A Natural Father Read Online Free PDF Page B

herself as she stared at him. Maybe he is attractive.

    “Lucy. Be with you in a minute,” he said, dropping the potatoes onto another customer’s trolley.

    Then he grabbed the hem of his long-sleeved T-shirt and tugged it over his head. Lucy’s eyes widened as she scored an eyeful of tanned, hard belly as whatever he was wearing underneath clung to the top he was removing.

    Okay. Attractive is the wrong word. Sexy. Very, very sexy.

    Lucy dragged her eyes away, frowning.

    She was pregnant. Having a baby. With child. She had no business ogling hot guys at the market. She cursed her sister mentally. This was all Rosie’s doing, planting stupid suggestions in her head. If she hadn’t said all that stuff about Dom last night, there was no way Lucy would be standing here right now feeling like a pervert.

    “How can we help you today?” Dom said, closing the distance between them.

    Lucy smoothed her hands down the sides of her skirt and shook her head slightly to clear it.

    “All the usual staples. Plus I need eggplants and a whole lot of fresh herbs,” she said, consulting her list.

    “May I?” Dom asked. He held out a hand for the list.

    “Sure.”

    She’d given her list to Mr. Bianco a hundred times. So why did it feel different giving it to Dom?

    Damn you, Rosie, and your stupid teen crush.

    “Sorry, did you say something?” Dom asked.

    “No! At least, I don’t think I did,” Lucy said.

    “The eggplants are down here. You want to come check them out?” he asked after a small silence.

    “Sure.” She waited until his back was turned before she hit herself on the forehead with her open palm. Then, just in case her stupid brain hadn’t gotten the message, she slid a hand over the baby bump beneath her suit coat.

    The smooth, taut curve of her belly grounded her in an instant. She was pregnant and scheduled for an important meeting with the bank. Her days of getting goofy over guys were over.

    One hand on her tummy, she followed Dom.

    “Nice and shiny,” Dom said as he showed her the eggplants. “Just the way we like them.”

    “Definitely,” she said.

    She kept her gaze focused on the dark purple vegetables in front of her.

    “I’ll take three boxes,” she said.

    “Not a problem.”

    She stood back as Dom hefted a box from beneath the trestle table, lifting it easily onto her trolley. When all three boxes were stacked neatly, he turned to face her.

    “What next?” There was a smile in his eyes and it quickly spread to his mouth. For the first time she noticed that he had a single dimple in his left cheek.

    Rosie hadn’t mentioned that last night.

    “Um, the herbs,” she said.

    They were about to move to the other end of the stall when Mr. Bianco found them, a clipboard in hand and a frown on his face.

    “Dom, you remember how much onions we order last week? Oh, hello, Lucy. You looking lovely today.”

    For some reason, Dom’s father’s compliment made her blush. Which was stupid. Every morning he said something along the same lines to her. Why should today feel any different to any other time?

    Because you were eyeing up his son like a side of beef five minutes ago? Because all of a sudden a part of you would like to really be looking lovely today?

    She squashed the little voice with a mental boot heel. She really was going to have words with her sister for causing all this crazy, too-aware-of-Dom stuff.

    “Hi, Mr. Bianco,” she said. “How are you today?”

    “No complaints,” he said, patting his belly complacently. “But I interrupting. I wait.”

    “It’s fine. No worries,” she said, gesturing with her hand that they should go ahead and have their conversation.

    Dom shot her an appreciative look. “Two seconds,” he promised as he turned to talk with his father.

    She moved away a few steps to inspect a pile of zucchini while they talked, but she was aware of lots of hand gesticulating and the frustrated tone of their conversation as father