âIâve loved this child from the beginning. But you and I are not in love with each other, Thad.â
âWe could be,â he said, âgiven a little more time.â
Michelle looked up at him as William curled his fist around her little finger and held on tight. âWhat if what we feel now is as far as it getsâ¦what if we never do fall head over heels for each other?â
âWhat if we donât?â Thadâs voice dropped to a soft murmur. âWeâre sexually compatible. We both want to be married and have kids. And William needs us now.â
He was beginning to make far too much sense.
âThe answer is yes.â She held up a palm before he could interrupt. âBut there are some stipulations.â
âOK.â
âWe have to do a trial run.â
It wasnât the first time Michelle Anderson had noticed a âgiftâ left on Thad Garnerâs front porch. In the three months she had lived across the street from the sexy E.R. doc, a parade of hopeful single women had presented the most eligible bachelor in Summit, Texas, with everything from baked goods and homemade casseroles to gift baskets and balloons. But this was the first time sheâd seen an infant car seat, diaper bag and a Moses basket left there.
Aware the latest offerings hadnât been there when sheâd left the house for her early-morning run, Michelle wondered if the baby gear was supposed to be some sort of message.
If so, it was an interesting one, given that Thad Garner had the reputation of a player and the attention span of a gnat when it came to women.
The handsome thirty-three-year-old doc said he wanted a wife and kids. Sooner, rather than later.
But he rarely dated a woman more than two or three times before ducking out of her life as genially as he had eased in.
âThe chemistry just isnât thereâIâm hoping we can be friendsâ was what he reportedly said more often than not.
But that wasnât what the women of Summit wanted.
They wanted the passion Thad declared lacking from his side of the equation.
They also wanted, Michelle thought with a sigh, what she wantedâwhen the time and the man were finally right. Marriage, a fulfilling life together, kids. As well as a career. Realistically, she didnât know if it was ever going to happen for her.
Professionally and financially, everything was in place. She was thirty-two. Partner in a law practice. Had her own home. She was even considering adopting a baby on her own andâ
Is that the sound of a baby crying?
It couldnât be, Michelle thought as the high-pitched sound sputtered, stopped and then resumed, now a frantic, all-out wail.
She scanned Thadâs porch and yard, as well as the street. At seven on a Saturday morning, the area was usually quiet. Not today. Not with the unmistakable sound of a crying infant.
Heart pounding, Michelle jogged across the street and onto Thadâs lawn. She hurried up the steps to the covered front porch of his Craftsman-style home.
Sure enough, an infant, red-faced and upset, lay in the elaborately decked-out Moses basket. HeâMichelle assumed it was a boy because he was swaddled in blueâcouldnât have been more than a few days old.
Heart going out to the tiny thing, Michelle knelt down on the porch. She removed the soft blanket covering the squalling child and lifted him out of the portable baby bed and into her arms.
And it was at that moment the front door jerked open.
Her too-sexy-for-his-own-good neighbor stared down at her.
And Michelleâs heart took another giant leap.
THAD RUBBED HIS FACE with the palm of his hand and tried to blink himself all the way awake. âWhatâs going on?â he demanded, sure now he had to be fantasizing. Otherwise, his gorgeous, ice princess of a neighbor would not be standing on his doorstep with a baby in her arms. âAnd why were you ringing the doorbell like thereâs a house on fire?â he asked gruffly. Heâd thought he dreamed it, and had gone back to sleepâuntil he heard the infant crying.
Michelle Andersonâs glance trailed over his bare chest and low-slung pajama pants before returning to his face. A warm flushâat odds with the cool mountain airâspread across her pretty cheeks. âI didnât ring the bell,â she said.