Free To Be a Dad (Harlequin Superromance) by Kate Kelly

kids.”
    Carmen Sheldrick. She’d always had a crush on Dusty. She was what? Twenty-five now? Tall, slender and firm of body likely. God, Teressa thought to herself. She was turning into a bitch. She had no right to be jealous.
    “What’s she doing home?”
    “I dunno. Didn’t she study something to do with working with kids? Early child...something or other. She told me, but I forget. You should give her a call.” He pulled out his cell phone and started scrolling. “I’ve got her cell number somewhere.”
    Of course he did. Carmen would make sure he had her number. Teressa dug in her wallet for her only twenty and laid it on the table. When Dusty handed her his phone, she concentrated on what she’d say to Carmen, thankful that Dusty decided to go to the men’s room at the same time.
    “Dusty! I knew you’d call.”
    Teressa made a face at the phone. Did Carmen have to sound so smug? “Actually, it’s Teressa Wilder.”
    She could almost hear Carmen shifting gears. “Oh. Dusty’s name came up on the call display.”
    “That’s because I’m using his phone.” Carmen would have gotten there sooner or later, but Teressa wanted to get the call over with before Dusty returned. “I wanted to run something by you.”
    Carmen was delighted to look after Sarah and Brendon for the few weeks she planned to be home, but she warned Teressa as soon as she got a proper job in the city she’d be leaving. She was not quite as enthusiastic when she learned Teressa was living at Dusty’s.
    What Dusty and Carmen got up to was none of Teressa’s business. Or was it? Certainly, no one would fault her for complaining if Dusty started flirting with another woman. Strange. She’d never felt territorial about Dusty before, probably because there hadn’t been much point. She’d been stuck in baby-land, and he’d always looked as if he was enjoying the full benefits of bachelorhood.
    Everyone would soon know the only reason they were together was because she was pregnant. And if she wasn’t pregnant, they wouldn’t be together, right? Or would they? Things had certainly heated up between them in the past couple of months, and they’d been enjoying each other’s company more frequently, almost as if they were a couple. It would have been interesting to see where their relationship would have gone if she hadn’t gotten pregnant.
    Hoping to outrun her stupid thoughts, she stood and strode to the door to wait for Dusty. A minute later, he appeared by their table and frowned as he looked around the room for her. Her breath caught when his gaze landed on her, and his face lit up. She might be pregnant and twenty-eight and a little saggy, but there was still something between them. She’d hang on to that thought for now.
    Although it went against her common sense to spend good money on lingerie for herself, she was determined to do something to please Dusty. Their relationship couldn’t all be about her. She had to give a little, too.
    * * *
    D USTY WAS SURPRISED when Teressa insisted on visiting a lingerie store after the grocery shopping. They stashed the groceries in an insulated box in the back of his truck. Often when he was in town, he ended up staying the night and needed to lock things up.
    He almost told Teressa they should skip the lingerie shopping because she looked so tired, but he couldn’t resist the thought of her wearing bits of lace under her usual shirts and jeans. He’d noticed that her beautiful breasts already looked a tad fuller. Her stomach was still flat, but it wouldn’t be long before she started to show. Because his baby was growing inside her. A wave of emotion he couldn’t identify—panic?—gripped him by the throat. He wasn’t used to dealing with...stuff. Feelings. Sure, sometimes he felt sad. Mostly happy, though, because face it, he had a pretty good life. He loved his work and loved his family, and if there were times when he felt a little lonely, well, that was what friends were