Cowboy's Secret Child. Sara Orwig

gave him a queasy stomach. And he could imagine it would take her all of three seconds to kill the notion.

      Tuesday evening he was again on Amanda’s porch, his nerves jangling as he punched the doorbell. When she opened it and smiled, his pulse jumped. Revealing her even white teeth, her smile held so much warmth, he wanted to reach out and touch her.

      “We’re ready. Want to come in a moment while I get my purse and Kevin’s things?”

      “Sure,” Jeb answered, and stepped inside. Without the screen door between them, he could get a better look at her. She motioned him toward the living room. “I’ll get Kevin.”

      She wore a blue sundress that left her pale shoulders bare, and with her hair tied in a ponytail, she looked about twenty years old. She didn’t have the breathtaking dazzle her blond cousin did, but she was incredibly good-looking.

      “Hi, Kevin,” Jeb said warmly when the little boy ran into the hall. Instantly Kevin slowed and looked up at Jeb.

      “’Lo,” he said. Amanda appeared and took his hand.

      “I’ll lock up, so go ahead and we’ll be right out.”

      Jeb nodded and stepped outside to wait.

      Amanda locked the house, switched on the alarm and took Kevin’s hand. Dressed in a yellow sunsuit, Kevin clutched his blanket and a small book. As Amanda strolled toward the car, carrying Kevin’s car seat, Jeb took it from her, their hands brushing. “I’ll buckle this in.”

      Opening the door, Jeb put the car seat in the back, and Amanda went around to the other side to help.

      “These aren’t the easiest things to fasten in place,” she said. When her hands brushed his again, a current shot through her, and she looked up to meet his gaze.

      He was only inches away from her and his dark eyes bore into her. While he studied her, there was no denying that she felt something, yet she didn’t believe in chemistry between men and women and she didn’t want to feel any magic with this man.

      With an effort she looked down at the seat and tried to catch her breath. Jeb had placed a strap in the wrong place and she took it from him, too aware of each contact with his warm fingers. She fastened the strap quickly. “Come on, Kevin.”

      He climbed into the seat and buckled it while she fastened her own belt and Jeb slid behind the wheel.

      “My ranch is southwest of town. It’s in the direction of your office.”

      “You know where I work? Oh, the detective you hired told you. I forgot for a minute. I suppose you know a lot about me.”

      “A lot of statistics. Where you work, where you go to church, that from all indications you’re a good mother now.”

      “How could a detective decide I’m a good mom?”

      “The statistics prove that—you take Kevin places on the weekend, see that he gets to visit his friends, have him on a waiting list for private school, that sort of stuff.”

      She turned slightly in the seat to look at Jeb. Dressed in a pale blue shirt and tight jeans, he was ruggedly handsome. He didn’t seem as intimidating as he had during those first few hours, although he was blatantly masculine. She glanced at his long legs and then shifted her gaze outside.

      “Will I see horses?” Kevin asked.

      “Yes, you’ll see horses, and we have a pond with ducks and baby ducklings,” Jeb replied.

      Kevin clapped his hands, and Amanda twisted in the seat and saw a sparkle in his dark eyes.

      “He’s going to have fun,” she said solemnly, turning back to look at Jeb again. Was he going to win her son’s affections swiftly? With a twinge of guilt, she wondered about jealousy, but she knew that, instead of jealousy, it was more fear that she felt, fear that she might lose Kevin completely. But that was ridiculous. Jeb might be very good for Kevin, but she didn’t see how she could ever lose the bond she had with her son. She didn’t know what his teen years would hold, but she didn’t have to worry about them yet.

      Later that evening the same fears and questions rose in her mind as she watched Jeb playing ball with Kevin in his backyard. Laughing, Kevin kicked a big red ball and it rolled along the ground, hit a rock and bounced beneath the rail fence. Jeb’s long legs stretched out as he dashed to retrieve the ball. He jumped the fence easily, scooped up the ball and threw it back to Kevin. She watched Jeb leap back over the fence with ease and realized how strong and agile he was—how very male. Kevin needed a man in his life, and Jeb Stuart was going to be good for her son. That thought both tore at her and cheered her. But she didn’t need a man in her life and she didn’t want to find Jeb attractive or appealing or allow him to become an important part of her life.

      Later, she perched on a fence and watched Kevin ride Jeb’s gentle pinto mare. Next, they went to the pond to see the ducks, then walked back to the house where they had bowls of ice cream. Afterward, they moved to the family room and Kevin got out a coloring book Amanda had brought for him. In seconds he was asleep on the floor.

      “It’s time for us to go home,” Amanda said. “I suppose we should have left when we finished the ice cream, but he was having a good time. You won him over tonight with the horseback ride and the ducks and playing ball with him. He’s always loved to play ball.”

      “He’s a great kid, but then I’m prejudiced.”

      “Yes, he is,” she said, looking at Jeb. He was seated in a large leather chair, his booted feet propped on an ottoman in front of him. He appeared as relaxed as Kevin until she looked into his brown eyes. His determined gaze made her heart a skip a beat.

      “Kevin is already asleep, so why don’t we take this time to talk about what we’re going to do. I thought about it all last night.”

      “So did I,” she answered quietly, wondering if he had slept as little as she had. She wished she could put off ever making decisions about how she would share her son with this forceful stranger.

      “Good. I’d like to tell him that I’m his father.”

      “Isn’t it a little soon?”

      “I don’t think so. Kids accept life as it comes to them. I want him to know the truth. Can I come get both of you and bring you here for dinner again tomorrow night and tell him?”

      She knew it was useless to tell him that he was rushing her. She gazed into his dark eyes and could see the steely determination, so she merely nodded. A knot burned her throat once again. She wished she could just gather up Kevin and run too far away for Jeb Stuart to find them. He was talking to her and she tried to focus on him.

      “Kids adjust to whatever life hands them. You’ll see.”

      She knew he was right, but she was having difficulty adjusting to anything concerning Jeb Stuart. There was, however, no point in postponing the inevitable. She nodded. “Fine.”

      Jeb stood with an easy grace. “I’ll be right back. I have something to show you.” He left, and she looked around the large family room that she could almost fit half her house into. The stone fireplace was immense. Bookshelves lined one wall—all empty. He said he had only lived here since February and he hadn’t bought much furniture. That was an understatement. He had a large leather sofa and a big matching brown leather chair, two end tables, lamps and nothing else. The plank floor held a shine and everything looked neat and clean, but the room was so bare it looked as if he had moved in yesterday. She thought about her home, which was filled with pictures and books and plants, and wondered if he found it cluttered.

      She was already saving money for Kevin’s education and she didn’t want to use her savings. In any case, she would have to hire a lawyer to help her with the legalities of whatever arrangement they worked out. She rubbed her temples. She had had a dull headache since yesterday when she had opened the door and looked up at Jeb.