To Be a Dad (Harlequin Superromance) Read Online Free PDF Page B

kids?”
    “We’ll find a babysitter.”
    She searched for the problem or hidden agenda and came up empty. “Okay.”
    “And you gotta wear sexy underwear every day.”
    She half rose out of her chair. “What?”
    Dusty grinned. “I don’t have to see it if you don’t want. But I like imagining you wearing lacy things under your clothes.” He glanced at her from under his lashes. “I always have.”
    Heat spiked through her as she held on to her chair with both hands. How was she supposed to respond to a request like that?
    “Don’t be ridiculous,” she snapped. “I don’t have any sexy underwear. I’ll be wearing a nursing bra in a few months, for Pete’s sake.”
    Dusty made a low humming sound as his gaze flicked over her breasts. A blush burned a path right up into her hairline.
    “Forget it. All of it. Go home. Now.” She pointed a shaky finger at the door.
    He caught her finger, kissed the tip and laughed. “Come on, you’re tougher than that. What else is on your wish list?”
    If only he knew how vulnerable she was when it came to him. She didn’t feel nearly as tough as she needed to be. “My wish list.” She massaged her temple. “I’d love to have a few minutes every day to myself.”
    “Like when you come home from work?”
    “Exactly. I’d love to be able to sit down and do nothing for say, fifteen minutes. Just...sit.” She leaned forward. “What do you want?”
    “I don’t know.” He looked down at the table. “I know this probably sounds corny, but I guess I want you to be happy. I know our situation isn’t ideal, but I assume from the way you’re talking you want to keep the baby. Who knows? Maybe we’ll surprise each other.”
    He sounded so sad. Not at all like the Dusty she knew. She looked away and stuffed her knuckles in her mouth, the urge to cry overwhelming. She was all messed up in her head and her heart, but she’d never intended to hurt Dusty.
    “I want you to know I’m very fond of you, Dusty.”
    He patted her hand and took it into his. “I care about you, too. We’re going to be all right, Teressa.”
    She blinked back tears. “I hope so.” She leaned across the table and kissed him. If she wasn’t careful, she’d end up as just another in the long line of broken hearts Dusty had left behind him.

CHAPTER THREE
    D USTY SCRUBBED AWAY the residue of a hard day’s work. It was an unseasonably warm day for November, and he’d overdressed, anticipating a biting north wind. Instead, he’d spent the day sweating and stripping away one layer of clothing after another. Not much he could do about his underwear, though. His deck hands, Josh and Andy, had teased him about his red long johns.
    He and Teressa had managed to keep the news about her pregnancy a semisecret for two days now. Semi because his family knew about it, but Teressa had begged for a few more days before she broke the news to her mother.
    Mrs. Wilder was a gnarly person to handle. He didn’t know exactly what her problem was, other than she looked as if she had a broom handle stuck up her... Hell, he had to stop thinking like an adolescent, especially about the grandmother of his child. But there was no denying she was a bitter woman. He didn’t remember her being uptight when he was a kid, but kids saw the world differently than adults.
    For the past two nights he’d worked hard emptying his house of anything that absolutely didn’t need to be there. It looked empty and rough at the moment, but slap down some new flooring and a fresh coat of paint on the walls and things would start to come together. That’s what he kept telling himself. Where he’d find the time to accomplish all that, he had no idea. Because regardless of what Teressa said about how she was fine where she was, eventually she was going to need a bigger place, and houses didn’t come up for sale all that often in Collina. Plus now that he’d started working on his house, he was getting into the renovations in a big