Free Unexpected Bride by LISA CHILDS Page B

voice trembled, but with anger this time, making her sound much older than her tender years. Making her sound like her mother.
    "Afraid so."
    Lara tilted her chin and narrowed her eyes, anger stiffening her small, thin body. The boys were going to pay for picking on Lara Hamilton.
    He almost felt sorry for the twins. If they were smart, they'd go on hiding out in the men's room. As he glanced around the reception hall, he didn't see them among the guests, but he did notice the party favors, packages of chocolate-coated cookies, missing from the tables nearby. Either they were stealing the treats from the other tables by now, or they'd eaten so many cookies they'd gotten sick.
    Lara turned those expressive eyes on him. pinning him with her determined gaze. "Mr. Mick, can I ask you something?"
    Mr. Mick? Damn Abby.
    "Sure. Lara." Bul he had no idea where the plastic bride was.
    "Are you my daddy?"

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Chapter Five

     
    Lara's question stole his breath away, leaving him gasping. He hadn't even kissed Abby yet. Yet? He'd thought about it ever since she'd returned to Cloverville. Hell, he'd thought about kissing her eight years ago, when she'd been a rebellious teen and he'd been a too-old-for-her-and-for-his-years college student. But he'd resisted then because she'd been more trouble than he could have handled.
    And now that she was a mother, he certainly had no intention of getting involved with her. He'd already, at least partly, raised three younger siblings. He couldn't take on someone else's responsibility, too. Between the insurance agency and his family, as his girlfriend Ellen had pointed out, he had nothing left to give. Lara deserved more, even if he wasn't sure yet what Abby deserved.
    "Mr. Mick?" she asked, blinking watery eyes at him.
    His stomach flipped. She was such a sweet little girl. "Call me Clayton, honey," he told her. Not Daddy. He had no intention of ever being called Daddy.
    "So you're not..." She trailed off, nibbling on her bottom lip.
    His heart twisted. "Why would you ask me that, honey?"
    Whal had Abby lold her daughter?
    Color flushed Lara's face, painting her cheeks bright pink. "Mommy told me that my daddy was someone she knew a long time ago."
    And at the airport she'd introduced Clayton as someone she'd known a long time ago.
    "How old are you?" he asked Lara.
    "I'll be five. October second."
    Four years old and she was this smart? Abby had never done all that well in school. If she hadn't been expelled, she probably still wouldn't have graduated. How had she had a child so smart, so mature? Who was the little girl's father? And where the hell was he, that Lara hadn't ever met the man?
    "I haven't seen your mother in eight years, honey." His voice rasped with emotion as he told her, "I'm not your daddy."
    "But..." As Lara's gaze rose above where he crouched in front of her, her eyes widened.
    Clayton turned his head, peering over his shoulder into Abby's face, as pale with shock as if she'd seen a ghost. Of course with her return to Cloverville, she'd probably already had to face down a phantom or two from her past. Hell, he'd been the one to show her the colonel. A laugh bubbled up in his throat, but he controlled it, not wanting to hurt Lara's feelings. Hoping he hadn't already.
    Abby cleared her throat. "Lara, sweetheart, we have to eat dinner before we can have any cake."
    Memories of dinners she'd eaten with his family years ago flashed through Clayton's mind. To Abby, dessert had always been the main course. He let out a derisive snort, but Abby didn't even look at him. Her focus remained on her daughter. Maybe she had changed.
    "I know, Mommy," Lara said, her voice soft.
    "The food is being served at our table now." She extended her hand, reaching for her daughter as if to snatch her away from Clayton.
    He should have been glad that she was rescuing him from an awkward situation. Instead, he felt as if she were rescuing her daughter from him, as if she didn't trust him. He hadn't been