Free The Baby Bargain by Dallas Schulze Page A

needed medical attention.
    Dan parked the Corvette in front of his apartment building. Kelly didn't move, didn't even seem aware that the car had stopped. He hesitated, wondering if this was such a good idea, after all. He shook his head, thrusting open his door.
    She started when he opened the door, pulling back against the seat.
    "This is just my apartment," he told her soothingly. "You'll be able to clean up and we'll get some ice on that eye. You'll be okay here."
    She stared at him blankly for a moment, as if having trouble sorting his words into something she could understand. Dan's hand clenched on the edge of the door frame. He wished he knew who had hit her.
    Kelly swung her legs out, her movements stiff, as if she were a very old woman. Dan held back the urge to help her, remembering how she reacted to his smallest touch. But when she stumbled against the curb, he caught her automatically, one arm around her waist as she fell against his chest. He expected her to immediately jerk away, to see that look of fright in her eyes. But it seemed she'd expended the last of her strength. She lay against him, her eyes closed, her breathing quick and shallow.
    Muttering a curse directed toward whoever had done this to her, he bent to scoop her up in his arms. She didn't protest. He wasn't even sure she was aware of what was going on. He pushed the car door shut with his foot. As he carried her up the walkway, it came to him that he'd carried her to the door on New Year's Eve, too. It was too bad the circumstances were so different
    The curtains in the window of the apartment below his twitched violently. So Mrs. Barnett had been watching the street more than her television. She'd certainly been rewarded for her inattention today. Within the hour, every old woman in the small building would know that he'd carried a woman to his apartment.
    Most of the apartments were occupied by retirement-age women, a fact that meant the building was generally very quiet It also meant that, as the only young, unattached male in the building, his movements had been carefully scrutinized since moving in nearly a year ago.
    His life had been so dull he thought he'd pretty well discouraged them. Sheer boredom had made him a less than hot topic. But that would all change now. If it had been just a little later, it would have been too dark for her to see anything.
    He set Kelly down in front of the door, keeping one arm around her waist as he thrust the key into the lock. She leaned against him, seemingly incapable of supporting her own weight. Lifting her again, he carried her into the apartment, kicking the door shut behind them. He brought her into the bedroom and set her on the bed.
    She sat without moving, her hands limp at her sides, her battered features without expression. Dan frowned down at her, wondering again if he'd made the right decision in bringing her here.
    "Let's get these off." He knelt in front of her, unlacing the work boots with quick jerks. She seemed hardly aware of him removing them, but when he reached for her coat, she pulled back with a whimper of protest, clutching the ratty cloth.
    "All right." Dan pitched his voice low and soothing. "You can keep the coat on. I'm going to call a friend of mine who's a doctor and ask him to come over and take a look at you."
    "No," she mumbled, his words snapping her out of her despondency. Her eyes flickered with awareness as she drew farther back onto the bed. "I don't want to see anyone."
    "Kelly, you have to see a doctor. You could have serious injuries."
    "No." She made an effort to draw herself upright, wincing as her bruised body protested the move. "I'm fine," she said, apparently unaware of how ridiculous the claim sounded, muffled as it was by her swollen mouth.
    "No, you're not." Without thinking, Dan reached up to brush back a lock of hair that had fallen over her forehead. She winced back, her eyes frightened, freezing the movement. His fingers curled into his palm before