Somebody's Baby Read Free Page A

called them that. Light and dark. Day and night.
    Josephine and Ophelia.
    Josie snorted out a laugh. Even their names said it all. Josephine sounded sturdy, practical. She worked hard and wanted nothing more than to serve the Lord, make a permanent place to call home, to create a family with a man she could trust and depend upon. And to be the kind of woman he could depend upon in return.
    “He’s in your bedroom,” the sitter whispered the last word as Josie hit the front door of her house.
    Josie gave the girl a reassuring nod and headed down the hallway. If she could afford a house with more than one bedroom, he’d be in the nursery, but since the crib was in her room, she had expected to find him there. She pulled in one long breath, peered into the dim room, illuminated by only a soft glowing light on her dresser. She stole a quick peek at her sleeping baby, then pushed open her door with one hand, ready to do battle. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing. But if you value your life, you’ll get your hands out of my drawers.”
    He looked as if he was about to swear, but he didn’t, though Josie suspected it was more from shock than good manners or morality. He shut the small drawer he’d been peeking into. He peered at her, instead, then his whole face changed. His eyes narrowed. He smirked a bit. “I didn’t expect to run into you here.”
    The deep gravel-throated whisper made her shiver. She froze in the shaft of light pouring in from the hallway. Her stomach clenched.
    “I’d say you’re looking good, but then, you know that, don’t you? You always look good.” He did not move into the light, remaining just a silhouette against the mirror above her chest of drawers. “Even after all this time and after…everything you’ve been through. You look as good as the last time I saw you, Ophelia.”
    Josie blinked in the darkness, hoping her eyes would adjust to sharpen his image. At the same time, she wanted to clear up a few things for him, as well. “Listen, pal, you’ve made a mistake. I’m not—”
    He stepped from the shadows into the muted light.
    Josie’s mouth hung open, her every sense in that one instant focused on the man who held her future in his big, calloused hands.
    He wasn’t huge, though he seemed larger than life in presence. His shoulders angled up from a trim waist and western-cut jeans that bunched in furrows over his traditional-style cowboy boots. What she saw of his face, his strong jaw, determined mouth and slightly crooked nose made a compelling, if not classically handsome, image.
    He moved in on her, like something powerful and wild sizing up his prey. His eyes glittered.
    She pressed her lips together, too angry at his supposition and his presumptive presence to trust herself to speak.
    He began to slowly circle her so close that his soft shirtsleeve rasped against her bare elbow.
    The man was playing games with her—or more to the point, with Ophelia.
    Ophelia liked games. They were her stock and trade. The man was no fool to go on the offensive to try to beat Ophelia at her own impressive bag of tricks. A sucker for excitement and danger, this predatory act might have been just the thing to get Josie’s twin to go all liquid and make her easier to negotiate with.
    But she wasn’t Ophelia. She was smart, practical Josie. The dull one. The mom with a child to protect. This man’s act was totally lost on her.
    His boots scuffed lightly at the floor.
    She tossed her head back, lifted her chin in her best attempt at regal composure. If he wanted to deal with her, it would be as two mature adults, no games, no stooping to base animal attraction to put her at a disadvantage. “Listen, cowboy, I know what you’re up to.”
    His shoulder brushed against the curls trailing down her neck from the knot of hair atop her head.
    A wolf, that’s what he reminded her of, she decided. “I am not the same woman you shared a bed with a couple years ago.”
    “Yes, I can