His Destiny Bride. Christyne Butler
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were fleeting memories of being with other children before she’d been in the foster care system. Boys. Brothers, maybe? But the recall was so vague, she’d eventually decided it was only wishful thinking.
What bothered her the most was she didn’t have a way to find the answers.
Being abandoned wasn’t the same as being put up for adoption.
There was no paperwork. Only a scrawled note, most of the words unreadable except for her first name, birthday and the last line begging for the little girl to be taken care of.
Katie blinked away the sting in her eyes, her fingers reflexively curling around the necklace she often wore.
A piece of costume jewelry, a silver cross with multicolored stones, on a long chain reaching to the center of her chest. She hadn’t even known it existed until she asked about her file when she was eighteen.
The necklace was the only physical item, along with the note, that connected her to her past. A line in the folder stated she’d been wearing it when she was found asleep in a church pew in Boise.
Had it been her mother’s? A family heirloom, perhaps?
She’d taken it to a jeweler in college, but his snobbish attitude about the inexpensive stones had hurt. She’d then tossed the thing in an old box for the longest time, but when she found it a few years ago, she embraced the connection to her past.
As little as it was.
Shaking off her pensive mood before she dissolved into a puddle of tears, she focused on the list on the website. So, what qualities did she want from her child’s father?
Tall. At least six feet. She liked tall men. Big shoulders, an athletic body. Brown hair, brown eyes. Intelligence was a given. A strong sense of family—
“Katie, I hate to bother you during your break, but I need—” The scent of Nolan’s cologne drifted past her as he bent closer. “What the hell is that?”
His incredulous tone came at her from behind. She quickly minimized the internet browser window with a click.
She swung her chair around, putting her back to the monitor, but Nolan was so close her knees brushed his pant legs. He was standing up straight, his six-pack abs at eye level.
Not that she could see through the hunter green sweater he wore, but she remembered. Oh, yes, the feel and taste of his smooth, taut skin and defined muscles—
She blinked hard, tore her gaze from his stomach and looked up. “Wh-what are you doing here?”
Oh, boy, did that sound as breathless as she thought?
“I work here.”
Not for the last two days. He’d been holed up in his home office. Again. This was the closest she’d been to him since...well, since that night. “So do I. I’m on my lunch break.”
“So I gathered.” His arm brushed her shoulder as he leaned forward again, grabbed the computer mouse and clicked. “And checking off boxes for...what is this? What you want in a man? Is this a dating website?”
Katie spun again. Ignoring the familiar pine and woodsy scent of his cologne and the heat of his skin, she took the mouse from his grasp and closed the program completely. “Not exactly.”
“Then exactly what was...” Nolan’s voice trailed off as he walked to the front of her desk, shock spreading across his features. “Wait, the banner read...sperm bank? You’re looking to—to have a— Really?”
She squared her shoulders, pushed back her chair and stood, thankful for her four-inch heels that had her eye to eye with him. “Yes, really. And the word is a baby. Now, you needed something?”
“What—when did you decide this?”
“That’s none of your business.” That wasn’t entirely true. The man was her boss. One of them. A pregnancy would affect her work at some point. “Not at the moment, anyway,” she amended. “It’s something I’ve been thinking about...for a while.”
“Since when? Before Halloween?”
“Yes, I’ve always wanted—well, no, maybe not—” Katie broke away from his sharp gaze.
She glanced at the open double glass doors separating her office from the rest. Thankfully no one else seemed to be around.
Still, she grabbed files from her desk and headed for the cabinet in the far corner. “Why are you asking?”
“Is that what you were doing? That night? At the Blue Creek?”
“What?” She clutched the paperwork to her chest and spun back around, the pain of his assumption choking her. “You think I was trolling for a baby daddy?”
Nolan had followed and stood inches away, his brown eyes filled with confusion.
And more questions.
He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. His lips then pressed together hard, the muscle along his jaw tightening.
“That was a stupid thing to say,” he finally conceded.
“Oh, no. Unprotected sex with a stranger is a genius move. Not to mention knowing absolutely nothing about the man and worrying he might want someday to have a say in raising the child. An excellent plan, Nolan. Why didn’t I think of it?”
“Katie, I’m sorry—”
“My plans have nothing to do with what happened...between us.” She cut him off, her anger splintering, fueling a slow burn deep inside her. “Besides, we were careful. Every time. Or don’t you remember?”
The heat in his gaze told her he did. Just as she did. In vivid detail most nights in her dreams.
She also remembered their agreement not to talk about that night.
She scooted past him and headed for the supply closet. “You’ve got nothing to worry about. Everything’s fine.”
“I’m not...worried.” He stayed with her. “And I am sorry. That was the dumbest thing I’ve ever said.”
“Amazingly, I agree with you.”
“But you need to think about what you’re doing. Being a parent is the hardest job there is, and to do it alone? Voluntarily? That’s crazy.”
Pushing open the door, she turned on the lights, making a mental note to get brighter bulbs in the walk-in closet, now lined with shelves on three sides for everything from printer paper to cleaning supplies.
She set the files on a nearby shelf, forgetting she’d had them in her hands. “As a lifelong maker of crazy decisions, I can tell you this is the sanest one I’ve made in a long time.”
“Katie, you don’t have any idea what you are getting into.”
“Neither do most when they decide to become parents. And a lot of women—people—are having children this way.”
She turned around in the tight space and there he was again. His tall frame blocked the faint glow from the overhead light. The memory of him standing this way, but dressed in costume, flashed in her mind. That same tilt of his head. The same intense scrutiny in his eyes.
How could she have not known it was him?
“You...” Her voice caught, but she pushed on. “You seem to be doing fine as a single parent.”
“Because I’ve had to. Even when I was married, we had a nanny and a maid and Carrie couldn’t manage. Hell, Abby was just a little girl and she still ended up—” Nolan cut off his words, letting loose a frustrated breath. “We’re not talking about me.”
“And there’s no reason to be talking about me, either.”
“This isn’t like you.”
She tried to take a step back, but her backside was