Chapter Three

      “For God’s sake, Kelly, why didn’t you say so before?”

      The microwave beeped loudly, and Mike took out the dinner. He pulled back the plastic and felt as hot as the steam escaping. He couldn’t believe she had waited this long to tell him that the guy was harassing her.

      As his anger grew, adrenaline pumped through him. He hadn’t liked Doug the first time he’d met him. After what he’d done to Kelly, he promised himself if he ever saw the jerk again, he would make him wish he’d never been born.

      As if sensing his mood, Kelly shifted on the bar stool. “I didn’t tell you sooner because I hadn’t planned to tell you at all. Forget it I’ll handle Doug.”

      “If there’s anything left of him when I get through, you’re welcome to it.”

      Kelly’s eyes widened. “When did you develop these Neanderthal tendencies? This is a side of you I’ve never seen before.”

      Mike wasn’t sure himself why he felt this way. He hadn’t wanted to deck a guy over a girl since high school. But the fact was Kelly was going through hell because of Doug Hammond and Mike wanted his pound of flesh—or to pound Doug’s flesh. He didn’t much care which. “When will he be here?”

      “He didn’t say.” She took a sip of her juice.

      “Doesn’t matter. I’ll just hang around and take care of him.”

      Kelly put down the glass, and when she looked at him irritation was written all over her face.

      “This is my problem, Mike. I appreciate your friendship more than you’ll ever know, but it’s not a license to butt into my life. When he gets here, I’ll listen to what he has to say, then I’ll send him on his way.”

      Mike understood her wanting to do this on her own; that was the kind of woman Kelly was. He just couldn’t get over the feeling that it would be like leaving a defenseless lamb to the big bad wolf.

      “Can I just be there when you see him?” he asked.

      “No.”

      “What if I promise not to say anything?”

      She snorted. “Fat chance of that.”

      “What if—”

      “No. You can’t stay. Besides, don’t you have a football meeting tonight?”

      He started to shake his head, then stopped when he realized she was right. “Geez, with all this other stuff going on, I forgot. It’s ‘meet the coaches’ night.” He folded his arms across his chest and looked at her. “I’ll just have to miss it.”

      “You can’t. This is when you take advantage of parental enthusiasm. Dean can’t pull the volunteers out of the crowd the way you can.”

      Dean Thompson, his assistant coach, was a gifted tactician and terrific with the players. But Kelly was right. When it came to the parents, Mike was better at getting them to become involved. The program depended heavily on that. He couldn’t miss the meeting.

      “Mike, don’t worry about me. I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”

      “I don’t like it,” he grumbled, as he put the other dinner in the microwave. “But I guess there’s nothing I can do.”

      “You’re sweet to worry about me.”

      He turned back to her. “I’ll tell you what’s sweet. Remember that move Jim and I taught you before your very first date?”

      She grinned. “Remember it? I got to use it that night. Do you remember who fixed me up with that octopus?”

      “Everyone’s entitled to a minor error in judgment.”

      “Minor?”

      “He was here for the weekend. He was lonely. It was supposed to be dinner and a movie. How did I know he was going to come on to you?” He looked at her. “Just promise me one thing…”

      “What?”

      “Before the jerk gets here, practice that move.”

      “I will,” she said, laughing.

      The sound surrounded him and he grinned, surprised at how contagious her laughter was. As ticked off as he’d been a minute before, he was sure no one but Kelly could have made him smile.

      When Kelly had first found out about the baby, she’d misplaced her smile for a while. Recently she’d found it, and if Hammond did anything, to make her lose it again, Mike would hunt him down and take his pound of flesh. The man would never hurt Kelly again.

      Kelly tensed when she heard the car pull up in front of her house. She knew the sound. It brought back painful memories of all the nights she’d expected to hear it, then waited in vain for Doug to show up. She remembered the flimsy excuses she’d believed because she’d desperately wanted to. She would never forget the disillusionment of learning about his lies, his other women, after she found out she was going to have a baby.

      There was nothing he could tell her now that she wanted to hear. She had nothing to say to him. Period. This should be a very short meeting. But she would feel a lot more confident if she could stop the butterflies in her stomach or the trembling in her hands.

      She opened the door as he strode up the walkway. He smiled at her. “Hello, Kelly.”

      “Doug.” She motioned him inside.

      He had the lanky good looks of a male model in a pin-striped suit. The red tie he wore was perfectly knotted at the collar of his crisp white shirt. His sandy hair was slightly mussed, and his hazel eyes held an expression that said he was glad to see her. She didn’t believe it

      She frowned at him. “What do you want?”

      “That’s pretty cold,” he said, raising an eyebrow.

      “The last time we spoke, you made it clear that you wanted nothing to do with the baby or me. I have no reason to think that the situation’s