A Baby on Her Christmas List Read Online Free PDF Page A

widening thing. A flash of something
—
and then it was gone. Two red spots appeared on her cheeks. ‘Ahem, big feet.’
    ‘And we all know what that means.’ He winked. ‘Any boy would be happy with the MacAllister brand of DNA. If you bottled it you’d get a fortune.’
    ‘Oh, yeah? No girl wants big feet. Bad for shoe buying.’ She gave him a final once-over glance. Then her voice softened. ‘Really, it’s a lovely offer and I’d be stupid not to take you up on it. But what about you? You don’t want this. You really don’t want this.’
    ‘But you do, Georgie.’ There was a long beat while he tried to put into words the weird feelings he was experiencing. He could give her the chance she wanted, on one condition. ‘But we’ll need a contract. I don’t want any involvement.’
    ‘Oh.’ Giving the minutest shake of her head, she held her palm up. ‘You’ll be the baby daddy but don’t want to be
the
daddy?’
    ‘Yep.’
    ‘Oh. Okay. Then I’m utterly shocked that you’ve offered. Why would you do that?’
    Not wanting to dig up something he’d pushed to the darkest part of his soul, he gave her the scantest of explanations. ‘Happy families isn’t my style. But a happy Georgie is. I’ll do it. Just agree before I change my mind.’
    ‘Oh, this is fast and so out of left field.’ She put a hand to his shoulder, ran her fingers down his arm. And in the cool late summer evening goosebumps followed the trail of her warm skin against his. ‘Can I think about it? Get used to the idea?’
    ‘Sure.’ He needed time too, his chest felt blown wide open.
    ‘It would mean a lot of changes. For us.’
    ‘I know. I realise that.’ And if it hadn’t been Georgie’s dream on the line, no way would he ever contemplate something like this.
    She looked hesitant, shocked, but hopeful. ‘So...well, we could have a contract similar to the clinic’s standard donor document. We can use that as a blueprint. If that’s what you really want?’
    ‘That’s what I want. No involvement, nothing.’
    ‘I won’t ask you for anything else. Ever. Trust me.’
    He did. Absolutely. He just wasn’t sure how much he could trust himself. ‘Yes. Definitely. A contract will be best.’
    ‘And it’ll mean tests. Soon. Like this week.
’
    ‘Whatever it takes.’ Although the altruistic vibe was fast morphing into panic.
    ‘Oh, my God, is this really happening?’ She reached round his waist and pulled him into one of her generous hugs. His nostrils filled with her perfume and he fought a sudden urge not to let go.
    Her body felt good close to his. She was soft in his arms and her head against his chest made his heart hurt a little. He’d missed her these last few weeks. Especially these last few days. They never argued.
    And this...was just a hug. Nothing strange there. She gave them all the time. And yet... He was aware of the softness of her body, the curve of her waist... He swallowed.
    Nah. She felt just the same as always. Just the same old Georgie. She turned her head and looked up at him, her dark eyes dancing with excitement, the evening sun catching her profile. For a second she just looked into his eyes. One. Two. He lost count. She had amazing eyes. Flecked with warm gold and honey that matched her hair. His gaze drifted across the face he knew so well, and a shiver of something he didn’t want to recognise tightened through him.
    She pulled away quickly and the connection broke.
    Thank God, because he was getting carried away in all her emotion. And that was definitely not something he was planning on doing. Emotional distance was the only thing that stopped him wreaking any more damage on those he loved. Hell, he was his father’s son after all. Emotional distance was what MacAllister men did better than anyone else. But somehow he didn’t think that that admission would go down well on Georgie’s tick list.
    ‘Thank you. Thank you so much. It means a lot to me.’ She placed a gentle kiss on