Free Bargaining for Baby by Robyn Grady

hadn’t set a trap to ensnare an eligible bachelor. She’d made a vow and had come to Leadeebrook when she would rather not have. Her loyalty to his sister, her indignation toward him, hadn’t been an act.
    Neither was the passion he’d felt break free when he’d held her last night. His palms had itched to shape over her curves. Conscience hadn’t been an issue. The primal need to know every inch of her had overshadowed everything.
    Tara was imploring him with her eyes.
    “Tell me nothing’s going on, Jack. Tell me and I’ll believe you. You’ve made mistakes before.” The passionate look wavered. “You don’t want to make another one.”
    His eyes narrowed. He’d forget she said that.
    “Tara, you and I are friends. I’ll always think of you as a friend.”
    “Friendship can turn into love.” She held his jaw and hitched up to slip her lips over his. “It did for me.”
    He found her hand and held it between both of his. “It’s better this way.”
    He’d married once. He should have known that would do him a lifetime. The ring he wore around his neck would always live there.
    But as he threw his hat back on and left the motel a few minutes later, he reminded himself that physical intimacy was another matter. No license was required to satisfy sexual needs. Needs every man had. Natural, instinctive. In this instance, fierce.
    The chemistry was right between Maddy and him.Yesterday under the stars, it had been near uncontainable. Whether this fever was due to the upheaval of emotion these past days—the lasting bond he and Maddy had shared with Dahlia—he couldn’t say. All he knew with absolute certainty was he’d been attracted to Madison Tyler from the start. The attraction had grown to a point where, no matter what excuse he made, he couldn’t deny it.
    He wanted her in his bed.
    The primal urge was a force unto itself, demanding release, stoking his mind like a stick at a fire every other minute of the day. He’d never felt this intensely about a woman, not even Sue. He’d never gone there with Tara, neither in mind nor in body.
    After the way Maddy had held onto him in the moonlight, her fingers twisting in his shirt, her mouth opening under his, inviting and welcoming him in…
    Inhaling, he slipped into his vehicle, ignited the engine and pulled away from the curb.
    It was foregone. Maddy felt the same way. She wanted what he wanted. Before the week was through, he would convince her they should take it.
     
    Call back. Urgent re Pompadour account.
    Biting her lip, Maddy shifted her gaze from the text message to baby Beau lying, happy and energetic, on a nearby blanket.
    Beau had had his lunchtime bottle but had been too restless to go down. She’d done some research; babies’ routines changed all the time—teething problems, going to solids, natural decline in naps—all shook up what might seem like a set schedule. Rather than fight the tide, she’d spread a blanket out beneath the sprawling umbrella ofa Poinciana tree and for the past twenty minutes had watched him kick and coo to his heart’s content.
    Although everyone back home knew she was unavailable, out of habit she’d brought along her BlackBerry. While her father had been frosty about her request for this unscheduled break, he wouldn’t have left that message without good reason.
    Maddy set the phone against her chin as her stomach flipped over.
    Urgent…
    Had Pompadour Shoes pulled the plug without having seen the campaign? Had another agency stolen their business? Or worse…had her father’s disappointment turned to action? Had he replaced her on the account?
    Her thumb was poised over Redial when Nell appeared out of nowhere and sat herself down a few feet away. Maddy’s blood pressure climbed and she reached for Beau who, unconcerned, gnawed on a length of his rattle. But Nell’s attention was elsewhere…fixed on the hazy distance, her ears perked high.
    Maddy breathed—slowly in, calmly out.
    If the dog