Her Secret, His Child

"Yeah, and then I can't have my baby sister," Ashley whined.

"If Ashley gets a baby sister can I have dance, too?'' Kayla turned to her mother with tears in her eyes. "I want dance like Ashley gets."

Karen stood. "I think it's time two little girls were in bed," she said, wiping the remains of Kayla's dinner off her face.

"But can I dance, Mommy, please?"

"We'll see."

Jamie reached for a cloth to wipe her own daughter's face.

"And my daddy can spend the night, too, huh, Mommy?" Ashley asked, avoiding her mother's cloth.

Abandoning the trash he'd been collecting from the table, Kyle scooped Ashley into his arms, dirty face and all. "Not tonight, sweets," he said easily. "Daddy does go to school, remember? I took you to my school, showed you my office and the classroom where I teach."

TARA TAYLOR QUINN

"Oh, yeah." Ashley was clearly disappointed. "But someday you will?" she persisted.

Kyle glanced at Jamie. "Someday, I will," he said.

Without conscious thought, Jamie sought Karen's gaze—and found what she hadn't even known she'd been seeking. Compassion. Commiseration. And courage. Tonight, as soon as Ashley was in bed, Jamie was going to tell Kyle the truth.

Beyond that, who knew?

"What's up with you and Karen?" Kyle asked, Ashley on his hip, as they crossed the yard to Jamie's house.

"Nothing. Why?" She wasn't ready. Not yet.

She told herself she had until Ashley fell asleep— and hoped the child would take a long time to close her eyes that night. Surely once Ashley got home and into her bath she'd remember a lot more stories to tell them about her day at the zoo

. Jamie hadn't heard any monkey stories yet, and Ashley loved monkeys.

"What's with the look she gave you right before we left?"

"Miss Karen had a bellyache today," Ashley reported, then promptly put her thumb in her mouth.

"I know, punkin, but she's all better now."

"She's made up her mind to tell Dennis when he gets home on Friday. I offered to keep Kayla." Conscious of Ashley's ears, Jamie worded the news carefully.

"We can take the girls to see the new Disney

HER SECRET, HIS CHILD

film," Kyle suggested agreeably, automatically assuming that he'd be spending the evening with them. After tonight, he probably wouldn't be.

As much as he adored his daughter, Kyle was glad she went right down that night. Jamie had been nervous, cagey, all evening and he needed some time alone with her.

"We have to talk," she said, the minute they were alone.

Thinking positively, the memory of her kiss still tingling his lips, Kyle sprawled in the middle of her couch, inviting her to sit next to him.

She preferred to stand, with her back braced against the fireplace. If she'd had any idea how much she was turning him on in those tight cords, the sweater that outlined her breasts so clearly, he suspected she'd have climbed inside the fireplace, instead.

"Okay, so talk," he said.

She took a deep breath. ' 'I just want you to know that if, when I've said what I have to say, you never want anything to do with me again, I'll understand. And I'll always make Ashley available to you."