Tick Tock Goes The Baby Clock. Julianna Morris

a baby wasn’t like saying she wanted to fly to the moon. It was a goal that millions of women set every month, and she wasn’t any different from them.

      You should consider starting your family within the next six to nine months.…

      The doctor’s reminder echoed in Annie’s mind, reminding her that things were different for her. In the first place, she didn’t have a husband. In the second, she wasn’t the least bit experienced with men. And last, she might not be able to get pregnant if she didn’t work quickly. Still, it wasn’t Max’s problem, and she ought to apologize.

      “Annie—”

      “Max—” She stopped at the same moment he did. “Go ahead,” she murmured.

      “No. You…go.” They’d never been this awkward with each other, and she felt worse than ever. She should have realized a man would see things differently. Even more, she should have realized that Max hadn’t changed.

      “I’m sorry about last night,” she said quickly, determined to get it out. “I shouldn’t have asked you to help. I wasn’t being fair.”

      “You just surprised me, that’s all.”

      Surprised was an understatement, Max thought wryly. He’d never thought a great deal about Annie’s romantic life. When the guys at high school were making noises about her, he’d made threats about treating her like a lady, but that was the extent of his involvement.

      Annie was just…Annie.

      And in less than twenty-four hours he’d had more uncomfortable thoughts about her than in all the time they’d known each other.

      Well, except for that one time. Max rubbed his chin, remembering. They’d been chasing spilled change from the cash register, and her cheeks had been pink and damp from the heat. She’d seemed so breathless and elemental that he’d had a brief surge of lust before regaining his senses.

      Odd, he hadn’t thought about that day in years, but it still was crystal clear in his memory.

      Annie leaned over and moved one of the hoses she used to water the garden. The sun was higher on the horizon, spilling more light into the yard with each passing minute, and Max groaned silently. She’d put on the shorts she used for working in the garden. They were old and stained, the cotton faded and shrunk from being laundered, and he’d seen her wearing them a hundred times…but never quite this way.

      Never with his body humming with awareness.

      Really, Annie had very nice long legs and a tight, sexy bottom that was just right to fill a man’s hands.

      Damn.

      Max gritted his teeth.

      “If you want, I can take you into Sacramento right now,” Annie offered as she straightened and shook drops of water from her hands.

      With an effort he loosened his jaw enough to speak. “That’s all right. We can wait until later.”

      “Aren’t you worried what Miss Blakely might do to your car?”

      Max shrugged. “Not really. Buffy is a spoiled brat, but she isn’t stupid. She’ll probably leave it at my condo or the office and express me the keys. She might even drive back to Mitchellton and look for me.”

      “Oh.” Annie drifted deeper into the garden, and Max could almost feel it growing, embracing her as she moved within it.

      Ever since he’d moved next door there had been a garden in back of the two homes. At first it was Grace’s no-nonsense vegetables, with young Annie helping to tend the orderly rows of tomatoes, carrots and spinach. Now the garden spilled across both yards and was uniquely Annie’s.

      Riotous flowers filled every nook and cranny with a cheerful explosion of color. Trellises covered by climbing roses and wisteria sectioned areas of the yard, including a small area Annie had designed to reflect the beauty and style of a formal Japanese garden. He’d helped with that part, installing a water system that included a water lily pond and several small fountains.

      “Are you hoping she’ll come looking for you?” Annie asked after a few minutes. “Buffy, I mean.”

      Max frowned at the peculiar note in her voice. “No. Why?”

      “She’s very attractive.”

      “I hadn’t noticed.”

      Annie turned and looked at him. “Really?” she asked dryly.

      A grin tugged at his mouth. “Okay. I noticed it in the beginning, but the more Buffy talks, the less attractive she becomes.”

      “Men don’t like talkative women?”

      “Not when they talk like Buffy,” Max said lightly, yet Annie’s question had reminded him of her so-called plan. She wanted advice on catching herself a husband. Apparently even meaningless scraps of information were important to her, like a teasing remark.

      He cleared his throat. “About last night—you’re still planning to go manhunting, aren’t you?”

      Annie rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t have put it in such a crass way, but yes, I still want to find a husband. I don’t have any choice, Max. If I’m going to get married and have a baby, it has to be soon.”

      “Then I’ll help…any way I can.” He could feel the fires of doom licking at his heels, but there wasn’t anything else he could do. Annie was his friend, and friends looked out for each other. She could get into a lot of trouble if she wasn’t careful.

      “That’s all right. You don’t have to—”

      “Yes, I do,” Max said, more sharply than he’d intended. “I was wrong to get so upset when you asked. Cripes, I insisted you confide in me, then acted like a jerk when you did.”

      A smile hovered on her lips, and he knew she wanted to agree. He had acted like a jerk. A typical knee-jerk male, as his grandmother would say. Grace wasn’t a man-hater by any stretch of the imagination, but she had pithy things to say about human folly.

      Which raised another question…did Grace know about Annie’s problem? And what would she think of the solution?

      As soon as the thought formed in his mind, Max sighed. He couldn’t escape the conviction that Annie was making a huge mistake and he was making an even bigger mistake getting involved.

      “Annie, does my grandmother know about all of this?”

      She shook her head. “I didn’t want to worry her.”

      Max plucked a snow pea from a vine and ate the sweet, crunchy pod before answering. “Suddenly transforming yourself might make her worry even more.”

      Annie rinsed her feet in the water flowing from the garden hose. “Grace can take it. Besides, she’s been encouraging me to make some changes, and we’ve talked about the sheriff and stuff. I’m sure she’ll approve of anything I decide to do.”

      His eyebrows shot upward. If his grandmother was getting into the act, why did Annie need his help? Yet even as the thought formed, Max rejected it. Grace Hunter had been an attractive, stylish woman of her day, but she wasn’t interested in modern fashion or social customs.

      “What kind of changes?” he murmured.

      “To start dating. She seems to think I’ve been turning down all the eligible men pounding down my door.”

      Though she said the words lightly, Max sensed a wealth of regret behind Annie’s statement. Like most women, she wanted to be beautiful and desirable. And she was beautiful…she just didn’t know it. Now it was worse because of her medical condition. What was it she’d said—that after surgery she probably wouldn’t be able to conceive?

      Somewhere, beneath all his discomfort with the idea of babies and marriage, Max began to understand Annie’s uncertainty. Her identity as a woman was