Free His Secret Child by Beverly Barton Page A

that once and lived to regret her foolishness.
    He caressed her back with gentle, circular motions, his actions soothing the tension boiling inside her. As he pulled her closer, he lowered his head and whispered in her ear, "She was wrong, you know."
    Don't, she wanted to scream. Don't say anything stupid. Don't try to make things right. "She wasn't wrong. I've always known my shortcomings as a woman. I've just never had anyone point them out so frankly."
    "Gwyn's drunk," he said. "She has no idea she said anything inappropriate."
    "I know she's had too much to drink and I know she didn't mean to be unkind," Sheila said just as the band finished their tune. She moved out of Caleb's arms and turned, but before she could take one step, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back into his embrace.
    "Gwyn was wrong about your not being pretty," Caleb said. "You are pretty."
    "You're just making matters worse by lying to me," she told him. "I've known all my life that I was a big, raw-boned girl. Lord knows, I've never been skinny. I don't have large breasts and I'm as plain as an old shoe."
    "I'm not lying. I do think you're pretty. You have a fresh, wholesome beauty." While his right arm draped her waist, he eased his left hand up and under her chin-length hair. Grasping her neck, he urged her face closer to his.
    She sucked in a deep, nervous breath and gazed into his dark eyes. "Are you trying to sweet-talk me, Caleb Bishop?"
    "Yes, ma'am, I am." He pressed his cheek against hers and held her body intimately to his.
    Sighing, she closed her eyes and decided to enjoy the moment, fleeting as it was. One perfect moment wrapped in Caleb's arms. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to pretend, for just a little while, that she was pretty and he really did want her, that perhaps he loved her just a little bit.
    She gasped softly when she felt his arousal. Her eyes flew open and she stared at him in surprise. He grinned at her.
    "I'm attracted to big, rawboned girls who fill my arms completely and gaze longingly at me with their pretty blue eyes and shiver when I touch them." He led her in a slow, sensual dance across the room, then pulled her into a darkened corner hallway near the rear exit.
    "Caleb, what do you think you're doing?" she asked when he pushed her up against the wall and braced his left hand beside her head.
    He leaned into her, his lips almost touching hers. "You're pretty and sweet and smart, and I like you a lot, Sheila Hanley."
    Her mouth gaped open. Her eyes rounded wide and full. "That—that's exactly what you said that night. The night … graduation night … in your car."
    "I know. I remember. And I meant every word I said to you that night. You were pretty and sweet and smart, and I did like you a lot. I never—ever—meant to hurt you. It's just that you were such a damn powerful temptation that I couldn't resist taking you. Having a smart, sweet girl like you care about a dumb jock like me kind of went to my head. I wanted you so much that night"
    "But you didn't love me. Guys like you don't fall in love with girls like me." She tried to escape from him, but he shoved his body into hers, pinning her against the wall.
    "From my experience, love is highly overrated. I've thought I was in love several times and it didn't amount to anything. It didn't last. But liking a woman—I mean genuinely liking her—is a rare thing for me. Except for Tallie, you're the only female I've ever really liked."
    "You like me?"
    "I like you a whole heck of a lot."
    "You date women like Gwyn. You adore them, make love to them, but you don't like them."
    "I've never made love to another woman I liked, a woman who was my friend before she became my lover. You're the only one."
    When he nuzzled her neck, she closed her eyes and melted against him. "Caleb, I can't handle this. You just want me because I'm a challenge, because I keep turning you down. You're bored and need some kind of diversion to take your mind off your troubles."
    The kiss came