Prince Charming in Dress Blues Read Online Free PDF

just wasn’t something that had appealed to him. Maybe it was the whole idea of being responsible for another human being. Maybe it was fear of screwing up an innocent kid by making stupid parenting mistakes.
    But whatever the reason, he’d avoided all chances at a serious relationship that might have led to parenthood. He’d always told himself that he was perfectly happy in his life. Answering to no one but the Corps. Going his own way. Doing his own thing.
    But now, he thought as he took a seat on the floornear the fireplace and leaned back against the sofa, he had to wonder. The small, sturdy weight on his arm felt good. Right, somehow. And looking down into a pair of eyes that had seen nothing of the world made him want to show her everything.
    She waved her little hand at him again, and this time he caught her fist with his fingertips. Smoothing the pad of his thumb into her closed fist, he felt those little fingers, sensed the strength inside and was humbled all over again.
    “You’re a booby trap, aren’t you?” he asked quietly, and she tilted her head as if trying to understand him. “Yep,” he went on, smiling now at the frowns and grimaces tightening her little features. “You look all innocent and everything. But once a person gets close, you suck ‘em in and take ‘em out.”
    She stretched and yawned, obviously bored with the conversation. John chuckled and tucked the towel more closely around her little body. Amazing, really, he thought. Only a few hours ago she wasn’t here. And now she was breathing and fussing and making herself known in no uncertain terms. An entire, new person.
    And he already loved her with a fierceness he wouldn’t have believed possible.
     
    Annie stood in the doorway, watching the two of them. Her heartbeat staggered slightly at the simple beauty of that gorgeous man tenderly holding the baby. Laying one hand against the doorjamb, she steadied her shaky knees and took a long minute to just enjoy the picture in front of her.
    She still wasn’t sure just who John Paretti was, but she was positive of one thing: tonight he’d been herguardian angel. And as that thought ricocheted through her mind, she told herself he even looked like some dark angel. Black hair, pale, icy-blue eyes and a face made up of sharp planes and angles.
    Silhouetted by the fire, his profile was strong, and his biceps looked huge even through the fabric of his Irish knit sweater. Yet this powerful-looking man held her newborn daughter with a tenderness she could sense from across the room. And she knew, from firsthand experience, just how gentle those big hands of his could be.
    A small curl of embarrassment wound through her before she could stop it. Silly, she thought, with an inward smile. Way too late to be embarrassed now. John had seen every inch of her—and not from a particularly flattering angle.
    And now that she thought about it, just what did you say to a man after sharing something like that? How about dinner? Nope. She didn’t think so. Besides, no point in getting attached to tall, dark and gorgeous. As soon as the snow cleared up, they’d be going their separate ways. She frowned as a distinct feeling of regret flared up inside her.
    Now where did that come from? she wondered, and quickly quashed the notion. But before it was totally gone, he turned his head and looked directly at her as if he was reading her mind and entertained by it.
    “Should you be out of bed?”
    Annie smiled and lifted one shoulder in a halfhearted shrug. “I couldn’t stay in bed.” Her gaze drifted from his to her daughter’s firelit face. “I got lonely.”
    “She was fussing, thought I’d let you get some sleep.”
    Pushing away from the wall, she crossed the room and carefully… very carefully, eased down onto the sofa beside him. “Ridiculous to admit this,” she said, wincing slightly as she settled into the cushions, “but I’m not really tired.”
    Her entire body ached, yet she felt