Free Valentine's Child by Nancy Bush Page B

supposed, he’d felt his skin crawl at the thought of getting married on Valentine’s Day — a suggestion that had come up recently from a surprising source.
    “So, what’s the news this early morning?” Caroline asked, perching on a corner of his desk. Her breasts lay directly in his line of vision. Jake gazed at them through half-closed lids, wondering vaguely why his body didn’t react to her femininity. There was a time when he’d been consumed by sex in any way, shape or form. His teen years had been full of unrequited lust and a few conquests. Then at college, a few more. Then finally back to Caroline and a new, more mature relationship that had eventually moved to the bedroom.
    But he never again felt those raging, thrilling shots of pure desire he experienced with Sherry Sterling.
    “Jill Delaney called and I gave her an extension on her rent,” he said.
    Caroline clucked her tongue. “She’s using you.”
    “I know.”
    “You’re not falling for her, are you?” she teased.
    Jake shook his head, irritated with her for no good reason. “What the hell is it with Tim, anyway? He’s got three kids to think about. They’re his responsibility, but he expects Jill to carry the entire burden.”
    “And you,” Caroline reminded.
    “He doesn’t know I give her a break on the rent.”
    “Ha. Guys like Tim expect it. He’s always been a loser.” Caroline smoothed back a strand of hair. “No sense of responsibility.”
    “You got that right,” Jake muttered, irritated anew that he was agreeing with her. “If he and Jill hadn’t broken up, he’d probably have a dozen kids by now and not care for any of them.”
    “You’re just mad because he’s self-indulgent and you’re careful and concerned.” Caroline touched her finger to the tip of his nose, smiling like a proud mother. Jake’s annoyance with her intensified but he kept it to himself.
    Besides, she was infuriatingly correct. Tim’s behavior reminded Jake of Rex, although Jake’s father had at least attempted to make financial reparation for his actions — or so Jake had been told. But the whole idea of indiscriminate fatherhood hit some tender part of his soul that had been hurt when he was young and had never quite recovered.
    “As I recall, you sowed a few wild oats in high school yourself that could’ve ended in disaster,” Caroline reminded him.
    “If I’d fathered a child, believe me I would’ve taken care of it.”
    “Hmm.”
    She sounded suspiciously disbelieving.
    “Tina Phillips was not pregnant when she went back to California,” Jake growled, covering old, old ground.
    “I wasn’t thinking of Tina.”
    “Then who are you thinking of?”
    “There were other girls.”
    “Oh, right.”
    “There were.” She studied her nails.
    “I was there. I ought to know.”
    “I could name one.”
    Jake’s gut tightened. He knew where this was going and now he was really irked. Refusing to fall into the trap, he stayed silent. Caroline, however, seemed intent on making this an issue. “You know who I mean.”
    “I didn’t keep a scorecard,” Jake declared through his teeth. “And I never got anybody pregnant.”
    “Okay, okay.” Caroline suddenly capitulated, lifting her hands in surrender. Maybe she was as tired of the subject as he was. “Let’s drop it.”
    Perversely, Jake now found himself wanting to jab the needle a little bit more. “You’re not talking about Sherry. ” Caroline didn’t immediately answer, but the skin on her face drew tightly over her fine bones.
    “I don’t want to talk about her.”
    “Then why did you bring it up?”
    She glanced at him, then gazed out the window, the corners of her mouth turning down. Jake’s annoyance melted. What was he doing? What were they doing to each other? “Sherry and I were — ” he broke off, unable to find the words.
    “What?” Caroline pressed softly.
    “Nothing. An infatuation that lasted a few months, that’s all.”
    “Do you ever