Her Secret, His Child

TARA TAYLOR QUINN

' 'Yes, and what he said about its being better for her health must have been right, too. Ashley's never even had an ear infection."

They were on the highway, traveling a desolate piece of land, a few road signs their only companions. Kyle glanced at Jamie again, that particular light in his eyes.

"How'd it feel?" he asked. "Nursing her?"

Jamie supposed she should've been embarrassed at the intimate question, but she wasn't. "Incredible, weird, wonderful," she said, remembering those first few times she'd held her daughter to her breast. The experience was incomparable.

"Did it hurt?"

"Only after she started getting teeth." Jamie's nipples tightened. She was glad of the bulky sweater she'd pulled on over her jeans that morning, hoping the faded beige garment hid her reaction.

"She bit you?"

"Once or twice." Jamie grinned at his horrified expression. "She quickly learned that if she tried to chew, she didn't get her dinner."

"Well, I should think so."

The rest of the trip passed uneventfully. Kyle was full of questions Jamie was happy to answer—all concerning the child they shared. Kyle was a mother's delight, someone to brag to who wanted to listen. Someone else who thought the child was the greatest kid ever to grace the earth.

Once she awakened, Ashley was her usual cheerful self. She wanted to choose her own order when

HER SECRET, HIS CHILD

Kyle pulled into a drive-through at a fast-food hamburger place about half an hour from the resort.

"An' I'll have a chocolate shake, okay, Daddy?" she asked, ignoring her mother.

' 'Does your mother let you have chocolate shakes for lunch, Ash?" Kyle asked, meeting his daughter's gaze in the mirror.

"Uh-uh." Ashley shook her head.

"Then I guess it'll be milk, eh, squirt?"

"Okay, but can't I have some cookies for dessert?" The little girl grinned at her father. "Please, Daddy?"

Looking over at Jamie, catching her nod, Kyle ordered the cookies.

Though they'd dropped their bags in the suite when they first arrived, they were so busy they didn't even unpack. Ashley dragged them all over the resort, insisting on trying every game in the game room, walking the trails, eating at the restaurant that opened out over the canyon. She even talked Kyle into renting her a pair of baby skis and agreeing to her first ski lesson. Kyle and Jamie clutched each other's hands, holding their breath every time Ashley fell during the half-hour lesson. Ashley fell a lot. And had a ball.

"That was the best ever, Mommy," the little girl claimed, slouched against her daddy's shoulder as they rode upstairs in the elevator later. "When I get big at it, I can fly right down the mountain!" Kyle and Jamie exchanged a delighted grin.

It was hard to say who was more exhausted as

TARA TAYLOR QUINN

Kyle unlocked the door of their suite. Unfortunately, however, Jamie wasn't too exhausted to be nervous. She brought her night things into the bathroom when she took Ashley in to wash her up. She'd brought a pair of sweats and a T-shirt to sleep in—nothing like the shorty pajamas she slept in at home—and padded out behind Ashley, climbing into one of the two double beds beside her daughter.

Kyle glanced pointedly at the beds when he came in from the living room a few moments later, but other than a raised brow, he seemed to have no other reaction to the silent statement she'd made.

In spite of the things that had changed over the past weeks, the rules remained the same. There was to be no sex between them.

Probably because of the full days she'd spent, Ashley fell asleep by six o'clock their last night at the resort as they were having hot chocolate in the dining room. Jamie racked her brains trying to think of something they could do while she held a sleeping child in her arms, but knew she had to follow Kyle up to the suite whether she liked the idea or not. Ashley didn't need to be in her arms. She needed to be in bed.

The only problem was, Jamie and Kyle needed to be as far away from bed as possible. Sharing a bathroom with Kyle, stepping into a shower that was still wet from his having stood there before her, seeing his razor on the counter beside her makeup, his toothbrush lined up with hers, his damp towels

HER SECRET, HIS CHILD