They were standing so close that she could smell the scent of his cologne, and it was going to her head.
And there were those eyes of hisâ¦
Sky-blue and looking down at her with something that might have been interpreted as appreciation, if she didnât know that was crazy.
Heâs just being friendly.
Iâm pregnant.
Heâs not going to kiss meâ¦
And yetâ¦
He also wasnât making any move to leave. Or to take his hand away from her arm. Or even to stop that tiny massage of his thumb that seemed increasingly like more than support or comfort.
And he was studying her with an intensity that seemed more than friendly.
Was she imagining it because she wanted it to be true? Because she wanted him to kiss her?
Dear Reader,
Issa McKendrick has moved back to her hometown of Northbridge, Montana, with a secret. The end of her last relationship left her with a little surpriseâsheâs pregnant. That relationship is one-hundred-percent over and done with. But sheâs decided to have the baby, despite the fact that doing it on her own is a daunting prospect.
Former football star Hutch Kincaid has moved to Northbridge to raise his toddler son and to mend fences with his twin brother. Heâs been widowed for a year and a half but heâs not in the market for a new woman in his life, or in the life of his son.
But in comes Issa anyway. And while a baby fathered by someone else has to be one of the biggest obstacles there is, somehow not even that can keep these two apart.
Or can it?
I hope you enjoy finding out!
Best wishes,
Victoria Pade
âAsh! Asher! Get back here!â
A manâs voice.
Whispering.
Something about ashes?
Coming out of a sound sleep, Issa McKendrickâs first thought was that she was dreaming.
Until, very near to her ear, she heard, âPit-tee.â
Pity?
Struggling out of heavy slumber, she opened sleep-bleary eyes.
Staring at her almost nose-to-nose was a very small boy.
âHi!â he greeted her happily.
âIâm sorry.â
A manâs voice again, this time not whispering, coming from the door to her apartment. The door that was wide open.
From her position lying on the sofa, Issa bolted upright, alarmed by the fact that she wasnât alone. That a strange man and child were there.
âGet back here, Ash,â the man repeated more firmly.
âBye,â the child said before he did as heâd been told.
Issaâs vision was beginning to focus as her gaze followed the child and landed on the man.
Whoa!
Dreamy-looking guyâmaybe this was a dreamâ¦.
âI didnât mean to just come in,â he said then, convincing her with the deep tones of an intensely masculine voice that she was awake. âIâm Hutch Kincaid, your landlordâ¦â
Hutch Kincaid.
Still trying to get her bearings, Issa was not quick on the uptake. It took her a moment to put things together in her mind.
Hutch Kincaid was the owner of the house-turned-duplex where Issa had an apartment on the upper floor. Her brother had rented it for her when sheâd announced that she was moving back to her hometown of Northbridge, Montana and wanted a temporary place while she looked for a property to buy.
Hutch lived in the lower half of the building, but heâd been out of town when Issa had arrived two days ago, so theyâd yet to meet.
âI got the note you left under my door downstairs and youâre right,â he was saying when she began to gather her wits, âthis lock is brokenâall I did was knock and the door opened. And then Ash barged in before I could grab him.â
Issa took in the view of the man standing in her doorway.
He was very real and very good-looking. Big and strapping, with an athleteâs broad chest and shoulders, a narrow waist and long legs all barely contained in jeans and a lime-green polo shirt.
And the faceâsharp jawline; longish, thin, somewhat pointy nose; just-full-enough lips; the sexiest dip in the center of his chin; and eyes the blue of a cloudless summer sky. Top it all off with short, sunkissed sandy-brown hair worn with the top a hint longer and carelessly disheveled, and he was quite a sight to wake up to.
âItâs okay,â Issa finally said. Her voice was groggy and small. She was embarrassed to be caught sleeping in the middle of a Sunday afternoon. âCome in.â
That was as much invitation as the little boy neededâhe promptly left Hutch Kincaidâs side and came back to the sofa as Issa pivoted to put her feet on the floor.
Her intention had been to stand to greet her guests and hopefully regain some of her dignity.
But it didnât take more than that pivot to make her so dizzy that she couldnât get up as the room seemed to spin around her.