Dad In Demand

“Don’t give me that choirboy look, Fitzpatrick. I’ve known you too long to fall for it. Just spit out whatever it is that’s got you sizing me up like a piece of evidence in one of your investigations.”

He smiled. Slowly. Seductively. In a way that made her throat go dry. “I was just thinking about what you said. You know, how I didn’t take anything that you didn’t want to give?”

She narrowed her eyes. “So?”

“So, I couldn’t help wondering.” His gaze dropped to her mouth, and Katie’s heart started to gallop. “I was wondering if you provoked me deliberately this afternoon so I would kiss you.”

“I provoked you?”

“Uh-huh. With all that crazy talk about needing me to help you find someone to get you pregnant.”

“There’s nothing crazy about it. And it wasn’t just talk. I intend to get pregnant. As for needing you to find me someone, I don’t. I’ve already got three candidates. It’s simply a matter of choosing the right one.” She snitched a piece of bell pepper from his pizza and popped it into her mouth. “And I don’t need you to do the investigations for me, either, because I’ve decided to do them myself.”

“You? Lord, help us all.”

“Funny. Besides, how hard can it be? All I have to do is lift a few fingerprints, snag a wallet for credit card and driver’s license numbers, maybe make a few phone calls to an employer or an old girlfriend.”

Sean shuddered. “Quit clowning around, Katie. The thought of you playing Mata Hari sends chills down my spine.”

“You’re a riot, Fitzpatrick, and I’m not kidding. I bet I’d make a good detective,” she countered, warming to the idea.

“You’d be about as good at investigating as I’d be at running a nursery school.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said, tipping her head to the side. “I bet the little girls would love you, and I think you’d look awfully cute changing diapers.”

“Don’t hold your breath.”

She smiled at him. Finishing the last of her pizza slice, she licked her fingers clean.

“You’re really determined to do this pregnancy thing?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll do the investigations for you—on one condition.”

“What condition?” she asked warily.

“If I come up with anything, and I do mean anything, that makes these so-called candidates unsuitable, you promise me that you’ll forget the whole idea.”

Katie hesitated. The truth was that if none of her candidates panned out, she wasn’t sure what she’d do. “I really do want to have a baby, Sean.”

“That’s the deal. Take it or leave it.”

She hesitated. “If none of them pan out, I promise I’ll rethink the idea. All right?”

He sighed. “Do I have any choice?”

Katie squealed. Jumping up, she ran over to Sean and threw her arms around his neck, then proceeded to cover his face with kisses. “Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

“Not that I mind having a woman throw herself at me, but you might want to hold off on a few of those thankyou kisses. You may not be happy with what I find.”

“Oh, I will be. I know it.”

“We’ll see. Now where’s the list?”

“I’ll get it.” Abandoning the kitchen, Katie dashed to her bedroom and retrieved the list from her purse. By the time she returned, he’d cleared away the pizza remains and was waiting in the living room. For a moment she allowed herself to just look at him. All six foot two inches of him were sprawled out on the couch, his head tipped back, his eyes closed. Lord, but the man was beautiful: those razorsharp cheekbones; that stubborn jaw; the sexy mouth that could make a stone weep when he smiled, and turned her brain to mush with a kiss. The fact that the man had a good heart, a kind heart, made him darn-near perfect-everything a woman who believed in fairy tales could want. Except that she no longer believed in fairy tales, and even if she did, Sean would never see her as a princess.

As though sensing her scrutiny, Sean opened his eyes and stared at her. Awareness stirred, sparked between them, charging the air with tension, just as it had earlier. “Here’s the list,” she said, walking over to him.

His fingers brushed her palm as he took the sheet of paper, and she fought back a shiver. Katie pressed her hand to her jittery stomach. “Those are the names,” she said as evenly as possible. “And of course, I can give you whatever personal information I have. The first one, Eric, he’s a salesman who—”

Suddenly Sean’s shoulders stiffened. He shot his gaze back to her face. His eyes were dark and stormy. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“You put Michael’s name on this list?”

“Well, yes. Initially,” she said, confused by his accusing tone. “I told you, I started off with five names and narrowed it down to three. You and Michael were the two I scratched.”

“You actually considered sleeping with my brother?”

“Well, I can’t say that I thought of it in quite those terms. But, yes, I guess I did. I mean if Michael had been the man I selected, then I would have…um…made love with him to get pregnant.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t put Ryan’s and Connor’s names on here, too,” he snapped, referring to his two other brothers.

“Ryan’s married and I draw the line at married men. But if I knew where Connor was, you can bet I’d have included him.” Temper drove her, loosened her tongue. “Besides if Connor kisses anything like you and Michael, I imagine making love with him would be a pleasant prospect.”

“Like me and Mich—” His eyes narrowed to angry slits.

“You kissed Michael?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes. Michael and I kissed a number of times while we were dating.”

Sean shot to his feet. “I don’t believe this. You’ve been dating.kissing my brother?”

“Yes,” she said sweetly, furious with him for finding the idea so shocking. “Why? Is there some reason I shouldn’t?”

“You’re damned right there’s a reason. He’s…he’s—”

“He’s my friend. Just like you’re supposed to be. But unlike you, Michael doesn’t kiss me, then turn around and insult me by apologizing for doing it.”

Two (#ulink_b796fa9f-9001-528f-8888-0d35fe0c90c8)

“Hey, Bro,” Michael said, replacing the telephone receiver on its cradle as Sean marched into his office. “I was just getting ready to buzz you with the good news. We got the Stevens’ contract.”

Sean slammed the door shut and stormed over to Michael’s desk. Planting his palms on the polished mahogany surface, he leaned over and glared at his brother. “I ought to take your head off.”

Michael arched his brow, sat back in his chair and gave him that cool, calm, lawyer look that drove Sean nuts. “You’re welcome to try, little brother. But before I wipe up the floor with you, you want to tell me what you’re so all fired up about?”

The anger that had been churning inside him since Katie had dropped her little bombshell about her and Michael the previous night kicked up another notch. “Where in the hell do you get off hitting on Katie?”