Her Secret, His Child

HER SECRET, HIS CHILD

kind of suddenly and I didn't have any warning, the ring's at home in my silverware drawer."

That seemed to get through to her. He was certain he saw a spark in her eyes.

"Your silverware drawer?"

"It's the only organized drawer in my house."

She almost grinned, but sobered very quickly.

"I know how you feel about your mother, Kyle, and understand that in your heart you can't help resenting me for bringing you that kind of shame. Trust me, if I don't go, it'll only get worse."

"I was wrong about my mother." He hadn't even admitted it to himself until that moment. "I've been taking a good long look at things these past few months, at her life, her choices."

Jamie was stiff beside him, barely breathing.

"I can't condone what she did or how she did it, but I can see that her intentions were good. She was providing a roof over my head, money for clothes, for food."

"Which she could have done mopping floors."

"That's true," he acknowledged. "But there's something else I'd never considered before."

Her raised brows questioned him.

"I'm grateful to her for having me when clearly she didn't have to. And—" this next part was difficult, more difficult than he could ever have imagined "—I'm grateful to her for loving me. That was one thing I never had to doubt."

And that love had probably made him the man he was. It was the basis of his self-respect, his belief in himself—his mother's unconditional love.

It was a basis Jamie had never had.

TARA TAYLOR QUINN

"I only wish I could tell her so."

Jamie smiled at him, a warm compassionate smile, giving him hope. "I'm sure she knows," she said softly.

"Maybe."

They sat silently for a couple of minutes, her flight, Kyle's proposal, hanging between them. Jamie shifted, pulled her hand from his again, and when he glanced up at her, Kyle's dread returned. The moment of warmth was gone.

"There's no way you can expect fidelity from a woman like me," she blurted almost bitterly.

Kyle sighed. "I've been with you for more than four months, Jamie. I've felt the lust in your kisses, the heat in your hands as they move against my body. And despite that, I've yet to get inside your pants. So I hardly think fidelity is going to be a problem."

She frowned, crossing her arms over her breasts. "That's just because of who you are."

"No, honey, it's because of who you are." He was completely certain of that. "You may have been forced to compromise yourself when you were younger, but you're not forced to do anything anymore. Which leaves you free to be the woman you are inside. The woman you've been all along."

"How can you say that?" she whispered, and Kyle almost cried. She seemed to want so badly to believe him. But couldn't.

"Because I know you." Taking both her hands in his, he turned her to face him, gazing straight into her eyes with all the love inside him. ' 'Your loyalty is something I've never questioned, Jamie. And I

HER SECRET, HIS CHILD

never will. Because loyalty is a part of the person you are, a part of the person you've always been. You were loyal to a mother I don't think deserved it, loyal to Tom Webber, who I know didn't deserve it. But most important you've been loyal to Ashley—and to us."

"How have I been loyal to us?" He could barely hear the words.