Cowboy Daddy Read Free Page B

where she lived. There might be some clues as to the kind of person she was. Despite his claims of a single meeting, he knew Laurel wanted more. He could only pray the two of them wouldn’t hit it off.
    “That’s fine.” he said.
    She scribbled her address on a piece of paper and handed it to him. He took it from her, careful to make sure they didn’t touch. But she didn’t let him escape that easily. She rested her hand on his bare forearm. Hot need bubbled to the surface. He tried to ignore the sensations, tried to step back away from her. He didn’t want this in his life, not from a woman like her.
    Her eyes held his, their gazes locked until the entire world faded leaving only the sound of their breathing to fill the silence. Her scent teased him. It was just a popular expensive fragrance. It wasn’t special. But on her the perfume became something different, more tantalizing. He tore his gaze away from hers and studied the pale red of her hair. Strawberry blond? No, that wasn’t right. Definitely red, but a lighter color. The thick blunt cut had begun to curl slightly, spoiling the smooth style. He could see the freckles on her nose and cheeks. He didn’t like freckles. Never had. But he couldn’t help wondering if they stopped at her chin or continued down farther toward her—
    He wrenched his arm free of her light touch. Stop! he commanded himself. It had been too long since Ellen passed away. It wasn’t Anne Baker, it was the fact that she was female. Dammit, it couldn’t be her.
    “Seven o’clock?”
    “Seven o’clock,” he said curtly, and turned to leave.
    “Mr. Masters?”
    He paused, his hand on the door.
    “Do you have a picture?”
    A simple request. Reasonable. But his irrational anger returned. He didn’t want her to see what Laurel looked like. It was too much like giving in. That made no sense, he told himself, even as he knew it made perfect sense. He wanted to put off the inevitable as long as possible. Fate, and his teenage daughter, were forcing his hand.
    He reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out his wallet. The front slot contained her seventh-grade school photo. Without looking at the sweet smiling face, he extracted the snapshot.
    “Here.” He half turned and thrust it out toward her.
    Anne stepped forward and took it. He told himself to leave now, while she was occupied. He shouldn’t watch this private moment. But he couldn’t stop himself.
    He stared at her small hand. It shook slightly. He raised his gaze. She stared down at the photo. Her lips trembled and her white teeth worried her lower lip.
    A single tear fell on the picture. She carefully wiped it away. “She’s very beautiful.”
    “Yes.”
    “She has my mother’s eyes.”
    The simple statement caught him like a pistol shot. He grabbed his Stetson, then blindly reached for the door and yanked it open. He heard Anne call his name, but he didn’t stop moving. Past the curious secretary, into the main foyer, then to the elevators. When the bank of doors remained stubbornly closed, he sprinted for the stairs and out toward the street.
     
     
     

Chapter 2
     
     
    ”W hat does she look like, Daddy?” Laurel practically skipped with impatience as they walked along the street.
    Jake brushed her bangs out of her eyes. “You need a haircut.”
    “Da-ad!” Laurel shook her head. “You’re avoiding the question. Is she pretty?”
    He didn’t want Anne Baker to be anything. Especially not important to his daughter. But it had already happened. Yesterday, Laurel had pounced on him when he’d returned to their hotel suite. He’d told her he’d met with her birth mother and that the three of them would be having dinner tonight. Now, walking along the wide street in front of Anne’s high-rise condo, Laurel continued the barrage of questions that had flowed since the moment he’d announced the meeting.
    “Does she look like me?”
    He glanced down at his daughter’s upturned face. She’d sprouted in