigations for me, either, because I’ve decided to do them myself.”

“You? Lord, help us all.”

“Funny. Besides, how hard can it be? All I have to do is lift a few fingerprints, snag a wallet for credit card and driver’s license numbers, maybe make a few phone calls to an employer or an old girlfriend.”

Sean shuddered. “Quit clowning around, Katie. The thought of you playing Mata Hari sends chills down my spine.”

“You’re a riot, Fitzpatrick, and I’m not kidding. I bet I’d make a good detective,” she countered, warming to the idea.

“You’d be about as good at investigating as I’d be at running a nursery school.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said, tipping her head to the side. “I bet the little girls would love you, and I think you’d look awfully cute changing diapers.”

“Don’t hold your breath.”

She smiled at him. Finishing the last of her pizza slice, she licked her fingers clean.

“You’re really determined to do this pregnancy thing?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll do the investigations for you—on one condition.”

“What condition?” she asked warily.

“If I come up with anything, and I do mean anything, that makes these so-called candidates unsuitable, you promise me that you’ll forget the whole idea.”

Katie hesitated. The truth was that if none of her candidates panned out, she wasn’t sure what she’d do. “I really do want to have a baby, Sean.”

“That’s the deal. Take it or leave it.”

She hesitated. “If none of them pan out, I promise I’ll rethink the idea. All right?”

He sighed. “Do I have any choice?”

Katie squealed. Jumping up, she ran over to Sean and threw her arms around his neck, then proceeded to cover his face with kisses. “Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

“Not that I mind having a woman throw herself at me, but you might want to hold off on a few of those thankyou kisses. You may not be happy with what I find.”

“Oh, I will be. I know it.”

“We’ll see. Now where’s the list?”

“I’ll get it.” Abandoning the kitchen, Katie dashed to her bedroom and retrieved the list from her purse. By the time she returned, he’d cleared away the pizza remains and was waiting in the living room. For a moment she allowed herself to just look at him. All six foot two inches of him were sprawled out on the couch, his head tipped back, his eyes closed. Lord, but the man was beautiful: those razorsharp cheekbones; that stubborn jaw; the sexy mouth that could make a stone weep when he smiled, and turned her brain to mush with a kiss. The fact that the man had a good heart, a kind heart, made him darn-near perfect-everything a woman who believed in fairy tales could want. Except that she no longer believed in fairy tales, and even if she did, Sean would never see her as a princess.

As though sensing her scrutiny, Sean opened his eyes and stared at her. Awareness stirred, sparked between them, charging the air with tension, just as it had earlier. “Here’s the list,” she said, walking over to him.

His fingers brushed her palm as he took the sheet of paper, and she fought back a shiver. Katie pressed her hand to her jittery stomach. “Those are the names,” she said as evenly as possible. “And of course, I can give you whatever personal information I have. The first one, Eric, he’s a salesman who—”