Free His Best Friend's Baby by Molly O'Keefe Page B

sighed, defeated by their questions and their expectations.
    God, you’re spineless , Mitch’s voice chimed in.
    “We’re just going to go check things out. I need to get some kind of job, I can’t live off your goodwill forever. We should contribute something to the household.”
    The older couple looked at each other in silence and Julia felt as if she’d been tricked. What happened to the happy welcoming people she’d met a few days ago?
    It’s my life, she thought with a surge of rebellion. She had every right to want her independence.
    “Well, at least you’ve got good daycare,” Ron finally said with a wink.
    Julia heaved a sigh of relief, unsure of what she’d have done if they’d continued to object.
    Ben waved goodbye and she maneuvered the stroller out the door and down the slate path to the sidewalk. She took the long way, down two blocks, deliberately walking past Jesse’s house. It looked even prettier in the sunlight. The red geraniums bobbed in the breeze like rubied sock puppets. The ladder still leaned against the house and her eyes, despite her best intentions, searched for Jesse.
    He was on the roof, his back to her, naked under the sun. Jeans clung to lean hips as he stood from his crouch, his long, tough body unfurling so he could toss an armful of shingles into the side yard. He tugged on the wrists of his gloves and twisted at the waist as if getting rid of a kink.
    He shouldn’t be working so hard so soon .
    The sunshine and sweat of his labor made the red color of his scars against his pale skin even more alarming. More shocking. He was all bone and muscle and scar tissue. But even the crooked collarbone and the ribs that pushed at his skin didn’t detract from his breathtaking beauty.
    His arms, belly and back still rippled withmuscles, exuding the sort of power that seemed only slightly diminished from when she’d seen him in Germany.
    His black hair had gone shaggy over the months in the hospital and now covered his ears and flirted with his eyes. He brushed it out of the way, looking right at her in the process. His dark eyes cut through her like a flashlight in a dark room. She felt like a thief, caught touching something forbidden.
    His eyes didn’t move, they stayed locked on her and everything in her started a slow burn. Blood pooled between her legs, in flesh so forgotten it hurt. Her skin ignited under his hot gaze, her mouth fell open, suddenly parched for air. Dying for something she didn’t have. This was the connection she’d been missing; this is what it was supposed to be between men and women. Surely, Jesse hadn’t meant it when he told her to stay away. How could he deny—Just as she was about to step forward, get closer to him, Jesse bent down to his work.
    He tore up shingles as though she weren’t even there.
    “Mama?” Ben asked. “Let’s walk.”
    The blood rushed from her breasts to her face.
    “Right, Ben. Let’s get walking.”
    She jerked Ben’s stroller and stalked away from Jesse Filmore as if the hounds of hell were after her.
       
    J ESSE HAD TO GET OFF the roof; his hands shook so much it wasn’t safe. As soon as he was sure she was long gone, he climbed down the ladder and went inside.
    Jesus, that woman had the power to kill him. He went to the sink, tore off his gloves and splashed cold water over his face, sluicing it down his chest and over his back, trying to cool his damn body.
    He had to get out of town. If he could keep going with the roof at this rate he might be able to get it done in a week—two at the most.
    He nearly groaned. Two weeks of pretending she wasn’t a hundred meters away? He shook his head, spraying the room with water droplets. He had to find a real estate agent. And screw him doing the roof on his own, he needed professionals. Guys who could get it done in a few days.
    He went into the living room to the small telephone table where for years the yellow pages had sat collecting dust. But, of course, the table