The Baby Agenda Read Free Page B

she did for a living, but decided he didn’t want to know. He’d prefer to remember her as his mysterious redhead.
    Then she stiffened. Raising his eyebrows, Will saw the couple directly in front of them. Good-looking guy, beautiful woman if you liked hip bones sharp enough to draw blood and thought counting ribs was an excellent postcoital activity.
    The scumbag, clearly, and Graziella. Feeling Moira’s tension, Will wasn’t nearly as amused as he’d been when she last said the name.
    â€œBruce,” she said coolly.
    Some instinct made Will lay his hand on Moira’s back in a way any other man would recognize. Mine. He nodded, making plain his disinterest, and steered her around the other couple.
    â€œAren’t you Will Becker?” the other guy said.
    Will nodded. “Yes.” And kept going.
    Moira gave another of those little gurgles of laughter that sounded like a small brook tumbling over rocks.
    â€œWell, that was rude.”
    â€œYeah, and I enjoyed it,” he said truthfully.
    She turned that laughing face up to him, her eyes sparkling, and said, “Thank you.”
    â€œYou’re very welcome.” He kept his hand on her until they reached the front desk, at which point he stood back and let her take a credit card from the small, sparkly bag she’d carried over her shoulder. When eventually she turned around, he asked, “All set?”
    â€œYes. You don’t have to walk me up, Will.”
    â€œYes, I do.”
    She bit her lip and studied him for a moment, her eyes curiously vulnerable in a way that gave him a pang.
    Twice now he’d thought of her as such, which had to mean something.
    He knew what that something was. His gut was telling him to say good-night to her outside her hotel room door and leave. Don’t kiss her. Don’t step over the threshold. She wasn’t a one-night stand kind of woman, and he wasn’t interested in anything but.
    Moira nodded and let him walk beside her to the elevators. One opened as soon as she pushed the button, and they rode upward in silence, side by side. He heard the soft sigh of a breath from her, caught an elusive scent that seemed old-fashioned. He had a flash of standing on the deep front porch of his family home, the sky purple with twilight, and that scent filling his nostrils.
    Lilac.
    The elevator opened and he said, “What’s your room number?”
    She stumbled, stepping out, and he wrapped a hand around her arm to catch her. “Um…” She looked at the small folder she held. “Two-eighteen.”
    Will nodded and directed her to the right. The hall was broad, the plush charcoal-gray carpet inset with maroon. He stopped in front of 218 and watched as she fumbled with the card, finally getting it into the slot correctly and turning the knob when the green light flashed.
    â€œI should say good-night now,” he said hoarsely.
    Holding the door open, she met his eyes. “Did you mean it, when you said…” She seemed to lose courage.
    â€œSaid…?” His heart was hammering.
    She whispered, “That you think I’m beautiful.”
    â€œI meant it.” He lifted a hand, hesitated, then onlygrazed her round, plush cheek with his knuckles. “You are.”
    Her tongue touched her lips; she took a deep breath. “Then will you stay?”

CHAPTER TWO
    S TUNNED PLEASURE BLOSSOMED inside him like the warmth from good whiskey.
    â€œYou’re sure?” Will asked.
    Had she really invited him in? Could he get this lucky?
    But already Moira’s eyes had widened, as if she’d shocked herself, and her face flushed. Even so, she mumbled, “I think so.”
    Despite the rising tide of hunger, he found himself smiling. “That wasn’t the strongest yes I’ve ever heard.”
    Now her gaze was shy. “I haven’t done this in an awfully long time.”
    His every instinct was to kiss her and keep kissing her