Natural Born Daddy Read Free Page B

sound convincing, old chum.”
    Jordan picked up the empty cup and turned it slowly in his hands. The fine porcelain was cracked and chipped, but he found the delicacy oddly enchanting. Flaws, he’d discovered over time, often made people, like china, more interesting. He wondered what flaws Kelly had. After all these years, he could think of none. Discovering them suddenly struck him as a fascinating pastime.
    â€œJordan?”
    He looked up from the fragile cup and saw that Kelly was regarding him with a puzzled expression. Those huge brown eyes of hers were filled with concern.
    â€œEverything okay?” she asked.
    â€œRexanne broke the engagement,” he announced casually.
    â€œGood,” Kelly replied without the slightest hint of sympathy.
    â€œDamn,” he muttered irritably. “Did everybody dislike her except me?”
    â€œI didn’t dislike her,” Kelly corrected. “I just thought she was all wrong for you.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œShe was using you.”
    â€œWeren’t they all,” he said dryly.
    â€œAs a matter of fact, yes,” she said as she poured the boiling water into the pot, tossed in a handful of tea leaves and waited for it to steep.
    â€œHave you ever approved of any woman I’ve dated?”
    Kelly took the question he’d intended to be sarcastic seriously. “There was one, back in college. I think her name was Pamela. You dumped her after the first date.”
    â€œAnd she was right for me?”
    â€œI didn’t have all that long to check out her sincerity,” she reminded him, “but, yes, I think she could have been. She was sweet.”
    Jordan scowled. Sweet? Perhaps innocuous would have been a better description. He didn’t even remember a Pamela, which didn’t say much for either her or him.
    â€œActually, I think my taste is improving,” he said, his gaze fixed on Kelly’s face. There was no immediate reaction beyond a faint flicker of something in her eyes, something he couldn’t quite identify. She seemed slightly more alert, perhaps even a little wary.
    â€œYou’ve already found a replacement for Rexanne? Isn’t that a little cavalier?”
    â€œNot really. I told you a long time ago that I thought it was time for me to settle down.”
    â€œRight, so you proposed to the first woman to cross your path after that, and look where that got you.”
    â€œShe wasn’t the first woman to cross my path,” he protested. “I was seeing several women at the time. Rexanne seemed like the best choice.”
    â€œMaybe out of that lot, but did you ever stop to consider there was slim pickings in that bunch?” She waggled a slender finger at him. “I’ll answer that. No, you did not. You just decided you wanted to be married and filled the opening as methodically as youwould have a position at your company. You probably had a stupid checksheet.”
    She wasn’t all that far off the mark, though he wouldn’t have told her that for another gusher in his oil fields. “Well, I’m not going to be so hasty about it this time,” he said.
    â€œYou just told me you’ve identified the woman you want to marry. It’s been what? Two days? Maybe three since your engagement broke off?”
    â€œFour, actually.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Definitely long enough,” she said with a touch of unfamiliar sarcasm. “Jordan, why can’t you just relax and let nature take its course?”
    He gave her a disdainful look. “I don’t have a lot of faith in nature.”
    She gave him a wry look. “You would if you’d been in that barn with me an hour ago.”
    â€œI don’t think the fact that your tomcat can’t keep his paws off of Francie is a testament to nature in its finest moments.”
    She shrugged, a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Okay, you may have a point about that. So,